One of my new Dream Teamers from this past season paid me a very nice complement the other day. She said, my writing classes have helped her fall madly in love with her writing career.

She even used an exclamation point.

I think the reason I get compliments like this is because helping writers fall madly in love with their writing career is my objective.

It’s also my goal to help writers to fall madly in love with themselves.

Because when you love your work, you can’t help but love yourself a little more.

There seems to be a whole movement out there geared towards teaching writers how to become marketing machines working overtime trying to persuade people to fall in love with them.

That’s backwards. When you love what you do, you are automatically more productive, and your work is automatically more alluring to others.

You should never have to act like a machine. And acting like a machine will only cause you do feel like machine, which doesn’t feel very good.

When you love what you do, you are eager to share your work with others, but not in a pushy, salesy way.

When you love what you do, and you do it consistently, you create more success than the average person.

When you love what you do, you work for love and money. You focus on building a solid foundation for your career and you feel less impatient and greedy than the average aspirant.

When you love what you do, you are perfectly happy with slow and steady wins the race because you are engaged by your work and you feel great about doing it. You don’t mind if it takes a bit longer to get it right because it almost always takes longer than you think it will.

When you love what you do, you know that the cure for the blahs or discouragement or distraction is simply to get a little work done and then everything feels right with the world again.

When you love what you do, you are aiming to build a legacy, not trying to be a one-shot wonder.

When you love what you do, you don’t look towards other people’s value and lust after it. You realize that you already have everything you need within yourself. You recognize that happiness comes from activating your potential and reactivating it on a daily basis.

There are plenty of poor examples out there, my friends. We’ve all seen them with their funnels and their squeeze pages and their long, tedious sales pitches that never cease to invade your inbox.

But just because they exist does not mean that you can’t be a positive, prosperous example of a writer on fire with good intentions and hard work.

Get back to YOUR work. Don’t let other people’s’ agendas throw you off your game. Your writing matters. You matter. We all have so much to offer when we do our own work.

So if you are feeling out of sorts, and like you just don’t have enough success to suit you at this moment just sit down and do a little bit of work that you love. You will become like my dream team participant—overcome with a feeling of personal satisfaction and self-love. And everything will instantly fall back into place in your career.

So much inspiration, so much time! Visit my online creative confidence school and start expressing yourself afresh right now. Join the creative confidence club: subscribe to the Christina Katz blog and sign up for The Prosperous Creative ezine for a free gift, the latest news and exclusive discounts you won’t find elsewhere. Need more encouraging words in your life? Check out my Etsy shop. And have you seen all of the helpful offerings in my online shop? Be sure to check them out before you click away. Thanks for reading and thanks for sharing my work with all of your creative friends!

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I am very pleased to announce my latest product and my first inspirational poster for writers.

Introducing the newly updated 52 Qualities of Prosperous Writers poster!

Above is a low-res image of the high-res JPG poster that can be delivered to your inbox for only $2.49.

When you purchase this poster from my Etsy shop, you will receive it in two sizes: 8 x 10 inches and 8.5 x 11 inches.

You can then print your poster onto whatever kind of 8.5 x 11 inch paper you like. For a full bleed, I recommend you use a bright-white matte photo paper and choose the “borderless printing” and “quality” options on your printer.

Once you purchase the poster, you can print as many copies for personal use as you like, but please refer friends and colleagues to my Etsy shop so they can buy a copy of their very own.

Those of you who subscribe to my newsletter may remember how I created this list. I wrote about each of the 52 qualities weekly in The Prosperous Writer newsletter throughout 2010.

Read more about the 52 Qualities of Prosperous Writers poster here, or go ahead and order your copy right now.

I hope you find the 52 Qualities of Prosperous Writers helpful and inspiring for your writing journey!

Okay, so June 1st is your last chance to take a writing challenge with me until August 1st.

