‘Be authentic’ is crap advice for writers

Most of us want our writing to connect emotionally with our readers.

When they engage, they are more likely to share our work, buy our products down the line, and come back for more.

When we think about writing more engaging words, the standard advice is to be authentic.

This is absolutely true.

The last thing your writing needs is for it to be comparable to some slop produced by an emotionless Chat GPT-esque robot.

You want your words to come alive and feel like they flowed out of an actual human.

That’s how people relate and connect.

That’s what excellent writing is all about.

And so many of us equate authenticity with good writing.

But here’s where there is often a disconnect:

We take authenticity and take it to mean ‘being ourselves.’

But what does ‘be yourself’ really mean? It’s a non-phrase.

None of us have a single personality that defines us. You know this yourself because your personality shifts and morphs like waves at a beach, depending on your environment.

So play with the strange beauty of this.

You can bend and flex and shape your personality.

Your writing is the ideal environment in which to play like this. Because writing absolutely IS play when done right.

Play with the larger-than-life version of you.

Lean out of the boat and skim the water with your fingertips.

Don’t just ‘be yourself.’

Be who you want to be because that choice entails having fun, entertaining people and knocking people over the head with a wet fish.

You want to stand out. You want to see yourself as a fun friend for the person you’re writing for.

Allow your personality to evolve through your writing. And do it with a view to improving other people’s lives and making them FEEL something in their chest when you’re done with them.

Don’t just be yourself.

• Be a nutcase.

• Be a brooding poet.

• Be a little over the top sometimes (or always).

• Be a raving disciple of your own ideas.

How do you know when you’re getting it right?

Don’t ask me.

Publish your words and watch what flies…

The catch is that writing as a larger-than-life version of yourself takes a specific kind of nerve. You have to be willing to look a bit odd, care less about the people who don't get it, and back yourself when the usual voice in your head is telling you to tone it down.

That's a self-respect thing, and it's the thing most writers never quite solve.

The Art of Self-Respect is the book I wrote around this exact shift. In it you get 25 daily habits that rebuild how you see yourself, so you stop shrinking your personality to keep everyone comfortable.

Grab the book bundle here.

Peace and wet fish,

Alex