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Right now we’re in the middle of a session of my Write for Magazines class, and I’m getting these questions/statements a lot from students:

How much should I research a magazine before I know it’s a good market for my idea? Right now it’s taking me hours.

I want to pitch this publication, but I can’t find their writer guidelines so I don’t know if they use freelancers.

I researched this magazine to see if my idea is a good fit, but they don’t have a good department for it/they’ve never run anything like it/Mercury is in retrograde — so I think I won’t pitch them.

I just want to tell all the writers out there:

When in doubt, pitch.

If you have even the slightest inkling that your idea would fit in a particular magazine, go ahead and send it.

As you know, I recommend sending simultaneous queries. (If you didn’t know that, you can read all about it here.)

That means you’re writing one query that you’ll be sending, tweaking as necessary, to multiple publications at the same time.

If you already have your query written, then it’s no skin off your nose to send it to one more magazine. It will take you only a few extra minutes to research the editor’s contact information and tweak the query as needed. If it ends up the pub doesn’t use freelancers, or doesn’t have the space for your idea, or doesn’t pay, then you’ve only wasted a few minutes — and your query is still under consideration by a group of other editors.

No problem, right?

And get this: If your idea is even a somewhat close match for the magazine (which it is, right?), you’re probably ahead of 90% of the pitches they get. I once heard a Family Circle editor tell writers that they shouldn’t pitch her articles on the sex life of frogs. She said that because people do it.

Let the editor say Yes.

You need to research a magazine only enough that you can be reasonably sure your idea will fit in it.

What you don’t need to do is spend hours poring over back issues and guidelines trying to figure out why your idea won’t work. Why spend all that time and effort thinking of reasons not to send a query?

Instead, give the editor a say. Editors are smart. They know a lot more than you do about their magazine and their audience.

And only the editor can know if, say, he’s about to start a new department where your pitch would fit perfectly, or he was just wishing he had an article on X (with X being your idea), or one of his freelancers just flaked and he needs another good writer pronto.

Or maybe your pitch will be so wonderful that the editor will make an exception for you. Carol Tice and I had one student in our recent Pitch Clinic class who sent a Letter of Introduction to a business she wanted to blog for. Here’s part of the response she got.

Ordinarily we do not accept guest posts, as they are almost always short and shallow. We receive numerous requests daily, but only post two or three per year. However, your email is better than most and touches on a few points that interest me.

We pay our writers and they work on assignment. Our top writer is off on baby leave so I’m looking for a backup. A few candidates are in the wings, but I’d like to try an article from you, if our terms are suitable to you.

This can only happen to you if you go ahead and pitch.

You don’t necessarily want to sell your idea.

Guess what? The goal of a pitch is not necessarily to get an assignment.

Well, of COURSE you would like to get an assignment. But what often happens is that your query or LOI doesn’t quite make the cut — say, the publication already has a similar article in the works — but the editor is so impressed by your pitch that she invites you to pitch again, or even assigns you a different article.

The goal of a pitch is to start building a relationship with a client.

If you hold off on pitching because you’re not fully, absolutely, 100% sure your ideas are a good match, then you’re missing out on the opportunity to start a conversation with an editor who may want to hire you down the road.

Your pitch shows what you can do. It shows you have great ideas, can write well, and are professional. Even if it’s not a perfect match, it can lead to assignments.

So the next time you find yourself spending hours researching magazines looking for excuses cut yourself out of the running, stop.

Just send that pitch.

P.S. Are you looking to leave your day job to become a full-time freelance writer? Then you’ll love my e-book Write Your Way Out of the Rat Race…And Step Into a Career You Love, which has 36 five-star (and 9 four-star) reviews on Amazon! It’s available in Kindle and PDF.

I’m a big fan of Laura Vanderkam’s books, so I was excited to get an advance copy of I Know How She Does It : How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time (which is now available!), and especially to get a chance to interview Laura for The Renegade Writer.

In I Know How She Does It, Laura interviewed and analyzed the time logs of over 140 women who have kids and earn at least 6 figures — women many consider as “having it all” — to offer advice on how we can fit a full, fun, busy life with work and kids into 168 hours per week. This is especially relevant to aspiring freelance writers who may have kids and a day job, and who are having trouble fitting writing and business-building in among all their other obligations.

By the way, if you’d like to keep your own time log, you can sign up for one free here.

Can you talk a bit about how you view the hours in our lives as a mosaic?

Laura: Many people look at their time log and just see these cells on a grid. I said, well, let’s change that. Let’s view it as a mosaic — and you are the artist, you are the mosaic maker, designing what your hours are going to look like and moving things around to

I think this mosaic image is also profound because we have a tendency to tell our lives in stories and to construct memories as stories — and probably your Renegade Writer readers do that, especially because we are storytellers. And the format of a story tends to be: Here are three points of evidence that lead us to an epiphany that we must make some change.

With life it is very easy to fall into the trap of thinking: These stressful things happened — I had this horrible day at work, this bad night of sleep, this issue with my kid. Therefore, life is crazy and unsustainable and I must change.

But what if you view life more as a mosaic and say, well, we had those three stressful moments, but we had all these other moments too? Those moments count as well. We can choose to see those three stressful moments as this evidence leading toward our epiphany or we can say, well, life is stressful AND life is wonderful. There really is no contradiction here. We don’t have to construct a story out of it. We can simply view of the whole mosaic for what it is. So that’s why I like that image.

Can we talk about the 24-hour trap and how writers can avoid it?

Laura: The 24-hour trap is that we have a tendency to think that things need to happen daily in order to count in our lives.

Obviously, it is good to have daily habits — and when we want to add something into our lives, we first ask ourselves, where can I put this into my life every day? The problem is that if you have a busy life, often you can’t put something in at the same time every day — but that does not mean it can’t happen.

I see this especially with things like exercise. Many people will say, “Laura, I’d love to exercise, but I am just not the kind of person who can leave for an hour at lunch every day” or “I want to get home and see my kids so I can’t go to the gym after work every day” or “I recognize mornings might be a great time to exercise, but I just can’t stomach the thought of setting my alarm for 5:30 every day.”

And it’s like, “Okay, well, don’t set your alarm for 5:30 every day.” Here’s an idea: Maybe one day a week you could get up half an hour early and do something; maybe one night a week you and your partner trade off who has the kids and you can go exercise during that time; maybe you do something on weekend mornings before the family has gotten up; and maybe you run around the track by your kid’s soccer game on Sunday. Then you’ve already fit in four exercise stints per week.

That was not daily, but four times a week is pretty good.

I think the 24 hour trap keeps us from seeing the whole picture. If you look at the whole 168 hours of the week, often things will fit. You can’t hold to everything fitting into 24 hours.

And I think writers especially fall into that trap because they think, “I need a special writing time every single day.” But even if you got it in three times a week, that’s better than nothing.

Laura: Yeah, and the problem especially is when people don’t do it because they can’t do it daily. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Sometimes it’s really easy to hold onto these stories we tell ourselves, like “I have a full-time job and a family, and therefore I can’t write.” Instead you could say, “Okay, I can’t write for three hours daily, but I could wake up early twice during the week and do it then, or I could stop watching one television show and just get something down on paper, and maybe I’ll be so inspired by what I’m doing that I’ll keep going.”

We have a tendency not to try those things because then we have to actually confront what we are doing and what we are not, and we have to look at our output and judge it — and often it is just easier not to do it and tell ourselves the story that it is impossible.

I notice that you often recommend outsourcing so that you have more time to do the things that are more important to you — but how can writers do this, especially if they are new and aren’t making a lot of money, and they can’t afford to hire much help? Do you have any tips for them? Maybe they need to just relax their standards?

Laura: Yes. When you don’t think something is the best use of your time, you have three options: You can ignore it, you can minimize it, or you can outsource it.

And obviously the outsourcing part costs money, but it does not cost anything to lower your standards — so that is a first line of offense if you are trying to make more time in your life.

I was just reading a comment on somebody else’s blog from this woman who was all excited about how she would get the kids into bed at night, and then do three hours of housework. I think she wanted everyone to think about how diligent she was or some such. I don’t know what point she was trying to make, but my first thought was “Why on earth are you doing that? Why does it require three hours at night to do all this? If you really feel the need to clean, set a timer for half an hour and then be done with it — and if it did not happen, it did not happen.”

So that’s certainly an option for people: Just let it go. Borrow that theme song from Frozen and let it go. It really does not matter. You will never get that time back, so use it first for the things that are important to you and let other things fill in around the edges.

There are a lot of writers who think, “I have kids at home, so I can do freelance writing from home and it will all work out.” And then they realize it does not work out because the kid isn’t napping on their schedule, or they need things while you’re on an interview. So I was wondering what are some of the creative ways that women you interviewed handle childcare.

Laura: Well, this is the thing: There are very few good ways to meet the needs of a client and a baby simultaneously. And, yes, there is inevitably the day you have a phone call with your biggest client at 1:30 p.m. that your child who naps religiously at 1:00 p.m. elects not to.

The only real way around this is to have childcare when you need it. When you’re doing something that you cannot do with kids’ noise or kids’ distractions, then you need somebody else to be responsible so you can focus on your work.

And there are many ways you can pull that off that might not be as expensive as hiring full-time childcare. For example, you can be efficient about pushing phone calls into a certain set of hours per day and have childcare for those hours, and then maybe do some more of the writing work after the kids go to bed. Or you could do the writing work when your partner can be with the kids, for instance, if you have a partner.

That’s a way you could pull it off without needing to pay for 40 hours of childcare. But it is very difficult to work without childcare. I had one woman in my study who was managing to run a small business without much childcare. But the way she was trading that off was by sleeping less, and it seemed to work for her because she did not need much sleep. But if you are not the kind of person who can function on six hours of sleep, and most of us aren’t, then you’re going to have to come up with something else.

A lot of writers think they are at the mercy of the client’s schedule. But what I realized is that if you actually tell people when you are available and suggest times, you can get them all into the one block of time where you have childcare.

Laura: Yes. Be very strategic about that and plan to have a few hours where you really attempt to push calls. I try to save mornings for writing and then do phone calls in either the late morning or the afternoon when I’m ready to interact with the world. You can express preferences. Sometimes you’re interviewing an A-list celebrity, and you’re going to have to do it when she needs to do it. But in other cases, people may have a bit more flexibility.

And people are actually happy for you to suggest a time. “Are you available at 10:00 or 10:30? If not, let me know.” They like not having to think about all the options.

Laura: Yes, it is actually not that helpful to send an e-mail to someone saying, “Can we do an interview in the next week?” Because then they’re looking at their whole schedule, and inevitably the first thing they suggest is not going to work for you. So it helps to just throw a few free times out there. If none of those work, then you can go from there, but the odds of at least one of those three working are decent.