If this statement is not inherently dramatic, just remember, you will likely do a whole lot of summering between now and August 1st and you know what? My challenges actually lend themselves really well to summer. The reason is because you can undertake a short writing challenge each day and feel like you are accomplishing some writing of substance, so you then feel free to take the rest of the day off!

Since the challenge starts on a Sunday, please register this week if you want to participate in any of the eleven challenges being offered. Keep reading for links.

If you are thinking about NaNoWriMo, June is a great month to test drive your novel (or whatever) idea that you plan to tackle in earnest in November. Once you’ve written on your topic 21 times, you can turn that project on over to your subconscious for the rest of your vacation and see what it can dream up for your project. I bet you won’t even feel like you are doing any work — but you will be, deep down, where it counts.

Another idea, if you are already a challenge-lover, is to try reading the prompt at night before bed then sleep on it and tackle your writing response the next morning.

This is a fun twist for those of you who are morning people and always do your writing challenge first thing in the morning. See what happens when you try it at night instead.

If you are a die-hard morning person, then why not read your prompt first thing, and carry a small pad or note card or phone around with you during the day, to try capturing your response moment on the fly?

All of these methods work well for folks who have already started summer vacation or who are about to start it.

Finally, I have already announced, but please remember that this is your last chance to take both a 21 Moments Challenge and a Platform Bingo Challenge for the foreseeable future because all eight challenges are going “into the vault” for a break for an undetermined amount of time.

Will they come back out?

When will they come back out?

Will they be the same when they come out?

I’m not sure yet. But I know I’m ready to give them a rest to free up my creativity for new projects.

So don’t miss your last chance to take 21 Moments or Platform Bingo Challenge. They both get rave reviews from participants.

If you’ve taken all of them, I hope you will check out my Freelance Writing Challenges. There is always something new to learn for eager-to-learn writers who work with me.

Here’s the complete list of registration locations for the June Challenge. Don’t miss it!

21 Moments Writing Challenges

Learn more

21 Moments Monthly Writing Challenge: Round One Register

21 Moments Monthly Writing Challenge: Round Two Register

21 Moments Monthly Writing Challenge: Round Three Register

21 Moments Monthly Writing Challenge: Round Four Register

21 Moments Monthly Writing Challenge: Round Five Register

Freelance Writing Challenges

Learn more

The Christina Katz Article Writing Challenge Register

The Christina Katz Grammar & Punctuation Challenge Register

The Christina Katz Essay Writing Challenge Register

Platform Bingo Challenges

Learn more

Platform Bingo With Christina Katz: Level One Register

Platform Bingo With Christina Katz: Level Two Register

Platform Bingo With Christina Katz: Level Three Register

Nature is whole and yet never finished.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The first time I experienced the feeling that my writing career was similar to a garden, I felt a tremendous amount of relief. I was juggling a lot at the time and also learning a lot, as usual, and the concept of “garden” made me realize that no matter how wild and unwieldy my career seemed to be growing, I’d be able to handle it if I just kept nurturing it and stayed focused on the moment. If you conceptualize your career as a garden, you’ll be able to manage the growth process better, as well.

Process Claimed

If you have gotten this far in this book, you have actively claimed a space for your writing both internally and externally. You have gotten into the habit of creating fertile ground for your self-expression on the page. Once you have this habit down, plant an idea, nurture it, and flesh it out fully, the habit is yours for good.

Ritual As Creative Context

Just as a garden may be a raised bed with copper wire to discourage slugs and a tall fence to keep out deer and other animals, you are cultivating a space that nurtures your most high-minded aspirations, because once you activate your creative “place,” whatever comes into it will be amplified. Therefore, treat your real and virtual creative spaces as you would sacred spaces. Recognize that if you stop showing up, everything will grow wild with neglect. Visit your creative garden in a committed, devoted fashion.

