7 Things You Can Do To Be More Authentic in Your Writing
Authenticity is about being truthful with yourself. It simply feels good to be authentic. I often see business owners and creatives shy away from showing up to the page and sharing their writing at all because they’re worried about feeling inauthentic.
No one wants to show up feeling fake, especially if you’re an empath.
There are some fantastic ways to make sure you come across as inauthentic:
Edit your writing obsessively
Compare your writing to others
Spend more time thinking about writing than practicing your writing
Copy others’ work
These are low-vibe ways to ensure your writing will not only feel gross to write, but your reader will also feel gross. And it won’t connect.
If you’re looking for ways to be more authentic in everything you write, from blog content to your website to your books, here are seven things you can play with:
1. Be true to yourself and your experiences.
Authentic writing starts with being a real human. Before you can show up as fully you on the page, ask if you’re fully yourself everywhere in your life. Because readers can tell, there’s no point in pretending to be someone you aren’t. One of my favorite free ways to make sure I’m being authentic is inside morning pages. The person in those early morning musings, pre-raw cacao latte, is me. Use morning pages as a daily practice to explore yourself more deeply.
2. Know your writing voice is going to change.
Business owners sometimes hesitate to share their writing because they’re worried that their opinions will change in the future. Here’s the thing — there’s a good chance they will. There are things on my blog I no longer believe in, books and authors I no longer recommend, and even some stuff in my book that I no longer align with. We’re changing, shifting, growing, and evolving all the time. Your readers might connect with your previous work, or they may prefer your latest writing. It’s okay to say, “I believe this instead now. Here’s why … ” We’re always learning. You’re a different person than you were five years ago — well, I hope so anyway. Your writing will change, too.
3. Let the words fall out—no forcing
If your writing feels forced, it’s likely because of one of a few things. You’re trying to come across as someone you aren’t, you’re thinking too much, or you’re editing as you write. Writing is a process of release. It’s complete surrender at the page. When you sense yourself pushing, pause, take a step back from the page, and ask yourself — who is this? You may need to step away from your writing and come back to it. Shift to writing morning pages for a few minutes, or do some stream-of-consciousness writing before you come back to writing.
4. Let go of the idea of perfection
It’s an unproductive goal that leads creatives to stress, anxiety, and self-doubt. Not to mention that perfectionists often hide their work from the world, never hitting publish. Instead of aiming for perfection, embrace the fact that you’re human and that your writing will be better for it. The best books, blogs, and sales pages have flaws. I’ve seen million-dollar programs have typos on their sales pages. Most people won’t notice. And those who do notice… professional writers — and not even all the time. If I’m looking for a solution to a problem and believe you can help me, I’ll happily keep reading your sales page because of a typo.
I’ve invested thousands of dollars in life-changing programs that had clunky grammar. Consider if you want clients like that, too. I’ve had people point out my mistakes in the past; some even added urgency, “As a writing coach, you can’t have mistakes in your writing!” Wrong. I can, and I do. My writing isn’t perfect, and I don’t teach this crazy unrealistic exception to my clients and writing community students either.
5. Run your writing through an authenticity filter
When you come to the page, your ego is gone, and you let the words fall out without thinking — you’re likely showing up authentically. No pushing, proving, or forcing. It’s when we hit the editing phase that we tend to overthink, let our ego creep in, and push authenticity into the background. As you write and edit, ask yourself if you’re trying to control what your reader thinks of you. If you’re trying to control it, drop your pencil and take that step back before returning to the page.
6. Articulate emotions
To be authentic in your writing is to tap into the emotions present in your story. As you’re writing, think about how you felt, how you’re feeling now, and what thoughts were running through your mind as you retell an experience. Emotions connect. Readers can sense honest feelings. Make sure you’re honoring and processing your emotions as they come up — especially if you’re doing the inner work (you’re doing the inner healing work, right?) To get and stay in touch with your emotions, start with morning pages. By doing morning pages or journaling regularly, you'll process your emotions on the page. You’re moving stuck emotions and energy out of your head onto a page — where you can burn said pages at your next campfire.
7. Tap into your confident, intuitive writer.
Confidence is everything when it comes to authenticity in writing. Readers can tell when you’re faking it, but they also have difficulty connecting with you if you don’t sound like yourself while writing. Readers want to connect with your words, but they can only do that if they unconsciously sense that you wrote them. Being authentic is more important than trying to impress others. Focus on being true to yourself and your experiences, and confidence will follow. The only way to achieve writing confidence is through practice. Show up again and again.
Writing authentically is what we all want as soulful entrepreneurs. And if your heart is in the right place, you’re doing your inner work; you can show up to the page as a clear vessel allowing what wants to come through, come through.
It takes consistent practice, and showing up fully authentic and aligned in all your writing (and your life) is so worth it.
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