You’re a successful writer — what are some of the things you think new freelance writers can drop to make time for what’s important? What are they doing that makes them feel productive that they don’t really need to be doing?

Laura: Well, the way I approach this question is that it’s not so much about dropping things. It’s about making sure that you first put in time in your life for the things that you need to be doing.

If you’re building a business there are certain things that are important for you to do. You need to have some of your work out there, so building your web site with examples of your work is a top priority. You need to be reaching out to potential clients. That is a top priority. You have actual assignments you need to get done. Those are top priorities.

Do those things first and then this magical thing happens where the other stuff that you don’t actually need to be doing starts taking less time. For example, generally people spend more time in their inboxes than they need to because they’re checking it too frequently, and they’re just working from the top down. Whatever happens to be on the top of your inbox is not necessarily your top work priority, so probably it does not need to be the first thing you tackle when you start approaching work.

But the beautiful thing about filling your time first with the things that you need to be doing is that then you figure out for yourself the other things that can give, and they will naturally give because there are only 24 hours in a day — so try that first.

What’s the most surprising thing you learned about balancing work, family, and everything else when you were analyzing these women’s time logs?

Laura: I think one of the best approaches — and I’m not saying this is done consciously, I think it was more just because these people had fuller lives — is that they did not watch as much TV as the average American.

It’s not that people didn’t watch any TV. There was certainly a reasonable amount of TV on logs, but the average per week was about 4.4 hours — if you think about it that’s like watching a handful of sitcoms and two or three longer shows, so it’s really not nothing. Four and a half hours a week is more than a half hour a day, so TV can be in your life — but it’s not 20 hours a week, it’s not 30 hours a week, which are some numbers that have come out of surveys of American life.

So I think that is an instructive difference because the women in my study were working longer hours than the average American works. They were spending time with their families, they were exercising for the most part, they were getting enough sleep. What had to give? Well, it was not really anything of that much importance. That, in and of itself, is a great way to balance your life in the sense of actually making time for things that matter.

You don’t have to cut TV out of your life, but make sure that you’re watching the shows that matter the most to you, the ones that really get you excited, that you’re taping, that you want to talk about with your friends. That’s great, it’s a fun thing to do, it’s a great way to blow off steam — but don’t just turn it on and leave it on. Don’t automatically turn the TV on after the kids go to bed and see what’s on. If you and your partner want to hang out, there are other things you can do than sit on the couch watching TV. There are other things that are much more exciting, for instance, than sitting on the couch watching TV that you can do together, so don’t automatically think TV first.

What’s the one piece of advice you picked up from your research that you think would resonate most with freelance writers who have kids and possibly a day job?

Laura: Daily rituals are great. There has been a lot written lately about the daily rituals of artists and how they make time to write or do whatever they do.

And again, that’s great if it works, but it doesn’t always work — and so what you need to do is look at your whole calendar and say, “Here are some blocks I have for writing. I am going to make sure those work one way or the other. If it’s asking my partner to take the kids for a certain amount of time. If it’s choosing to come into work half an hour late because I have that flexibility. If it’s that I just go sit in your car with my laptop during lunch once a week and write during that time.”

Do whatever it takes, but make sure that those blocks are in there — look at the whole of the week because probably you will be able to find the time.

The numbers I use for people is if you are working 40 hours a week and you’re sleeping eight hours a night for 56 hours a week, that leaves 72 hours for other things. 72 hours is a lot of time. You definitely have time to hang out with your family, to exercise, and to maybe spend 15 hours a week launching your business.

Laura’s book I Know How She Does It : How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time was just released…here’s where you can check it out!

P.S. The Freelance Writers Den is opening its doors to members of the waitlist tomorrow (Thursday, June 11, 2015) ONLY. Carol Tice opens the Den only a few times per year, so if you want to take advantage of the goodies, now’s the time! Interested? Here’s where you can join the waitlist.

The editor said she was going to assign this idea, and two weeks later I still haven’t heard back about an assignment. Should I ding her?

Will I be a pest if I nag the editor about a payment that’s 30 days past due?

The magazine wants me to write a 1,500-word feature that will require six interviews, tons of research, and photos — but they can only pay $75. I’m afraid if I say no I won’t get any work at all. What should I do?

Should I ask for a First North American Serial Rights contract instead of All Rights? I’m scared!

Freelance writers are always posting to forums and email lists with questions like these. And I find a good way to answer many of them is with this acronym: WWYED?

What Would Your Editor Do?

(You know, kind of like WWJD, except Jesus probably never negotiated terms with a magazine editor.)

• For example, if you’re asking “Should I go ahead and write this article because the deadline is looming near, even though I don’t know yet what the payment is?” — would your editor work even a single day at her job without knowing what she would be getting paid?
• If you want to know, “Will I be a pest if I nag the editor about a payment that’s 30 days past due?” — what do you think your editor would do if his paycheck were even one day late, much less a whole month?
• You’re worried about asking for a FNASR contract? Well, your editor wasn’t afraid to ask YOU to give up all your rights, in all media, in perpetuity, for 25 cents a word.
• You’re offered an assignment for a heavily-researched and interviewed feature, including photos — a week’s worth of work — for $75. Would your editor work for $75 per week?
• You don’t want to be a nag, but the editor told you two weeks ago she was going to assign you this idea, and it’s been radio silence since then. What would the editor do if her boss were interested in an idea of hers and then forgot all about it?

WWYED?

You Are Not a Supplicant

It’s appalling the way writers are treated sometimes, but even more appalling is the way writers often let themselves be treated.

You are not a supplicant. You are providing a valuable service — the very writing people pick up a publication to read! The ideas that give magazines their enticing coverlines! The research that brings credibility to a publication!

Writers assume that because they’re doing work that many perceive as fun, or passion work, they don’t deserve good pay or good treatment. So they’re afraid to ask to be treated with respect.

But as much fun as you may be having as a writer, the publication is profiting from your work. The fact that writing an article is fun doesn’t discount the fact that it brings in clicks (for which the publication is being paid) or readers (who advertisers pay to reach).

Writing is a business. No matter how fun it is, no matter how passionate you are about writing, it is a business. You are an entrepreneur. A business owner.

You’re in a business just like your editor is. So if you’re ever wondering whether you should stand up to shoddy treatment or push for what you need, just as yourself:

WWYED?

P.S. The next Write for Magazines e-course starts on Monday, June 8! Want to join the class that’s helped writers break into magazines like Woman’s Day, Writer’s Digest, and E: The Environmental Magazine? Here’s where you can check it out.

भाग दौड भरी जिंदगी में अक्सर खुद को प्रोत्साहित करना बहुत जरुरी हो जाता है पर … कैसे करें खुद को प्रोत्साहित… यक्ष प्रश्न है. पर कुछ ही देर मे मुझे इसका उत्तर भी मिल गया . किसी काम से मेरी सहेली  मणि के घर जाना हुआ  तो वो किसी से बात कर रही थी ” कमाल है,तुम तो वाकई में बहुत समझदार हो. मतलब कि हर बात को कितनी सहजता से ले कर उसका समाधान निकाल लेती हो और कोई तनाव नही रखती हमेशा स्माईल ही रहती है चेहरे पर हमेशा ऐसे ही रहना शाबाश,कीप इट अप…

मैं सोच ही रही थी कि किससे बात कर रही होगी अंदर गई तो दूसरा कोई नजर नही आया. मेरे पूछ्ने पर बोली अरे तूने सुन लिया… और स्माईल करती हुई बोली कि शीशे के सामने खडी होकर खुद से बात कर रही थी. खुद को मोटिवेट करना भी बहुत जरुरी होता है इसलिए अक्सर वो यह काम करती रहती है.. मुझे यह बात बहुत पसंद आई. सही है जब तक हम खुद को शाबाशी नही देंगें उत्साहित नही करेंगें तो आगे कैसे बढेग़े…

वैसे नीचे Motivational Quotes भी दिए हैं ताकि आप भली प्रकार समझ सकें

14 Motivational Quotes to Keep You Powerful

I once despised motivational quotes, probably because my wrestling coach liked to say, “If you’re not puking or passing out, then you’re not trying hard enough.” Read more…

हमे हमेशा खुद प्रोत्साहित करने के साथ साथ मोटिवेशनल साहित्य भी पढते रहना चाहिए इससे हमे बहुत नई जानकारी मिलती है और साथ साथ हौंसला भी मिलता है.

50 Motivational Quotes

Here, in 50 inspiring quotes, businesswomen, role models, activists, entertainers, authors, politicians and more share their thoughts on leadership and success — and what exactly those mean to them. 50 Motivational Quotes From Disruptive, Trailblazing, Inspiring Women Leaders

 

मेरे विचार से अब तो नही सोच रहे होंगें कि कैसे करें खुद को प्रोत्साहित …. वैसे अब मुझे भी घर लौटने की जल्दी थी खुद को प्रोत्साहित  जो करना है शीशे के सामने खडे होकर … और आप ?? आप तो करते ही होंगें अगर नही करते तो आज से ही करना शुरु कर दीजिए….

फिर जरुर बताईएगा कि कैसा लग रहा है !!!

The post कैसे करें खुद को प्रोत्साहित appeared first on Monica Gupta.

Here’s a phrase I hear from a lot of Internet/business/marketing guru-types:

“To be more productive, choose one hour per day where you’ll process your inbox.”

Or: “To process your inbox quickly, respond to every email in five sentences or less.”

These are very smart businesspeople, and many of them take pride in how accessible they are and how quickly they respond to emails — but the phrase “process your inbox” belies the truth of the situation: Many entrepreneurs think of emails as random widgets that pile up in their inbox that need to be removed as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Emails are a distraction from their “real” work.

But here’s the thing: Emails are not widgets. Emails are PEOPLE. Each email represents a real, live, breathing human who is trying to reach out to you.

If your business involves selling something to the public, then emails are not a distraction from your work — they are your work. Well, part of it, at least.

Sure, sometimes these people want something you don’t want to give, like a book’s worth of advice or to let them write a “totally original” post for your blog in exchange for a bio that mentions their Dubai dating service. At times, you get people who write you scathing emails because you dared to try to sell something. And sometimes you’re super busy and looking at the 500 emails in your inbox makes you want to cry. But you can’t deny that each email is in fact an actual person who needs you for something.

The New Rules of Email

I developed these rules to help writers and entrepreneurs remember the importance of their audience, while keeping them from becoming overwhelmed with all the people clamoring for their attention.

1. Emails Are People

Okay, we just talked about this: A full inbox is not a pile of detritus that needs to be shoveled out as quickly as possible. It’s a crowd of people who want to get in touch.

2. People Can Wait

Just because people can email you quickly doesn’t mean you have to respond quickly. You set your priorities for the day, and sometimes that means the people emailing you will have to wait.

