The other day, I read a poem that landed in my inbox from The Writer’s Almanac and just had to write a poem of my own.

This made me sorry that I did not try to write a poem every day during poetry month in April.

I love the sensation of writing just for the sake of writing. I love forgetting about the rules or who, if anyone, is ever going to read it.

I always enjoy just starting with an image or a sensation and then just going for it with words.

Few things in life are as freeing and as inspiring as writing, although it has taken me years of practice to feel this way.

Feeling the freedom and the joy of writing just for the sake of writing is a practice I hope to pass on to my readers and students. One of the most effective ways I have found to do pass it on is through my daily writing and platform prompts.

As far as swapping platform prompts for writing prompts, as I do with my Platform Bingo Challenge, sure, it’s a different muscle. But so what? As I’ve said before, platform is not divorced from our creativity. And when we start treating it as though it’s disconnected from us, that’s when the performance anxiety and self-consciousness begin.

So just work steadily on your writing and your platform.

Try not to be tense about either one.

And try to keep a certain amount of detachment. Practicing and writing for publication are not the same things, but one does lead to the other and vice-versa.

So, I say, go ahead and let yourself have fun writing. Let yourself have fun platform-building.

Writers write. That’s how we get better.

And platform builder’s build. That’s how we build a business with our words.

Don’t let anyone take the inherent pleasure of writing and platform building away from you with all of their pressuring and posturing.

Just blow that off and get back to having fun writing and platform building. You will accomplish your goals more joyfully if you can always remember two rules.

Always be writing.

Always enjoy the process.

When life gets complex, writing can become your refuge.

I know you are used to me having offerings for writers, especially women and mom writers.

But today I have something that you can share with all your women friends, assuming they have a desire to connect with their creative selves.

I am proud to announce the launch of Creative Knowing, 50 Self-reflection Questions For Women.

I’m calling this PDF download a “work-booklet,” meaning it’s a short workbook full of questions you can respond to in whatever ways you like.

This work-booklet can be used by individuals or groups and the low price tag of $1.99 makes it affordable for anyone to purchase and use.

This short, yet powerful workbook of questions can help you connect quickly and happily with your most creative, expressive self.

I often feel like we are still living in a world that does not value individual potential. And yet my work with women over the past decade plus has shown me again and again that creative women have so much to offer themselves, their families, and the world.

Why not do yourself a favor and spend just five minutes with yourself today? I have created this inexpensive, 50+ page work-booklet to help you quickly connect with and enjoy some time with your most creative self.

I feel like the world needs more creative women, and not just so we can execute the visions conceived by others, but so we can connect with and carry out our own dreams and visions in the world, as an antidote to everything that is not working, and is falling apart, and is no longer sustainable in our world.

I know it freaks some folks out to think that women have the power to change the world in dramatic ways. So just for today, how about starting with simply connecting with your most creative self…and then see what happens from there?

You have absolutely nothing to lose, and more than likely, you will become positively hooked on the process. At least I hope you will.

Thank you, as always for your support. Now how about taking five minutes to connect with your most creative self?

Learn more about Creative Knowing here

Are you a mom, and you would love to take the Writing and Publishing the Short Stuff Class that starts Wednesday, May 14th, but you would not otherwise be able to afford it?

Then you qualify for The Writer Mama Scholarship!

And please note, this is the last time I will be offering a full scholarship to this class. After six and half years of allowing participants to take the class for free, only one more mama will be this lucky!

The application process for the next available scholarship for Writing & Publishing The Short Stuff Class begins today! I am accepting applications until Sunday, May 4th at midnight.

One full scholarship is granted each time the class is held, five times per year. Please read this post completely and double-check your application before submitting. The recipient will be announced on Monday, May 5th in this blog.

Please feel free to spread the word about the scholarship, even if you do not intend to apply. This is a full scholarship. The recipient commits to participating fully in the class and delivering all six assignments on time.

