The Importance of Being Persistent

In an earlier post, I wrote a letter to new writers where I described how the path of a writer is one that winds, ebbs and flows. How do you keep following the same path? One of the qualities that a writer must have is the ability to be persistent. Well, that one word can have a lot of connotations, so I’d like to explain what “being persistent” means to me.

So what does it mean? Well, if you want to be a writer it means you don’t give up. It means when you “think” you have no readers, no chance of success, or that you’ve just written something terrible you keep on the path. You see, it is too easy to drown in self-pity or thoughts about how you’re a horrid writer, but the truth of the matter is that you (and only you) have control over that. To be blunt, if you think you suck — get an editor, or get your work critiqued. If you believe you can’t write horror because your fight scenes are terrible, try perfecting your dialogue for a while instead. Practice, practice, practice and play with your words. If you take a break, plan to get back on that wagon, but don’t ever give up completely.

I’d like to share with you a personal anecdote, because I think it applies here. Not every story I’ve written I enjoy, and truth be told I never read my work after it’s been published. (Unless it’s for an author reading). I did once, when I was nine. I had won a Halloween fiction contest for a community publication; seeing my words in print was a very meaningful experience for me, so powerful that I read that story over and over again. It seems a little silly to me now, but I still have this vivid feeling of “winning.”

When I was young, the world was a magical, musical place. I didn’t realize how many writers were out there, and I didn’t understand writing is a multi-faceted business until years later. When I did, I put down my pen and paper for a time because the competition was overwhelming. Once I started writing again, though, I never stopped and never looked back.

Writer Lucien Soulban had an excellent thought related to that recently on Twitter. “Words of Wisdom for Writers: Their success is not your failure.”

Everyone’s path as a writer is unique, including my own. Just like there isn’t “one way” to write, there isn’t “one way” to follow that path. However, if you want to be a writer, you need to be persistent about it. There is enough opportunities in the publishing world for many writers out there, and just because you may admire another writer or you’re not finding yourself on the fast track to success, doesn’t mean that you are a crappy one. All it means, is that your path may be different. Remember, your words are footprints on that path, so don’t give up. I didn’t.
🙂

April 29, 2009
Permalink ∞

Lessons in Personal Branding: Day Four

In today’s tips about nurturing your personal brand, I’d like to share with you some more tips that I hope you’ll find useful to your career as a writer.

16. Try Not to Hold a Grudge

Have you ever been in a situation where another writer said something nasty about you? What about a project that you’ve worked on for years but never got paid? It is extremely easy to get into situations where two people engage in grudge matches, especially when one (or the other) party ceases communication.

There is no magic bullet to avoiding a grudge with someone because sometimes, there is a legitimate reason why someone would feel the way they do. I try very hard to keep open lines of communication as much as possible and (while some people don’t) I do believe in resolving serious issues face-to-face or on the phone whenever possible. My philosophy is that life is way too short to be miserable. Grudges, unfortunately, affect more than just the two parties involved. Resolve your differences, even if you “agree to disagree” so you can remain a professional.

17. Engage in Friendly Competition

Writing can be very competitive, so why not turn that into a fun activity? Have a writing “word count” contest with your peers or generate some friendly “plot seed” competitions to spark your creativity. If you’re a very competitive person, sometimes the answer to satisfying your natural tendency is to look for healthy ways to compete with your peers in a friendly way rather than alienate them.

Unhealthy competition can be pretty dangerous because you can open yourself up to a lot of criticism — especially if you target other writers in your field. The thing to keep in mind about competition is that it’s natural to wonder if you’re “better” than another writer. That thought used to hit me when I was a lot younger, but I’ve since learned it’s pretty silly to think that way. There are PLENTY of writing opportunities to go around. Even if you wrote four books a year, think about how many are released through publishers every month!

18. Keep in Mind Editing is a Separate Skill

Did you know that there are as many forms of editing as there are writing styles? If you ask ten different people what editing is, they’ll probably tell you ten, different things. From content editing to proofreading, editing encompasses a broad range of skills that require a sharp eye.

I like to think about editing in this fashion: If a writer creates content, it’s an editor’s job to polish the content so it shines. It’s often very hard for a writer to edit his (or her) own work for that reason. Sometimes, you’re just too much in love with the words you’ve written to be able to see errors.

For more about editing, you can read these previous posts I had written:

19. Write What You Enjoy Writing

Have you ever gotten a gift that you absolutely hated? Were you enthusiastic about what you received? As any writer will tell you, sometimes it’s really hard to focus on assignments that are an absolute chore to complete. When you’re happy writing what you want to write, you’ll not only end up writing more than what you had originally intended, the quality will often be better as a result. That’s a product any writer can be proud of!

20. Read Blogs, Books by Other Writers

One of the ways that you can keep in touch with other writers is to support what they’re working on. From blogs to novels, I can’t stress enough how invaluable it is to read other publications. Staying on top of book trends or blogs can help foster discussion, provide you with a basis for better decision-making, help you brainstorm and more!

I find that reading books and blogs by other writers helps ensure that I have multiple perspectives on topics, which is essential to intelligent decision-making for anything I do in business. These multiple perspectives ensure that I’m optimistic and realistic about my writing and how I approach myself as a “brand.”

