What I’m reading: The Maytrees by Annie Dillard (a book to savor)
What’s on the iPod: Sunshine by The Clarks
Busy weekend. If you looked around the house, you wouldn’t think I did a thing, but if you opened my closet – voila! I cleaned, organized, and hauled away two bags of clothes and purses. Now everything is hanging on color-coded hangers in my particular order – white means a button-down shirt, black is a chiffon or charmeuse, clear is a cotton blouse….yes, it’s a sickness, but I harm no one so they let me be.
Went to a kilt shop opening (yes, we live LARGE) Saturday night. USA Kilts moved from downtown to the next town over, and we were on hand to celebrate their gaining triple the space they had. I was able to wear my “girl kilt” made by the owners, and he was in his kilt.
Then yesterday was amazing football. Usually a game that ends 35-3 is dull, but not this one. The penalties were rampant and at one point, a player was ejected for punching my team’s QB in the face. When the crowd in Pittsburgh takes up a loud “Ref, you suck!” cheer, you know things are bad. And when the announcer agrees with the quote “Just put the quarterback in a skirt” you know the penalties are becoming ridiculous.
Add to that the phenomenal finish by the NY Jets to beat the Houston Texans 30-27 in the final ten seconds of the game. Wow. That’s when the sport is exciting to watch.
I was also thinking about the post here on Friday about choosing a better gig. As I wrote it, I realized there were people who, no matter what I wrote, would argue why it wasn’t possible. Imagine me sitting there writing and saying to myself “No wait – there are some who would say this….” That’s why my simple post went on for days. I presented counter-arguments as I went.
We tend to self-sabotage our careers, don’t we? If you’ve ever taken advice and pointed out the reasons why it won’t work for you, you could be a self-saboteur. Here are some common excuses used when someone tries to point out a better way.
1. I’d have to wait to get paid. So that’s why you stay in a job that pays you one-tenth your actual market value? Seriously? You can’t be that impatient. Most of my clients pay within three weeks of the invoice. Only one magazine pays on publication, which is usually three months out.
2. I tried that once. I hear this one when I bring up marketing. Just because you’ve tried it once doesn’t mean you should quit it entirely. How many people did you contact? How many days or weeks did you try? Did you follow up? Unless you’ve truly exhausted that method, you didn’t really try it. Yes, there are some that may not work for you, but don’t write them off entirely. There are marketing methods I don’t use often, but I go back to them occasionally because you never know when it will work.
3. I don’t have that kind of experience. Sure you do. It’s called curiosity. All writers have it. Yes, you may have a time convincing some editors to give you a shot, but if you present an amazing idea in a well-written query letter, you’d be surprised how often that gets you an assignment, even without the experience. I’m living proof. I know NOTHING about emergency physicians or nursing and even less about CPAs, but I’ve written for all three markets. It’s the idea, not always the background.
4. Marketing takes so much work! I’m better off at the content farm. Then good luck to you. Marketing isn’t hard if you’re doing it right. It’s like the word “networking.” It only sounds complicated. My marketing resembles 15 minutes a day when I’m busy, longer when I’m not. It takes no time at all to send a note to a potential client introducing yourself. Also, once you get your query letter writing down, you can get magazine ideas out quickly, too. Why wouldn’t you spend 15 minutes a day contacting a potential client than writing content-farm articles when the pay could have two or three zeros in front of that decimal, not one?
So what have you heard when you’ve given advice? And if you’ve received it and not believed it, post it here. We’ll help you with it.
16 responses to “Self-sabotage”
Thanks, Lori, for today's post. It brings back memories for me for everything I did wrong, in the beginning and how I learned from those mistakes. Okay, I'm not proud of those mistakes, but I did eventually learn.
I believed the experience one simply because some of the other writers were saying it. I started to think that you had to have several years experience writing for a newspaper or have to have experience somewhere in the financial field to write about it.
It seemed the only experience I had was to turn off editors and clients by telling them how I don't have experience to write for them. Basically apologizing for bothering them kind of thing.
When the revelation came that I did have background experience it led to more lucrative opportunities like writing about manure spreaders. (No, the pay was not sh**)Yes, I worked on the parts, so who better to write about them? Then, of course, that led to other things.
For all the aspiring writers out there who are stumbling over their lack of "experience" … stop fretting. You can teach yourself. I am a self-taught copywriter – no English or journalism degree, no salaried writing job. When I first began copywriting, I used to go around town and take brochures from display racks, study ads in newspapers, and deconstruct magazine articles.
Last month, I wrote my first DVD/infomercial script ever. Did I tell the client I had no experience? Nope. First, I headed on over to amazon and picked up a couple of books on video script writing. Then I got another company's 20-minute sales DVD and had it transcribed so I could see how the script looked compared to the video. Is experience helpful? Immensely … but we all have life experience, and that's every bit as helpful as skill or industry-specific experience.