Please do not apply if you cannot make the commitment to participate in the class, which involves reading the weekly workbook, completing your assignments, and learning from your classmates work. (To learn about what you will get out of the class, please read the full class description.)

No additional time or special coaching is offered with the scholarship. It’s up to the scholarship recipient to make the most of the class.

Please note that this is a scholarship, not a giveaway. This scholarship is only for moms and is offered by class instructor, Christina Katz (that’s me).

One scholarship is available per WPSS class. The scholarship is not transferable if you fail to complete the class. The scholarship is also not transferable in the case of illness, family emergencies, a move, etc. If you have already paid for the class, you do not qualify for the scholarship. If you have already taken the class, you also do not qualify.

What is written in your application is private and your personal information will never be shared or sold beyond announcing the name of the recipient. The only way to qualify is to apply each time. No one else will view your application.

The application questions are below. Copy and paste them into a Microsoft Word document (to take the class you must be able to create and read Microsoft Word documents—no exceptions). Attach your application as a Word doc to your e-mail. Please answer each question concisely and completely.

Send your application to: “christina at christinakatz dot com” – this is the only email address for the scholarship. If you do not receive the scholarship, save your application for future scholarships and re-apply. Always add in your most current publication credits, since they are important. Put “WPSS Scholarship Application” in the subject line.

The scholarship recipient will be chosen based on the following criteria: demonstrated effort, need, and enthusiasm. The most important consideration is demonstrated past effort, so please don’t skimp on details of your past writing efforts. Applications accepted from U.S. residents only at this time.

To register for the class as a non-scholarship candidate, please visit the registration page. Space in the class is limited.

Please Note: The Writer Mama Scholarship is only for moms who legitimately cannot afford class tuition for whatever reason. So if you work at home, earn money, receive money, or your spouse or partner earns enough money for you to afford the class, please expect to regular pay price. My classes are kept affordable, specifically so moms can take them!

Here’s the application:

[Copy and paste the following application form into a Word doc, then simply fill it in:]

Name

Address

Email

Phone

Have you read the book, Writer Mama? How about my other books?

How long have you been reading my blog(s)?

What version of Microsoft Word software are you currently using?

Have you applied for The Writer Mama Scholarship before?

Write a short response to each of the following questions:

Please write one short paragraph about why you want to take the class, Writing and Publishing the Short Stuff.

Please list by publication name and date only, any publication credits you’ve accumulated thus far. Briefly list any other experience you think is relevant.

Please briefly state why you are unable to afford the tuition for the class at this time.

[End application.]

Thanks for applying for The Writer Mama Scholarship!

Nothing inspires me more than working with writers and watching their potential turning into accomplishments. I have been teaching writers since 2001 and I never tire of it.

On any given day, good things happen for my students and for myself.

One writer receives a touching message from a reader about the positive impact of something she wrote.

Another writer breaks into a national parenting publication she has long admired.

I recover a late payment from a publication because I don’t believe in not getting paid for my work, which is why I always get paid.

A Dream Team member finds her writing and publication rhythm after only her second season of participation.

Another writer is reminded that she is allowed to enjoy writing and love her career even if it is work.

Another writer discovers that trying a new essay form can unlock the perfect telling for a story that needed to be told.

A freelancer finds that my article challenge gives her ample ideas for new articles she can write and submit.

An novelist gets her chapters drafted using my 21 Moments challenge.

An emerging author updates her platform and crafts a more compelling bio after taking my Platform Bingo challenge.

Here at my online writing and publishing studio, there are always classes, dream teams, and month-long challenges going on year-round to suit suit writers of every stripe.

