Tips for Practicing Writer Mamas Who Want to Get Published

Here are the kinds of things that beginning writer mamas get overwhelmed by:

• Finding enough time
• Battling distractions
• Guilt/Torn in too many directions
• Over-committed/Too many volunteer activities
• Don’t know what to prioritize first
• Can’t decide which idea to pursue
• Tired from working all day and caring for the family at home
• Lack of confidence/Can’t get out of the comfort-zone
• Unsure about the business aspects of writing
• Procrastination/Thinking about doing instead of doing
• Fear of both success and failure
• Not sure how to submit work
• Want national clips, but need to start local

And here’s the solutions I suggest:

• Forgive yourself for all you haven’t accomplished up until now. And now, decide to get to work without allowing any more excuses.
• Get your ideas down while they are hot. Just write the worst junk so you can capture the essence of the idea. Walking before writing can help loosen up your brain.
• Take classes with professionals you can trust. You’ll gain helpful information, an available mentor, and most importantly, deadlines!
• Don’t get hung up on the ever-changing marketplace. So many of the techniques that have always worked still work. You don’t need to try and reinvent the industry while you launch your career. That is not going to help you. Just follow professional advice closely and repeat what works.
• Keep your focus on simple steps. Like, if you don’t have clips, you need to get clips. (People who didn’t need clips were the exception, not the rule. Get some clips and get some experience at the same time.)
• Experience is what builds confidence. Nothing else is as authentic.
• Writing careers are built one article at a time, one acceptance at a time, and one publication date at a time. Keep it simple and know what your immediate goal is. Then work toward each goal.
• The accumulation of short-term goals leads to the achievement of long-term goals. That’s your trajectory for success. Think of it like a very long flight of stairs going up, up, up! Just aim for one success after another.

So get your butt in a chair. Grab a piece of paper and a pen or a laptop or a keyboard and get to work! 😉

~Photo by geoftheref