Be yourself (Photo credit: chase_elliott)

In developing as a writer and learning the rules and the craft, it’s easy to wake up with an identity crisis.

The publishers demand this. The readers want that. The critics are looking for something else. Does what’s left look anything like you? Who are you really?

I’ve been finding more and more advice lately on how important it is for a writer to be himself or herself. Not that we can scoff at things like craft and audience, but that developing excellence in our writing won’t happen if we’re stifling or masking who we are.

Be yourself. Be honest. Do your best. Take care of your family. Treat people with respect. Be a good citizen. Follow your dreams. (Photo credit: deeplifequotes)

Beth Vogt challenges us to stand out.

From Bonnie Leon: Be Yourself.

At Novel Rocket, Christa Allen tells us to “Follow Your Weirdness,” which I’ve read Jeff Goins advise as well.

And at Chatting at the Sky, Emily P. Freeman calls us to overcome our fear and be ourselves: “You have something we desperately need. I don’t know what it is, but you do.” (One Way to Live Wildly Free)

Finding–and being honest about–who we are is one of the key topics Cecil Murphey addresses in his book, Unleash the Writer Within. You wouldn’t think it’d be so hard!