I have offerings coming up for May and June to fit every budget and level of experience. Here’s how you can work with me:

Classes Begin In The Middle Of May: Register Now To Participate

Writing & Publishing The Short Stuff: A Six-week Class

• Starts Wednesday, May 14

• Learn More

60 Ways To Flex Your Content & Prosper In Your Niche: A Six-week Class

• Starts Thursday, May 15

• Learn More

Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform: A Six-week Class

• Starts Wednesday, May 14

• Learn More

Challenges Begin May 1st at 12:05 am: Register Now To Participate

The Christina Katz Essay Writing Challenge

• Learn More

The Christina Katz Article Writing Challenge

• Learn More

The Christina Katz Grammar & Punctuation Challenge

• Learn More

The 21 Moments Writing Challenges, Rounds 1 – 5

• Learn More

Platform Bingo, Levels 1 – 3

• Learn More

The only times of year you won’t find teaching and training is during the months of July and December.

I don’t take those months off per se, but I use those times each year to regroup and plan.

If I didn’t, I am not sure I would be able to keep up with myself. And I take a little time off too, of course.

I work hard so my students can get the kinds of results they want, and I work steadily on my own career at the same time.

If I have learned anything over the past 13 years, it’s that success breeds success. If you want to be a solid success, learn from those who have solid success.

Hope to work with you in May!

In my latest full-length book, The Writer’s Workout, I discuss in detail how every writer must produce his or her own career.

I took that concept and I broke it down into increments, 366 to be exact, so that a brand new writer, a young writer, or an inexperienced writer could get a better idea of what might be ahead.

The book is also for experienced writers, who find themselves overwhelmed and wondering what to do next. The premise of the book is that writing is a workout, yes, but also that you can build your writing career on stone, not sand, so you can preserve in the long run and benefit from every asset you offer over time.

We used to live in a world where time was the enemy of writers, and writers paid a huge price for this. Look at an F. Scott Fitzgerald or an Ernest Hemingway. The pressure on them was to hurry up and be brilliant or die, and like many writers they were often torn between the two.

We often blame the weak constitution of writers for their frailties without looking at the bigger, unforgiving corporate system that is beating the creative drum at an impossible pace. Today, we hear writers talk about this more openly. We have magazines like Jane Friedman and Manjula Martin’s Scratch magazine. We have authors who are brave enough to transparently share their truths, so we can all be smarter for it, like Joe Konrath or Amanda Hocking. We have writers like me who are determined to teach writers how to successfully partner with others without all the self-sacrifice and personal losses for professional gain, while coaching writers to keep more of their profits from their hard work in the long run.

But what we still don’t have is a more humanistic publishing industry and this is ultimately the problem. Until we have a publishing industry that actually partners with authors instead of leveraging them, I don’t expect good things to happen in the industry.

At this point, writers are expecting to be treated like human beings not commodities and I think it’s okay with most of us if anyone who doesn’t treat us this way goes away.

I believe we have now reached a tipping point, where there are enough good, helpful, caring people out there making legitimately good things happen for writers that it should no longer be necessary for writers to sacrifice their souls to get ahead.

The tools are available today to build something solid from the get-go. I teach writers how to do this every day and the rewards for this positive, constructive  seeding are probably going to be much, much bigger than I can even possibly imagine.

I am good with that. I am happy with the idea that all of my hard work today is going to pay off big time tomorrow for myself and my students. We are not in a rush. We are building slowly, surely, and wisely.

For all of those, who are on the verge of “paying your dues,” or “doing what you have to do to get a ahead,” or who feel so desperate that you would enter into agreements you might not otherwise make. Take pause.

And then don’t do it. Don’t do any of it. You don’t have to anymore.

Read The Writer’s Workout instead. It will give you 366 better ideas.

And at this crucial juncture in publishing history, we need as many better ideas as we can get.

And if you have been slowly building over the years despite the pressure to do more faster, then congratulations. Your time is coming. And it’s almost here.

Having a platform means that every writers is a multi-media company. And if you are treating yourself and your work as less powerful than this, then you may need an attitude adjustment.

Last time I checked, large, profitable multi-media companies were not born overnight. So grow yours slowly over time, and then hopefully, you too can become part of the positive, constructive movement that treats writers like human beings, instead of like commodities.

If you work hard on your career and your platform, someday you will be a professional force to be reckoned with, and you can’t be afraid of your own professional power. You have to go for it.

