Gratitude is a powerful magnet — what you appreciate multiplies.
Daily gratitude shifts focus from lack to abundance. In writing, this means acknowledging small victories: finishing a paragraph, learning from edits, or submitting a query. Gratitude keeps momentum alive even when the road is long and can help you keep things in perspective when frustration sets in.
Something like:
“I’m grateful I wrote 500 words today.”
“I appreciate the feedback from my critique group.”
“I’m grateful for my writing community.”
“I’m grateful for the creativity I’ve been gifted.”
Try This: Keep a daily gratitude journal just for writing. If you already keep a writing journal, you can incorporate gratitude there. If you don’t, start a new journal to fill with gratitude. What writer would turn down the opportunity to buy yet another notebook? Not me! List 3 things every day that you’re thankful for, no matter how small and take a moment to really feel it. Feel the warm glow that gratitude ignites within you. Notice how it changes your energy. At the end of the year, flip through your gratitude journal and let the positive energy there energize you for the next year. Notice where you may have just been going through the motions and where you can plainly see you were truly and deeply grateful.
Gratitude isn’t passive reflection — it fuels creativity and resilience. Feel free to share some of your gratitude entries in the comments. I’ll bet there are others with similar entries!
Imposter syndrome is every writer’s shadow. Self doubt is always just a thought away. Affirmations shine a light on the path forward. It’s not just woo-woo stuff. Affirmations are more than motivational phrases — they are tools for rewiring your beliefs. Repeating empowering statements primes your subconscious to accept them as truth.
Something like:
“I am a creative channel; stories flow through me effortlessly.”
“Readers are waiting for my words.”
“Opportunities for publication come to me naturally.”
Try this: Write 3 personalized affirmations for yourself. Repeat them each morning and before writing sessions for thirty days. Feel the words as if they are already true and visualize what that would look like in detail. At the end of the thirty days, evaluate how these affirmation landed and whether they were effective. You may have to make adjustments to get the wording just right for you. Remember the universe is waiting for your command so it can bring it to you as fast as possible.
The stories you tell yourself set the stage for the stories you create. The choice is, and always has been, yours. There’s no such thing as “writer’s block” only blockages of flow, which affirmations can help you remove. Share your affirmations in the comments. Maybe you might have the magic spark that helps someone else get into creative flow.
Every bestselling novel began as an idea in someone’s mind. Many people don’t get beyond the idea. Your writing career can begin the same way but better — with clarity and visualization.
Let’s take a look at the numbers. The odds of you finishing the writing of and publishing you book are often quoted as follows:
Only 3% of people who set out to write a novel actually finish a novel. To put that into context, the USA (pop 332M) is about 4% the population of the world (8B).
Less than 0.1% of people ever write a book, so we’re down from a worldwide population of 8B to 8M. That’s equivalent to New York City. It’s still a lot of people, but think of it like this: in the entire world, 7,992,000,000 will never write a single book.
The odds of getting a book traditionally published is around 1-2%.
The average traditionally published book sells around 3,000 copies over its lifetime, and less than 500 the first year.
A PUBLISHER breaks even on a $10,000 advance by selling around 1,000 copies. There are a lot of variables at play here, but an AUTHOR earns out on a $10,000 advance by selling more than 5,000 copies. Less than 25% of books “earn out” their advance.
What about best sellers? These numbers are clouded in secrecy but one estimation is that a book has to sell at least 10,000 copies during the FIRST WEEK to even have a shot at the NYT Best Seller list. Something like 0.08% of books published in the US annually (300,000) make the US Best Seller lists. To break this down, you have a better chance of winning the lotto (1 in 300M) and being struck by lightning twice (1 in 9M) than writing a book, getting it traditionally published, and making the Best Sellers list.
Sound discouraging? It shouldn’t. If you’ve finished a book you may already be in an elite class of only 3% of all the people who start a novel and actually finish it. If you’ve been traditionally published you may already be breathing even more rarified air.
Even so, almost any author will tell you that every book feels like writing for the first time. Many of us call it “imposter syndrome”. This is where visualization comes in. Visualization is mental rehearsal. When you picture your ideal writing life, your mind treats it as reality, preparing you for opportunities and because your mind treats all input as true, negative visualizations can bring negative influences, let these pass on by. They’re not for you.
There’s lots of ways to use visualization to create a writing life to help you succeed.
You can use: A vision board Journal prompts Mantras Meditations (guided or your own) And more, find what works for you at this time
Try This: picture yourself at a writing retreat picture yourself opening a shipping box and holding your published book imagine you’re doing a wildly successful book signing event Imagine readers and fans reacting positively to your work Imagine yourself as a best-selling author
Make your visualizations as detailed and vivid as possible. What are you teaching at the writing retreat? Who are you be hanging out with? Look at your hands note every detail then imagine them holding your book. Whose familiar faces do you see at your book signing cheering you on? FEEL the feeling of seeing that best seller tag on your book on Amazon, or the writeup about your best-selling book on Publishers Weekly.
Exercise: Create a mini or digital vision board using magazine cutouts, Pinterest, or sketches. Include writing spaces, book covers, and images that represent the lifestyle you want. If you make the digital version, use the image as the wallpaper on your laptop or desktop.
When you clearly see your destination, the universe speeds towards you with what you need and desire to move you to your desired destination. You’ll notice new people who bring knowledge you need, events that put you on the path to your dreams and in the path of people who will be instrumental in your success; your vision board coming to life. Comment below about how you’re using visualization in your life.
The Law of Attraction for Writers — What It Is and Why It Matters
Many writers dream of seeing their name on a book cover, signing copies, finishing a manuscript, maybe even becoming a speaker. but doubt creeps in. What if the secret to manifesting that dream isn’t just hard work but aligning your mindset first? What would happen if you expected these things instead of dreaming of them?
The Law of Attraction (LOA) teaches that what you focus on expands. That means your thoughts, beliefs, and feelings influence the opportunities and creativity that flow into your life. In writing, LOA isn’t about wishful thinking — it’s about consciously shaping your mindset to create real results.
Examples Include:
Daydreaming a successful book launch primes your brain to recognize opportunities.
Positive self-talk like “I am capable of finishing this story” increases productivity.
Opening to letting the higher power, universe, or random parts of reality lining up.
Knowing that success is working hard to find you.
Try this: Spend five minutes today writing down one scene you imagine finishing perfectly. Feel the satisfaction as if it’s real.
Your writing life starts in your mind. Master it there, and reality follows.
This is the first installment in a ten-part series of short, actionable things you can do to create a mindset that can help you achieve the writing life you’ve dreamed of. Each Monday a new post will drop with a new focus and a new lesson in positive flow for writers.
K.A. Olgren Stories 'n' More 