Building Confidence As a… Writer (6)

Good Monday morning, readers! Welcome to the sixth week of a series on building confidence as a writer, where many of the tips can be applied to any career or part of your life.

We’ve covered early morning feel good, daily writing, eating for energy, act-as-if, and focusing on others.

This next one can be a bit challenging at times – I do my best, but can’t always avoid working in panic mode.

It’s exhausting and not-at-all beneficial to work and live in hurry up mode all the time.  If you start every day with a rush-rush must-get-everything-done frame of mind without knowing what that ‘everything’ is, you’re setting yourself up to be extremely stressed and on a path to failing to achieve the success you want.

Setting goals and planning out the days can help you focus on what’s important – and make sure the tasks you *must* get done are accomplished.

Having goals and planning days, as well as we can, enables us to move forward and meet deadlines.

I (generally) sit down on Sunday evenings to review the past week and plan for the upcoming week. This lets me see what I accomplished and what I missed. It allows me to decide if missed tasks are important enough to carry forward on the calendar or unimportant enough to remove from my ToDo list.

The review of the past week and planning for the upcoming week gives me control my days… for the most part.

I mean, we can’t control (or plan for) everything, right? Things do happen in our lives: kids get sick, cars get flat tires, trees fall on power lines, Internet gremlins eat important e-mails, calendar reminders fail, the cell phone battery dies, neighbors have loud parties into the wee hours of a work night… the chocolate supply in the house disappears.

But having a plan… having goals… having a map of where we are headed is important so that when something unexpected does come along and interrupts us, we can get back on track sooner rather than later. Without a plan or goals or a map, we’d most likely end up going in circles, retracing our steps, or moving off in a totally unrelated direction – and there isn’t any success there!

So tip #6 is to do the best you can to avoid working in panic mode.

Do you plan out your upcoming week? How do you avoid working in panic mode?

Lisa J. Jackson is an independent writer and editor who enjoys working with businesses of all sizes. She loves researching topics, interviewing experts, and helping companies tell their stories. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Building Confidence As a …Writer (5)

Welcome to week five of the series on building confidence as a writer (many tips can be applied to any career or part of your life).

We’ve covered early morning feel good, daily writing, eating for energy, and act-as-if.

Today is one of my favorites – pay it forward by focusing on others and giving them a smile.

Remember the compliment jar in an earlier post? You know how great it feels to receive a compliment, right? Do the same for others. When you’re out and about, or at home or at work, give someone a smile, hold a door open, compliment a person for something you notice.

If you’re a writer and have received a review, thank the reviewer for his or her time. If you have clients, think of ways you can improve your service to make the client even happier with you. Give a person your full attention and ask them how their day is going. Be interested in their lives outside of the office.

Drop an anonymous card on someone’s desk that includes a beautiful picture, a compliment, a treat, or a small gift – even a smiley sticker can do the trick. Be a ‘secret Santa’ on a random day of the year and do random kind acts throughout the day.

Paying it forward makes others feel good, but it also fills you with a positive sense of satisfaction.

One phrase I find that isn’t used much, but can mean a lot is, “You’re welcome.” It feels good when someone says “Thank you,” for an effort you made, right? Of course it does.

And when you say ‘thank you’ to someone, do you feel better hearing “You’re welcome,” or a casual “Sure”, “Yeah, no problem,” or “Don’t think anything of it.”?

“Thank you” and “You’re welcome” can brighten anyone’s day. They show respect, sincerity, and appreciation.

What small act or gesture can you give to a stranger, friend, family member, coworker, client, or customer today? Smiles are easy to pay forward since they are contagious. 

Lisa J. Jackson is an independent writer and editor who enjoys working with businesses of all sizes. She loves researching topics, interviewing experts, and helping companies tell their stories. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Building Confidence As a … Writer (4)

Welcome to week four of the series on building confidence as a writer. We’ve covered early morning feel good, daily writing, and eating for energy.

Now let’s talk about expecting success.

