Growth Mindset: What It Is and How It Can Boost Your Writing Life
I work at the Writing Center at my college. Every so often, there will be a specific topic that start showing up in every. single. paper. I think there must be some kind of system where Harvard comes out with a new piece of research, and then this research trickles down to the community college level, and then every professor decides that this is an essential piece of information that they must spread throughout their entire classroom. I'm not quite sure how it works, but I'm not a fan.
The most recent fad in education is what's called "growth mindset." I'm not exaggerating when I say that, within the last 8 months, I've read at least 50 papers that have either completely focused on, or heavily mentioned, growth mindset. Yesterday I thought to myself: "If I have to read one more paper about growth mindset, I will slide underneath this table and refuse to come back out until my boss gives me a raise."
But then I thought: "Hey. I can write a blog post about this and make everyone else have to hear about growth mindset." Besides, after having read so many papers on the topic, I'm practically an expert.
So, how can having a growth mindset help you become a better writer? And how can writing this blog post help me purge my brain of all of the unwanted information I have on this topic? Let's find out:
What is growth mindset?
Before describing growth mindset, I have to discuss fixed mindset. Basically, fixed mindset is when an individual thinks that their skill sets, personality traits, and characteristics (such as talent or intelligence) are fixed traits. They believe that these skillsets cannot be further developed. Furthermore, people with a fixed mindset tend to believe that you are born with a certain amount of talent, and that talent dictates what areas you can and cannot be successful in.
Growth mindset is the opposite of fixed mindset. Super helpful, I know. Let me explain:
People with growth mindset know that their skill sets, personality traits, and talents can all be grown with time and practice. They also know that you don't have to be naturally talented at something in order to be good at it.
Now, in case you're wondering: No, this isn't a revolutionary idea. This concept of work vs innate talent has existed for a long time. However, it was just given a shiny new name, thus the push for discussing it in college circles. Ah, the joys of academia.
Anyway, it's still a good topic to discuss, especially when we connect it to writing, so let's keep talking:
How is the growth mindset connected to writing?
It is very easy to get frustrated and depressed with your writing process. When we writers get frustrated, we easily slip into a fixed mindset (even if we're the type of people who generally has a growth mindset). We start thinking things like:
"This story is terrible."
"I'm not good at this."
"I'm never going to be able to finish this story."
We get caught in a toxic line of thinking. The more we allow ourselves to think these kinds of things, the harder it is to remain positive and realistic about our writing goals.
That's where growth mindset comes in. It's important for us to foster a positive thinking process in order to allow us to boost our writing projects while staying mentally healthy.
How do I develop a growth mindset?
So many ways:
1. Identify your weak spots. Every writer is insecure about different things. Some are insecure about their writing voices, some are insecure about their ability to market, some are insecure about how slowly they publish their stories. Some writers get insecure at very specific times: during drafting, during editing, during a story launch. It's different for everyone. It's important for you to figure out what makes your mind goes south so that you can be on guard during these times.
2. Be honest. Fixed mindset is an innately dishonest thought process. You have to constantly train yourself to be honest. When you think things like: "This story is terrible," you have to make sure to add on sentences like: "But I can fix." Because you can. It may take a while, but you can, and that is the honest truth. Phrases like "I'm not good at this" suddenly turn into "I'm not good at this yet." Whenever you feel the lies creeping in, you have to make sure to combat them with the honest versions. The more you practice adding on words like "yet" and "I can," the closer you are to locking yourself into a growth mindset.
3. Look back at your old writing. When you find yourself thinking that you'll never get better at being a writer, go back and sample some of your old pieces of writing. Compared to your newer work, they're pretty bad, aren't they? Clearly, you've come a very long way. This is definitive proof that you can grow as a writer, which further helps dislodge the fixed mindset from your brain.
4. Don't compare yourself to other writers. One of the problems with comparing yourself to other riders is that, because you aren't inside the other writer's head and privy to their entire writing process, all you see is what you deem to be their "talent." You then make the assumption that they are more talented than you are, and that you cannot ever reach the point that they are at. Growth mindset is all about recognizing that talent has very little to do with success. However, if you're constantly incorrectly measuring other people's "talent" against yours, you'll find yourself locking yourself into a fixed mindset. I wrote an entire blog post about how to not compare yourself to other writers, so you may want to check that out.
5. Work hard. You can't simply rely on talent to get you where you want to go. Because here's the thing: You may not be naturally talented at writing. Ooof. That thought hurts, doesn't it?
Well, it shouldn't. Because here's the thing: Talent doesn't matter in the long-run. Writing, like everything else, is a skillset that can be developed over time. It just takes a lot of practice and thought. The more you work on writing, the more you will be able to see your improvement. This improvement will reinforce the entire concept of growth mindset: You can (and will) grow in whatever area you work on.
Now here's the fun thing about growth mindset: You can't just develop it overnight. You have to work at it. If you are trapped in the fixed mindset, you're going to have to spend a decent amount of time deprogramming yourself. The time and effort is absolutely worth it.
And there you have it. I have successfully gotten that information off of my chest. Hopefully you've learned something. Had you ever heard of growth and fixed mindset before? Which mindset do you have and how do you think it affects your writing life?
