Moving

Hi there.  I’m moving my blog to http://getstartedwriting.blogspot.com

I thought I’d give wordpress a try, but I’m a creature of habit, and am already comfortable with how blogger works.  Hey – at least I’m trying new things, even if I make changes later on, right?

How I Got My First Paid Writing Job

I know a lot of writers don’t believe in doing any writing for free, but that’s how I started out.  I just wanted to write.  I knew I had no background in writing, and I had a lot to learn, so it felt okay to me to do some writing for free.

 I’d just finished reading the book “The Magic of Thinking Big”, and I was all excited and looking for ways to fit what I loved doing (writing) into my life.

So I talked to my office manager at the veterinary hospital where I work about starting a staff newsletter.  Managers love that kind of stuff, especially if you’re volunteering to do the work (they don’t love it so much if you’re volunteering THEM for more work).  I planned to write one pet health related article, and one staff improvement/team-building type of article along with birthday/company anniversary announcements, and all that good stuff.  Technically, I guess I wasn’t writing completely for free.  During downtime, when I used to do things like rearrange the pharmacy or clean behind the x-ray table, I now spent writing instead.  Sure I did a lot of the work on my own time at home, but I did as much as I could while I was on the clock.  IN that way, I got paid for writing.

The doctors that own our practice own a total of 3 veterinary hospitals.  After about 4 or 5 months of producing the newsletter, the office manager from one of the other offices told me how much she liked my newsletter, and asked if I could write one for their hospital too.  I hesitated to commit because the extra work would all fall into my home time. 

“I’ll make sure you get paid for your time,” she said.

That ended my hesitation.  I agreed.

Now not only was I getting ‘kinda’ paid to write, I was officially getting paid for it – even the time I spent working at home. 

This is still one of my best writing gigs.  I personalize a monthly newsletter for all 3 hospitals by only changing out the personal staff information, but using the same core articles for each branch.  I’ve since taken on other responsibilities at work that ate up all my writing time there, but it doesn’t matter anymore because I’m also paid for the time I put in at home.  I average about 8 paid hours a month from home just on this project.  While I can’t swear it’s related, I’ve noticed bigger Christmas bonuses too.

Even better, I can sell reprints of my articles online and make the odd extra buck there.

Now, I work for a fairly small employer who likes to empower his employees and is easy to talk to.  While I can’t promise that your boss will be as receptive to the idea of you starting up a staff newsletter, or being willing to pay you for it, it’s probably worth asking about.  They may surprise you.  If you’re willing to plod on unpaid for a time, you could do it the way I did – just volunteer and see how much management loves it.  If it feels like to much work after a few months you could screw up the courage to ask for compensation.  Even if they say no, you can tell them how much work it is, and that you can’t keep it up anymore.  I was about to tell them I was dropping down to an issue every other month because of the work when they offered to pay me.  I sure found the time to write then!

Even if you don’t have a boss or a workplace that’s open to this idea, start looking for ways to fit writing into what you already do.  Even if the pay isn’t great, if you enjoy it, then it will help you grow as a writer and give you experience.  I know I like to have “Writes and edits staff newsletter for 3 veterinary hospitals” on my writing resume.  You can always drop the gig when it isn’t useful to you anymore.

If you have a creative way to invent a writing job for yourself, leave a comment and let us know!

Procrastination Is My Enemy

I’m a huge procrastinator.  Have been my whole life.  Now that I’m spending my evenings growing a new career, procrastination isn’t just annoying, it can destroy my efforts. 

I read some writing advice once about how to get over writer’s block.  I don’t remember for sure where, it may have been one of the NaNoWriMo encouragement letters or a Writer’s Digest article.  Anyway, it said to establish a routine for your writing time.  Do certain things in the same order each day before you sit down to write.  Eventually as you do this routine, when you get to the part where you sit down to write, you’ll feel ready to write because you’ve conditioned yourself into writing mode.