Think of it as the “act as if…” mindset. If you want to succeed and can envision it and feel it within yourself, you’ll turn every thought, comment, and action into a reflection of that expectation throughout your day.

Pay attention to self-doubt and negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones.

These aren’t only thoughts about yourself, but also words you say to others.

See how quickly your attitude can change by eliminating statements that start with: I can’t / I don’t / I won’t / I’ll try, but..

And replacing them with:

• I can
• I do
• I will
• I’ll try, and also
• I’m ready

Here’s a simple positive, encouraging, fun thing I do — a couple of years ago I read about a ‘Compliment Jar’. Every time a person received a compliment – personal or business – she wrote it on a slip of paper and put it in the jar.

Then if she needed a boost, she could reach into the jar, randomly pick out a piece of paper and read the compliment. Hearing (or reading) positive and encouraging words from someone you know (friend, client, co-worker, spouse, son, daughter, neighbor, etc.) is a great way to get back into the mindset of expecting your success. 

I have a little decorative box with a lid that I keep my compliments in, and they end up being written on whatever I have on hand, so even inside the box seems decorative with different colors and textures and types of paper.

I write the compliment along with the date and the person who said/wrote it to me. It’s amazing how powerful a compliment can be, and we all need a reminder sometimes.

Focusing on the success you want, and minimizing negative thoughts and words to others can keep you moving forward. When you do something that opposes your idea of success, you will feel uncomfortable, out of sorts, and a bit awkward – you’ll know you are out of alignment with your goals.

Do your best to focus on your goal of success, and take care to note when you feel yourself stepping off the path. The more aware you are of your thoughts and actions, the quicker you can get back on track.

Expect success. I know you can achieve it!

Lisa J. Jackson is an independent writer and editor who enjoys working with businesses of all sizes. She loves researching topics, interviewing experts, and helping companies tell their stories. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Building Confidence As a… Writer (3)

Here’s the third installment in a series to help you build confidence as a writer (or anything you want to be).

The first week I talked about doing something for yourself every morning that made you feel good. It doesn’t have to be writing-related.

Last week it was the ever-important tip (particularly for writers) about writing as often as possible. As writers, we write!

This week is the equally important notion/rule/recommendation of eating as healthy as possible.

Our bodies need the proper fuel to help our energy levels stay steady and our minds stay alert. I’m not saying change your diet dramatically, but if you can avoid sugars and refined foods you’ll be on the right track.

Cooking and food prep are at the bottom of ‘Lisa’s Favorite Things To Do’ list, so don’t think I have it all figured out in this area. I do believe breakfast is important and I start the day with Greek yogurt with granola. The particular type of yogurt because it has more protein than others and there are several options to choose from now! (In the winters I switch to steel grain oats with blueberries.)

Protein is the ingredient I strive for at each meal – so for lunches and dinners and snacks I’m looking at chicken breast, eggs, pork chops, wild caught salmon, ham, almonds, beans, steak (now and then), cheese, and a daily protein shake.

High-protein foods include: tofu, oysters, cottage cheese, minced beef, lamb, and swiss cheese. (The items in bold come from a Daily Health Lifestyles article.)

And it is the season for pumpkin seeds – which are a great protein snack option. Yum!

Tips that work for me, and might help you – or give you ideas:

• Keep junk food out of the house so when cravings hit, it isn’t easy to grab a ‘bad’ treat
• Write down everything I eat and drink. There are so many apps, such as MyFitnessPal (I only mention it because it’s the one I use), that after a little work at setting up recipes and selecting most-commonly purchased items, it’s a breeze to record everything – even from restaurants!
  • Benefit to using an app is that it most likely will tell you calorie, protein, sugar, fat and other content so you can keep a strong handle on what you’re eating and drinking
  • You can also have friends connected to your apps — and have them help you stay accountable to eating healthy by giving them the ability to see your food diary.
• Drink a lot of water. I have a 24-oz cup with a lid that I keep full of ice water handy when I’m home. Bottled waters work well in a cooler when I’m out and about during the day.
• Don’t eat after 7PM — or at least stop eating 3 hours before you’re going to bed.

