How To Become An Authority As A Writer

New to your business, as a writer, or in your industry? This article gives you some advice on how to become an authority in your field.

How to become an Authority as a Writer

I came across an article I penned at the start of my writing career, my first book was about to be published and I was just starting my platform. I was at the muddle through a phase, which I’m sure we never really get out of if we’re honest. What is the muddle through phase? It’s that time in your life where you really have no idea what you’re doing, but somehow you move forward and get your legs.

When we first begin our platform, whether it is your writers, business, blog platform, it is a daunting task. Who am I? What do I want my readers to learn from me? Do I really have anything interesting to tell them?

I’m Here to Tell You That You Do

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We are all an authority on something, but we do need to get our sea legs under us, so to speak! Below is an exert from that article written five years ago, I find it encouraging to see how much I’ve grown since then.

Becoming an authority

I can be an authority on about anything, just ask my kids…

Hey mom, what’s the tallest building in the world. Where’s my shoes? What is my grade-point average (we homeschooled)? Where’d I put my keys that you just gave me and told me not to lose? You get the picture. Even other moms would ask me questions about how I homeschooled, I was quick to answer with an amazing response of which books we used, or how we scheduled our day.

I felt secure that I was an authority on homeschooling.

But, when it came to writing, I often felt that others knew so much more than I… They wrote awesome books, created amazing blogs, had the biggest twitter following in the universe, while I at the time had only written a book (all be it a great book). I felt I hadn’t gained the expertise or know-how to be an authority.

Seems I Hadn’t Yet Found My Author’s Voice

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So, I set my mind on it, as we writers do, pondering what I wanted to say.

After a few days, it turned out I did know a thing or two. I’d, after all, written a book from start to finish. It was my book, who else could be an authority on it except me?

So how can you be an authority? You will have to find your own way, of course, we all do, but I can give you some pointers.

Since then, I’ve gone on to write five more books and landed an awesome agent. I feel much more comfortable in being an authority on writing, BUT there is always more to learn. If you aren’t learning, you aren’t growing. So here is my list, it’s going to constantly be changing, just like we should be!

Work From What You Know

Find your footing – what vast knowledge do you have? Start there.

Be Real, Be Transparent

I once went to an intimate in-home concert with some Grammy winners I’d idolized most of my adult life. Only around thirty people were in attendance and what struck me was that these guys were real, they were honest, they were transparent. Immediately, I knew this is how you connect with your audience. They didn’t hide behind their name, they shared raw details of their life.

If You Don’t Know the Answer, Look It Up

Almost every question can be answered among the internet’s invisible walls. (I speak from experience.) BUT remember not everything on the internet is TRUE. (I speak from experience.)

Treat Others with Professionalism

Courtesy goes a long way in anything. We’ve all watched someone get too big for their britches, and a fall from grace soon follows.

Never Talk Down to Your Audience

Contrived Platitudes

Make Your Opinion Count for Something

But remember, your opinion is just that, your opinion.

Be Humble

(No one, repeat, no one likes a know it all!)

Keep Learning

Always learn something new

It Takes Time

Don’t rush it, but ease into it, like your favorite stretchy pants. They’ll fit.

sonia poynter / Via soniapoynter.com

Sonia Poynter is a professional freelance writer for hire, blogger, and author. She writes books with a common thread of wonder. She found that golden string under the crumpled leaves of her favorite tree when she was but a child, since then she has been unraveling it and weaving it onto the pages of her books. Her first book, The Last Stored, was published in 2015 with Anaiah Press. Since then she has gone on to write many other manuscripts and articles.

Sona Bubblegum

Her vivid imagination often got her into trouble throughout school, but as an adult, she learned to cultivate that creativity into world-building, and storytelling. For more than twenty years, she worked with teens and young adults as a youth leader, speaker, camp organizer, event planner, and homeschooling teacher. She is a mother of three children and married to her high school sweetheart. At the age of five, her son was diagnosed with autism, which ultimately led her to homeschool all their children. Now grown, she often advises others on how to navigate the tricky waters of raising kids with autism. Their oldest teaches in China, and the youngest is a CBS TV reporter, while her son surpassed even her goals by marrying the love of his life, workes as a receiving manager, and the couple has a baby boy.

She has written many books, owned her own small cleaning and organizing business, and writes about being a mom of an autistic son while juggling school, writing, work, caring for her elderly mother, and traveling.