What is the advantage of being an author? Do you ever get the feeling that, as authors, people think our most useful skills are spelling out and defining words, and spotting grammatical errors on Facebook? Shockingly enough, our writing skills extend well beyond being walking wordsmiths.

Here are some other advantages we have in our daily lives as authors:

Story: We have an innate understanding of story. We can sense rising and falling tension, imminent plot twists, character motivations, struggles and their resolutions, and so much more. What might be a mystifying life event to a non-author, makes perfect sense to us. We have a handle on why people do what they do and, based on our understanding of plot lines, how it will likely turn out. This type of secret knowledge seems unfair sometimes!

Empathy: As hinted at above, because of our deep understanding of characters, we have a window into people and why they do the things we do (and self-help wise – why WE do the things we do!). Armed with such an understanding, it’s much easier to connect with other people’s point of view and show empathy for them, rather than judging them.

Talking: As authors and storytellers we have a natural fascination with dialogue (and if we don’t we should!). We love observing how people talk, the things they say, and the true meaning behind their words. This helps us get to the heart of situations better and faster and I like to think it makes us better conversationalists too!

Big Ideas: We have the ability to take seeds of ideas and, activating our imagination, grow those idea seeds into endless forests. If you want to turn a plastic bag floating in the wind, into an entire story about the meaning of life and all its beauty – see an author.

I love the versatility of skills I’ve gained over the years as a professional author. They serve me in all areas of my life, from being an entrepreneur, where big thinking and understanding how to architect big stories is required, to the storytelling involved in my routines as a circus performer.

Where in your life and business can YOU use your author skills to your advantage?

Chime in at my private Ink Authors group on Facebook!