Related articles:
9 Tips for Maintaining Mental Health as a Writer5 Steps to Fighting Off Writer's Insecurity
8 Non-Writing Activities to Help With Your Creative Process
Enjoy this post? Take a look around. If you like what you see, please don't forget to subscribe by email for a new post every week!
Some links are Amazon affiliate links. Thank you for your support.
The most recent fad in education is what's called "growth mindset." I'm not exaggerating when I say that, within the last 8 months, I've read at least 50 papers that have either completely focused on, or heavily mentioned, growth mindset. Yesterday I thought to myself: "If I have to read one more paper about growth mindset, I will slide underneath this table and refuse to come back out until my boss gives me a raise."
But then I thought: "Hey. I can write a blog post about this and make everyone else have to hear about growth mindset." Besides, after having read so many papers on the topic, I'm practically an expert.
So, how can having a growth mindset help you become a better writer? And how can writing this blog post help me purge my brain of all of the unwanted information I have on this topic? Let's find out:
What is growth mindset?
Before describing growth mindset, I have to discuss fixed mindset. Basically, fixed mindset is when an individual thinks that their skill sets, personality traits, and characteristics (such as talent or intelligence) are fixed traits. They believe that these skillsets cannot be further developed. Furthermore, people with a fixed mindset tend to believe that you are born with a certain amount of talent, and that talent dictates what areas you can and cannot be successful in.
Growth mindset is the opposite of fixed mindset. Super helpful, I know. Let me explain:
People with growth mindset know that their skill sets, personality traits, and talents can all be grown with time and practice. They also know that you don't have to be naturally talented at something in order to be good at it.
Now, in case you're wondering: No, this isn't a revolutionary idea. This concept of work vs innate talent has existed for a long time. However, it was just given a shiny new name, thus the push for discussing it in college circles. Ah, the joys of academia.
Anyway, it's still a good topic to discuss, especially when we connect it to writing, so let's keep talking:
How is the growth mindset connected to writing?
It is very easy to get frustrated and depressed with your writing process. When we writers get frustrated, we easily slip into a fixed mindset (even if we're the type of people who generally has a growth mindset). We start thinking things like:
"This story is terrible."
"I'm not good at this."
"I'm never going to be able to finish this story."
We get caught in a toxic line of thinking. The more we allow ourselves to think these kinds of things, the harder it is to remain positive and realistic about our writing goals.
That's where growth mindset comes in. It's important for us to foster a positive thinking process in order to allow us to boost our writing projects while staying mentally healthy.
How do I develop a growth mindset?
So many ways:
1. Identify your weak spots. Every writer is insecure about different things. Some are insecure about their writing voices, some are insecure about their ability to market, some are insecure about how slowly they publish their stories. Some writers get insecure at very specific times: during drafting, during editing, during a story launch. It's different for everyone. It's important for you to figure out what makes your mind goes south so that you can be on guard during these times.
2. Be honest. Fixed mindset is an innately dishonest thought process. You have to constantly train yourself to be honest. When you think things like: "This story is terrible," you have to make sure to add on sentences like: "But I can fix." Because you can. It may take a while, but you can, and that is the honest truth. Phrases like "I'm not good at this" suddenly turn into "I'm not good at this yet." Whenever you feel the lies creeping in, you have to make sure to combat them with the honest versions. The more you practice adding on words like "yet" and "I can," the closer you are to locking yourself into a growth mindset.
3. Look back at your old writing. When you find yourself thinking that you'll never get better at being a writer, go back and sample some of your old pieces of writing. Compared to your newer work, they're pretty bad, aren't they? Clearly, you've come a very long way. This is definitive proof that you can grow as a writer, which further helps dislodge the fixed mindset from your brain.
4. Don't compare yourself to other writers. One of the problems with comparing yourself to other riders is that, because you aren't inside the other writer's head and privy to their entire writing process, all you see is what you deem to be their "talent." You then make the assumption that they are more talented than you are, and that you cannot ever reach the point that they are at. Growth mindset is all about recognizing that talent has very little to do with success. However, if you're constantly incorrectly measuring other people's "talent" against yours, you'll find yourself locking yourself into a fixed mindset. I wrote an entire blog post about how to not compare yourself to other writers, so you may want to check that out.
5. Work hard. You can't simply rely on talent to get you where you want to go. Because here's the thing: You may not be naturally talented at writing. Ooof. That thought hurts, doesn't it?
Well, it shouldn't. Because here's the thing: Talent doesn't matter in the long-run. Writing, like everything else, is a skillset that can be developed over time. It just takes a lot of practice and thought. The more you work on writing, the more you will be able to see your improvement. This improvement will reinforce the entire concept of growth mindset: You can (and will) grow in whatever area you work on.
Now here's the fun thing about growth mindset: You can't just develop it overnight. You have to work at it. If you are trapped in the fixed mindset, you're going to have to spend a decent amount of time deprogramming yourself. The time and effort is absolutely worth it.
And there you have it. I have successfully gotten that information off of my chest. Hopefully you've learned something. Had you ever heard of growth and fixed mindset before? Which mindset do you have and how do you think it affects your writing life?
Related articles:
9 Tips for Maintaining Mental Health as a Writer5 Steps to Fighting Off Writer's Insecurity
8 Non-Writing Activities to Help With Your Creative Process
Enjoy this post? Take a look around. If you like what you see, please don't forget to subscribe by email for a new post every week!
Some links are Amazon affiliate links. Thank you for your support.
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