First Three Days in this Personal Branding Series for Writers

February 26, 2009
Permalink ∞

How Clients Get Away With Not Paying Freelancers (And What You Can Do About It)

piggy-bankAs I mentioned earlier this week in a post about why writers need to list more skills than just writing, it’s not uncommon for businesses to undervalue communication to cut financial corners. Many businesses will add company communications to other positions as a way to save money, especially if it’s not the businesses primary product or focus. Please keep in mind that I’m not talking about writing reviews or blogging here, because there may be instances where writing for free makes sense to build your online presence.

As writing and content strategy professionals, we may specialize in fiction or non-fiction because that is what defines us. Writing is our “product” that we deliver to clients in a timely fashion. We expect to get paid for what we do, because we don’t want to work for free.

Unfortunately, there is a darker side to writing that I wanted to share with you today. That darker side is what happens when we isolate ourselves from one another and don’t do our homework on the businesses we work for. It’s what happens when we chase the rainbow because we want to get those elusive writing credits and get ahead. The result? We don’t get paid.
Read More…

February 20, 2009
Permalink ∞

Job-Hunting? Writers, List Additional Skills!

One of the things that happens in a tight economy, is that employers want to get more for their money. It makes sense, right? Not only are there are number of people out of work, but employers are looking for that value-add so they save money in the longer-term. In my experiences, this has meant that employers are willing to sacrifice the quality of writing for those “extra” qualifications that they might be looking for.

Unfortunately, those “extra” qualifications might not be easily apparent when you’re applying for a job. Give too much information up front, and you may qualify yourself out of a job. Don’t reveal enough about your skills, and you might find yourself overlooked.

Now more than ever, you’ll have to show not only why writing as a specialty is so important for effective communication, but you’ll also have to list your other skills. Whether you’re technologically-savvy or not, writers often incorporate other skills that are important to list. For your convenience, I’ve come up with a sample list of skills other than writing that may help you promote yourself.

  • analytical – Do you know how to analyze small details and glean insight from them? Are you familiar with web analytics?
  • proofreading – Can you spot punctuation and know grammar rules?
  • content editing – Are you a natural editor? Can you look at the bigger picture and restructure content?
  • web copywriting – Do you know the basics of web copywriting? Or how about search engine optimization?
  • social media-savvy – Are you on Twitter? Facebook? MySpace? It’s not a bad idea to mention that you know how to use the tools.
  • community-builder – Do you know how to generate great discussion and get people to interact with one another?
  • reviewer or critic – Do you write reviews of books, CDs or movies? You never know when someone might be interested in that skill.
  • presenter – Have you written speeches or presented at a conference?
  • style-format editor – Are you a master at word processing and know how to format reports quickly and easily?
  • indexing – Do you know how to index automatically or manually?
  • coding HTML, XML, etc. – Familiar with the ins and outs of coding? Even on a basic level this can be a real plus?
  • blogging – Different from web copywriting, pointing out to clients where you blog can help them glean a little insight about your personality
  • technologically-savvy – What kinds of tools do you know? While a long list of everything that you’re familiar with might not be the best, definitely let your clients know you’re not afraid of tech.
  • photographer or video creator – Do you know how to take a great picture? How about creating short videos?
  • coaching or advising – Have you ever offered other professionals advice? What about non-professionals?
  • bookkeeping – Do you keep excellent books for your freelancing business? Have you thought about expanding that skillset?
  • project management – Have you ever managed a project that you were working on?
  • photo or image editing – Do you know how to edit a photo to make it look great?
  • graphic or web design – Artistic? Know how to design flyers or websites?

Another thing to think about when you’re putting together your skillset, is that the skills you share will also help break down some of the common stereotypes that non-writers have about us. Blast those misperceptions of writers being anti-social and snobbish right out of the water and let your personality shine. The easier you appear to work with, the better your chances will be.

Good luck!

February 18, 2009
Permalink ∞

How Much Should You Get Paid to Blog?

Are you new to blogging? Do you know how much writers typically get paid per blog post? Back before blogging existed, most writers would get paid by the word. The higher the word count, the better pay a writer might receive, the more prestigious the publication. For example, publications with national distribution models might offer $1.00 a word on up. Fiction, on the other hand, ranges from free to 5 cents a word on up. You can see a huge disparity in how fiction is paid even through the two, free fiction directory websites that I had listed earlier.

Taken from the perspective that writers should “charge by the word,” I’ve run into the challenge of explaining not only “what” blogging is to some of my fellow writers, but how much they can expect to get paid. One example of this, is that I forwarded a job listing for freelancing to a writer who was looking for work. The job was pretty decent: $10-15 per 300-500 word post on a regular basis. The writer responded by telling me that the company obviously couldn’t afford them, even though they had never blogged before.
Read More…

January 26, 2009
Permalink ∞
Previous Posts Next Posts




Monica Valentinelli > freelancing

Looking for Monica’s books and games that are still in print? Visit Monica Valentinelli on Amazon’s Author Central or a bookstore near you.

Archives

Back to Top