Does your diet need to change at all? Do you notice you have higher focus after eating certain types of foods (or lack of energy after eating junk food)?

 Lisa J. Jackson is an independent writer and editor who enjoys working with businesses of all sizes. She loves researching topics, interviewing experts, and helping companies tell their stories. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Building Confidence As a …Writer

Building confidence as a writer involves mastering the writing craft, sure, but it isn’t all about writing. And building confidence can be applied to all aspects of your life, not just the writing side.

I found an article recently that lists several ways to build confidence as a writer and I’m going to tackle one at a time as I feel they deserve more discussion than simple bullet points.

The first is to do something first thing each morning that makes you feel great.

My first thing is to greet the day. Now that I’m in my new place, I’m enjoying a wonderful deck and have taken to going out each morning to say “Good Morning, New Day”. After a few deep breaths and admiration of the view, I feel inspired. (I do something similar before going to bed, too.)

It’s a simple thing, to acknowledge the new day – but it feels good. You may enjoy a few moments of quiet, write some morning pages, take the first sip of your favorite morning beverage, or any other thing. Giving your significant other a good morning kiss could start your day, listening to a favorite song or radio station, doing a crossword or Sudoku puzzle.

One view from my deck

The thing you do that makes you feel great can take a few seconds or a few minutes – whatever fits into your life and helps you start the day with a smile. A smile triggers endorphins which make you feel better and when you feel good, your confidence gets a boost.

What do you do first thing in the morning that gives you a smile?

Lisa J. Jackson is an independent writer and editor who enjoys working with businesses of all sizes. She loves researching topics, interviewing experts, and helping companies tell their stories. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

The Short Form

The short form crosses the skills of puzzle solving with the compression of poetry

For the past seven months, I’ve been writing, publishing, broadcasting and posting short form essays at a rate of more than two a week. This has been gratifying work, connecting with my various audiences who listen to my broadcasts, subscribe to my blogs, and read me in The Rutland Herald.

Even my pen-for-hire work tends to be in the short form, from 400-word profiles to 700-word essays.

I’ve come to love the short form, which forces me to choose the exact words I need and to arrange them in the most effective order. The short form requires clear emphasis to establish a sharp focus all while telling a very short story. I think of the short form as a hybrid that crosses the skills of puzzle solving with the compression of poetry.

I like the short form, and I think I’m good at it, at least most of the time. But I long for the long form.

I have two book-length projects in different stages: an incomplete rough draft of a novel and a rough idea for a long piece of non-fiction.

I long to write in the long form of books.

These two long thoughts keep me company like imaginary friends. They comfort me at the oddest moments: in the shower, in traffic, in my dreams. When I can, I jot down notes of ideas and tuck them away for later. If later ever arrives, I’m not sure I’ll be able to find them, but I don’t worry about that. I still have the ideas. What I haven’t yet found is the long time in which to write the long form.

The short form suits my current life, which has been interrupted by both duties and delights. The long form requires more consistency than I’ve managed lately.

I’ve managed the long form before, so I know I can do it. I even know how: rise and write – before breakfast, before chores, before coffee. But I’ve been resistant, which is normal; now I’m tired of that, which is good.

I’m setting off to hike the Long Trail along the spine of the Green Mountains, the length of Vermont.

In need of a kind of reset so that I can double down by getting up early to work at length before pounding out short form pieces later in the day, I’m setting off on a long walk. Walking never fails to help me find my writer’s voice, so I’m looking forward to listening for it as I hike The Long Trail, which follows the spine of Vermont from Massachusetts to Canada.

I’ll be carrying a tent, a sleeping bag, and a camp stove, as well as a pen and paper. I’m sure I’ll be writing, but I’ll be offline for a month. I’m looking forward to being unplugged. Before I leave, I plan to schedule some reruns of favorites, both here and on my personal blog.

Barring bears, broken limbs or other unforeseen mishaps, I expect to plug in again in mid-September. In the meanwhile, I wish good words to you all. –Deborah.

