Meet Lydia Smith

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lydia Smith. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Lydia, thank you so much for making time for us today. Let’s jump right into a question so many in our community are looking for answers to – how to overcome creativity blocks, writer’s block, etc. We’d love to hear your thoughts or any advice you might have.

Nothing makes my brain freeze up quite so much as a blank page.
Even if I know where I’m trying to take my story and how I’m going to get there, opening a new document makes the creative side of my brain forget how to write. It’s like pulling teeth to get words onto the page, let alone good words. But that’s where the issue lies: the pressure to put down good words.
Starting a new project or a new page sends my internal editor into overdrive. It wants perfection, and that subconscious pressue puts up all sorts of creative walls. Nothing I do feels “good enough,” so nothing gets done.
Over the past few years, I’ve learned that the best way to shut down that internal editor is to not give it the chance to turn on. For me, this looks like putting my creativity on a timer, only giving myself so long to get so many words down. TheMostDangerousWritingApp.com has been my most valuable resource for this. The timer paired with the threat of losing my progress completely changes the way I think about my work. Instead of chasing perfection, I focus on progress. My internal editor doesn’t have time to overthink each word, and most of the time, what I’m left with at the end of each session is completely workable. Sometimes, it’s even beautiful!
So, try giving yourself a timer! Put on some upbeat music, set a five minute timer, and for those five minutes, work like crazy. At the end, take a step back and see how far you’ve come. It might not be perfect, but it’s so much better than the blank you had before. After all, you can’t build a sandcastle without piles of sand. You can’t edit a book with a first draft. You can’t add details to a canvas with no paint.
So, don’t be afraid to get a little messy! That’s where all great things begin.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I’m a historical fiction author, writing soul-stirring tales to remind ordinary people that they are loved by an extraordinary God, even in the hard times! I write to show my readers they are never alone and that there is an ever-present Helper in every time of need.

In some very exciting news, I’m also getting published for the first time! My short story “The One That Got Away” is featured in “Voices of the Future: Stories of Strength and Sacrifice,” and preorders for the anthology just opened this month! signed anthology copies are available on my website (lydiasmithauthor.com).

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The most important qualities I could encourage a young writer (or any kind of creative) to cultivate would be patience, humility, and the willingness to learn.
When you first begin the creative journey, you have a lot of learning ahead of you. The worst thing you can do is assume you know everything you need to. You don’t. I know I certainly didn’t! The writer I was three years ago only knew a fraction of what I know now. If I had clung too tightly to my personal plans and what I thought was the right way of doing things, I would never have been able to grow. To be able to grow, you have to be humble enough to admit your way might not be right all the time. You have to be willing to try new methods and new ways of approaching problems. You have to be willing to take advice from people who are ahead of you on the creative journey. If you can be humble enough to learn, you will succeed.
The other trait I’d encourage young creatives to develop is patience with yourself. Your creative journey will not look like anyone else’s. You will hit road blocks and learning curves that others don’t. You will succeed wildly in some areas and struggle in others. It’s frustrating, but it’s normal. What’s more, these challenges are what make you YOU. These struggles and successes will be what make your journey unique and your art special. So, be patient with your journey and trust the process.
All in all, if you can pair a hunger to learn with the humility to be taught while remaining patient with yourself and your journey, you have everything it takes to succeed as a creative!
The best way I know of to cultivate these skills is to find a mentor, someone who has been where you are and will challenge you, teach you, support you, and encourage you. Creatives need community, and we most certainly need people to learn from!

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

Launching an anthology is by far the scariest thing I’ve ever done. This is where the rubber meets the road, and I have to DO all of the things I have dreamed about doing for years. I have to market my book. I have to reach readers. I have to sell copies. I have to act like an author, and that is simultaneously exciting and downright terrifying.
I’ve discovered the best way to fight the nerves is to make sure I’m not doing this alone. Like I said before, creatives need community, and we need them most of all when we’re doing hard things! So, as I’m tackling this book launch, I’m really leaning into my community. I’m sharing victories and successes with my anthology mates. I’m talking to friends and family when I’m overwhelmed (and it’s amazing how helpful it is to have an outside perspective). Doing hard things is far less scary when you do it with other people.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lydiasmithauthor.com
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LydiaSmithAuthor