The 5 Largest Pitfalls in Developing Yourself as a Freelance
Writer and How to Avoid Them (Part 2)
Are you ready to express your life purpose through writing and
being published but you find yourself stopped? Here are the next
3 pitfalls to watch out for and how to climb out of them.
3. TAKING YOUR WRITING PERSONALLY. Now, don't confuse what you
just read with the idea of making your writing personal, or
using your personal experiences in your writing. Depending on
what kind of writing you do, both can be very effective. The
pitfall is when you mistake your writing for yourself, a common
factor that has so many writers not be able to deal with
rejection well. When you mistake your writing for yourself,
every rejection letter or request for a revision feels like a
personal insult. And boy, I've seen some writers with pretty
thin skin and some editors who are masterful at making cutting
remarks.
CLIMB OUT OF THIS PITFALL BY: first noticing when you are taking
something personally. We all know what it feels like when we
think someone is criticizing us. Use that feeling as a signal to
make a switch to a more positive response. One way to make this
switch is to think of every rejection or comment from an editor
as the Universe coaching you in how to be a successful writer.
Suddenly, what at first occurred as criticism, becomes
constructive coaching.
4. NOT REALIZING THAT WRITING IS A BUSINESS. This can be
difficult for a lot of people to learn, no matter what the
profession. I had to learn it as a veterinarian, and relearn it
as a writer. Luckily, I learned much faster the second time. If
you expect someone to pay you money for your services, whatever
that service is, then you're in business. Therefore, it's
important to not only develop your technical skills as a writer,
but to also develop your business skills. I've found that most
writers are much better writers than they are business people.
That's why in my workshop, FROM SPARK TO FLAME: Fanning Your
Passion and Ideas into Money-making Magazine Articles, the focus
is on the business skill of how to market your writing
effectively.
CLIMB OUT OF THIS PITFALL BY: investing at least equal learning
time to developing your business skills as you do your writing
skills. Seek out books, workshops and courses that teach
business skills such as time management, marketing, business
planning, and accounting, to name a few.
5. TAKING YOUR WRITING CAREER TOO SERIOUSLY: Most writers who
want to become professional writers do so because they love to
write. But all too often, the fun and love of writing disappears
under a cloud of "serious significance." Invariably, when a
naturally creative person starts taking life too seriously,
their creativity suffers.
CLIMB OUT OF THIS PITFALL BY: lightening up for starters. As the
recent best seller attests to, "Don't sweat the small stuff, and
it's all small stuff." I also encourage writers to always
include in their writing schedule fun and recreational writing.
If it ends up somewhere and brings in a few bucks, fine, but the
point of such writing is to keep the fun in.
This report is one example of fun writing for me, which
shouldn't lessen its value to you. I simply enjoy passing along
some of the pitfalls I've discovered (and fallen into from time
to time) along my own writing path in the hopes they may be
helpful to you.