A lot of emailers don’t consider that everyone has stuff in their life — but just like them, the people they’re emailing have a lot going on. For example, last week my husband was in Tokyo all week and my 6-year-old son had 3-hour ballet rehearsals almost every evening — and at the end of the week, we had a guest and then spent an entire Saturday at the theater for the two dance shows. And on top of that, Carol Tice and I are launching a new class, and we spent hours and hours last week working with our team on making the class a reality.

While I fully recognize that the emails in my inbox are people, do you think I responded to each person within minutes, or even hours last week? No — it was more like days, and is turning into weeks.

Hey, stuff happens. Your people understand that. If you’re feeling bad about delayed responses, you can always set an autoresponder letting your peeps know you’re underwater and will be slow in getting back to them. Or mention on your website’s Contact page that you can’t respond to every email, but here are some great resources that can answer your questions! (I’ve done both.)

3. Not Every Person Needs (or Deserves) a Response

You do need to recognize the fact that emails are people, but that doesn’t mean every person deserves a response. If you’re walking down the street and a gang of construction workers catcalls you — do you feel bad for giving them the side-eye as you walk on by?

If it’s clear that person is wasting your time — by, say, asking you to share their infographic that has nothing to do with your niche — or is just baiting you for a fight, then no response is needed.

For example, a member of my mailing list responded to my Monday Motivation for Writers email today with nothing but a single link. When I clicked on it, it took me to an Amazon page with all of his novels. Do ya think I responded to that?

Marketing emails and newsletters obviously don’t require a response, unless you really feel moved to say something.

And sometimes, a situation will resolve itself if you just wait. If it’s clear this is the case, then why respond?

4. If It’s Important, They’ll Come Back

As the News Editor at BoardGameGeek, my husband gets a ton of email. He’s had upwards of 1,300 emails in his inbox at one time. I keep trying to get him to simply delete all the emails that he is obviously never going to be able to get to.

Here’s why: If it’s important and absolutely requires a response or an action on his part, the people will follow up.

No one wants to declare email bankruptcy, but sometimes that’s the kindest thing you can do. Yes, emails represent people, but if it becomes clear you’ll never have the time to respond to everyone, you’re only stressing yourself out and creating a guilt complex every time you open your inbox.

When it gets to this point, delete them all, and you’ll discover that many of these people didn’t need you after all.

An Attitude Adjustment

This may seem like just semantics — what does it matter if you look at your emails as annoyances that need to be dealt with, or as people who are looking to connect with you?

I think the way you think about your emails says a lot about the kind of businessperson you are. Do you care about your audience, or are you just looking to make a quick sale?

Or maybe you’re just misguided and feel like everyone needs and deserves a quick response, and the only way to do that is to “process” your inbox. That says a lot about a businessperson, too.

And your people can tell. When you respond to every single email within two minutes with a super-short sentence or nothing but an emoticon, people sense you’re thinking, “I need to process this email as quickly as possible and get it off my plate.” No one wants to be “processed.”

You’ve probably heard some gurus say that to process your email as quickly as possible, you should respond to every email in five sentences or less. Personally, I’d rather have someone wait and get the response they deserve. Sometimes that’s a longer, more thought-out email, and yes, sometimes that’s a simple “Thanks!”

Emails are people. And people are your business.

P.S. Hey, are you a content mill writer, or a writer who is earning way less than you’re worth? You’ll want to come to Carol Tice’s and my FREE webinar on Tuesday, May 19 at 11 am PDT/2 pm EDT: 8 Ways Content Mill Writers Can Earn More — Fast. When you go to this page you’ll also get a copy of our 37-page case study report: Escape the Content Mills: 6 Writers’ True Stories of Breaking Out and Earning More. Here’s where you can go for those goodies!

Hi folks, I am continuing my series called BLOOM this week. This month my series is about how to make your work bloom. Not always an easy task. For the artist, the story isn't really always so pretty. This year has been tough for me. My stupid brain has been letting me down. I've stumbled into a period of anxious depression. I've always been this internal optimist at heart, but gray clouds have rolled in.

Here's what it feels like. I sit at down to work. I've put the time aside. I focus but the feeling of jazz is gone. Bitter feeling have replaced it, and it's really choking my soaring spirit. It feels  like my window to bloom has passed me by. The winter is here and I'm just screwed. There is no money for a hothouse to force a bloom in this cold winter's walk in my life. Has my opportunity passed me by?  I don't know but I keep working.

To tell the truth, the only thing keeping me afloat right now is the work itself. I can see the years of crafting on the page. It's a happy mirror to me. I've never written better. How weird is that? Even if the brain is sort of messed up, the work is not. I'm bleeding onto the page.right now. This blood is rich stuff. This work is  the best of me. It  dodges all the feelings and the life is on the page. More than a few tears end up on those pages too.  I am so grateful for the work. So grateful.

I refuse to pause even on these cloudy inside days. Life feels too short to pause for them, and I plan to bloom. I believe that for me and you. I know that time and life isn't always on our side. And yet, dream for tomorrow. Dream another dream. Don't let the chance to create slip away from you. I know how scary it is to feel no one is ever going to see your work. Work anyway.

I have heard a saying. "April showers bring May flowers." I'm counting on the truth of this.  Showers are here. Flowers should be coming. I hope you come back next week for more of my bloom series.

One last thing, a request.  I hope that you check out my book PLUMB CRAZY.  Please read it, share it with a friend or a library, post a review somewhere.  I put a lot my heart unto this book. It will lift you up in unexpected ways.

Here is a doodle.

By Jennifer Lawler

I can always tell when a writer isn’t going to make it as a freelancer.

The secret is easy. I just listen for the phrase “churning it out” — as in “I’m churning out a lot of work today” or “I churned out two articles over the weekend.” I hear that phrase, and I know they’re going down. Maybe not today, but eventually, and probably sooner than they think.

Related phrases include “cranking it out” and “grinding it out.”

Why is this such a foolproof method for gauging a writer’s likely success? Not because I think slow equals better. Sometimes slow is just slow. But because the phrase itself indicates a mindset that is the exact opposite of the one you need to succeed.

Churning work out means you don’t care about the work, you’re just doing it for the reward. It means you’re perceiving your efforts as being not much different from a machine at a factory. You’re a robot on an assembly line, producing widgets.

The problem with being a robot on an assembly line is it’s boring and dreary and it doesn’t pay very well. Also, you’re interchangeable with every other robot that can be programmed to insert tab A into slot B. Which means your competition is basically everyone in the universe.

I’ve been a freelancer for more years than I want to admit to in public, and I’ve survived — thrived! — this long because I love what I do, even on the days when it drives me nuts. When you love what you do, you don’t perceive it as “churning” things out. You think of it as a craft, one you care about getting right. You want to find the best example, the right turn of phrase, the most credible source to interview.

Your Editor Wants a Revise? This Is a GOOD Thing.

People who churn things out bitch about edits (for example) not because the edits are wrong or misguided but because the edits affect their bottom line. They seem to think that any time spent on making a piece of writing better is time that could be spent writing something else and (by their misguided calculations) making more money.

I like edits because I like becoming a better writer. Have I occasionally had questionable edits? Sure. Still, I think of edits as a fact of freelance writing and as an opportunity to grow as a writer. But to hear the churn-it-out writers talk, all edits are questionable and every aspect of freelancing that doesn’t involving depositing a check is of little value and should be ignored or completed as quickly as possible.

Instead of looking for ways to deliver value to their clients they complain about every small thing they’re asked to do. The editor says, “Can you ask the source if she has photos?” and you’d think Rumpelstiltskin had demanded their newborn child.

This wrongheaded approach will burn you out faster than just about anything else you could do to yourself.

Your Writing Is Not a Commodity

Now, I’m not saying you should work 80 hours on a 300-word piece for which you’ll earn $50. I am saying that you need to recognize that you are a craftsperson, not an assembly line. I’m saying turn down the 300-word pieces for $50 that require 80 hours of work.

I’m a prolific writer, and being able to write fast has certainly helped me make a decent income over my years as a freelancer. But “being prolific” and “churning things out” are two different things.

I’m prolific because I love to write and because I’ve set my life up so that writing is easy to do. I have dedicated time, space, and materials for it. I have spent a long time learning the craft — and practicing it. I know how to focus to get the job done instead of endlessly procrastinating and then having to rush to finish by deadline. I don’t over-research. I plan interviews ahead of time to keep them on target (and limited in duration). I have areas of specialization so that writing a new article isn’t like learning a new language. I have learned how to vet clients so I’m not wasting my time on “opportunities” that aren’t opportunities.

All of this takes time and effort, and it can’t be accomplished if all you ever focus on is the bottom line. If the choice is between researching potential clients to identify a few new possibilities that might pay well and writing two badly paying blog posts in an hour, the churn-it-out writer will pick the latter when the former is in her best interests over the long term.

A Bad Rate Will Never Be a Good Rate

People who churn it out often think they can turn a bad rate into a good one by doing the project as quickly as possible. But a bad rate is a bad rate — and you won’t improve your situation by having your name attached to crap work. However, even people who are earning decent rates for their work get suck into the churn-it-out mindset. They could get more if they went faster, right?

Either way, churning it out can lead to boredom, dissatisfaction, and burnout. The kinds of work that you can churn out are never the interesting projects. If you’re constantly working at warp speed just to tread water, you’ll end up giving up before too long. But mostly the work will dissatisfy you because you’re focusing too much on the reward instead of the process.

I get that we’re all doing this out of the profit motive, but if that were our only consideration, we’d be painting houses or fixing plumbing. The truth is, the more you focus on money-money-money, the less you focus on Am I doing work that’s worth doing? And yet it’s work that’s worth doing that inspires us, helps us enjoy our jobs, and makes our lives better. And interestingly enough, the work that’s worth doing is usually the better-paying kind.

The next time you find yourself thinking, “Yeah, I could churn that out in an hour,” stop and ask yourself why you’d ever want to evaluate the work of your life that way.

Jennifer Lawler is sponsoring a one-day-only fundraiser (May 15, 2015) for the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance. Buy any of her romances at the special fundraiser price of just 99 cents (Kindle edition) and she’ll donate her royalties to the TSA. Here’s where to go for more information.

Jennifer is a writer and editor whose articles and essays have appeared in print and online publications such as Family Circle, Cooking Light, Writer’s Digest, and Bankrate.com. She is the author or coauthor of more than fifty books.

When I started my Write for Magazines e-course around 10 years ago, I had one student who emailed me to ask if I would take a quick look at a query she had written. I did, and told her, “This part is wrong, and I would change this other part, and no way should you leave that phrase in there. Oh, and your formatting — what??”

The writer emailed me shortly after that and said, “Oh, never mind about the critique…I sent out the query because I was feeling impatient, and someone bought it.”

