You Are a Writer

The Book in Three Sentences

• You find your dream not by searching for it, but by submitting to what you had always hoped was true.
• The amateur ships her work when she feels inspired; the professional ships her work regardless of her mood.
• If you have something worth saying, you want people to listen because it matters to them.

The Five Big Ideas

• “I found my dream not by searching for it, but by submitting to what I had always hoped was true: I was, in fact, a writer. All I had to do was write”.
• “Believe you already are what you want to be. And then start acting like it”.
• “Before others will believe what is true about you, you’ll have to believe it yourself”.
• “Multitasking is a myth. You can either create or react. But you can’t do both. Choose wisely”.
• “A brand is who you are. But it’s more than that. It’s your truest self. The part people remember”.

You Are a Writer Summary

• “I found my dream not by searching for it, but by submitting to what I had always hoped was true: I was, in fact, a writer. All I had to do was write”.
• “Believe you already are what you want to be. And then start acting like it”.
• “Embracing your identity as a writer is mostly a mind game. It’s about tricking yourself into becoming who you are. If you do this long enough, you begin to believe it. And pretty soon, you start acting like it too”.
• “Before others will believe what is true about you, you’ll have to believe it yourself”.
• “I wasn’t doing. I wasn’t creating. I was only dreaming. This is dangerous territory, when your creativity hijacks your productivity”.
• “There is no wrong thing. Just begin”.
• “It happened subtly, as all things well-practiced do. It didn’t happen by thinking about it or talking about it. Not through wasting time with meaningless goals or silly, fruitless plans. No, it happened from doing the work—creating habits and building momentum”.
• “Multitasking is a myth. You can either create or react. But you can’t do both. Choose wisely”.
• “You have to be yourself, to speak in a way that is true to you. This is the next step to claiming your life as a writer—taking yourself seriously so your audience will too”.
• “Good writers practice. They take time to write, crafting and editing a piece until it’s just right. They spend hours and days just revising”.
• “The professional shows up every day, ready to do the work”.
• “Do a document search for all uses of “that” and “very”—kill as many of them as possible. These words are rarely needed”.
• “Reread the piece. Cut as many adverbs as possible. These are words that typically end in -ly (like ‘typically’). This is especially important when writing dialogue, he said intently”.
• “Look for complex sentences using lots of ‘ands’ and ‘buts’—try simplifying some of them. Reread them and see if the meaning is more clear”.
• “Destroy weak phrases like ‘I think’ or ‘in my opinion’ that corrupt your argument. Say what needs to be said, or don’t say it at all. When you do use such a phrase, make it count”.
• “The fear of something is always scarier than the thing itself. Yes, there is pain and rejection. But the greatest failure is to never risk at all”.
• “I found that when you stop seeking public approval, something interesting happens: People will be deeply attracted to your work. They won’t be able to help it”.
• “If you have something worth saying, you want people to listen because it matters to them”.
• “A brand is who you are. But it’s more than that. It’s your truest self. The part people remember”.

Other Books by Jeff Goins

• The Art of Work: A Proven Path to Discovering What You Were Meant to Do by Jeff Goins

Buy The Book: You Are a Writer

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