My Self-Talk as a Writer

I read a very interesting article by Beth Erickson of Filbert Publishing in the newsletter Writing Etc. The article title is What Does Your Self Talk Reveal About Your Writing Career? It started me thinking about my own self-talk, which under ordinary conditions is negative and it gets more so when I am depressed.

The gist of the article is that self-talk becomes self-fulfilling prophecy. The negative talk attracts negative results, which explains many of my problems in the last year. The thing about self-talk is that words become action and the actions can either advance or curtail a writer's career. The words a writer uses in a story or poem is extremely important, but often a writer does not consider the words used in self-talk.

There was a time, when I thought that negative self-talk had to do with modesty; with not putting myself above others or making myself appear better then others. However, that opinion has changed. Negative self-talk has nothing to do with me considering myself better then the rest of human race. Negative self-talk means I feel as if I am less then everyone else.

God created humans equal, with no individual better or worse then the rest of the species, while each individual has different talents that the individual is responsible for developing. All humanity is equal. Negative self-talk makes the individual feel unequal with the rest of humanity.

I am going to take Beth Erickson's advice and monitor my self-talk for the next week. I may have to rewrite the phrases I use about my writing and myself, in order to change the way I talk and think. However, it will mean that I change the talk and become a more positive, successful and happier person. After all positive self-talk will attract positive results and opportunities into my life.