Wait, what? Someone bought her article idea even though her lede was like one I had never seen, and she used a formatting style I would definitely not recommend?

Oh, and guess what…this student pulled the same stunt the following week: Asked what I thought, sent it out before I could tell her it was all wrong, and immediately landed a sale.

That experience taught me a very valuable lesson: There is more than one way to do this thing.

Is your writing “fill in the blanks”?

Carol Tice and I recently finished up a session of our Pitch Clinic class, where we (and three magazine editors) critiqued hundreds of article ideas and dozens of queries and Letters of Introduction.

We showcase a way of creating LOIs that has worked well for us…and I was dismayed to see that many writers used this as a template of sorts to churn out quick and easy LOIs, minimal thought required.

You could almost hear the writers thinking, “This is where I add some flattery of a recent article…I’ll pull a title from their website archives.” And “This is the space where I fill in my benefit to the client.” And “This is where I ask ‘May I send you some clips?'”

Some writers hewed to the structure so closely that they copied some of the tried-and-true phrases that I use in my own LOIs, such as “I’m easy to work with (no diva here!), professional, and fast.”

You are a key ingredient.

Your writing should be a reflection of you.

Not of a writer you admire. Not of your writing teachers. You.

You’re being paid to not only place words on a page — anyone can do that — but also to tinker, think, and brainstorm the best possible way of saying what you want to say — and to do it with style

If there were only one way to do things, with no room for personality and new ideas, a client wouldn’t need to hire you, because they could open up a handy-dandy fill-in-the-blank template of “the right way to write a blog post” (or article, or case study, or white paper) and do it themselves.

Sure, there are some key things that never change: For example, in an LOI, you want to show you know and understand the market. You want to make it clear who you are and why you’re writing. You want to show (not tell) the benefit you’ll offer the client. You want to make sure to get an “ask” in there somewhere.

But there are infinite ways to do this that reflect your thought process, your personality, and your writing style.

One student of ours just sent out a query that made liberal use of the word “dick.” Another was pitching an organization that researches medical cannabis and this writer, who uses medical cannabis herself, told the prospect that marijuana makes her a more creative writer. And at a writers’ conference I spoke at this weekend, one writer in my audience told me he likes to end his pitches with “What’s the deadline for this article?” — a super-ballsy move that I would never try, but it’s worked for him.

Writers like these are not afraid to put themselves into their writing, and to make everything they send their own. What they’re doing is the opposite of using a template.

Sure, if you get creative with your pitching and writing you may not appeal to every client — but that’s okay. You don’t want to appeal to every client, because by trying to be everything, you become nothing. A commodity. You want clients who want to work with you, not clients who want a robot that stings together words into sentences.

The next time you go to write a pitch, an article, or anything else, stop and think. What’s the very best way to do this? How can you show who you are as a writer? How can you make that personal connection with an editor or a potential client? This sentence you just wrote — could it be even better?

How can you make this writing your own?

I recently read a post by one of my favorite marketers, Naomi Dunford of Ittybiz, called “What If You Tried Really Hard?”

This concept of trying hard immediately resonated with me as the owner of a business that helps writers. I’m always getting emails from writers who tell me they’re having trouble making it work even though they’re trying really hard, really-really. But when I ask them what they actually did this week towards building their writing business, they draw a blank.

Naomi pointed out that you’re only trying hard in the moment, well, when you are physically trying. You’re not trying hard when you think about doing something, or worry about it, or plan it, or contemplate it. If you were to watch someone on a screen when they’re trying hard, you would know that’s what they’re doing. There would be visual clues that would make you say, “Wow, they’re really working hard.”

For example, if you want to get articles published in magazines or on blogs, “trying hard” means actively, physically being in the act of generating ideas, writing pitches, editing pitches, and sending pitches. It doesn’t mean reading books about writing, or taking courses on writing, or planning your writing schedule for next week, or going to therapy to rid you of your deep-seated fear of rejection. It means doing those activities that will get you published in magazines (or wherever you want to be published), and trying your very best at them.

How many of us really try our very best…at anything? How many of us truly work hard?

Sure, we SAY we’re trying hard, but that’s because we’re expending so much mental effort in doing everything BUT the thing that will get results, that it feels like hard work. It exhausts our brains!

But the only way to get actual results — money, assignments, clips, bylines, fans — is to do actual work.

What Does Working Hard Look Like?

It may be difficult to recognize what trying hard looks like, since we’re so used to creating mental smoke and calling it “work.” So let’s do a thought experiment and imagine what working hard as a writer would look like in each of these areas:

• If you’re trying to come up with an idea for an article or blog post, what would it look like if you were working super hard? What would you PHYSICALLY be doing? If someone were watching you on a screen, what would they see that proves to them that you’re really trying? Would you have a stack of magazines nearby, and be scribbling furiously into a notebook? How is this different from the way you usually look when you need to come up with an idea?
• If you want to break into your dream publication, how would it look if you worked really hard at it? Where would you be, and what would you PHYSICALLY be doing? (And no, thinking doesn’t count.) Maybe you’d be pre-interviewing sources for a query, or calling editorial offices to get an editor’s contact info, or actually stringing words together to complete a query or letter of introduction. How is this different from the way things usually look when you’re trying to crack a juicy market?
• When you have an assignment to write an article or blog post (yay!), what would trying hard look like? Would you be spending more time tweaking your word choices to make sure the cadence of your writing is just right? Would you be on the phone calling source after source until you get the interviews you need? Would you be transcribing interviews? How is this different from the way you usually look when you’re working on an assignment?
• If you’re building your writing business, what would THAT look like if you were trying really hard? Not staring off into space planning what you’ll do with your future riches, or telling yourself you really, really need to write a business plan, or beating yourself up because once again didn’t get around to writing — but actively trying hard to build your business. How is this different from the way it usually looks when you’re building your business?

A Mantra and the Screen of Reality

For the last several days, I’ve adopted the mantra “Work hard.” Not just for my business, but in every aspect of my life. When I’m working out I tell myself, “Work hard.” When I pass a kitchen counter that’s piled with dishes destined for the dishwasher, and I’m tempted to just keep walking, I think, “Work hard.” As I’m critiquing ideas and queries in the forums of Pitch Clinic class, and am ready to throw in the towel for the day, I remind myself, “Work hard.”

I find that with this mantra, I can eke out a few more reps, I can keep my house and life in order, I can get a lot of work done.

What if you adopted this mantra for yourself, or one like:

“Always do your best.”
“Could I be doing something better right now?”
“What would it look like if I were trying really hard right now?”
“Am I trying my hardest…really?”

Or: Tweet: What if you figured out what trying hard really looks like, & made sure you always look that way when working on your writing business? Or if you imagined someone is always watching you on a screen (creeper!) and you wanted them to KNOW without a doubt that you’re trying your best?

Try it…and let me know how it goes! I’d love to create a post out of the stories I get from writers who push themselves, try really hard, and see what happens. I’m at [email protected].

Linda

“To believe a thing impossible is to make it so.”
–French Proverb

A short while ago I wrote a guest post for Copyblogger on how to earn $250 per hour. It got an amazing response from readers.

Except…

…for one reader who thought I was selling writers a false bill of goods by suggesting they could possibly earn that much.

He was so upset that he started trolling the reviews on Diana Burrell’s and my e-books, trying to bait writers who left positive reviews by posting inflammatory comments.

In one of those comments, he wrote something like, “By Linda’s reasoning, you should be able to make six figures working 10 hours per week.” He said this as if it was clearly in the realm of the ridiculous.

Ahem.

Last year I earned six figures working an average of 10 hours per week. (Some weeks I worked more, some less. Some I worked a ton, some I didn’t work at all.) 2014 was a banner year for me. In previous years, I’ve earned anywhere from $70-90,000 working those same hours. (And you have to remember that not all working hours are billable writing hours.)

When I saw this disconnect between the troll’s belief and the reality, I realized this is a HUGE problem for freelance writers (and people in general). Everyone feels as if their own experiences are the rule. If THEY can’t imagine themselves earning super well, then they believe that NO ONE can do it.

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
–Nelson Mandela

The Two Kinds of Writers

Writers are split into two camps:

On one side, we have the writers who see someone who says they’re doing great, and they become angry. “That can’t be true! They’re scamming us! It’s impossible! No one makes THAT much writing! Prove it!” And at the same time they’re crying foul, they’re a little jealous.

On the other side, we have writers who see people doing well and are INSPIRED. They hear another writer is earning six figures and they become determined to do it themselves.

Not only that, but the writers in this camp are happy for the freelancers who’re out there kicking ass. They know writing is not a zero-sum game and one writer’s success doesn’t take away from THEIR chances. In fact, it makes their chances even greater: A writer who’s doing well proves it can be done, and that’s a good thing.

Guess which writer is going to be more successful — the one who feels it’s impossible to do amazingly well, or the one who’s inspired by other freelancers’ successes to work harder and achieve more?

If you believe it’s impossible to make a good living as a freelance writer, then you almost certainly are not going to earn well. That’s what we call a self-fulfilling prophesy. And it’s also flat-out wrong. For every writer who grouses that it’s impossible to earn well, there are dozens of writers who are making it a reality.

But if you see someone doing what you thought was impossible and use it as motivation, you can do anything.

“Because a thing seems difficult for you, do not think it impossible for anyone to accomplish.”
–Marcus Aurelius

Write, Don’t Gripe

I have a writer friend who makes three times what I do. Hearing that just makes me want to work harder. Another friend — who had never written anything before — wrote his first novel, pitched it to an agent, and just received an almost-6-figure advance from a major publisher. YES!

Many writers would say these people are lying. They would demand to see the novelist’s contract, or the freelancer’s tax forms. And they would work themselves into a lather trying to prove these feats are impossible — while the writers in question are laughing all the way to the bank.

Which writer do you want to be? The one who believes making a good living writing is impossible? Or the one who shows the world it IS possible?

Black and White Ink

Shadows speaking louder than words.
Night and day lose meaning.
Whispers in the grey.
Hinting a secret.

White. Arresting.
A look.
A crease. A fold.

Casting sweet envelope
for emotion.

—
Black and white drawing first shared on my Instagram page HERE.

To order a print of this piece, or inquire for other commissions, send an email to: [email protected]

Stuck writing for the content mills and struggling to pay your bills? Yeah, you and a TON of other writers!

Content mill owners and misinformed writers have been spreading the word that if you want to make a living as a freelance writer, you need to start out by writing for cheap-o content mills, bidding sites, and revenue share sites that pay you pennies for your hard work.

And even worse, after spouting this lame advice, they offer no tips on moving on up out of the mills to start earning some REAL money as a freelance writer! So too many writers keep slaving away at the mills for $5 per article, and they burn out before they can rack up a decent amount of pay.

