So I’m finally nearing the end of writing my Miraculous fanfic, and it’s almost 80,000 words. 💀

This passion project has taught me a lesson or two when it comes to following my creative compass and honoring my voice, and I’m deciding to bring what I’ve learned to all parts of what I do as a writer and artist in general. The biggest thing I’ve learned from working on this project is to fully trust my creative vision and my voice without apology. It has allowed me to completely own the crazy and just express myself in whatever way feels the best for me, and doing so has really served me well.

I’ve been running this blog and writing books for awhile, so it’s like, isn’t what I do already authentic?

Well, it is, but I have to confess that my work has been mired in comparison and people-pleasing for awhile. You may not be able to tell, but I can.

I absolutely want to create things that are helpful. However, I’ve also fallen into creating things that I feel half-hearted about or trying to stick to things after the initial excitement is gone for me, all in the name of being “helpful.”

It’s like I’m trying to be helpful from what I think I “should” be doing, instead of being helpful from the space of “this is something that means so much to me that I have to share it!”

So that’s where I am.

Deciding to be true to my inner creative compass is definitely not easy. The pressure of comparison and people pleasing isn’t going anywhere. So for me, taking a step back and intentionally creating spaces and working on projects where I feel free to listen to myself as I actually am has been very helpful. And my fanfic has definitely been that much needed space for me.

So here are some other reasons why I’m choosing to follow my inner creative compass instead of trying to be helpful where I don’t care to be.

It’s just more fun.

It just is. Following whatever I genuinely feel like making brings me so much joy and pleasure, and doing so effortlessly infuses my projects with meaning. I don’t have to overthink things.

What I make simply comes out into the world as it is, and it is beautiful.

I’m less pressured.

So about the comparison and people-pleasing. Trying to be creative from that kind of space creates so much pressure, it can be crushing sometimes.

When I’m overly focused on what others think, I end up second guessing myself so much as I try to create my projects. I think things like:

Will people actually like this?

Am I being too weird?

Should I tone it down a little?

The process of working on my fanfic really amplified this struggle since I’ve been posting the story serially and getting feedback in real time. But the good thing about facing this issue head on is that I’ve gotten much better at refocusing on what I want my finished project to be instead of bending unnecessarily to what I imagine the expectations of others could be.

As a result, not only do I feel more free to express myself, but I also feel like I’m more in tune with my natural timing. I don’t rush my projects just to meet the expectations of others. Instead I give myself the time I need to see my projects through.

I started writing my fanfic back in 2022, and I only started sharing it this year. I’m really happy that I didn’t rush the process or pressure myself, because if I did, I’m not sure if I would feel the same amount of love for this project that I do today. I love my fanfic because it has been such a fun process, and when I finally write “The End,” I will be ready for a much deserved break, but I won’t be completely burnt out.

Trusting and following my inner creative compass reduces the pressures that come with being creative and that leaves space for finding happiness and joy in the journey.

It’s my true voice.

I’ve noticed that when I follow my creative intuition, I am immediately reconnected with my true voice. When I first started writing my fanfic, I was at a little bit of a loss because I hadn’t written any fiction in a long time. I haven’t been reading much fiction either. I almost didn’t know how fiction should sound.

However, I did enjoy the fiction writing master class by Neil Gaiman, and one of the things I appreciate about his writing is that it simply sounds like him. So I decided to go that route with my writing. I decided to write it like I was relating a story to a friend, and out of that came this unique, authentic voice that was undeniably me.

In creating this story I got to dive deep into the essence of my rawest writing voice and doing so has been such an amazing gift. I feel like with my blogging, some posts sound like me and other posts sound like the voice of whatever I’m into at the moment. But this project anchored me so much in the way that I love to express myself, I will NEVER be the same.

I had so much fun exploring how I naturally tell stories and how that sounds when I write–I feel compelled to be more authentic in all of my writing. In fact, I’m even rethinking how I’ve written some of my product pages. These pages…they sometimes sound like me. But other times they are me borrowing from other sales pages by others that I admire. I think this voice borrowing is totally normal, especially when we lack confidence in how we express ourselves.

Yet working on this fanfic project has reminded me of how attractive my authentic creative voice is. People like the way my writing sounds. I don’t need to sound like anyone else but myself.

Authenticity attracts.

I believe at the end of the day, that is what honoring my inner creative compass is all about. When I follow where my creativity naturally wants to flow and the way it naturally wants to express itself, that’s when I free myself from pressure and expectations and experience what is really me. This week, what could you do to give more attention to your own inner creative compass?

If you’d like to go deeper into what it means to trust your voice and creative rhythm, you can find more in my book, Traveling by Starlight: How I Learned to Trust My Inner Creative Compass.

This book is a thoughtfully curated collection of posts from my blog that share how I’ve learned to trust my intuition in my creative process and beyond, and its also for those who wish to enjoy my work offline and who would prefer to have a more focused reading experience.