Let Your Writing Light Shine

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

--Marianne Williamson

I generally opt for pithier quotes than the one I selected above, but as I skimmed through Web pages of inspirational words, this one stopped me dead in my tracks. I thought about editing it a bit, you know, making it a little shorter...but to me, every word of it counts.

If you skimmed past it, I ask that you go back and read it. If you read it quickly, I urge you to take it in a second time more slowly. And if you're already familiar with the quote, I encourage you to take it to heart, perhaps even memorize it.

What is it about these words from Ms. Williamson that strike such a chord in me? From a personal standpoint, I often find myself "playing small," justifying the mundane actions that I prioritize as necessary, while postponing the ones that just might make a huge difference in my life or in the lives of others. I don't tackle the great novel because what if I never finish it? I put off working on ideas I have to help certain kinds of writers find lucrative work because what if it fails? Or worse yet, what if it takes off and I don't have the energy or ability to keep it going effectively?

These self-doubts plague many of us on different levels. We writers, who so often bare our souls and expose our vulnerabilities, may wrestle with them even more than other people. When I journal about mine, I generally think that they stem from feelings of inadequacy and fear of failure. Or I sometimes wonder, who am I to pursue a greater destiny than the one I am currently living?

What captivates me about Mandela's words is the challenge that they present to all of us to be our best selves and give our lives and work our best efforts. He syas in effect, "I dare you to step into your greatness. In fact, you not only do yourself a disservice by 'playing small,' you are letting down every single person who needs you."

All I can say to that is, "Wow." Because here's the thing--people need us writers for so many things. They need us to keep them informed, make them laugh, motivate them to make a change, guide them in learning a new process, entertain them, get their messages across, promote their products and services, influence others to take some action, or tell their stories for them. Rich and famous people need us, companies of all sizes need us, our readers need us. Ours is a marvelous, important profession. We must never think of it as being otherwise, or belittle our calling by placing it behind all other things on our "to do" lists.

For whatever reason, we've been called to be writers. Let's not "play small" --let your writing light shine.

Here's to your writing success.

Mary Anne

http://writesuccess.com

P.S. If you don't already do so, come follow me on Twitter! I send out links to writing jobs, writing contests and writing articles nearly every day. To follow, go to http://twitter.com/writesuccess , or narrow your search to my posts only by entering "WriteSuccess" on http://search.twitter.com .

What Makes a Freelance Writer a Freelance Writer?

Earlier today I read this blog post at Ghostwriting-The Hidden Writer, which posed questions we should ask ourselves in order to determine whether or not we are truly freelance writers. The test questions were split into two categories--the first five we were meant to say "yes" to and the second five we were meant to say "no" to if we really, really, truly consider oursleves to be freelance writers.

The "yes" questions spoke to what some might consider our higher selves--do we write because we're passionate about it? Because we can't see ourselves doing anything else? The basic gist of the "no" questions fell under the apparently less aesthetic motive of "are you doing this for the money?" category.

My immediate reaction, and eventual comment on the blog itself was, does being a freelancer have to be an either-or thing? Can't we love it and still want to write for a living? And can't we loathe coming to our keyboards on some days, but make ourselves get to work because we need to if we want to pay our bills?

I think Amanda's point was that she does not consider those "writers" who swarm on the job bid sites to make a dollar an article to be truly freelance writers. But aren't they? They are writing, albeit not up to any standard that I would consider professional, and they are getting paid for it, sort of. Is the writer who has never published a word somehow a writing saint, while these writing, um, bottom feeders are the sinners?

Frankly, whether we write chick lit, fillers, blog posts, brochures or true literary masterpieces--or boilerplate articles--I think we all fall under the freelance writer umbrella. We are simply appealing to different markets and audiences. As for me, I continue to lean towards continuing to call those writers who want to or already do make a real living through writing as "writerpreneurs."

Thoughts?

Wow, Where Did July Go?

I can't believe it has been a month since I last posted a blog entry--and most professional bloggers recommend posting two to three times a week! If I hadn't come here to check just now, I would have let the entire month of July go by without posting. Where did the last four weeks go?

I'll be better about maintaining this blog going forward. Not because I feel I have to, but because I want to. This blog is an important part of my communication strategy for some exciting things I have in the works for writers, and I need WriteSuccess followers to keep coming here now and then. I may eventually move it from this free platform and put it right onto the main WriteSuccess site, but for now it's here, so here is where I need to come on a much more regular basis. After all, I don't need to write an epic each time I post an entry; I just need to post some thoughts and news that might be of interest to you.

My apologies for being so lax about this. I really am working on some exciting stuff that will help some of you develop profitable and successful writing careers. So you are in my thoughts more than you know.

In the meantime, I urge you to follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/writesuccess , where I post links, jobs and quotes for writers pretty much every day. To narrow down your search to my posts, just type the word WriteSuccess in the new search box on the Twitter.com home page.

Are You a Writerpreneur?

Writerpreneur (n) - One who writes for a living; a writer who considers writing to be a profession or business, and constantly seeks new ways to earn money as a writer.

No, I didn't coin this term, unfortunately. From what I can tell via Google, Gregory A. Kompes came up with it to describe his writing life. I took to the word immediately, and decided to formally define it. I think it embodies what a lot of us dream of being or already are. At least it does for me.