Deborah Lee Luskin hikes and writes in Vermont and on the web at www.deborahleeluskin.com

 

 

 

 

You Want to Make a Living as a Writer? Are You Crazy?

If you have a passion for writing and have non-creatives in your life, you have probably heard some form of this mantra for years:

No one can make a living writing; find something practical to pursue. 

What’s ‘practical’? What makes sense if your passion is for words? Fitting the square peg into a round hole never works, does it?

The comfort of working for yourself

It helps to be a little crazy when pursuing something many people can’t relate to. But if you want to make a living as a writer, there are a few skills that can help you succeed.

• Passion for words – I believe you need to have a yearning to learn about words, to want to play with words, to strive to get sentences just write, to want to share part of yourself through written expression. You want to make an impression on your audience in some manner.
• Confidence – Believe in yourself and in your passion to write. Take pride in every piece of writing you create; in every story your muse delivers to you. Every new piece of writing is more experience that helps you grow, expand, and refine your skill.
• Discipline – this is such a big deal! You absolutely have to be able to set a schedule and stick to it! Writing only when you’re in the mood will not help you make a living as a writer at all. Take writing seriously – get your butt in a chair and your hands over the keyboard – and write! Daily!
• Training/Education – Take some writing classes (online or in person), practice writing and submitting to contests that offer feedback, join a critique group. Practice different types of writing to discover what you enjoy most – also learn about what pays well — you want to make a living as a writer! (this helps build your confidence and discipline too)
• Marketing – as a solopreneur writer, you have to not only create, but you have to advertise – let people know you have the talent, time, and ability to deliver on their writing needs. Marketing takes time, isn’t easy, but is absolutely required in order to make a living as a writer. If people and businesses don’t know you exist, the money will not come.

To make a living as a writer, you must have business skills. There isn’t any way around it — other than hiring someone to manage the business side of the writing life — but even then, you want to have an understanding of all that is involved.

The writing life isn’t something to jump into – take the time to honestly assess your skills, passion, and interest in words.

If it’s truly what you want – go for it! Being a little scared and unsure is natural – it means you’re pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, and there’s never anything wrong with that. Ever. (in my humble opinion)

Do you have what it takes to make a living as a writer?

Lisa J. Jackson is an independent writer and editor who enjoys working with businesses of all sizes. She loves researching topics, interviewing experts, and helping companies tell their stories. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

It’s February 29th – An Extra Work Day – or A Day to Play?

So today is February 29.

2016 is a leap year and has 366 days instead of the typical 365. Apparently, if we don’t add an extra day to the calendar every now and then our seasons would morph into each other and lives would change dramatically.

I’ve always thought of February 29 as something fun and unique – not that I’ve treated it any differently than any other day, but, since it doesn’t come around every year, it’s an anomaly.

If you were born on Feb 29, you finally get to celebrate another birthday on your actual birthday! People born around Christmas think they have it tough, huh? Imagine having to pick a day each year to celebrate your birthday because it only comes around every 4 or so years?

In the grand scheme of life, today is an extra day, an extra 24 hours to do as you please. Will you use it toward achieving goals, or will you be taking it as a ‘freebie’ day and doing something entirely unique?

I’ll be working as it’s ‘just another Monday’ for me, and another day to work toward my 2016 goals! Wishing you a great week with a lot of writing success.

Lisa J. Jackson is an independent writer and editor who enjoys working with manufacturing, software, and technology businesses of all sizes. She loves researching topics, interviewing experts, and helping companies tell their stories. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Are You Ready to Expand Your Freelance Business?

So you’re creating the life of a freelance writer. You’ve been paid for your writing, you’ve had a few clients. You love the feeling of creating content — and getting paid.

Now you’re asking yourself if  it’s time to start charging (more) competitively for your work. Or maybe you’re thinking of narrowing your niche and  specializing in a certain type of  writing service.

Is the time now? How do you know when to expand your business?