Well, I’m here to change that. One of my passions is helping writers earn a decent living, so I scoured the web for 50 posts that will help you escape the content mills — from motivational posts to basic articles on how to break into more lucrative forms of writing.

So…let’s begin!

Not Convinced You Want to Leave the Mills?

Lots of writers are afraid that if they leave the content mills, they’ll be left with nothing at all — and even $5 per article is better than that, right?

Not so. I rounded up a bunch of posts that will convince you to kick the mills once and for all. They show why content mills aren’t a valid “step up” to real freelancing, how the numbers don’t add up, and more.

1. The Science of Undervaluing Yourself (And How To Overcome It)

Blog: Psychotactics

Author: Sean D’Souza

A cautionary take about undervaluing yourself as a businessperson…plus great stories about clients who complained about spending $250 on one of his products, only to go out and blow $2,500 on a vacation or $30,000 on a new car. You think you can’t command high rates? This post will make you think again.

2. Writers Explain What It’s Like Toiling on the Content Farm

Blog: MediaShift

Author: Corbin Hiar

A telling quote from this enlightening post: “‘I was completely aware that I was writing crap,’ she said. ‘I was like, I hope to God people don’t read my advice on how to make gin at home because they’ll probably poison themselves.’ […] ‘Never trust anything you read on eHow.com, she said, referring to one of Demand Media’s high-traffic websites, on which most of her clips appeared.” Be sure to read the comments!

3. Why You’ll Fail at Freelancing if You Suck at Math

Blog: Profitable Freelancer

Author: Jen Mattern

You may be thinking you can make the numbers work as a low-paid content mill writer, but they just don’t add up. Read this post and you’ll stop fooling yourself.

4. The High Cost of Earning Little

Blog: Ask MetaFilter

Not a blog post per se, but this thread will show how U.S. freelancers pay more in taxes than the employed — which makes writing for the content mills even less worth the effort than you thought!

5. The Reality of Writing for Content Mills: 14 Writers’ True Stories

Blog: Make a Living Writing

Author: Carol Tice

Carol put a ton of investigative work into this post, and the result is a real eye-opener. If you’re not quite sure the content mills are something you want to avoid, reading this will MAKE you sure.

6. Why You Shouldn’t Write for Content Mills

Blog: The Matador Network

Author: Michelle Schusterman

Michelle writes, “Still…work hard on queries and send them out daily on the off-chance of getting a response months from now, or write the toilet vent piece for a guaranteed, immediate $15? I went the mill route. Here’s why I shouldn’t have.”

7. Content Mills: Why Aspiring Writers Should Avoid Them

Blog: Make a Living Writing

Author: Carol Tice

Not only do content mills not give you the experience you need to become a better — and better paid — writer, but the whole content mill model is at risk of dying. Carol offers these and more reasons why you should steer clear of content mills.

8. 3 Things Writing for Content Mills Can Teach You About Freelance Writing

Blog: The Writing Base

Author: Samar Owais

One lesson learned from this post: “There’s nothing like earning $5 an article to make you realize you’re never going to achieve your goals if you keep writing for these rates.”

9. 6 Crucial Lessons from Writing for Content Mills

Blog: Be a Freelance Blogger

Author: Shannon Cutts

What writing for content mills has given you: You have a thick skin, good self discipline, and a warrior mentality. Now, Shannon wants you to use those winning traits to land decent paying work!

10. 5 Pros and 5 Cons Using Content Mills to Start Your Freelance Writing

Blog: Freelance Writers: Expertise for Newbies

Author: Melony Candea

One notable “con” of writing for the mills: “It is a plain, hard truth that you can’t use a lot of your content mill experiences to sell yourself to quality sites once you’re ready. It doesn’t matter how well written the pieces are, the sites themselves have a slight smear on them within the writing community.”

11. Quit Getting Paid Peanuts: 10 Tips for Freelance Writers

Blog: SuccessWorks

Author: Heather Lloyd-Martin

A big takeaway from this post is that if you don’t think your writing is worth much, clients won’t either. Here’s what to do about it.

13. So You Want To Make A Living Writing? 13 Harsh Truths.

Blog: Write on the River

Author: Bob Mayer

Think everyone’s doing better than you, and it makes you want to just give up and stick with the mills? Love this quote: “People lie. Writers are professional liars. I’ve listened to keynotes from writers and known they weren’t telling the truth. I’ve seen ‘deals’ posted in Publishers Marketplace and known the agent was grossly exaggerating the sale. No one blogs about ‘my career has gone down the crapper.’ Nope. People talk about good things. So don’t let it discourage you when everyone seems to be doing better than you.”

14. How I Make a Living as a Writer and You Can Too

Blog: James Altucher Confidential

Author: James Altucher

Learn the realities of writing for money, including Altucher’s revelations that platforms are shit and bookstores suck. An eye-opener!

15. The 7 Things Writers Need to Make a Living

Blog: Copyblogger

Author: Sonia Simone

Here are all the intangibles you need to make a living writing, from love to confidence to support. But don’t be fooled — this post goes beyond touchy-feely sentiments to share some key real-world insights.

16. How To Make A Living As An Author: Joanna Penn With Mark McGuinness

Blog: The Creative Penn

Author: Joanna Penn

Here’s how bestselling author went from writer to successful author-entrepreneur. My favorite line from this post: “Stop thinking like needy artists or freelancers living hand to mouth, and start thinking and acting like creative entrepreneurs.”

17. 3 Ways to Escape the Content Mills & Earn More as a Freelance Writer

Blog: The Renegade Writer

Author: Linda Formichelli

I think it’s important for writers to know there is a VAST, good-paying market in between content mills and hard-to-break-into magazines and businesses.

18. 8 Strategies to Building Your Freelance Writing Career

Blog: The Writer’s Dig at Writer’s Digest

Author: Brian Klems

Lots of good, solid nuts-and-bolts advice that will help you pitch your way to success in a market Brian says is getting easier to break into — thanks to email and the Internet.

19. So You Want to Be a Freelance Writer

Blog: Freelancers Union

Author: Kate Hamill

Kate, head of the Freelancers Union, gives the scoop on starting a freelance writing business.

20. Creating a Stronger Freelance Writing Business

Blog: Words on the Page

Author: Lori Widmer

A sample of the “why didn’t I think of that?” advice you’ll find in this post: “Look where others aren’t–right at the doorsteps of the companies and people you want to work with. Suppose you write about organic gardening. What associations cover that industry? Who are the experts? The PR firms? What publications support the growers, suppliers, manufacturers, or organic landscapers? Go to the sources themselves with your pitch. Do your homework, write your introductory letter, and follow up in a few weeks.”

21. To Become a Successful Freelance Writer, Start Here

Blog: Make a Living Writing

Author: Carol Tice

Are you one of those aspiring writers who says, “I’ll get started as soon as I determine my niche/decide on a business name/learn this fancy word processing program”? Carol tells you how and why you need to just take action NOW.

22. How to Stay Sane While Building Your Writing Career Part Time

Blog: The Write Life

Author: Ali Luke

Some core takeaways from this post: Be realistic, look into cutting down on your non-writing activities, and create systems that work for you.

23. 3 Secrets to Quickly Grow Your Freelance Writing Income

Blog: Make a Living Writing

Author: Carol Tice

Spoiler alert: Use your job and educational background to score gigs, even if these aren’t the topics you’re passionate about right now.

Yeah, But How Do I Actually GET These Lucrative Writing Assignments?

Somehow I knew you would ask that. So I gathered posts that outline the very basics on breaking into several different kinds of writing that can pay well. If one type calls out to you, you can do some Google-fu to dig deeper into the details.

First, a couple posts that outline all your options for writing niches that are worth pursuing:

24. What Kind of Writer Do You Want to Be?

Blog: Writing-World.com

Author: Terje Johansen

Wow! Get all the details on 25 types of writing to choose from — from technical writing to resume writing to journalism.

25. 105 Ways to Make a Living Writing in 2015

Blog: All Indie Writers

Author: Jenn Mattern

From ad copy to write papers, this list offers 105 ways for writers to make money, well, writing. My fave quote: “If you aren’t sure where to start, or if you’re worried that there aren’t enough potential writing gigs to go around, consider this: Just about everything involves a writer in some way.”

And now, the newbie guides to breaking into better writing niches:

Copywriting 101

Freelance copywriters can earn $50, $100, and more per hour for writing ad copy, brochures, newsletters, product descriptions, and more.

26. How to Become a Master Copywriter in Just One Year

Blog: The Write Life

Author: James Chartrand

I love how this post doesn’t promise instant riches, and also delves into some of the mental aspects of becoming a copywriter.

27. How to Become a Freelance Copywriter

Blog: CopyHackers

Author: Joanna Wiebe

Solid details on how to build a portfolio, find clients, and more.

28. The Freelance Copywriter’s Unfair Marketing Advantage

Blog: Copyblogger

Author: Brian Clark

Being a successful copywriter is about a LOT more than knowing how to write well. Brian discusses how to differentiate yourself from all the other copywriters out there.

Online Writing 101

Basically any writing for an online market counts here: Web copy, online newsletters, articles, and other types of writing that appear on the web. Pay varies widely, but bigger businesses tend to pay more moolah.

29. How I Make My Living as an Online Writer (And How You Could Too)

Blog: Aliventures

Author: Ali Luke

Ali earns not just from her writing online, but from affiliated activities like coaching and running a membership site. Here’s the scoop on how, why, and how much each earns.

30. How to Make Money Writing for the Web

Blog: The Writer’s Dig at Writer’s Digest

Author: Brian Klems

Brian leaves nothing out of this informative post — from websites that list paying freelance jobs to tips on the craft of writing for the web.

Content Marketing 101

Content marketing is writing that’s meant to entertain and educate with an eye to garnering readers, loyalty, and sales — and can include blog posts, e-mail newsletters, and more. Pay varies, but many businesses are learning it’s worth it to pay more for good content.

31. How Freelancers Can Break Into Content Marketing Writing

Blog: WordCount: Freelancing in the Digital Age

Author: Jennifer Gregory

Jennifer outlines the steps to becoming a content marketing writer in this post that includes a load of great resource links.

32. Getting Started as a Content Marketer

Blog: The Content Marketing Institute Blog

Author: Joe Pulizzi

Not exactly a blog post, but a web page by industry pro Joe Pulizzi that offers up a list of resources for newbies who want to break into content marketing.

33. Epic Content Marketing: How Business Writers Can Profit From The
Content Megatrend

Blog: High-Income Business Writing with Ed Gandia

Author: Ed Gandia

Ed interviews content marketer extraordinaire Joe Pulizzi (does that name sound familiar? to get the scoop on what content marketing is and why it’s a good market for freelance writers.