Brings them back for me too, Wendy. Didn't we all make those same mistakes once? 🙂 Manure spreaders – I'm glad the pay wasn't sh**! LOL I should start a thread about the most bizarre jobs we've ever had. Yours is right up there!
But it's true – we get "good advice" from well-meaning people who say "You CAN'T start out there!" when in fact you can if you do your homework, hit them with a can't-fail idea, then slam it out of the park. I believed the same drivel. I get ill thinking about how much work I didn't go for because that was reverberating in my brain….
And that, Eileen, is why you're successful. You did your homework and you taught yourself what you needed to know to please your client. Congrats – you're an example to live by. 🙂
Hey that job opportunity gives new meaning to "content farm." LOL!
Oh my lord! Tea just went sailing – thanks! ROFLMAO!
Not as much fun as manure when it comes to farm-themed writing and operating outside one's experience, but a few years back, I wrote a brochure for a company that sells crop and hail insurance.
The piece of advice that I continue to make excuses about is subcontracting my accounting to someone who 1) knows what they're doing and 2) enjoys it…
So, please, someone save me from myself!
Crop and hail insurance? Done that! I've also written about crop damage from …stink bugs. Seriously. It's a fascinating industry, insurance and all things risky, isn't it, Jake?
I need the same help. I do my own accounting, which results in the annual IRS love letter….
When my hourly wage hit $100/hour, I realized how foolish it was for me to be doing my own taxes. At that point, it became cheaper to outsource them. I could spend 8 hours (or more) on taxes and give up $800 worth of billable hours, or work for 8 hours and pay $400 to the accountant, who also "found" plenty of money that we never did. Silly me never thought the accountant would find more money for us – we were meticulous. I was humbled, and richer, for submitting to our accountant's expertise. Just. Do. It.
Especially when approaching a trade pub, I like to point out how I've managed to spend nearly 15 years covering a very quirky industry despite no background in it simply by asking good sources the right questions. Then I note how the same tactic worked well when writing for trades in several other industries.
Your post reminded me not of reactions to my writing advice, but in general. One of my best friends has a nearly pathological need to the smartest person in the room. (Sometimes she is, she's just not smart enough to realize no one is always right.) Naturally, she doesn't take advice. She only gives it whether it's asked for or not.
I can offer sound advice for almost anything you can think of and her reply will be, "Won't work…" and the she spells out how and why my suggestion couldn't possibly apply to her situation. A month or so later, whaddya bet? She's "solved" the problem by doing exactly what I'd suggested.
"It's too hard," they whine.
"Then you don't want it enough," I reply.
Excellent advice, Devon! And happy housewarming! Glad you're able to stop by even for a minute. 🙂
Eileen, I know you're right. I have my own "system" of recordkeeping that is simple, but works well. I'm a little embarrassed to show anyone my paper-based system, but I know that's stupid. Maybe this coming year – I'm really organized this year.
Paula, I have friends like that, too. One would argue the sun's color. I get a LOT of "No! It's this!" comments, and frankly, it's draining to talk to someone who has such a closed view of things.
Tangentially off-topic here, but what the heck …
Given all we've learned about "Big Ben" over the past coupla years, I have to admit to enjoying the way he dropped like the proverbial sack of pierogies after one swipe from Richard Seymour.(Something along the lines of "picking on someone yer own size" came to mind 🙂
[Full disclosure: Lifelong Browns fan. Also, lifelong advocate of nonviolence. And if you've seen the Browns play defense in the past decade, you'll understand how both of these beliefs fit so nicely together.]
Ack! You're a BROWNS fan?? Egad!! Do they still have fans?
I will admit the sucker punch was, in my mind as well, somewhat satisfying. I was unhappy with the turn of events in Ben's personal life and thought he belonged on the curb. There's no denying his talent, though his moral judgment appears to be seriously impaired.
Wow, Eileen. That script job preparation definitely took initiative. It took more time, effort and foresight than your basic content mill job, and you were rewarded with much better pay. What a great example for beginners and those who are too scared or lazy to pursue the more challenging jobs.
I've been guilty of thinking I don't have the experience for writing about certain topics. But I'm naturally inquisitive so I know I could do it. Time to get a little braver and pursue something new.
I used to run a wellness group for my coworkers at my old cube farm job…we talked about self-sabotage all the time as a barrier to reaching health goals. It's amazing how often–and in how many different aspects of our lives–we get in our own way!
Go for it, Ashley. Inquisitive and talented – check! You've got what it takes.
Amie, so true, isn't it?