Meme, Myself, and I

In a double team effort, Devon Ellington and Susan Johnston have both seen fit to lambaste me with two separate meme tags. The first one is seven random things about me, and the second is three writing tips.

Seven Random Things:

1. I hate memes.
2. Like Susan, I have an addiction to Starbucks chai lattes- I know they’re bad for me, but I can’t resist.
3. I often think about how I’ll spend my first million.
4. I’m a die-hard, double-dipped, rabidly frenetic Pittsburgh Steelers fan, born and raised.
5. I love to cook – vegetarian.
6. I used to live on a farm, and I have canned all my own vegetables, spaghetti sauces, and yes, I’ve made quilts. Color me Amish.
7. I’m addicted to clothing and shoes – I bought three pairs last week and if they’d had my size, I’d have scored two more this week.

Three Writing Tips:

1. Give yourself more credit. If you don’t trust that you’re worth more money for what you do, you’ll continue to work for peanuts. Period. Your destiny is entirely up to you. Make it happen and stop waiting for it.

2. Try something new. I never knew a thing about workers compensation or risk management. Yet when the time came, I tried. And at some point, I stopped worrying every word and decided to have fun with it. It scored me my first editorial title. You can do it with whatever comes along, too. And if you fail? It wasn’t the right subject matter for you. That’s all.

3. Market like you mean it. If you send out emails saying something like “Sorry to bother you but would you happen to know if you will need a writer anytime soon?”, you’re not getting the job. Screw up your courage, pretend for the time you’re typing that Stephen King or John Steinbeck learned all he knows from you, and really ask for the job. And once you do, follow up. Constantly. Make sure that person knows you’re there, you’re a writer, and you’re the writer for the job.