So go ahead and go for it! Slowly, wisely, and consciously. You will thank me later.

I had a very good month with my regional parenting magazine publications. Of course, this did not happen overnight. It represents years of building up a supply of spring articles and then professionally pitching them to regional parenting publication editors.

If you are interested in learning how to do this, I can help! I have a book on the topic that is available in all digital formats including PDF, Write For Regional Parenting Publications For Fun & Profit. I wrote a great book for writing moms called, Writer Mama, How To Raise A Writing Career Alongside Your Kids for Writer’s Digest Books. And I have been teaching mom writers how to write for publication since 2001. Today I heard that one of the class alums is published in a national magazine, another received a bite from an editor on an article she submitted today, and I just sent a couple invoices for pieces I sold in the past 24 hours as well.

If you want to learn how to write better so you can get published, I hope you will check out my spring Writing & Publishing The Short Stuff Class that begins on Wednesday, May 14th.

For those of you who have taken WPSS and want to put what you have learned into action, check out my 60 Ways To Flex Your Content & Prosper In Your Niche. Please let me know if you have any questions about classes.

And now, without further ado, here are some of my April articles:

Oh Yes You Can, A One-day Spring Cleaning Plan LINK

Ten Tidy Reasons To Get Cleaning Help LINK

Upcycled Easter Activiites To Enjoy With Your Kids LINK

So Happy To See You, Why Pet Ownership Is Ultimately Good For Kids LINK

Raising Global Citizens, Eleven Ways To Remind Kids We All Share Planet Earth LINK

Give Dance A Chance, 10 Reasons To Try Consistent Classes LINK

8 Steps To More You Time, How To Get Pre-kid Pleasures Back Into Your Life LINK

Stress Less, Party More: 40 Birthday Fun Zones Away From Home LINK

I have been rolling out new monthly challenges on a regular basis since January 2013, and I understand that it may be hard to keep up with all of them and to keep them all straight, even after you have tried some.

This is one of the reasons I always ask my husband to create badges for me every time I create a new challenge or series of challenges. You will see these badges on the information and registration pages.

But it may still be hard to keep track of all of these challenges because there are quite a few of them already. Therefore I have created this summary list of all my challenges so far.

Today is the last day to sign up for April challenges. I will run new challenges in May and June, then take July off and start back up in August. I’ve put future challenges under “Coming Soon!” They start in May and June.

These Are Now Running—Today Is The Last Day To Register!

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

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

Coming Soon! Register Before Start Date

Essay Writing Challenge — Starts May 1st! Register

Article Writing Challenge, Level 2 — Starts June 1st! Registration page coming soon!

Platform Bingo 1A: Guided Tour Of A Successful Platform — Starts June 1st! Registration page coming soon!

I shifted my professional identity a few weeks ago, did you notice?

I was “The Prosperous Writer,” and now I am “The Christina Katz Writing & Publishing Studio.”

The Prosperous Writer still exists as the name of my monthly newsletter (you can subscribe here if you would like to stay in touch). But the bottom line is this—our identity should always reflect what we do best, not just what we are known for.

I am known for a lot of things—freelancing how-to, traditional publishing how-to, platform development how-to, micro-publishing how-to—and a whole lot more.

I am also known for my published and self-published books and writings on topics concerning all of the above.

Oh, and I also write popular parenting articles.

But that’s a lot to ask other people to remember all the time. Also, there is nothing really in it for them, so why should they bother remembering it all?

Why not focus here on what I do for others every day instead?

Because isn’t that really what you are here for? Don’t you want to know what I can do to help you become a better and more prosperous writer?

I thought so.

Every single day of the year (except for weekends and holidays), I work with writers. I teach, coach, and train these writers to become better at the things I know how to do, like freelance writing, platform development, traditional book development, and micro-publishing.

Specifically, I am focused on helping writers make money from their various types of nonfiction writing, while enjoying the process as much as possible.

