Sometimes we hear that the key to writing success is “just write.”
Sure writing is the first step, and unless you can write productively and write well, it’s pretty hard to grow a writing career.
I’m sorry to say that “just write” will only get you so far as a creative person.
Writers with an eye on professional success need to steer clear of anyone who says this job is “easy money” and “anyone can do it.”
If anyone could do it, don’t you think everyone would be doing it?
Of course, they would. But the truth is that it takes specific type of skill sets to succeed as a professional writer. And when you skip steps, guess what? You don’t build skill sets.
My best students are hard-working, always looking to grow their skill sets, willing to take input and critiques, open to new ways of thinking, and eager-yet-patient to expand their earnings. And this poise pays off big time.
As I discuss in thorough detail in The Writer’s Workout, successful writers and authors are like marathon runners. If you show up on the day of the race to watch, you won’t see all that the runners did in order to cross the finish line, you will only see the results. And if you want to go the distance like that, then you have to train that hard, as well. Really, really hard. And consistently.
Nobody is going to hand you writing career success. And anyone who promises to hand you any kind of secrets, short-cuts, or ways to skip steps is someone to steer clear of, not to embrace. Because congratulations, they just taught them how to not work. That’s going to get you pretty far.
Not.
I offer my students fun, engaging, structured ways to grow a career from wherever it is to the next level. My writing and platform challenges are perfect for folks who cannot afford a big time commitment but want to keep their skills growing and improving, while my classes are for writers who are ready to say, “I’m ready to do this. Game on!”
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Confidence doesn’t come from wishing you had someone else’s results. Confidence comes from creating your own results, step by step, and skill by skill.
I’d be happy to work with you if you are ready to work. Because you’d be amazed how working steadily over time accumulates impressive results.
And even if you don’t, I’m happy so long as we are all celebrating the truth which is this:
Writing professionally is not easy; it’s challenging.
Pro writing is not for everyone; but for some of us, it’s incredibly satisfying. And goodness knows I sure love it.
I am flourishing. And you can learn to flourish too.
It isn’t about who you are or how much money you have at the outset of the journey. It’s about how determined you are to be taken seriously as a professional.
And when you learn how to behave like a total pro in your career, it improves the quality of your whole life.
You take yourself more seriously. Your self-esteem goes up. You start to dwell, as Emily Dickinson so famously said, in possibility, and this is a pretty awesome place to dwell.