How to expand what you think you are “allowed” to write about

This is a long af post but it’s full of good stuff

In non-fiction writing, we often tell ourselves there are things we aren’t yet ready or qualified to write.

And, if more of the world tempered rampant entitlement like that (or at least tempered it with some legitimate credentials besides, say, simply being a member of an overrepresented group) that would not be the worst thing to happen.

But, today I am speaking to everyone else who has convinced themselves they are somehow not (or not yet) “allowed” to write a big thing they really, really want to write about, for whatever reason.

There is a really fucking great strategy for busting through that kind of resistance and it is this:

To start, consider some of the things you really want to write about but that feel daunting to you for reasons like “I’m not sure I’m qualified” or “who the hell do I think I am?” or “could I even do that?” or even “I’m afraid I’d be out over my skis on that topic.”

I’m not going to tell you to not feel your feelings, but I will always ask you to interrogate your feelings. As such, write about why you feel like those topics are off limits to you, at least for now. Take it topic by topic. Keep this writing/list handy. Call this the “Yes, but” list.

Next, ask yourself, if not these big topics: what topics are you definitely, absolutely ready, qualified and un-fucking-afraid to write about right now? Make that list, too, and note why you know you are qualified and ready to write about each of those things. Call this the “Core” list.

Next, look at your “Core” list and note the things you wrote that make you feel confident about writing about those topics. Perhaps it’s stuff like “a degree on the topic” or “lived experience” or something like that. What ways might you stretch and expand around each of those reasons for confidence just slightly? How can what you know you can confidently write about now be slightly expanded to allow you to confidently write about more? (Example: say you feel totally confident writing about things in the wheelhouse of being a professor in a college English department because that’s what you do, you’ve done it for a while, and you have both undergrad and grad degrees in English. Great. Keep writing about those close topics. But also, might you be able to expand to write more broadly about, say, higher ed in general? Hell yes you can.) Make that expansion list.

Next, compare the reasons for confidence on your “Core” list with the reasons for not writing about topics on your “Yes, but” list. Make some notes about the gap between the two. In addition to expanding each of your “Core” topics a bit, what else might you do to close the gap a bit more? Do you really need another degree or certification? Do you need a co-author with specific expertise you do not have? Note that. (But also read my earlier caution about being very clear on why you might want to co-write, as the literal only reason to do it is to fill in a knowledge gap you do not have. Fear or shared enthusiasm are not good reasons, ever.)

Next, return to your “Yes, but” list and consider the possibility that the reasons you listed for not saying a thing might be powerful tools to bolster your argument and make you all the more effective in the public conversation. Consider that literally naming your hesitation in your writing will make it more powerful.

For example: say you want to write about how asking a busy professional to “get coffee and pick their brain” in a mentorship capacity is a waste of time for everyone. But say you’re thinking, “yeah but ughhhh people are going to be so mad at me and I don’t want to discourage young people because sometimes there is value in that and my colleagues might hate me for saying that and and and…”

Valid.

So, consider naming your hesitation in your work. Like this: “Indeed, it’s important to reach out to potential mentors, and indeed important to be bold in the quest for getting what you want. Yet, in the over-given advice of getting a mentor to agree to a coffee meet-up, we’ve overlooked a critical component that continually backfires: the onus is on the ask-ee to make this go well, and thus, it is essential to be very clear and honest from the start what the purpose of the meeting is.”

Naming the hesitation just made your argument far stronger. And, frankly, took the wind out of the sails of a great deal of external opposition. Call that an “indeed” sentence.

Take a moment and make some notes or go ahead and full-on write some ideas for naming/including your hesitation and anticipated pushback up front in your writing.

Did that move anything from your “Yes, but” list to your “Core” list? Probably at least a few things, for sure.

And, to be sure, there might be some things on your “Yes, but” list with very legitimate reasons for which you might actually want to leave it alone for now. For example, a topic that might out someone in some way, a topic that might harm your child’s privacy later, a topic that might get you arrested or that might cost you your job (unless you want to go out of your job in a blaze of glory, in which case I salute you). Those are completely fair reasons to hold off. ( ← This was an “indeed” paragraph, by the way.)

But, apply “indeed” sentences when resistance comes up and see how you might be able to advance your idea by naming your hesitation rather than being stopped by it. I believe in you. You’ve got this.

In summation:

• Make a “core” list of topics you can confidently write about and name why you are confident with them

• Make a “yes, but” list of topics you want to write about but aren’t sure and name why you aren’t totally confident about writing about them

• Expand your “core” topics

• Examine the gap between “core” and “yes, but” topics and see what might close it

• Practice writing “indeed” sentences/paragraphs to name your hesitation in your writing so that you might write and release your words anyway.

Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash