Overcoming Insecurity for Emerging Writers with Laurel Thomas
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In this episode, we’re talking with Laurel Thomas, an award-winning novelist and the founder of Write Your Heart Out. Laurel began her Write Your Heart Out journey in the midst of COVID. She’s now helping emerging writers and today, she shares what she’s discovered about overcoming insecurity herself but also what she’s learned as she helps new writers on their journeys.
Links:
- Write with Laurel – https://www.writewithlaurel.com
- Liz Wilcox’s Email Marketing Membership at http://wmdeal.com/liz
- Get your FREE Move the Needle goal-setting for authors ebook at https://www.writingmomentum.com
- Write with us! Join Chris, Gena, and Rene each Wednesday at noon Central and let’s get our writing DONE! https://www.writingmoments.com
episode 82 transcription:
[00:00:00] Christopher: Hey, hello and welcome to the Writing Momentum Podcast. I'm Christopher Maselli. I'm here with my wife Gena. How's it going Gena?
[00:00:14] Gena: Hello! It's going great. It's a good day. We've got a beautiful person joining us.
[[00:00:19] Christopher: Yes. Yes. We are talking today with Laurel Thomas, a former high school English teacher, Laurel Thomas.
[00:00:26] Christopher: She loves words and their power to convey remarkable stories. She's an award-winning author who's written for inspirational magazines like Guideposts and Mysterious Ways, as well as she's ghosted nonfiction. And her novels include River's Call When Stars Brush Earth, and her latest, Stones of Promise, and then of course, you'll also find her at WriterCon, which we love, where she administers check-in and pretty much holds the whole thing together.
[[00:00:50] Gena: Yeah, she really does.
[[00:00:52] Christopher: How are you doing today, Laurel?
[[00:00:53] Gena: Welcome, Laurel.
[00:00:54] Laurel: I'm good. It's great to see you both.
[00:00:57] Christopher: Yes. I'm so glad we get to have you on the podcast [00:01:00] because you're just one of our favorite people overall, and we just we're like, we gotta get Laurel on here because this is, it's gonna be so good.
[00:01:06] Christopher: And today we're actually, we're gonna talk about an interesting topic which is overcoming authors insecurities. Yeah?
[00:01:12] Gena: Yes. Overcoming authors insecurities. And this was one that, this was a topic that Laurel brought up to us, and I loved it because she's got a journey that she's been on with this.
[00:01:24] Gena: And is now helping other authors overcome that. So I loved that and anybody who's met Laurel knows just how kind and warm she is and how she just you feel very safe whenever you're with Laurel. .
[[00:01:38] Christopher: Okay. So to start off, Laurel, you gotta tell us, define for us insecurities for authors. What kind of insecurities might an author face?
[00:01:48] Laurel: It is such a solitary craft. And actually, so I have this idea, and I can't say that I've heard it proven, but I think that when you start to [00:02:00] pursue something that really you were created to pursue that you're gonna walk in greater and greater freedom.
[00:02:06] Laurel: And actually that's basically what happened to me, I had been writing for many years and loved it. I wrote nonfiction, I ghosted nonfiction. And I loved it, but when I decided to pursue storytelling, that for some reason was a big leap for me. And I thought, oh no. You don't have permission to do that.
[00:02:32] Laurel: It's far too much fun. And so I remember, Chris, you gave me feedback at one of the writer con conferences and it was for a Rivers Call and you were like, go for it. Go for traditional publishing. And I think you knew that I would not be like a world class marketer at the time. So traditional publishing was the way to go.
[00:02:58] Laurel: And actually I got the [00:03:00] contract for River's Call at that conference. So anyway. That was that first part of the story.
[00:03:07] Christopher: That's awesome. Yeah. It is funny 'cause the way publishing is going, we often, you do encourage people right, to just do, go ahead and self-publish, right? But there are instances where as, especially a person like you're really good at networking, getting to know people and that sort of thing.