Magazine Writing 101

This is MY baby, and let me tell you: Some magazines pay zilch, while top markets can pay $2 per word and up. I’ve actually been paid well over $2,500 for a single article for a newsstand magazine. Other magazine markets that pay include trade publications, custom publications, and online magazines. If you’re interested in breaking into this market, you may want to check out Carol Tice’s and my upcoming Pitch Clinic class. We show you how to write a killer query or letter of introduction, and we two magazine editors on staff to critique your homework!

34. How to Get Paid to Write for Magazines: The Ultimate Guide

Blog: Boost Blog Traffic

Author: Linda Formichelli (Who is that chick, anyway?)

I know this is one of mine, but it really is an ultimate guide! Get the details on who will buy your articles and how to pitch them.

35. How to Write for Major Magazines

Blog: AboutFreelance.com

Author: Allena Tapia

Allena has some great tips on which editors to pitch and how to flatter your way to success as a magazine writer.

Blogging 101

Want write blog posts for clients? Lots of businesses are realizing the value of maintaining an interesting updated blog, and they’re looking for writers who can make it happen. Pay varies, but $50-$75 per post is common, and you typically don’t have to do all the research and interviewing you’d do for a magazine article. You can also earn money from your own blog through selling products, running ads, and doing affiliate marketing.

36. How to Start Earning from Your Blog – Right Away

Blog: Write to Done

Author: Carol Tice

Carol lists a bunch of ways to attract blogging clients — but notes that if clients aren’t coming to you, you need to reach out to them. (And she has tips for that too!)

37. How to Become a Highly Paid Freelance Blogger

Blog: Writing Happiness

Author: Marya Jan

Choose a niche, gather testimonials, and blog your butt off! These and more tips will help you get started as a paid blogger.

38. How to Become a Freelance Blog Writer

Blog: Freelance Switch

Author: Leo Babauta

Lots of advice for the blogging newbie. One great tip: “Once you’ve got some subscribers (a couple hundred would be awesome), don’t submit your stuff to the social media — let your readers do it for you. And they will, if the article is worthy. If it’s not worthy, you don’t want to submit it anyway. The effect of a popular article — or more accurately, a few popular articles — is big, in terms of becoming a freelancer. It gets you noticed by other blogs, and they’re your real market.”

Self-Publishing E-books 101

Self-publishing is tough to earn a lot from, but even so it beats the hell out of the content mills. You own your content and can sell it wherever and however you like, and online booksellers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble make the selling process simple. My Amazon titles earn me a few thou in royalties every year.

39. How Can the Average Writer Make Money Self Publishing E-Books?

Blog: The Writer’s Dig at Writer’s Digest

Author: Brian Klems

A very thorough discussion of the ins and outs of publishing e-books, especially hitting that sweet spot with pricing.

40. Self Publishing Podcast 116: What We’d Do If We Were Just Starting Out

Blog: The Self-Publishing Podcast

Author: Jacob Tullos

This podcasts addresses such newbie questions as: Should I start a blog? What should I blog about? Should I write a full novel or focus on shorter books? Should I break in with a series or release a standalone title first?

41. How to Make Money on Ebooks

Blog: A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing

Author: JA Konrath

JA Konrath makes a living from self publishing, and in this post he gives an overview of what it takes — including a Q&A of common newbie questions and a pro/con list for traditional vs. self publishing.

Ghostwriting 101

Ghostwriters can make a mint penning books, articles, and blog posts under their clients’ names. I’ve ghostwritten a couple of small Chicken Soup books that paid $5,000 each, and know from experience that series like Idiot’s Guides and Dummies books (though you’re technically a “co-author,” not strictly a ghostwriter, because your name appears under the subject matter expert’s name on the cover) can pay $10,000 and up.

42. How I Ghostwrite Other Writers’ Books

Blog: The Write Practice

Author: Joe Bunting

Joe offers a thorough discussion on the ethics of ghostwriting, how to land gigs, and the process for ghostwriting a book.

43. How to Be a Ghostwriter

Blog: Standout Books

Author: Robert Wood

I love how this post outlines the different types of ghostwriting you can get into, and gives advice on breaking into this niche.

44. So You Want My Job: Ghostwriter

Blog: The Art of Manliness

Author: Brett & Kate McKay

The authors interview Dean Zatkowsky , who averages $150 per hour for ghostwriting. Lots of great info on what to expect if you want to get into this field.

And that’s 44 posts to help you break out of the content mills, say buh-bye to writing for peanuts, and make a good living as a freelance writer. If you enjoyed this post, please share with all your writer friends via email, on Twitter, and on Facebook!

Happy writing,

Linda Formichelli

Click here to snag our delightful free goodies for writers!

Editors Unleashed E-book • Checklist "50 Ways to Boost Your Freelance Writing Business Today" +More!

It all started with a bowlful of marbles.

For years I wrote for many of the major women’s and health magazines — Woman’s Day, Health, Family Circle, Oxygen, Fitness, Woman’s Health, Redbook, and more. And part of my job was to always be researching my markets, so I read a LOT of these magazines every week.

It seemed that every year, each magazine in this niche would run an article on foot health where a podiatrist would recommend several exercises readers should do to keep their feet in good shape. One of these exercises was to toss a handful of marbles on the floor, and use your toes to pick up each one and deposit it in a bowl.

And every time I read this, I asked myself, “Is there a single woman, anywhere in the universe, who actually does this? In a country where the vast majority of women don’t even get the minimum recommended amount of regular exercise, is anyone out there taking the time every day to work on their toe strength?” It baffled me.

This next section may seem like a non-sequitur, but what I’m going to talk about now ties into all this and there is a lesson, I promise.

The Comparison Game

Even though I’m not a perfectionist when it comes to the craft and business of writing, I’m a perfectionist when it comes to just about every other part of my life. I like my house to be beautifully designed and sparkling clean, I stress when my toenails are chipped, I insist that every meal my family eats be as organic as possible and has all the macronutrients in the right amounts, and until my recent back injury, I was hiring a personal trainer to work me out three times per week — and feeling bad that my belly looked, well, like that of a 46-year-old woman.

You know how we tend to compare ourselves to others? Well, in each area of my life I’ve always compared myself to the foremost person I know in that field.

• I compared my house to the home of my friend who’s a very successful interior designer.
• I compared my energy and fitness to the full-time personal trainers I’ve hired.
• How did my eating stack up to the diet of that woman who runs a blog about the evils of processed food? This mom uses a special app while on road trips to find breakfast spots that offer organic, free-range eggs. What would she think, I asked myself, if she saw me pick up $1/dozen eggs at Target?
• Our son’s lunches needed to look like the ones featured on healthy mom blogs. (Oh damn, did she MAKE those whole wheat tortillas?)
• How did my last e-course launch compare to the marketing genius with 15 employees who broke $1 million on his last launch? Ugh.

Comparing upwards was a recipe for dissatisfaction and stress, but it was so hard to stop. Can you relate?

And Then It All Falls Apart

My back went out in July, and after getting a lumbar steroid injection a week ago, the pain reached a horrifying peak (ironically…aren’t those injections supposed to alleviate pain?). I ended up on the sofa for several days, being waited on hand and foot by my husband, our son, and our exchange student.

I couldn’t cook. I couldn’t exercise. I couldn’t clean. I couldn’t even work that well because it was difficult to balance the laptop on my knees as I sat in the one position that didn’t cause agony.

I’ve been grateful for all the help I’ve been receiving, and didn’t want to criticize how anyone did anything for me. Gift horse and all that.

But guess what?

My husband gave our son an apple for breakfast before his dance class — yes, just an apple, before a strenuous hour of ballet — and the universe did not implode.

It took me a couple of days to get back to a client who couldn’t download the materials she bought from me. She was fine with it.

We had family over for my birthday and bought pizza and cake instead of my stressing over a homemade dinner and dessert all day as usual. Everyone had a great time.

I spent half a day surrounded by dirty plates and glasses because my husband got overloaded with to-dos. I survived and so did everyone else.

And that’s when I had my “ah ha” moment:

The Experts Picked Their Battles

The experts we compare ourselves to have devoted their lives to being the best in that one area.

• The podiatrist offers magazine readers toe exercises and probably even does them at home because foot health is his entire life. He may eat fast food every day and live in a messy house, but damn, his feet are in great shape.
• The famous author who pumps out a bestseller every year — I guarantee she is not on top of her laundry and she probably doesn’t take a shower the entire week before a deadline.
• The mom who runs a blog that features beautifully styled photos of her kids’ hyper-healthy, homemade bento box lunches — creating those lunches is what she does for a living. We don’t know about the rest of her life. Hell, maybe her marriage is falling apart and her kids are entitled brats. But all we see is the thing she’s perfect at, and we extrapolate that to the rest of her life.
• Personal trainers’ lives revolve around fitness. They run daily and have their split routine down to a science, and that’s what we notice when they train us. We see the thing they’re best at and assume they’re perfect in all aspects of their lives as well. But look a little closer and we see that maybe they’re poor marketers or get behind on their bills occasionally.

I’m not trying to be all Schadenfreude here. I’m not saying we should pick apart experts’ flaws to make ourselves feel better. What I’m trying to get across is that the experts chose one area of their lives to truly shine in, and that’s really all we can expect of anyone else — or ourselves.

Now, Pick YOUR Battles

We see these experts in our lives, and they seem to have it all together and be perfect at the one thing they do, and we aspire to be the same.

But the thing is, despite what magazines and Internet gurus would have us believe, we can’t emulate every professional and expect to retain our sanity. We can’t feel guilty that we’re not doing daily toe exercises and writing bestsellers and crafting bento box lunches and taking our kids on weekly educational field trips and walking around with perfectly coiffed hair and rock solid abs and measuring the macronutrients in our food.

Pick your battles. What is the one thing you do — or want to do — better than anyone else?

Maybe you’re a brilliant writer or entrepreneur. Or you’re a devoted homeschooling parent. Or you always look put-together and beautiful. Or you’re a wonderful host, and your home is a place friends and family love to gather. Or you work hard to rock six-pack abs and upper arms that don’t jiggle when you wave.

Don’t hang your self worth on having it all going on in every aspect of your life — let your self-esteem stem from your own personal superpower.

I’m not saying you can’t be a good parent and a good writer, or you have to let your health go to pot if you want to have a beautiful home. Self improvement is always great, and as humans we’re always striving for better and more. But realize you can’t do it all perfectly, and no one expecting you to. (And if someone is, you probably don’t want them in your life.)

You won’t see any bowls of marbles in my closet. My top skill is writing, so that’s what I’ll focus on. Take a few minutes to think about this today: What’s your superpower, and what do you need to let go of so you can shine?

**

If you enjoyed this post, you’ll love my new e-book Commit: How to Blast Through Problems & Reach Your Goals Through Massive Action. Committing is using overwhelming force to solve a problem or reach a goal. It’s pretty much the opposite of the baby-steps approach. When you Commit, you do whatever it takes to make happen what you want to happen. You can use one giant, crazy, unbelievably powerful tactic, but it’s even more effective to combine several tactics at the same time — which we discuss in this self help e-book.