Preparation As Fertile Soil

You recognize that your mind is only as fertile as what you put in it. Therefore, be particular about what will fertilize your best ideas. You are methodical, yet selective, just as you would be in nurturing a child. You keep your mind receptive and enriched along the entire journey because you understand that your creative process needs healthy choices. You read books, take classes, and participate in events that will give you the key growth ingredients your garden needs.

Idea Protection

You have learned that talking about and dissipating your ideas only weakens them. You’ve noticed that premature exposure may pollute your ideas and make them become what others conceive instead of helping you exercise and develop your own perceptions. You want to take your ideas all the way from seed to result. The same way slugs are not welcome in a garden full of fresh sprouts, keep your mental space clear of “predators” that would mow down your dreams and make a feast of your hard work.

This post from chapter 89 of The Writer’s Workout. Tune in for part two next month…

Christina Katz is a writing career coach with thirteen years of coaching experience. Her work appears in national, regional, and online publications. She is also the author of many books and e-books for writers. She teaches writers to prosper by building solid, saleable, life-long career skills via classes and training groups that work even in a rapidly evolving publishing marketplace. Learn more about The Writer’s Workout.

I don’t know about you, but I have not had much down time to do a lot of reading.

But summer is coming and I’m looking forward to reclining on a chaise lounge with all of my gardening efforts around me and reading (or rereading) the following books.

The Moon Sisters by Therese Walsh LINK

The Theory of Opposites by Alison Winn Scotch LINK

Love Life by Rob Lowe LINK

Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe LINK

Let’s Just Say It Wasn’t Pretty by Diane Keaton LINK

View From A Broad by Bette Midler (with color images) LINK

Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers by Anne Lamott LINK

Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope & Repair by Anne Lamott LINK

BBXX: Baby Blues Decades 1 & 2 by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott LINK

Reading and relaxing refill our creative wells and refuel our minds.

What are you looking forward to reading this summer? Join me in lounging and reading.

Christina Katz writes year-round but takes extra down time for fun and family during July and December. She is a hard-working writer most of the time but she also promotes life balance and creative renewal. You can work with her January – June and August – November. Check out her classes, dream teams, and writing & platform challenges.

1. Put most of your energy into becoming a better writer.

2. Put the next most amount of energy into getting comfortable selling your work.

3. Once you get comfortable selling your work, start getting used to selling yourself.

4. Build a body of work over time that you can be proud of and display it all with pride.

5. When you are ready to take your career public, invest in professional quality headshots.

6. Avoid seeking short-cuts because they will only undermine your confidence in the long-run. Slow and steady wins the race.

7. Associate with the most-professional people possible. Avoid drains, negative nellies, and piggy-backers.

8. Grow into your career. As you begin to excel at things, make sure others know it.

9. Always be aiming for targets you know you can hit.

10. Always be aiming for targets just past your last greatest success.

11. Keep hitting all the targets in the middle too.

12. Don’t look for others to appreciate your work if you don’t appreciate it yourself.

13. Make sure what you end up doing every day is what you enjoy doing most.

I am a veteran journalist, author and coach with over a decade and a half of experience and a wealth of techniques to share. I am focused on making the world a saner, more expressive place. I help folks become more creative for personal enjoyment, professional development and transformational growth. Whether you are a professional creative or hope to become one some day, I can help you embrace your personal strengths, explore your creative possibilities, and evolve incrementally into your most inspiring self. If you are ready to achieve creative consistency in your life and career, email me about monthly coaching calls. To learn more about increasing your creative confidence, please check out my online school. Stay tuned for ways to save money by becoming a Beta User for my next new course by subscribing to The Prosperous Creative. And don’t forget to get these blog posts delivered to your inbox, so you never miss a post. If you appreciate my work—school, products, blog and social media posts—you are welcome to make a contribution of any size at any time. Thank you for your support!

 

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You deserve any one of these gifts moms. Not just any day of the year, but every day of the year!

Creative Knowing, 50 Self-reflection Questions For Women

Written expressly for busy women, this work-booklet is meant to be fun and expansive journey, like a mini-vacation. Learn more.

