We Are Not Competitors

Instead of looking at other writers as competitors fighting each other for work, we should start to see each other as colleagues.

Photo by GR Stocks on Unsplash

Author Chuck Wendig recently tweeted a call for kindness among other writers. His statement, while overly simplistic, is worth amplifying and repeating over and over again.

Writing is often a solitary experience. Aside from my online groups and client calls, I spend most of my day with my four-legged coworker. When I’m in periods of client searching or between projects, it’s easy to look at Twitter feeds and newsletters from other writers and get jealous. Sometimes it gets in my head and makes me wonder why I didn’t land that gig or achieve that success.

Here’s the thing, though. Roughly 100% of the time, I didn’t apply for that writing gig or didn’t even know about it. There are SO MANY writing jobs and clients in the world that one writer’s success does not lead to another’s failure. Instead of looking at each other as competitors fighting each other for work, we should start to see each other as colleagues.

Instead of getting jealous or angry at other writers for their success, let’s reframe and celebrate their accomplishments. It creates a sense of comradely and, as Chuck Wendig requests, kindness among peers…