In Commit, we talk about hiring help, creating accountability, and amassing the resources you need to get off to a mighty start. In this concise and actionable personal development e-book, you’ll also find details on how to prepare for your Commit practice…how to troubleshoot common problems…and 20 ideas for reaching your goal or solving your problem through massive action.

Interested? Check out the 22 five-star reviews and get your copy on Amazon.com here!

Creative character descriptions are hard to master.

I’ve been working on a new e-book called Control: Take Charge and Live the Life YOU Want, and this essay grew out of one of the chapters I’ve been writing. This book won’t be out for a while because, well, I just started it…but if you want to read something great, check out my top-rated new e-book Commit: How to Blast Through Problems & Reach Your Goals Through Massive Action. One writer committed her way into lining up $29,700 worth of work in one month!

Why the Phrase “It Is What It Is” Makes Me Want to Punch People in the Throat

There’s been a cultural shift towards all things Zen — accepting what is, being happy no matter what the circumstances, expressing gratitude for our blessings, and greeting irritating situations and people with a compassionate smile. The phrase “It is what it is” has invaded the vernacular.

That is wonderful. There are many things we can’t control, and it makes sense to accept them rather than rail against what you can’t change.

But in some cases, we put on our Zen faces for things we can and should change, because we’re feeling under-confident about taking charge. We’re afraid that we’ll upset other people if we insist on getting what we want, even if we’re perfectly justified in doing so…or sometimes, we’re feeling lazy or unmotivated and it’s just easier to pretend to accept the way things are.

The Gratitude Trap

In early 2008 I suffered from daily, debilitating panic attacks, and I complained to my therapist that I hated being on antidepressants…and while I was at it, I wasn’t thrilled with my Tourette’s medication either. They made me tired, and both boasted a long list of scary-sounding side effects; for example, the Tourette’s med can cause tartive dyskinesia, a permanent condition that causes — wait for it — uncontrollable movements such as “wormlike motions of the tongue.”

The therapist said, “Instead of being angry that you’re on these medications, why not feel grateful that medications like this exist that can help people live normal lives?”

I couldn’t argue with that, so for years I practiced gratitude. “Hey, I just saw a report that my Tourette’s med is causing men to grow breasts. Oh well, I’m grateful this medication is out there helping people.” And “Wow, I just read an article on how antidepressants aren’t nearly as effective as we think, but tapering off them can cause horrible withdrawal symptom — but I’m grateful because who knows…this medication may be what stopped the panic attacks.”

After reading one too many articles about the dangers of these medications, it suddenly hit me that “be grateful” can be just another phrase for “suck it up,” and decided to wean myself from the drugs. I researched methods for tapering them down to minimize withdrawal symptoms, and bought books on natural Tourette’s relief. These are actions I could have taken in 2008 and saved myself a lot of grief, but instead I was placated by the Zen-like idea of gratitude. Now, I feel like I am the one in control of my body and my health.

Being thankful for our blessings is important, but gratitude can be dangerous if it’s used to keep us stuck and take away our control over our lives. Think of the unhappy worker who says, “I’m lucky to have any job in this economy.” Or the wife who says, “I’m grateful to have any husband at all, with all these kids to take care of…so what if he’s emotionally abusive once in awhile?” Or the writer who says, “This content mill pays me only $10 per article, but I’m lucky to make money doing what I love.”

Not Accepting What Is

Accepting what is can translate as settling for less than you deserve or making do with less than you need. When you settle or make do, you’re giving up and letting the situation control you. You’re saying other people are in charge of you, and you’re going to just roll over and learn to deal with it. The philosophy of accepting what is, when used at the wrong times, results in a sense of loss of control. And my philosophy is that what we humans most desire is a feeling that we’re at least somewhat in charge of our lives and what happens to us.

Instead of trying to impress others with our Zen-like attitude when faced with a challenge, we should make sure that what we do and what we get is what we want and need.

An example: My web hosting service (I’m looking at you, WP Engine) was dinging me an extra $50 per month in overage charges due to search engine web robots that were indexing my site hundreds of times per day, which pushed my site over its visitor limit. I worked with the web host for months to block the bots, and the best they could do was offer a lame suggestion to sign up for their next-higher plan, which cost $70 more per month than the one I was paying for. I finally gave up, thinking “Oh, well. You’d think that a web host that charges premium prices wouldn’t be so petty as to penalize me for every bot that visits my site, but I’ll just learn to live with the $50 per month overage fee. It is what it is. Ohm.”

Finally, one morning I woke up with yet another $50 invoice sitting in my inbox and I had the sudden realization that I don’t have to deal with this. It took all of 30 minutes to research cheaper web hosts that allowed unlimited visits, to sign up with a new host, and hire them to move my websites over to their service.

The sense of control and satisfaction I felt when I was done was enormous. Before, I was letting my web host control my money, my time, and my emotions. Now, I was in charge again. Never again would my morning be ruined when I checked my email and found a $50 invoice waiting for me.

The phrase “It is what it is” often means “Shut up and deal with it” when someone says it regarding a situation we can change. If we want to gain a sense of control over our lives, we need to insist on getting what we pay for, being treated well, and feeling worthy of other people’s best efforts. We need to speak up confidently, though kindly, when we’re getting less than we deserve. Saying “It is what it is” when something you bought doesn’t work the way it should, or you’re asked to sign a contract that goes against your best interests, or someone mistreats you, or you receive something that’s not up to par…that’s handing over control of your money, time, and self respect to people who don’t deserve it.

When your favorite contestant on American Idol comes in second place, that’s a good time to say “It is what it is.” When you are, say, cheated out of money by someone or asked to sign an onerous contract, saying “It is what it is” is a sign of laziness and lack of control couched in Zen terminology.

Here are a bunch of clichés, all of which are apt: You are in charge of your life. You hold the steering wheel. Why should you settle for less in your life because you don’t want to rock the boat? Zen platitudes like “It is what it is” and “be grateful for what you have” work when you’re facing the inevitable…they don’t work when you have even the smallest possibility of making a change for the better. [lf]

My new e-book — Commit: How to Blast Through Problems & Reach Your Goals Through Massive Action — is all about creating a life you love by throwing every ounce of energy and resources you have at your biggest problems and goals.

I’m thrilled that in less than a week, Commit has racked up 16 five-star reviews on Amazon! And I’m even more excited to hear that readers are starting Commit practices to build their businesses, lose weight, and more.

Freelance writer Penny Hawes has been Committing to a BIG income goal this year — and she lined up more than a third of her income for 2015 by the first week of February. I interviewed Penny to find out:

• What her Commit practice looks like.
• How one decision helped her go from feeling broke to achieving her goals — and then some. (Penny took advantage of NINE Commit tactics to make it happen!)
• How Committing has helped her with the winter blahs and self worth issues.
• What her work style was like before she started Committing.
• How many Letters of Introduction she plans to send out to help her reach her income goal. (You won’t believe it!)
• How she reframes cold calls to make them less scary. (Hint: It’s about the service, not about you.)
• How Committing is like body surfing.
• And much more.

I know some Renegades prefer to listen to interviews, while some (like me) are readers — so I have both options for you.

Download and listen to the interview (25 minutes)

http://www.therenegadewriter.com/Podcasts/PennyHawesInterview.mov

Download and read the interview (PDF, 12 pages)

http://www.therenegadewriter.com/Commit/PennyHawes77kInterview.PDF

I hope you get a lot out of this interview, and that it will help you start your own Commit practice!

If you want to read Commit: How to Blast Through Problems & Reach Your Goals Through Massive Action, here’s the Amazon link…or just visit to check out all the awesome reviews, including one that says, “I feel like I’ve been shot out of a cannon!”

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SYRQLWW/?tag=therenwri-20

Happy writing,

Linda

Freedom is an interesting thing. We know it’s concept and we get the gist of it all, but many of us are busy functioning amidst our daily routines and we think of freedoms only on their grandest of scale. We are grateful for the rights we have living in a free Country, but we don’t think about the smaller freedoms. The freedoms that our routines, namely being stuck to them, may be stripping away from us.

[From my Instagram]
Routine. Trust me, I’m like you and love a good routine. Routines are good, they keep us focused and working towards goals; consistency is the foundation of every major accomplishment. We NEED certain routines, yet routines are a tricky double edged sword.

Routines keep you focused. Routines can also hold your prisoner. The issues that dictate which is which are: the routine, the basis for it, and how much flexibility you allow yourself within it.

I can parallel this to running because it’s an easy example; training should become a routine. You need to KNOW you’re going to do it, don’t think of it like a ‘maybe’, you know your goals and you know you need to be consistent to reach them. You need that routine to keep you focused because running and training is hard. Frankly it’s painful and there will be times when you need to know you’re going to just have to put your head down and grind through. BUT, there are times when grinding will only leave you a broken, dull stone, so there needs to be a degree of flexibility. There are times when rather than pushing you need to step back.

Freedom outside your routine is also a state of mind. Being so busy usually means you’re perpetually distracted, or so focused on the task at hand you’re not opening yourself up to anything else. PAUSE. A mere pause, and opening yourself up to the possibility of…well, the possible.

You can’t see an opportunity if your eyes aren’t even open. What’s funnier still is that when you’re busily distracted you’re not even aware of the potential that you’re missing something!

That’s not some kind of riddle there, and it’s meaning is only best exemplified through actual experience. If you’ve had a moment where you cognitively shifted your focus, veered slightly outside your routine, and you had a MOMENT, experienced something unexpected that just, made you smile. That momentous experience of freedom is what I’m describing.

You chose to be free and in that moment you opened yourself up to have that smile….however small the experience was that brought it to your face.

You see, to get that smile, that satisfaction, doesn’t require you to veer wildly off course to the point where you recklessly abandon all goals or tasks at hand. No, it can be as simple as putting the other shoe on first…the tiniest change of routine just to show yourself that you CAN do it out of order. Who knows, you may like it. Just knowing you CAN often causes a much larger shift in perspective. You wonder what else you CAN do.

So be free. Think with an open and free mind. I challenge you to do tiny things outside of your routine and see if, by Jove, you like it.

This post is a continuation of my previous week’s discussion of stuck emotions. When a character feels inadequate or down on himself, it’s very hard to get a character who cares about themselves or the story. Another alternative to this situation is a character who doesn’t want to be involved in their particular circumstances–they couldn’t care less about taking over the family business, for example–and so they try very hard to convince themselves and the reader that they simply don’t care.

