Writer’s Life Check In

I’ve settled in nicely to this new lifestyle of being a writer. There’s been some accomplishments which have been a great boost to my confidence in my skills as a writer. I was published for the first time last year and I also made it to the top 50 in a Prose competition. In both instances, thousands of stories were submitted and I was made visible for my writing. In the competition, I was also put on a list for the top stories in the sponsoring company’s database, with a digital badge of honor listed on my profile. It’s been quite a thrill so far and I really am celebrating as many wins as I can.

I have really been careful and cautious as to not blow my fantastic successes out of proportion. It’s very important to be to remain level-headed and practical to continue pursuing this path. What I am staying focused on is pacing myself. If I get one victory per year, I’m good. Anything else is then extra moments of joy and happiness. I’m definitely not ready to give up all of my money earning jobs to bet it all on someone liking my story out of the endless stream of submissions.

The plan is to continue working on improving my skills through practice and education. Write, edit, submit and repeat. What I hope to find is a flow that continues to refine itself so that I may do better work everyday.

What has allowed me to have more time for the process is my choice to go freelance which I go into more detail about here. It has definitely freed more of my schedule and the way I think about the ability to earn money.

It's now been a few days since I wrote the above. The past few days have been about getting back into a hustle and figuring out the game plan for when my current gig is up. I got a lot of great information and feel energized to go pound the pavement once more.

There's so much to do that I'm going to start writing lists and work on managing my time more productively. I do want to give myself breaks here and there, but it's important that I stay on this path of motivation and keep it up.

I listened to a podcast called "Copy Chatter" and it gave me so much information that I will be busy probably for the rest of the year.

There's so much information out there about writing and the market has changed to widen the scope of what writing assignments entails. There are jobs for people just to write blurbs on social media accounts. Who would have ever thought that would be a thing? I had to do that on occasion for a few jobs, I never was a fan of it. But I know for some people out there, it's a dream job and they would like nothing better than to get onto social media and post their hearts out.

For the moment I've made myself very busy and that is a very good thing. I'm putting into action and into the universe what I hope to do. And if ever action has a reaction, then work should be coming my way.

A word that keeps coming up for me is consistency. Be consistent. Consistency is good to have while you're on the job. The plan is to continue on a path of consistency and dedication. To write even when I don't feel like writing and exercise my inner wordsmith.

I took a long break away from writing and I noticed that getting back into has not been as easy as it was prior to when I was writing consistently. One night I was searching mercilessly for my journal, one I handwrite in. I would say that journaling has been my life course in writing. I got out of the habit of writing and journaling, so now there's work to be done to get back into the practice of it. It's like an athlete who's stopped exercising or a musician who hasn't picked up their instrument, my skills are in need of a tune up and I'm determined to get back it.

Thanks for reading and I'd love to hear from anyone who is a writer or interested in writing in the comments. What's your process? What happens when you don't write for a while?