[00:03:22] Christopher: And I think that really works well with the traditional market with the books you're doing in that. And yeah, you're on book number three here and just going strong, aren't you?
[[00:03:33] Laurel: Yes. And you know so much that is giving yourself permission. I have this one, I have, I call it immersion therapy for my introvert heart.
[00:03:43] Laurel: And occasionally I'll ask myself in the morning, I'll say, what should you do that you don't want to do? So one of those things was I've been doing these minute one minute Reels for Write Your Heart [00:04:00] Out that Target emerging authors and, they're just meant to be encouraging and they have to be totally impromptu.
[00:04:07] Laurel: So at first I did them. I put my camera on my writing table instead of me and gave my little blurb, but then I got braver and braver, and now I realize the people that I watch. You and Gena different YouTube people. I watch them because of what they offer, the value they offer in that particular realm. That whole immersion thing has helped me get outta myself and say, especially being spontaneous, because I tend to be a perfectionist, so having just a boom say something within a minute, without copious amounts of time, because we don't have copious amounts of time.
[[00:04:48] Laurel: Has been really good for helping me get out of that box.
[00:04:52] Christopher: It's really like a muscle you have to exercise, isn't it?
[00:04:54] Laurel: Yes. That's a great way to look at it. And I think that writers are often [00:05:00] introverts and when they first hear that they're gonna have to become a business person and actually market, it's I remember the first, do you remember Write Well Sell Well, when we were at Crossings and Chris was teaching and it was amazing information about marketing, all things, connecting. And really Chris, I was like I'm gonna hope I never have to do any of this. But of course you do. And part of it is acknowledging your value and acknowledging that the time that you put into, especially, let's just take story for example. The hours and hours of time that you put into learning the craft and actually doing the craft makes it a valuable piece of work. And that it should be shared. You guys are so good and really I encourage my Write your Heart Out people to use writing momentum resources because if you are going to spend your life doing [00:06:00] something and you're doing your best to do it well, it's like a gift that's just finally wrapped, right? It's not just thrown in a brown paper bag and offered to the world.
[00:06:12] Laurel: It's finally wrapped in a way that people go, you know what, maybe I'll read that. Or when they do read it, they say, you know what? That, that changed the way I look at something, or, whatever. The power of story is so incredible. And so I just had to say, look, I believe that I'm offering something of value and just pull down the smoke screen that, it didn't really matter because it does matter.
[00:06:43] Gena: That's really good. On your journey you were talking, we started talking about this idea of overcoming insecurities. You talked about your journey really during Covid, that some of this happened for you coming out of Covid. Can you talk about that a little bit?[[00:07:00]
[[00:07:01] Laurel: I started working with this amazing little woman, Selah Hirsch and she is a brand specialist and so we started working together in February of 2020.
[00:07:14] Laurel: Really, before C O V I D really had come on the scene as far as anything in the United States. And so I thought it was just gonna be just a little marketing advice. She was gonna help me. Promote books or whatever. It was much more expansive than that. And I, we didn't even have our website completed the updated version.
[00:07:41] Laurel: It was, things were just not ready as far as the business of write your heart out as far as the appearance of Write your Heart out. But Selah said, you know what? All of the universe is online right now and we're going to get you online. And I was like, what?[[00:08:00] So we just, it was a good plunge.
[00:08:04] Laurel: When all of the world was being reset, I was being reset too. And, Met all these amazing people online, started critique groups and one-on-one coaching and started Writer's Roundtable, which is basically a free community that meets on Tuesdays at noon. And yeah, it was launched.
[[00:08:28] Laurel: That whole business of Write Your Heart Out was launched in 2020, but in a deeper way, I think I allowed myself to be launched in the process.
[00:08:39] Christopher: Yes. And so you're working with writers every week who are you call them emerging authors. These are authors who's, a lot of them that they're, they haven't written their first book yet.