Therefore most days out of the year, I am teaching, coaching, and training writers to be more successful professionals. I only work with writers who want to improve their professional skills in the long run. I don’t work with fly-by-night, needed-to-be-rich yesterday types. I would much rather work with serious students than with spectators. That’s just who I am.

I am results-oriented. I like to make professional strides and I like to see my students make professional strides, as well. In other words, if you work with me (with “work” being the operative word), you are going to see results for your efforts. I don’t like to waste my time or your time.

I don’t spread myself too thin or give my techniques away lightly. If you want to work with me, I connect with students here, through my blog, my newsletter, and my social media outlets.

Even if I have created books and articles which are published through others, I have always made it my policy to keep my classes, dream teams, and challenges right here, so folks know where to find them and me. I never sold rights to any of my classes or other offerings in any of my contracts, and I don’t intend to in the future.

You may have noticed that I have not been traveling as much in the past year or so. This is for several reasons. First, my daughter is in middle school and needs me around more than she did when she was in elementary school. Second, I am in the process of creating a line of self-published works, and this takes a lot of time and energy. And third, traveling interferes with my teaching and coaching schedule.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve turned up my teaching, coaching, and training time and turned down my travel time, and I’m loving the results.

I’m not saying this is forever, but it’s the plan for the immediate future. I’m happy with the decisions I’ve made in the past couple of years. I’ve never been happier in my career and I’ve never been able to have a more positive impact on the careers of others.

If you are wondering how I got here, I have been growing my business for the past 13 years. I started from scratch and I have had lots of help from wonderful folks along the way. I have also given a lot of help along the way.

Every workday, practically without fail, I receive messages from writers I have worked with or helped. This is just a sample of the kinds of things they say:

You are an inspiration, leading by example. It is rare. I am truly humbled and honored to know you.

I am so excited to start Pitching Practice!

Thank you for investing in me and the next season of life and writing that I am embarking on.

Thanks so much. You don’t know how much doing the Moments has helped me.

Thanks again! This has been just what I needed!

Thanks so much for all of this fantastic help.

Thank you so much.  I appreciate your no-nonsense advice.  It keeps me from talking myself in circles which, I’m sure you can see, I am prone to doing.

I’m just skimming anonymous comments from the top of recent feedback, but you get the idea.

How do you know when you are on the right track in your career?

When you get positive feedback like this and when you have never felt more content and on-track, then you probably are on track.

I wish you a similar sense of serenity or whatever makes sense for you at this juncture in your career. And hope to work with you soon via one of the many ways I currently work with both fiction and nonfiction writers. Feel free to e-mail me at christina at christina katz dot com if you have any questions.

Stay in touch! Subscribe to this blog’s RSS Feed.

One of the biggest fears publishing writers have is making the kinds of mistakes that flag them as “rookies” in the eyes of editors.

If you have ever had this concern, you can benefit from a 20-day crash course in grammar & punctuation from a person who has been editing writers’ work for 13 years.

This is not one of those snooty let-me-tell-you-all-the-ways-you-don’t-measure-up-as-a-writer approaches.

These are the honest-t0-goodness, common mistakes corrected simply and easily, so you can catch yourself making errors in the future and adapt more professional writing habits.

Grammar snobs probably don’t need this challenge. But many writers favor the creative process over the grammatical one, and may even become resistant to learning about proper grammar and punctuation for fear of disrupting their creative rhythm.

If this sounds like you or if you have a genuine desire to improve your grammar and punctuation skills with a spoonful of sugar, then register now for the Christina Katz Grammar & Punctuation Challenge.

This challenge won’t insult you or talk down to you or minimize your concerns. It will simply show you the common mistakes many writers make and help you correct yours in the future.

Once again, I’ve priced this challenge to be short, sweet, and affordable.

So what are you waiting for? Register now—the challenge begins on Tuesday, April 1st.

Learn more and register here. Hope to work with you on this or one of my other challenges in April.

It’s also time to sign up for 21 Moments and Platform Bingo challenges.

Happy spring!