8 February 2009
by 
I was recently re-reading a guest post, “Learn it, Live it, Write it!“, written by Jenny Greenleaf about this time last year. In the post, Jenny talks about this mantra and how learning to live it and write it helped her career grow. In 2008 she continued to do amazing things as she learned, lived, and wrote. As I read over her post again, I started to really think about the questions she asked last year.
What Are MY Future Goals?
What are YOUR future goals? Have you thought about the direction your blog, career, or writing will take in the coming months? I have!
The fact is, I want MORE! In 2008 I made some significant leaps forward. I had some wonderful commissions, committed to a few long term projects, and began to step away from freelance writing to encompass my love of editing and web technology. I grew as a freelancer, and it was wonderful, but what I have today is not enough to sate my appetite for the work I do.
In 2009, I am dedicated to maximizing my potential. I am putting a great deal more of my every day energy into my current projects and spending several hours a week actively seeking new job leads, marketing my services, and socializing through the community.
What turn can you take to re-awaken your snoozing career?
I will develop strong, balanced, and giving friendships. Freelancers often lead rather solitary lives. I’ve found that embracing others enlivens me. I need to be able to turn to a friend when I’m struggling with fear or to share my joys.
I’ve never truly felt comfortable reaching out to others. As such, making friends is a constant struggle. This year I want to learn more about making and sustaining enriching relationships. I want to embrace friendship with people who share my passion for freelancing, web technology, writing, and more. Do you want to be a part of that with me?
What can you do to propel your career in the direction it wants to go?
I am committed to finishing my current novel. I will be in New York from the 26th of May to the 2nd of June, 2009 and will pitch my book at the pitch slam following Writer’s Digest’s Writer’s Conference. A great deal of work remains to be done. I really need to knuckle down and GET IT FINISHED!
This project has been hindered a great deal by fear. I fight against an anxiety attack every time I come to the screen with the intention of writing another scene. I don’t understand what causes this fear. There are a thousand reasons and yet none of them compare to the prospect of NOT finishing. To propel my career forward I must finish this book and fear is no longer permitted to stand in my way.
Are you working on projects that have become stale?
My plurk friend, Shelley Heath, recently said, “Maybe your heart is not really into it as a topic anymore. Maybe you need to spread the wings further and catch something of interest“. Honestly, I don’t believe it the case on that occasion but there are elements I’ve become disheartened with. As freelancers, we must be involved in the sales aspect of our business. It is vital to be able to sell yourself and your services. This is an aspect of the business I’ve always struggled with.
Part of what I do in cooperative effort with Miss Michele and Serenity Bly of Future-Tarot.com is write copy for their weblog. SALES copy. There are fantastic readings available but the copy on the page needs to ‘call to action’ those who visit, it needs to entice them to buy, it needs to SELL itself. I know I can write sales copy but for some reason the prospect has been leaving me stale.
The project itself is one I LOVE, either I need to find a way to get beyond my sales copy blockage, or hire a writer to write the sales copy for me. I would much rather focus on the web technology and maintenance aspects. That is one fact that leads me to Jenny’s final question:
Do you need to find a new niche?
I have spent a great deal of time focused on the idea of myself as a freelance writer. I write very well and I can admit that, but my heart isn’t really in putting words to a page. Writing non-fiction is something I feel dispassionate about. I NEED to create, and web copy, sales copy, non-fiction articles, magazine articles and etc. just doesn’t spark my fire of creativity.
I need to focus on those elements where I can FEEL my creativity thrive. The design and programming I do as a Web Technician, for example, creates something real and visually tangible. It also caters to my need for instant gratification because every time I write a new program or edit a design element I can SEE it in action immediately. THAT is where I want to put my focus. That is the niche I feel most comfortable within.
Ask Yourself These Questions
How are you feeling about your career and the direction of your life going into the coming months? Can you answer Jenny’s questions, make changes, and buoy your hope that this year will be one for fantastic change and growth?
[shares] from WRA: http://tinyurl.com/dzoryy (Career and the Direction of Life) Ask Yourself Powerful Questions!
I know very well how fear can be paralysing and for a long time I thought it was out of fear of failure but subconsciously it is a fear of success. I reckon there is an element of that for you too… do you visualise seeing your book complete and on the book shelves or do you just visualise the hurdles along the way.
Focus on the destination and not the path and be ready with a bit of flexibility to steer around those obstacles that may pop up, don’t just sit there at the stop sign waiting the blockage to clear… make a u-turn and use a side road… ok you will have a few dead ends and a few u-turns … but the scenery will be better as the road is new to you. If it is all dead ends get the bulldozer out and make your own path… there is always a way we just have to open our eyes to it.
Wow, Becca! Great post — excellent questions. I need to sit down with them and really think them through, but on first glance, I’m amazed at how much my answers line up with yours. It’s particularly interesting to meet another writer who loves to do Web site design and development! Maybe it is the instant gratification that makes it so appealing — something that doesn’t come regularly in a writing career!
Anyway, thanks for posting this — and for alerting us on Plurk!
Joan
Oh yes, my blog Writing Forward was becoming stale for me late last year. When I sat down to ask myself why, I realized that it was too vast. I wanted to narrow the focus – I mean writing is an enormous field to capture on one site (for one person). Since I freelance and have a blog about doing business online, I decided to focus Writing Forward on creative writing – fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Since the moment I made that decision, my interest in the blog has been refueled and still going strong
[...] into place; centered, strong, and balanced; you’ll begin to feel more and more encouraged in your writing goals. And the more encouraged you are, the more inspired you’ll [...]
I think your post was secretly a sweet kick off to a potential series of articles about this topic. So many users pretend to understand what they are preaching about when it comes to this stuff and in reality, nearly no one actually get it. You seem to know about it however, so I think you should run with it. Thank you!
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