Many thanks once more to dear friend Anne Wayman, who has given us two great posts this week, this one included. I love Anne’s approach to writing – she brings it from her soul.
What’s Your Writing Dream?
By Anne Wayman
Because I have a blog about freelance writing (AboutFreelanceWriting.com) and because I also coach writers, I end up talking one way or another with lots of writers, new writers and would-be writers. It seems the would-be writers and the new writers fall generally into two camps:
1. Those who think writing for a living sounds cool and maybe even easy.
2. Those who want to write no matter what.
If you fall into the first camp, forget it. While there are jobs that are harder than writing, including digging ditches, writing isn’t easy. When Gene Fowler said: “Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead,” he knew what he was talking about.
Oh, if you were watching me write this it wouldn’t seem all that hard. After all, I’m sitting comfortably at a desk, with my fingers tapping pretty quickly on the keyboard. Or I’m pausing, staring closely at the screen, maybe moving the mouse.
Sure, I pull at my hair every now and again as I struggle to express the difficulty of writing (this is getting recursive!), and gaze out my window at a beautiful view I often don’t notice, but I’m not sweating blood or bullets or even grimacing much. And I sure don’t feel “cool” at the moment.
What you can’t see or feel unless you too write, is the years of experience and the millions of words that have gone before this article. I love writing for a living, but I’m part of the second group.
If you’re one of those, however, who want to write no-matter-what, you will find a way. You’ll write at midnight or at 5 a.m. You’ll write while your kids are napping. You’ll write at lunch or sneak some writing in during your regular working hours. You’ll carve out an hour or two over the weekend even though you’ve got a family’s worth of chores to do around the house.
Because you write, your writing will get better if for no other reason than it’s hard to get worse at something you practice. In fact, writing is a practice, a discipline if you will. And if you really want to be a writer – that is, earn your living as a freelance writer, you’ll find a way to market your work.
You’ll also be open to all sorts of paid writing. Being a successful freelance writer isn’t limited to bestselling books or regular publication in major consumer magazines or becoming a 6 figure blogger. While all those are possible, maybe, don’t overlook the less glamorous, like corporate writing, or copy writing, or tech writing, or writing for trade magazines, or writing for some of the better websites, or… well, the list is probably endless.
Assuming you’re one of those who must write, your freelancing life will be easier if:
• You write lots and lots.
• You read lots – all sorts of things.
• You set some measurable goals.
• You’ll market to those goals.
Small steps, measureable goals, consistency and persistence in both writing and marketing can make your writing dreams come true.
What’s your specific and measureable writing goal at the moment?
Anne Wayman is a ghostwriter, writing coach and blogs about writing. One of her websites is: http://www.AnneWayman.com
6 responses to “Guest Post: What’s Your Writing Dream?”
Anne-this is why you were someone I followed from the very beginning of my freelancing, and continue to do so. Simple, effective advice.
I told Lori in a recent comment that I tend to be good at the beginning of the month in keeping to goals and then slack off. I'm most effective when I use a 28-day plan I found in one of the many books I've read to structure myself.
It's from C.J. Hayden's book, Get Clients Now. In essence you pick actions from a menu of ideas, depending on your goal (e.g., filling the pipeline, making the sale, etc.)
You perform those tasks daily or weekly, depending on which ones you selected. It helps keep me focused.
Examples of some tasks:
-Spend 1 hour per day on eBook
-Send one query letter per week
-Reconnect with colleagues/clients twice in month
You get the idea. You set the measurable result. Of course, sticking to it is the real challenge. Thanks for reminding me I need to get back to it. 🙂
Speaking as a magazine writer, the corporate and copy writing life seems more glamorous. Why? More leeway in setting your own fees. Magazines set their rates, which as we know almost never increase.
You're right Anne – a lot of people assume writing is a simple way to make money. In times of high unemployment, I always hear people say things like, "If I get laid off, I'll just write, like you do." Right….
Cathy – your 28 day process reminds me of the wish thread necklace my niece & nephew gave me. It's a tiny gold colored elephant charm on a thin blue thread. You're supposed to put it on and leave it on until it breaks. Each day you're supposed to make your wish and do something to move your toward that wish. When the thread breaks and the charm falls off, your dream is supposed to come true. The luck isn't in the charm, its in the things you do each day to move you toward that wish. Luck doesn't just happen. We have to earn it.
I am 7 months into full-time freelancing and setting concrete, measurable goals is one area where I am falling down. This is good inspiration to do that, uhm, TODAY! Also good comments from Cathy and Paula. A structured plan and reminders of what we're aiming for do help us create our own luck.
@Ronda, I'm 11 years into it, and it's where I'm still falling down 🙂
For me, it's the challenge of having been at the game so long — 100% of my projects are current clients or referrals. Just when I think "Hmmm, I should do some marketing," something else will come into my inbox and the procrastination hamsters are back on the wheel.
In any case, Anne's piece is a good reminder. My two priority areas are revamping my portfolio site and getting some ebooks finished up. I'm also waiting on a professional designer to give me a bid on revamping the design of my Dr. Freelance blog, so I'll get moving on that, too.
Great summary. While I'm not freelance writing yet I'm still in that unfamiliar learning curve. A few years ago I invested in a popular correspondence course on how to write and immediately got stumped on the lesson about the 8 parts of a sentence. How stumped should I have been on this subject? As a result I never did finish the course but always wonder if taking the time and summoning the courage to learn how each part of the sentence works correctly could have helped me to reach my goals. Chuck
This post makes me remember why your blog is at the top of my iGoogle, Lori.