[00:08:49] Christopher: They're just learning how, and they're getting to that place. What insecurities do you often see that rise up in those different authors that might cause them [00:09:00] to not get their work written right. To make them feel like, ah, I can't do it enough? Is it just a, is it just a general insecurity of I'm not I can't do this?
[[00:09:09] Christopher: Or are there more things that pop up too?
[00:09:11] Laurel: I think that it really, it's not true for every writer because I don't think every writer has deep insecurities. But as an artist, I've found that even, working on my fourth novel, I'm like, I, are you sure you can do this? This is large.
[00:09:33] Laurel: This is a lot of words. Who gives you the permission to call yourself a novelist? And so I don't know if people do, if writers, I always tell writers, You are a writer if you wanna write. There are certain characteristics of writers. They love words, they love the power of words.
[00:09:53] Laurel: Often, they may already be speaking. Often, they're already have written. Like for [00:10:00] me, I wrote for years before I ever called myself a writer. I wrote books for pastors and I don't know, I, for some reason, I just didn't think. That it was really that big a deal, but, and is that maybe it, Chris, where we just tend to undervalue something that's such a big part of us?
[00:10:23] Laurel: Yeah. I'm not sure why, but it was true for me.
[00:10:26] Gena: I think that's true. I think there's a lot of times where you are doing something and you don't know, you don't recognize what's special about it. Other people probably recognize what's special about it, but you still feel like I'm just the little kid at the grownup table here and so I think that's, I think, undervaluing what we bring.
[00:10:49] Gena: And that's in all areas. Whether it's writing novels or doing marketing or, and you even said at the beginning that, you just didn't consider yourself a marketer and [00:11:00] you weren't really sure about it, and yet that's really what you're doing every time you meet with people. And when you give to these these round table groups and critique groups and things like that, you're marketing that It's a different, it's a very relational type marketing.
[00:11:17] Gena: But it's funny to hear you say that you don't consider yourself a marketer. You probably didn't. But from the outside looking in, I think Laurel's, she's a really good marketer. She's just found a way to do it that's comfortable for her. And so I think that's, I think that's what a lot of people probably deal with when it is that they don't see what they bring, they don't see what is unique and special and beautiful about what they bring. Definitely.
[[00:11:45] Laurel: Yeah. Very insightful.
[00:11:48] Christopher: I wanna go back into something that you said at the very beginning. You talked about how writing was something that's a very solitary something we do. And this is, this has been a thought that we have seen [00:12:00] time and again as we've been working with writers also, is that writing can be the kind of thing that if you allow it, You can just be in your own world, in your own desk, at your own house and not have any interaction with anyone.
[00:12:15] Christopher: And that, I think, is when a lot of those insecurities come out. And this is why it's so important to make it not a solitary venture, right? This needs to be something where you get together with other people on a regular basis, which I know is why you created write Your Heart Out and you have your regular group that meets every week.
[[00:12:33] Christopher: You can check it out at, it is writewithlaurel.com, right? And.
[[00:12:37] Laurel: Yes.
[00:12:38] Christopher: Yes and we do writing moments for the same reason because we know there's got to be a place that writers can come together and encourage one another and see that, I'm not doing this alone. And something about that working together really tends to break down those walls of insecurity I think that a lot of us feel. Would you agree?
[00:12:59] Laurel: I [00:13:00] totally agree, Chris. I think that was the biggest part when we started Write Well Sell Well and started having the conferences and then became Writer Con. Someone talked to me about just competition and that kind of thing. But I have to say that in the writer's communities that I've been a part of and actually my community's grown large in the, over the years with all of the different ways that we've reached out, I don't see that mean competition.
[00:13:30] Laurel: I see a lot of support. I see people who are willing to give what they have and what they know about what makes for a good story. And so although the writer's community is enormous I'd say, find community that affirms you but not just affirms you also equips you.
[00:13:52] Laurel: Yes. And you have to have both. And so to a certain extent, that whole, I think insecurity can,[00:14:00] it can be such a block. For just saying, you know what I'm just gonna humble myself and I'll figure it out. I'll get connected some, someone will show me, someone will help me or I'll learn it.
