In order to jump on Your Write Path and move the writing forward, it’s beneficial to take stock of your strengths and weaknesses.
It’s always a good idea to examine when we feel good about our writing, and when we don’t feel so great. One way is to do a quick SWOT analysis of our writing skills—or at least how we perceive our writing skills….
WHAT’S YOUR SWOT?
Total honesty is important here! You can’t fool yourself so lay everything out on the table. The world doesn’t have to see it—but you do.
What’s SWOT? It’s simple. It’s a quick survey of your writing Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
So go on now, make a list. When it comes to writing, what are your:
- Strenths?
- Weaknesses?
- Opportunities?
- Threats?
The next step is to analyze your lists.
- What do you feel good about?
- What do you need to address?
- Anything you need to confront?
- Anything to let go of?
One of the most difficult things for any of us to do is look inward and examine ourselves. I’ve met many people over the years who say they want to write a book. They have a story to tell, but they don’t know how to tell it. Sometimes, they will say, “I have this great idea for a book. I’ll give it to you so you can write it.”
What that means to me is not that they don’t know how to do it, because they could figure that out if they wanted to, but that they really don’t want to write it. Something is holding them back. It could be lack of desire. It could be self-doubt. Might be a case of imposter syndrome or fear of failure. There is work involved in storytelling and the desire has to be there foremost. If an author is not willing to do the work—the writing, the research, the learning, the self-reflection, the daily grind until “the end”—the story will never get told.
And maybe it shouldn’t.
The Discover Your Write Path to Publishing Success and the Write Path Workbook talk more about writing successes and stumbling blocks.