How To Create an Writing Ecosystem That Inspires Your Best Writing
Cultivate your success!
Have you ever thought of your writing world as an ecosystem? Recently, when I was searching for resources to share in our regular newsletter, I came across a cool concept called the "Author Ecosystem." While I appreciated the creators' take on there being a multitude of ecosystems for authors, my thoughts went in a different direction. This term sparked a question that I kept thinking about—what would it take to sustain this writing ecosystem?
Every author, presumably, would have their own little world, but just like all living things must have their basic needs met (food, water, etc.), I think there are basics that every author would share in their ecosystem, too.
When we're in a positive space—physically, mentally, and emotionally—it's easier to write. Using this analogy, a thriving ecosystem means we're more likely to thrive, too.
Of course, we can't control everything in our lives, but there are things you can do to maintain and improve your own writing ecosystem. So, let's talk about those things and figure out how you can design the lushest ecosystem for your writing!
1. Connect to your "roots" again; ask yourself why you started writing and what your original goals were when you began writing.
Maybe it's just me, but I find that it's easy to take myself too seriously sometimes. I get caught up in the idea of creating something that's as close to perfect as possible (despite knowing that writing is something that you can always improve upon over time; it's not an algorithmic game that you can master and complete). I can get fixated on achieving certain outcomes or fall into routines.
You know why I started writing? Because it was fun. I wanted to connect with other people and help them feel less alone. I wanted to create entertaining and memorable stories. I had stories I wanted to tell, even if no one read them.
Give yourself the opportunity to write for fun, even if every once in a blue moon. Maybe it will turn into something, maybe it won't. Either way, though, it's important to express yourself creatively and enjoy your writing. It's also essential to think about how you can achieve those meaningful goals you once had and those you still have. It's okay if your goals change and shift, of course, but you should ask yourself if these goals are yours or if you're trying to meet someone else's expectations. It's not necessarily a bad thing to have goals based on what your readers want; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle brought back Sherlock Holmes after killing him off due to readers' insistence on seeing the beloved detective return. However, if you're never writing for yourself, it can easily become a chore. And you don't want to stop writing altogether because you've forgotten why you started writing at all. So, go back to those roots, and think about what inspired you to begin writing.