WWN32 : The Secret Power of Gratitude

Well, tomorrow is the American festival of thanksgiving.

So although I am no American, it seemed a good time to unpack what I think is a secret power for improving your writing:

Gratitude.

Of course the day after thanksgiving is a less impressive American festival of crazed consumerism so before we dive in, a Black Friday update:

Beehiiv, the software I use to run the Write Way is offering a huge discount on annual plans. There is no better software you can use to run a newsletter these days. It’s easier to use and more flexible than Substack, cheaper and better-featured than Kit etc. for newsletters and I can highly recommend it to anyone who wants to run a newsletter.

The other alternative if you’re looking for more of a blended style between email lists and newsletter is Kit. I used to use it for years, and their automations are still second-to-none. That said I switched across because they kept adding extra faff to sending my daily email (which I now use BerserkerMail for). But they’re also offering a substantial discount if you’re interested.

Those are the big savers so far. And yes, both are affiliate links so you’ll also be helping keep my pipe filled at no extra cost. Not that my pipe will be empty either way, but I shall be grateful.

Which brings me back to the theme of today’s short newsletter:

The Secret Power of Gratitude!

Gurus like to take the other route.

They laugh at content “normies” who go to work and watch TV in the evenings and are happy about it.

They tell you that you have to be “hungry” to be successful. That the most important thing is always wanting more. Never being satisfied.

This is bullshido that they preach because then you’ll buy their “$350 course that should really be a $50,000 program but we just love you too much” during a manipulative Black Friday sale.

Don’t fall for it.

The greatest writing springs not from hunger but from gratitude.

From being thankful for the world you live in. For the people around you. The gifts you’ve received. The sound of the birds and the smell of the sea. The mountain peaks above you and the soft sand stretching out before you. The warm bed at night and the cool winter air. The good book, the good friend, the good meal.

The greatest writing comes from a full heart, not an empty belly.

And so we practice contentment.

Many great writers have taken the guru route. They’ve sought more and more, trying to scratch the itch inside them. Kafka sought to conquer his discontent through asceticism. Hemingway sought to down it through indulgence.

Both of them died from it.

Many writers who could’ve been great have tarnished their own legacy by reaching for more more more. Or, sadly more often, their successors have milked it to destruction and beyond.

Just look at any recent franchise to see what happens when you keep on going past “enough”.

The key to not making those mistakes is to be grateful.

After all, as I’ve taught you many times before, the truly great writer is the writer who sees best.

And if you’re ungrateful?

You ain’t seeing nothing right!

Because you have so much to be grateful for. So much to fill your heart with, which then overflows into great writing.

If nothing else you have breath in your lungs that you do not deserve and did not earn.

So instead of staring at yourself in the mirror muttering affirmations and dreading the day, take time out to be grateful. Today, tomorrow, take an hour. Sit down. Light your pipe, grab some paper.

Write down what you’re grateful for.

Then over the coming weeks?

Write about that.

Share it with the world.

Not only will you feel a million times better.

But you’ll attract a far better class of customer and reader with a grateful, overflowing attitude than a “I’m out for everything I can get need more more more” guru attitude.

I can promise you that.

And because I believe in taking my own medicine, what am I grateful for?

More things than I can list.

I’m grateful for small mercies like the laptop table I’m typing this on, the warm bed I’m lying in, the return to health after illness.

I’m grateful for big things like the gift of the internet that lets me build this business, for my kids who motivate me every morning, for platforms like X-Twitter and Beehiiv for letting me connect with an audience I could never reach in real life. To platforms like Thrivecart and Stripe for providing the infrastructure I need to run a business.

I’m grateful for guys like Ben Settle, John Bejakovic, Daniel Throssell, Troy Broussard and more for teaching me their ways.

I’m grateful for friends I’ve made on this journey like Wade Skalsky, Kieran Drew, Dakota Robertson, Eddy Quan, TheArtofPurpose, Jim Clair and more.

And I’m grateful to you, dear reader, for tuning in each week to hear my thoughts. For replying and interacting. For buying and learning. For everything you do that makes writing to you so rewarding.

May your pipe be full of good tobacco and your heart full of gratitude this thanksgiving.

Thank you,

James Carran, Craftsman Writer

fin

But not quite fin for the fine folks in Craftsman’s Corner who keep the lights on around here.

For them, I want to say thank you with an offer that will pay their subscription several times over.