The Art of Making Time for Yourself, A Collection Of Advice For Moms

If you are struggling to juggle all of your responsibilities and identities as a mom, this collection of helpful inspiration will help you factor yourself back into the happy family equation. Learn more.

Writer Mama, How To Raise A Writing Career Alongside Your Kids

If you want to get started writing for publication, let writer mama Christina Katz help. If she and countless other moms can do it, so can you! Learn more.

Write For Regional Parenting Publications For Fun & Profit, A Beginner’s Guide

Readers who follow the advice in this e-book will find themselves successfully writing and submitting articles to regional parenting publication editors in a professional manner. Learn more.

The Writer’s Workout, 366 Tips, Tasks & Techniques From Your Writing Career Coach

The Writer’s Workout gives you substantial suggestions every day to help you build a robust, unique writing career. Learn more.

Writing Challenges

May includes Freelance Writing Challenges, Platform Bingo, and 21 Moments

Freelance Writing Challenges

Platform Bingo

21 Moments

A Writing Class

May includes Writing & Publishing The Short Stuff, Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform, and 60 Ways To Flex Your Writing & Prosper In Your Niche

WPSS

DYS-LYP

60 Ways

I enjoyed this talk by Brené Brown on Listening To Shame, so I thought I’d share it.

As a platform expert, I also like what she has been doing with her website lately.

Check her out, if you haven’t already.

Hello, moms of the world and those who love them!

I am happy to announce that I have finished the Alpha version of The Art Of Making Time For Yourself, A Collection Of Advice For Moms.

Everyone who purchased a Beta version of the e-book over the last year has received the updated Alpha version and an extra copy of the book in PDF to share with a friend.

The reason I gave them all an extra book is because I am doing a Buy-One, Get-One offer all week until midnight on Mother’s Day.

So if you purchase a PDF copy of The Art Of Making Time For Yourself for yourself this week, you will get another copy delivered to you to share with a friend, absolutely free!

It was fourteen years ago that I first tackled this topic for Bluesuitmom.com. Then four years later,  I appeared on Good Morning America to discuss the article with Diane Sawyer. And I have been dying to write a book on the topic ever since!

But the book just wouldn’t come together. Until now…

I launched the Beta version last year, thinking I was finally ready to go all the way with the book, but it just wasn’t quite there yet. And I am not stupid. I could tell. And after all of these years of creating things, I know better than to just push through something that does not want to happen.

So I stepped away and worked on other things. You guys know me, I’m always working on other things. And then I was delighted this spring, when I started to realize that it might be time to take another whack at it.

Once I had this idea, I could not resist the feeling of, “Yes. I can do this now!”

And so I did it. And it was pretty much effortless. I mean it was still a lot of work, of course. There is no such thing as a book that isn’t a lot of work and juggling a million little details.

But this time the book just fell into place. All the old work fit with all the new work, and I had even started working on ideas I had no idea were for the book and then, voila, they just popped right in like that’s where them were meant to go all along.

Maybe I am a little slow, but I’ll tell you what. This creativity stuff is cool! And clearly this book wanted to get finished.

So The Art Of Making Time For Yourself is finally finished. And it feels really good!

And thanks to all the folks who participated in the development of the book in any way.

In fact, I am so happy that I just want to give the book away.

So I had to kind of reign myself in on that one. I was like, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, you can’t just give the book away after all that work!”

And then I thought of the BOGO idea. And I thought, “Well, that’s just perfect because I want moms to share this book with other moms, and buy-one, get-one, just makes it easier and more fun.

So, if you want to help me launch this book, I would love to sell you not just one, but two copies, all for the price of one.

To sweeten the deal, I lowered the price from $9.99 to $7.99. This just feels like the right price, so I’m going to go with it.

Hope you can play along and get a copy for yourself and another copy for a busy mom friend or family member! You are welcome to participate, but no pressure, of course.