This is very difficult to forge into compelling fiction. After all, I hold that the basic aim of any writer is to make the reader care. So if a character doesn’t care, my first objection is that they’re making it that much more difficult for me, as a reader, to get invested in the story. It feels a little unfair. After all, I’m working so hard to get into the book, suspend disbelief, latch on to a character, inhabit a point of view, hear a voice…that I want the protagonist to be in the same boat. You’re ideally creating someone the reader can get invested in. And if it’s an anti-hero type or someone stewed in apathy, who won’t invest in herself, that’s a tough sell.

It’s realistic, sure. It happens in life, and it’s very full of deep and real emotions. But it’s hard to pull off well. So if your particular writing challenge is creating a compelling character who just so happens to be detached, pent up, hidden behind defenses, or just a straight-up nihilist, you need to crack those walls at some point, and soon. Even if it’s for a minute, even if only the reader can see it because it happens in interiority…some measure of vulnerability needs to happen.

And then, there needs to be something that compels the character to move forward. Whether it’s a very personal motivation, a private objective, a small bit of light at the end of a dark tunnel, whatever, it needs to pull them forward into the story. One thing I won’t do as a reader is suffer through a manuscript where it seems like the protagonist is being dragged along, kicking and screaming. Facets of this idea are discussed in my post on “character buy-in,” which becomes an important concept here. It doesn’t just have to do with suspension of disbelief, it has to do with the character finding their own reason to engage with the story.

Finally, if your character really does care but they say they don’t care, it better not last too long, because ain’t nobody got time for that! Protest less and get into the real telling of the tale!

Be inspired by many, aim to inspire at least one.

Tomorrow is a New Year that brings amazing things: opportunity for a fresh start, renewed hope, possibilities, and even new beginnings. Mark Twain said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore, Dream, Discover.” Make

Eek…so I’m very excited to say I can now share with you all the new children’s book I’ve written and illustrated: ‘Shay and the Caterpillar’!! Now before I lose the interest of everyone above ‘child’ age and don’t have children I feel it’s important to say that 1) hello, one should never outgrow a love for picture books and art and 2)…

This isn’t just a children’s book, this is a book for anyone who’s ever struggled with the feeling that they weren’t enough. Because you ARE.

All Shay wished she could be was colorful. But it seemed no matter how hard she wished or how hard she looked for color, it wasn’t to be.

That was until the day the Caterpillar showed her just how bright she made the world.

Follow along with Shay in her journey to finding color, with a message and uniquely whimsical illustrations children and adults alike will delight in.

So even if you don’t have children yourself, I encourage you to take a read. Plus, I’ll bet you DO know a little girl or boy who does love a good story with kick-butt graphics. And parents, I doubly encourage you to make this one your NEXT bedtime, snuggle-time, anytime read.

BUY NOW on Amazon: Shay and the Caterpillar

I had a great phone call with a coaching client a few weeks ago, and it reminded me that I’ve been meaning to write about a phenomenon I’ve noticed over the years. He was really passionate about his first five chapters, the ones he’d already drafted. He had a strong goal to finish his manuscript, but no matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t progressing. Why? He was fixating on revising those completed chapters!

Some writers sit down and bang out a draft, no problem. (Those jerks!) Some writers have the hardest time pursuing new pages when they already have part of a draft completed. This can be trouble for a few reasons.

What you’ve already written is a known. It’s there already, and you can begin to work on it. Plus, there’s the idea that if you really polish those first few chapters, you’ll have a stronger springboard for the rest of the story. The blank pages that follow are unknown, they’re not nearly as appealing. In fact, they can be downright intimidating. So who would blame a writer for sticking to the familiar?

In addition to being done, your existing chapters also provide a lot of opportunity for distraction. When we’re tinkering with the same few chapters over and over again, we tend to feel pretty productive. But we may also miss the forest for the trees. Because while you’re working on syntax and trying to decide what order those three scenes should go in, the “bird’s eye view” of the entire project itself is getting ignored. Just like some manuscript revisions tend to devolve into moving around commas rather than dealing with larger issues like plot and voice, tinkering can take you away from what needs to be your focus, especially in an early draft: getting the big picture down on paper.

What do I recommend to writers who are getting caught up in their early pages at the expense of finishing a draft? Write a long outline where you detail what you plan to do in each additional chapter. Cover what scenes you’ll include, what the big plot turning points will be, and how characters might grown and change as a result. It doesn’t have to be fancy or thorough. The goal here is to give yourself a map for finally committing those unknown chapters to the page.

The hard truth is this: once you finish a manuscript, you will most likely discover things you didn’t know about your story, you’ll have developed your themes and characters, and you will want to go back to the beginning and start planting some seeds that will eventually grow and blossom over the course of the novel. So those first chapters that you’re polishing are likely to change as your own understanding of the manuscript changes.

Tinkering can be good if you recognize it for what it is, and don’t indulge it too much. When writers come to me with a promising first few chapters or one really rough complete draft, I am much more intrigued by the draft, each and every time. In the first chapters, you are still very much in the idea stage and trying to figure your novel out. When you’ve completed a first draft, you’ve at least put everything down on paper and you’ve executed a version of your vision. It may not be the final version, and it may not be terribly polished yet, but at least it’s complete. Pulling that off may be more intimidating up-front, but it’s definitely more gratifying in the long run.

When you close your eyes, may you dream of lanes, miles, and splits.

It’s never too early to dream of track, or any running goals for that matter. But at a time in the season where your next race may night be quite close enough to ‘taste’…the motivation to brave the elements (Hello, Winter, I was over you last month.) can wane for some runners.

I often take the snarky, or sarcastic, side to life, even when it comes to a ‘kind’ kick in the right direction. Here are some ways I suggest keeping yourself consistent until it IS close enough to ‘taste’ your next race.

1) That Runner Guilt Factor: I’ll be totally honest, this is usually my BEST way to combat a motivation lull. I remind myself that skipping a run usually is not worth feeling that ‘runner guilt’ later. No joke, you know it’s not fun going to bed tossing and turning because you caved to an instance of laziness.

2) The Endorphin Factor: Close to the above, I also remind myself that even if I feel tired/sluggish and the last thing I want to do is run…that usually changes after the first 5 minutes or mile. Once you get into the run those endorphins kick in, and I’ve never finished and thought, “Wow, I really wish I woulda just kicked it on the couch.”

3) Play Antagonizer: Mental dialogue, “C’mon, don’t be a weenie. Suck it the heck up, lace it up.”

4) The Buddy System: When in doubt, call a friend, arrange a run, join a group, social media that you ARE going for a run. That way if you back out, you’ve got to deal with the ‘Tweet of shame’ later. Good peer pressure and all that jazz.

5) Training Program: If you’re training to PR, I have to say I honestly recommend you have a coach, or are knowledgeable enough yourself to coach yourself. But self coaching is HARD…and it’s a lot easier to not have to ‘think’ about your training. That way, you have someone to tell you what to do, BAM, your job is just to run. Trust me, running is hard business, taking some things off your plate is nice. Plus, if your coach gives you the workout, no arguments, lace it up, Buddy!

6) Dream of Goals: Even if race day IS far away, write it down and know your goals. Like the picture above, if you VISUALIZE what you want and put it OUT THERE, it makes things feel more ‘real’ and you know what you’re working towards. It’s harder to blow off a written goal, one you dream about, right? Methinks yes.

7) Bribery: It’ll get you everywhere. Bribe yourself with new running gear, think about dessert, splurge on some cool new shoes, dream of pancakes on your run, create a cool playlist…whatever. When it doubt, donut it out…you just have to run first.

8) Identity: Okay, some people may be all judgmental and say you shouldn’t DEFINE yourself as a runner…but I’ll be honest, a big part of who I am (or at least the parts I tend to like the most! haha) is that I’m a runner. It’s not just a passion of mine, but it’s a way I connect with people, my friends, and a mentality. I know if I’ve run for the day I feel better and am a happier individual. So race or no race, get my miles on.

9) Money in the Bank: Think of all these miles and workouts as money in the bank. The stronger you are going into the ‘meat’ of the season the better you’ll race. Doesn’t that sound logical? Picture your competitors, who do you think will do better come race day, the ones gettin’ ‘er did, or the sofa’ing ‘er did? The uglier the day/workout, the more excited you should be when you tackle it…it’s making you that much tougher.

10) Superiority: Remember that runners are just better. So go run, don’t you want to be part of the cool kids?

Snark, goals, tough love to yourself…whatever it takes. Dream of miles, and remember you HAVE the support of the entire (awesome) runner community to give you a motivation boost when you need it.

You’re wondering how you’re doing as a writer. I know, it’s hard to not have a handle on whether you’re doing well or poorly!

So you ask another writer, maybe one who’s more experienced than you:

• How many queries do you write per week?
• How much are you earning?
• How many assignments do you get every month?
• How long does it take you to write an article or a blog post?
• How many ideas can you generate in a brainstorming session?

But here’s the thing: It doesn’t make sense to compare your progress with other writers’ numbers because, well, there’s nothing you can do with that information.

For example, say you know another writer sends out three queries a week. What does that mean? Is that writer the last word in marketing? And are you even comparing apples with apples? If you are a stay-at-home parent of three young kids and have only five hours per week to work, and the other writer has no children and can work 50 hours per week, it doesn’t do anything for you to know how many queries she manages to send out — except to give you a guilt complex.

Plus, every writer has different superpowers. I can write a 1,000-word article in an hour once my interviews are done. When you ask me how long it takes me to write an article and I tell you that, should you feel bad if it takes you four hours? No. Writing fast happens to be a strength of mine, but maybe your superpower is writing kick-ass headlines, or generating ideas, or negotiating.

Another example: Maybe you talk with five writers about how many ideas they generate in an hour-long brainstorming session and they say five to ten. You know you can develop only two ideas in an hour, but that usually they will both result in assignments. So who’s doing better?

Finally, things change as you progress in your career, so talking to someone with more experience isn’t as helpful as you would think. For example, a pro writer doesn’t send out many queries. You know why? Because he doesn’t have to. He has a roster of clients who come to him with work. So if you heed the oft-told advice to look to more experienced writers for benchmarks, you could be led astray.

There’s a saying I found in a book, and I wish I can remember what that book was so I could properly credit it, but here goes:

What other people do is a data point, not a decision.

It’s always nice to know how and what other writers are doing, but you shouldn’t base your decisions or self-esteem on their numbers.

What matters for YOU is that you’re always improving your own numbers: Your income should be going up, the time it takes to do various tasks going down, you should be getting better assignments, and the percentage of pitches that end in assignments should be increasing.

If you’re doing that, other writers’ numbers should not matter one whit. As long as your stats are improving, you can be confident you’re on the right track. [lf]

Magic doesn’t come out of thin air, the moments that ARE magical are born from will, work, determination, and often times a bit of absurd belief that you’re capable of goals far greater than anyone sane would believe. Magic exists, it’s just only the insane are lucky enough to find it.