I’ve done a lot of studying of operant conditioning techniques, so this advice really sounded like what I needed.  I’ve been writing every day this year so far.  I’ve made it well over a month now when all my previous attempts to establish a daily writing habit have failed.

But it turns out that that persistent piece of me that loves to procrastinate doesn’t give up that easily.  My pre-writing routine has consisted of putting my children to bed, and sitting at the computer to play a video game.  I tell myself I’m to exhausted from work, or from the kids to dive straight into writing.  I need a little mindless break.  Okay, fine.

Unfortunately, the game I like to play, Civilization III, (yes I know I’m terribly outdated in my gaming tastes) has a way of making me lose all track of time.  So while I still write when I’m done playing, sometimes that doesn’t happen until midnight.  Sure, I can write at midnight, but I can write a lot more at 9:30, and I can still get a few hours of sleep too.

Tonight I tried something different for my pre-writing routine.  I put my kids to bed, and sat down at the computer and did a few article reviews at Helium.  Maybe not as mindless, but I still don’t have to invest a lot from myself.  It worked.  I’m almost done writing this entry, and it’s only 9:10.  I’ll probably write another article before going to bed, and I won’t wake up exhausted. 

I was home today, so we’ll see how well this routine holds up after a workday.  I’m trying to figure out a way to fit in an exercise routine into my evening too.  That may be pushing things.  I may have to drag the kids out for a walk during the day and ignore their whines about it.  I’ll come up with something.

So go ahead and play mind games with yourself if you’re having trouble changing your habits.  If you already have a writing routine, leave a comment about it.  I may steal some pieces as I fine tune my own.

How I Became a Freelance Writer

I’ve loved writing for most of my life.  I fell in love with reading first, then my affection for words grew from there.  To save you the pain of reading my life story, I’ll skip the boring bits. 

As a teen, I decided I wanted to be a writer.  The adults in my life told me in their well-meaning way that writing was too hard, didn’t pay enough, and I wouldn’t like it anyway.  They advised me to get a ‘real’ job instead.  In my naivety, I believed them despite the important detail that none were, or had ever tried to become writers.  I got a degree in Zoology and became a wild animal trainer.  So much for the real job.

Fifteen years later, I still love animals, but I’m a mom now.  My passion for my children has taken me completely off guard.  I want to be home with them.  I returned to writing fiction a few years ago when the writing itch flared up again.  It was as if I’d found a missing puzzle piece in my life.  Almost everything was in place, but there was a little hole that made everything feel off.  Writing again finished the picture of me.

The first time someone paid me to write, the idea of becoming a professional writer and coming home with my kids started to bloom.  Selling flash fiction at $1.00 a pop, or more often for ‘exposure’ or a contributor copy, while emotionally satisfying, wasn’t going to buy the milk.  I began to read everything I could find about becoming a professional writer: blogs, articles, books, and even an online class.  While I’m not ready to quit my day job yet, the dream is starting to feel closer.

Starting in Jan 2008, I made the decision to work as a freelancer.  Really work.  I spend several hours each night after the kids are sleeping writing and reading.  I’ve invented my own freelance writing school of free and low-cost information, and a lot of writing practice.  The articles I sell buy me new writing books, stamps and ink for submissions, and, yes, it’s even starting to buy the milk.

Some of the most useful information I’ve learned came from the experiences of other writers who’ve been at this a lot longer than I have.  This blog is born, partly out of the desire to get all this information that I’ve gathered over the years in one place for my own reference and use.  But an even great goal is to share all the information and resources I’ve found with other aspiring writers.  I’ve wasted time and money on things that turned out to be relatively useless.  I’ve found priceless gems buried in online forums that no search engine would have uncovered.  I want to give back what every writer who offered me helpful tips have given to me.

By all means, if you’re a writer also trying to make money with your words, please comment on my entries, and share your own insights.  I don’t claim to know all the answers.  I’m still on the path.  I just want to share my wandering with others.  If we walk together, we will be better able to find the gold dust, and keep an eye out for the wolves.