By the time I graduated from high school, I already knew I wanted to be a writerpreneur (or, as I stated in my yearbook, a "professional freelance writer"). But coming from a working class family and neighborhood of mostly blue collar fathers and stay at home mothers, I hadn't the foggiest idea how to treat writing as a business, and instead clung to the safe route of "real jobs," dabbling with writing on the side. While I am still employed full-time, I can at least now say that I do enough writing to consider it a steady part-time job, and still plan for the day when I can write, and support myself by doing so, full-time.

Not all writers are writerpreneurs. Some write solely for the joy of it, or for self-discovery, or for creative release, and there's nothing wrong with that. My guess is, some of the world's best writing never gets read by anyone but the author. And not all writerpreneurs are good writers; I see examples of that nearly every day. What binds writerpreneurs, however, is the drive to make writing a career, not a hobby.

Writepreneurs come in many varieties. Some, like Bob Bly and Peter Bowerman, freelance as copywriters. Stephen King, John Grisham, Nora Roberts, Sue Grafton and many others make a more than comfortable living writing fiction. But these represent only well-known writerpreneurs; many, many people you may never hear of do ghost writing, copywriting, article writing, songwriting, speech writing, and supply an endless stream of scripts, screenplays, greeting card verses and Web copy. Others run their writing businesses based on information products, ebooks, or by developing niche Web sites.

True, the internet has proven to be both a blessing and a curse for writers. Too many sites look for free content. Too many internet marketers look for cheap writing labor. And too many people are willing to take these cheap or free assignments.

On the other hand, the industrious writerpreneur can use the internet as part of a profitable marketing, networking and job search strategy. Never before has it been so easy for a writer in New York to do work for a client in California, or for writers in Australia and the UK to submit articles to American and Canadian markets. Never before has it been possible for good writers to make commission by promoting the products of others as affiliates, or by blogging, or by teaching online courses.

For the resourceful entrepreneur, opportunities abound. It takes effort and persistence, just as getting published always has, but I firmly believe that making a good living as a writer has never been more doable. In fact, a lot of writers already do so.

Here's to your writing success.

Mary Anne
http://writesuccess.com

P.S. If you don't already do so, come follow me on Twitter! I send out links to writing jobs, writing contests and writing articles nearly every day. To follow, go to http://twitter.com/writesuccess , or narrow your search to my posts only by entering "WriteSuccess" on http://search.twitter.com .

A Simple Way to Manage Projects and Tasks

By guest blogger Steve Slaunwhite

Have you ever had a task fall through the cracks? Then scrambled to get it done? Or misplaced important information you needed to finish a project, and wasted precious minutes or even hours trying to find it?

Few things will torpedo your productivity more than disorganization. That's why having an effective system for managing your projects and tasks is so important.

I define PROJECTS as those activities that typically take longer than 20 minutes to complete. For example, writing a brochure for a client is a project. So is putting together a new website or doing your taxes.

A TASK, by contrast, is any activity that takes less than 20 minutes to complete. It's a traditional to-do item. Over the course of a day, you might have several tasks that need your attention (or, in some cases, scream for it) such as paying a bill, returning a phone call, or ordering a new toner cartridge for the printer.

Over the years I've experimented with many systems for keeping track of projects and tasks. I've tried software programs, online to-do lists, project management binders, the works.

What ultimately worked best for me? Some file folders, a stack of 3x5 index cards, and a wall-mounted cork board!

Yep, I know that's about as low-tech as it gets, but the system works. Let me walk you through it. Here's what I do when I get a new project from a client:

• 
  First, I pull out a file folder and label it with the project name. That's where I'm going to put all the printed project information. I use an accordion-style legal-size file folder because it holds a lot of stuff and prevents papers from falling out the sides.
  
• Next, I make a corresponding computer folder -- using the same project name, of course -- to hold electronic project information, such as documents and emails.
  
• Finally, I write the project name and any key dates, such as the deadline, on an index card and pin it to the cork board adjacent to my desk. The cork board gives me an at-a-glance view of what needs to get done: projects on the left, tasks on the right.

That's it! When I "go to work" each morning, I simply look at my cork board, decide which project I want (or need) to work on, and simply pull out the corresponding file folder and open the corresponding computer folder. Everything I need to hit the ground running on that project is now at my fingertips. I'm working productively in about 15 seconds!

I have a similar system for completing tasks. If there's a phone call I need to return, for example, and I can't do that right away, I simply:

• Pick up an index card from the stack I keep on my desk.
• Jot down the task. "Call Michael back to discuss the revisions for the new website.
• Pin the index card to the cork board.

When I have a few moments, usually while I'm taking a break from working on a project, I just look at the cork board, pick a task and, as comedian Larry the Cable Guy is famous for saying, "Get 'er done!"

My cork board of projects and tasks helps me gain a big picture of what needs to get done and ensures nothing, especially tasks, falls though the cracks. And it sure feels good to take down an index card and toss it in the recycle bin when a project or task is done!

Try this low-tech system for staying on top of your projects and tasks. It works!

---

Steve Slauwhite is the author of Start & Run a Copywriting Business (Self-Counsel Press) and The Everything Guide to Writing Copy (Adams Media). You can sign up for his free newsletter for copywriters at http://www.forcopywritersonly.com/