If you’re asking yourself these questions, you’re close to that moment. When you are seeking new projects and thinking of trying new types of content, it’s a sure sign that you’re feeling confident with your current skill set and are ready to push out of your comfort zone to try more.

So what’s the next step?

If you simply want to charge more, do some research on what current writers charge for that type of content. Maybe you’ll find you’re already charging a similar rate. If you aren’t, you can assess your skills and determine if a price increase is appropriate or not.

If you want to try a new type of writing — perhaps for a medical company and you have never written a medical paper in  your life — learn as much as you can about the type of writing you want to produce. Read, read, read, and read some more of the type of content. Seek out companies who have published the type of content and practice writing in a similar style. 

Seek out courses in the type of writing you want to produce. If you want to move from process/how-to guides to a white paper, there are a lot of differences.

It’s a definite step in the right direction to already be a paid professional writer. You have a skill set. You know how to write. But now you need to move to the next level and learn the applicable tricks of the trade for your new niche.

It’s not possible to know all the details about a particular writing style before you start charging for it. Even if you specialize in it, there’s always something new that comes along. And if you wait until you (think) you know all there is to know, you’ll never get started.

How did you get started as a freelancer? You educated yourself, you researched, you practiced, you searched out markets seeking your skills. It’s time to do that again. 

Before you know it, you’ll have that ‘moment’ and know you’re ready to move forward and add a new type of writing service to your current portfolio.

It’s time to move beyond your comfort zone.

Lisa J. Jackson is an independent writer and editor who enjoys working with manufacturing, software, and technology businesses of all sizes. She loves researching topics, interviewing experts, and helping companies tell their stories. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Enough

I’ve written in the past about using Susannah Conway’s workbook “Unraveling the Year”. Last year, my word was Practice, my intention was to commit to a writing practice. I got off to slow start but I DID it!  Then came December, all bets were off, thankfully, I have picked it up again in January.

I flamed out at the end of 2015 (thus the drop off writing in December). The last quarter was non-stop and I did no one any favors by continuing to say “yes” and ignoring what my body was telling me.

2016 WILL be different.

Thankfully, 2016 is already different. My word for 2016 is: enough.

Image courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/people/sweetonveg/

I am enough.

I have enough on my plate. I can’t take on anything else until something is taken away. Preferably several things are taken away.  I have to scale back. I can’t go through another quarter like Q4 2015. The challenge for me is figuring out WHERE to cut back on existing commitments and WHEN to say no to new commitments.

When I saw this post on Facebook from Jen Hatmaker, I almost cried. Don’t read too far into the comments, they go sideways pretty quickly, but Jen does respond and mentions Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKewon. I’m reading this slowly so it really sticks, but so far, I’m really loving this book. It’s just what I need right now.  I’m pretty sure there will be a blog post from me on the book down the road.

So far, I’ve stepped down from an existing commitment and turned down new work. Not gonna lie, both were hard to do. The existing commitment was something I care deeply about and I would have been a really good fit for the consulting position. I just keep reminding myself “I am enough.” and honestly, after the initial shock wore off, saying no to both was incredibly empowering and uplifting.

Determining what is essential to my life is still a work in progress, but writing is without a doubt essential to my life and it is my hope by eliminating the truly unessential, I’ll make more time for writing. My goal is progress, not perfection. I’m close to finishing the roughest of rough drafts of my work-in-progress. I have another DIY writing retreat scheduled for this weekend and my goal is to pitch this story at a conference scheduled for October. To make that a reality I have many hours of revision ahead of me but, at the same time, I’m trying not to get too far ahead of myself.

I start everyday reminding myself, I am enough.

Did you pick a word for 2016?

How do you determine what is essential to your life?

Haven’t set your goals for 2016 yet? If not, you aren’t too late, you are right on time.

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Lee Laughlin is a writer, marketer, social media consumer and producer, wife, and mom, frequently all of those things at once. She blogs at Livefearlesslee.com. She writes for the Concord Monitor and her words have also appeared in a broad range of publications from community newspapers to the Boston Globe. She is currently working on her first novel, a work of contemporary, romantic fiction.