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Do you ever ask yourself why
you chose to become a writer?
When someone once told me I
should express my 'original voice', they obviously had not
heard of house styles. Idiosyncracy has to be mulched to
suit media musts if you want to eat and have a roof over
your head. Or does it?
Any romantic dreams we
might nurture about writing soon get demolished when the
mortgage needs to be paid. But do they have to?
The freedom to freelance
often comes with the price tags of discipline and
compromise. But, paradoxically, they can also be excellent
aids in building a reputation and setting a value on our
worth. They enable us to focus effort and energy yet still
enjoy variety, choice and control.
Anne Hogben of the Writers'
Guild believes that most writers are driven by the need to
self-express, maybe even vanity. But not money. Tell that
to the bank manager. To paraphrase Cyril Connolly, every
writer should know how much they need to live on. To that,
they should add a mental picture of what they believe
their words are worth.
Money is not 'filthy
lucre'. It is a means of exchange. We are exchanging our
way with words for an accepted currency.
Despite the potential magic
of metaphysics (my niche subject), editors, as a rule, do
not operate through telepathy. Editors want expert
knowledge and they generally want a track record. It makes
their life easier. However, exceptional intuition apart,
we should help them by predicting market needs.
Discipline means
proactively providing articles that showcase our writing
talents, expert knowledge and ability to predict future
trends.
In addition to creating a
bank of articles, we get the added bonus of
self-motivation and confidence in our niche areas. If you
do not have a niche strength, create one. Knowledge is
power as they say. Research focuses the mind, and with a
focused mind comes added motivation.
With sufficient,
self-generated, incentive and belief, time has an uncanny
elasticity. Freelancing allows us to play with time, but
that does not mean wasting it.
Having the confidence to be
a freelancer is one of the best ways to find out whether
you really believe in yourself. If you do not, then why
should editors and publishers?
In my sales career, I had
products and services as a prop. It externalised my
efforts. With writing, we are selling a bit of ourselves.
Even if we tailor our expressiveness to the publication's
house style, our personality and maybe even soul will
flicker through.
Are you bold enough to ask
for work? What, you're a writer, not a salesperson?
Everyone sells something to
someone. As a writer, you are selling: yourself, your
perspective, your style, your professionalism,
reliability, flexibility and your self-motivation - with
words as your tools. It means recognising your uniqueness
- because the first person you are selling to is yourself.
If there is a disconnection, you need to reassess why you
have chosen to write.
If you have not already,
start now by writing your own press release -
retrospectively. Use a role model if your mind has gone
blank. Make it your plan of action, till you find, and
trust, your original voice.
Rejection is par for the
course in most industries. But it can be harder to handle
in areas of self-expression.
To avoid any debilitating
reactions to rejection, it is important to maintain that
sense of worth through other means. If words really are
the route to your bliss, then, as Joseph Campbell stated,
"if you... don't get any money, you still have your
bliss."
Rather more prosaically, it
means having what I call a shelf-stacking option to ensure
regularity of income, while still writing every day.
Besides, slights are much easier to accept when there is
money in the bank!
Visualising and affirming
are key tasks in unlimited thinking. While they are a
conscious act in disciplining unruly minds, they also
allow fantasy to sneak in, keeping the dream alive.
Goals are a fact of life if
we are to achieve success. To act 'as if' is an accepted
practice in creative thinking. Mind dynamics, such as
visualising and affirming, need to be directed by goals.
To mentally see a desired result not only helps to keep
motivated, it focuses attention, rather like a route map.
Writing success is a
journey, based on a number of rather pragmatic elements.
These include discipline, time management, setting - and
keeping - goals, and mind dynamics. Virtual support groups
can ease the loneliness that is inherent in writing.
Ultimately though, we alone
are responsible. Paradoxically, in accepting
responsibility, comes the magic of unlimited possibility.
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About
The Author
Euphrosene
Labon is the author of several books
including Profit From Unlimited Thinking.
She teaches about pragmatic metaphysics
through floreo NEWS, her monthly ezine,
and through corporate workshops. Her ezine
and personal blog can be found at www.floreo.org. |
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