[[00:14:14] Laurel: And and then just making progress that way.
[00:14:17] Christopher: Yeah. 'cause there's room this thing for all of us, isn't there?
[00:14:20] Gena: That's what we have always been promoting that there's room for everybody and yes there's enough readers to go around. There's enough writing opportunities, there's enough genres.
[00:14:31] Gena: There's definitely enough for all of us to do what we're called to do in whatever capacity. Absolutely. Tell us, Laurel, tell us about where people can find out more about you. We've mentioned some different things, but let's just hear it from you one more time so that people know where to find Laurel Thomas.
[00:14:51] Laurel: Great. www.writewithlaurel.com is my website and you can connect into writer's Roundtable there. I'm [00:15:00] also active on Facebook. My author page is Laurel A. Thomas, and of course on Instagram and all the things. You can find me there and as Chris said, we'll be at Writer Con in Oklahoma City over Labor Day weekend.
[00:15:14] Laurel: We're so excited. That conference is like Christmas to me. It takes so much work, but it's so worth it when we're there. I would say authors who are looking, or even people who are not giving themselves the name of writer yet, come on board to a conference like Writer Con.
[00:15:34] Laurel: Because that's a, just a jump into the pool, right? Yes. It's large. It's a community that is affirming, and yet, with 60 classes, you're gonna find something that will equip you and that will propel you as well.
[00:15:52] Christopher: A hundred percent. That's only a few weeks away from when this goes out.
[[00:15:55] Christopher: And you can find out more about WriterCon at writercon.org. And if you use [[00:16:00] the special code, WEAREWRITERS you get I think $50 off or something like that.
[00:16:04] Gena: You said writer con.org does it? I know it's writer con.com. Oh, that's right.
[[00:16:08] Christopher: It used to be write con.org. I think either one will get you there.
[[00:16:10] Christopher: Do writer con.com. Make sure just to be safe. Whoops. Yeah. Do that. But then you use the coupon code WEAREWRITERS.
[00:16:17] Gena: Now, Laurel, what's on the horizon for you? What's coming or what's new with you?
[00:16:24] Laurel: I am so excited that I have been working on a new novel called, Her Name is Gatekeeper, and it's just out of a question that I had and actually that I've had for a number of years.
[00:16:36] Laurel: We'll talk about that a little bit later, but I've been having a lot of fun crafting it and as an artist reminding myself that it's okay to have uncertainty in this journey of storytelling because you're gonna have to have a certain amount of discovery. And so anyway I love the discovery aspect of writing a [00:17:00] novel and I'm excited about how that's shaping into Her Name Is Gatekeeper.
[00:17:04] Gena: That's awesome.
[00:17:05] Christopher: That's awesome. And we know you've got a current book, Stones of Promise, which is out right now on Amazon and wherever good books are sold, as well as you can find your other books there too. And so if you want to get into some just really good fiction, you want to check out Laurel's books.
[00:17:18] Gena: Definitely. Thank you so much for coming and being with us today, Laurel, we cannot wait to see you at Writer Con. We're so excited to see you face to face. We always are. We get so excited to come and visit with you.
[00:17:32] Gena: If you have enjoyed this podcast, we hope that you will rate, review, subscribe, and share it with a friend or someone in your writing group or someone or a who you think, or someone that, that you think that person is a writer, they just don't know it yet.
[[00:17:50] Gena: Definitely share it with them because labels aside, I love how laurel has talked about writing in the sense of being an artist. And [[00:18:00] so if you are an artist who just happens to use words, definitely share this with that person and enjoy it.
[[00:18:08] Christopher: Yeah. And remember, hey, writing is not a solitary venture because
[00:18:12] Gena: Or it shouldn't be.
[00:18:13] Christopher: It shouldn't be because
[[00:18:14] Gena: Together we have writing momentum.
[00:18:16] Christopher: Bye. Bye y'all.
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