Before you start writing 1.0

Things I wish I knew before I became an Author

Author

Ugonne Ann Okonkwo
June 12, 2023

Happy New Month Fam. How crazy is it that we are already in the 6th month of 2023 and almost halfway through it? Good God. This year will not pass us by. We will make the most of our time and invest it wisely in Jesus’ name. Say Amen! Before I get into the main letter, I want to invite you to join the waitlist for my signature coaching program starting soon. The Birthing Bootcamp is for young women who want to partner with God to discover, birth, and deploy an assignment for him in this season. This is specially tailored for visionaries who want to become authors, writers, coaches and creators. Click on this link to join the waitlist. http://bit.ly/BBC2

Guilt leaks grace

I started this month with some struggles that basically inspired this section of the letter. Are you feeling some way, loaded down by guilt because of one thing or the other that you've done in the past or something that you just keep trying to correct in your life and you're not just successful? Listen, I feel led to remind you that this is not who you are. Don't let the enemy Guilt-trip you with lies because guilt leaks grace.  

Yet through his powerful declaration of acquittal, God freely gives away his righteousness. His gift of love and favor now cascades over us, all because Jesus, the Anointed One, has liberated us from the guilt, punishment, and power of sin!

Romans 3:24 TPT

According to the scriptures, Jesus has set us free from the guilt that we should be feeling about addiction, fornication, lust, gluttony, lies, etc. God is so crazy loving and kind that he set us free and because we stand on the faithfulness of Jesus, God declares us righteous in his eyes! All we need to do is to yield to him. Yield your life to the Lord by putting your faith in Christ, and shifting your focus from what you do to what God does. Be free!

Writing is a big deal

Now, let me tell you some things I wish I fully understood before stepping into this authorship space. The truth is that I love writing and I thought this month will be a great time to unpack my author journey and help someone congoing into the writing space, a new author or even the OG's. For as long as I can remember, I was one of those people that would always feel like I didn't exactly have a clear gift or talent.

I know how I would look at and admire people that sing and dance so well. When I started to sing in the Choir in secondary school, I genuinely thought I'll go for project fame in the future. But then I’ll hear my classmate, Ifeyinwa Onoh, casually singing and be like, “Nah! Not gonna happen”.

Or was it dancing? Oh my goodness! I love watching people that can dance so well. I would have probably chosen dancing if you asked me a few years ago to choose a talent. I used to think it was the coolest thing in the world till I discovered that writing is a superpower.

Writing is one heck of a talent. It is valuable in heaven and on earth. There's tremendous power in piecing words together to communicate. Jesus probably sang and danced in this life but he wasn't called the song or the dance, he was called "the word". Everything starts and ends with a word.

The ability to capture your thoughts into words and create something out of them is godlike.

Fam, don't joke with it. It can change your life forever. I'm not even joking. Stop looking down on what you have and receive it with new eyes and perspective.

God loves writers because that’s how he passes down his counsel from age to age. The power, the authority, the wisdom, the Kingdom, and the thoughts of god, has been passed down and preserved from generation to generation because of writers like you and me. It is such a big deal because writing is the foundation of literally everything. Content, Music, The Internet, and Video in all its varied forms and expressions are all in writing. If you've ever written something tangible or you are sensing in your heart that that's your next step, adjust your crown, sit tight on that throne, and own it with your full chest because you are a big deal.

Become a thought leader

This is especially important if you want to write a book. Start sharing your thoughts, perspectives, and processes with the world. As Tolu Michael said in the podcast, “Thought leaders have thoughts”. Thought leaders are those whose thoughts are influential. It's one thing to know but It's another thing to be able to influence people with what you know. What are your thoughts on a specific topic or a specific area that you want to share? What is your perspective? What are your beliefs? Start sharing these things today.

This was how I started off my journey as an author. I started a blog back in 2017 and as I shared about my pregnancy journey, it got really popular. The blog post “Motherhood, the game changer” ‘became the premise for my book. Don't be afraid about sharing your thoughts in writing. Start with a Tweet, a caption, or a Facebook post. Write on medium, start a blog, or write newsletters like me and as you consistently do this, you’ll be surprised to see where it takes you because as I shared earlier, writing is the basis for everything. By the way, you have to listen to Tolu Michaels shared on this topic in our latest podcast. She shared so passionately about :

  • The four anchors of thought leadership

  • The four product pathways we need

  • And your role in birthing with God.

A SNEAK PEEK INTO MY MIND

💃❤𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄'𝙢 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩

Sex education for Christian Families. Guys! This one is a big deal. In this month that world people are doing the most and recruiting for their agenda through gay pride and all, we must rise and protect our children. Come and learn the wisdom, strategies, and tools you need to teach your kids about sex. Even if you have babies and toddlers like me, this one is for all of us. And if you are in the diaspora, this is even much more tailored to you because my CPDE coach lives in Canada. Click on this link to sign up and use the birthing discount code “TBB” to get a 50% discount. Don’t say I didn’t do anything amazing for you o!

🎤🎼 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄'𝙢 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤

The Birthing Visions podcast by Ugonne Ann. Especially this episode with Tolu Michaels. It's a gem. Please, sit with it. You will thank me very well later.

📺📺 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄'𝙢 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜

Prophet Suddenly on YouTube. Please tell me you've watched this movie already. Ahh! If you haven't, leave everything you are doing now and go and watch it. For Apostle Arome to star in a movie, you should know the matter is serious. Watch it and give me the gist. If you've seen it already, what are your thoughts? Hit the reply button.

🙇🙌 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧

The Word of God.  Ever since I can remember, I've had an oscillating relationship with the word of God. Sometimes it's just boring to read myself, other times, I don't have the hunger for it or I'll just rather listen to someone talk about it but as I'm growing in this walk, omo, I'm holding onto the word with my full chest. The darkness is darkening and people are running mad in these streets. The only person/thing I can bank on is the word and I’m eternally grateful for growing hunger and light.

Before I go, I want to ask for your help. Can you please share the podcast links and graphics with your community? I hope to reach 5000 women with the message of “birthing, vision, kingdom, building & partnering with God” and this is how you can help me reach my goal. What a testimony it will be to see more women growing, changing, running with a compelling vision, and living their best lives! Will you do that for me? Click here to copy the link you can share. God bless you as you do!

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