What Inspires Me? Lighten the Load
Lately, I’ve been walking around lugging an extra 50 pounds…of baggage (OK, and of actually blubber, but that is not what this is about, yet.) This is about that extra baggage. The lists of must do-need to-overdue items on my task list. They are weighing me down. And so, yes, I do do them. But often at the expense of doing what I want to be doing. Guilt is a huge motivator.
Truth is, before last weekend when I attended the first in 3 years—hooray!—Alumni retreat, I hadn’t paid much attention, or frankly though it was something I could do anything to change. Instead, I just carried on lugging the baggage, growing more stooped, grumpy, unfulfilled…
Okay, so back to the actual blubber which is probably a result of dealing with tasks at the expense of personal needs—aka exercise—that hasn’t helped. But those extra blub pounds had finally become so disgusting that, inspired by friends and family members I finally decided to actually track my intake and pay attention and so I downloaded the Lose It App. Cue The Band’s Take a Load off Fanny. Confession, until I looked up the YouTube, I have been singing “Granny” as in Take a Load off Granny…which, now that I think about it is why I downloaded Lose It and what this post is about…
Which takes me to the VCFA Alumni Residency. The closing lecturer was new VCFA faculty member Anica Mrose Rissi who’s presentation, “Process Is a Story We Tell Ourselves” was partly about how how maybe—just maybe—the reason we do—or don’t do—what we want is because the story we tell ourselves is “I can’t! Too busy! I’m not important! What I want is not important! insert all our various “too busy for me” stories. Anica Mrose Rissi is former editor who managed to publish a slew of books while being a fantastic editor and is now, still, writing delightful books and teaching (Absolutely check out her books.) She suggests we change our stories. Rissi is inspiring! Her talk was inspiring. It inspired me to change my story from I-can-only-write-when-I-have-a-chunk-of-alone-time-and-my-chores-are-done to I WILL WRITE 15 MINUTES A DAY with the same commitment I give to brushing my teeth. And I have excellent dental hygiene. But saying it—even in ALL CAPS—is one thing. . .
This is the one I downloaded.
Doing it! Carving out 15 minutes for M.E. Making sure I do it! And celebrating it was another. Back to Lose It!
Lose it! *as I said, is a FREE (and if you want more paid) calorie tracking-exercise-weight loss app, like NOOM I suppose (although I’ve never used NOOM). The Lose It App is easy to use to track meals and exercise. It’s on my phone which is literally plastered to my yoga-pants clad leg aaaaaall the time. And best, I was using it. Heck! I was on a streak—not weight loss streak but a 10-day long Meal & Exercise Logging streak. So I got to thinking. Accountability! Celebrating! Record Keeping! Can I use the Lose It! App to record my 15-Minute Writing Goal.
And YES! YES! and YES! So I am not Tekke. I do not like “exploring” apps. I’m a tell me what and how to do it and I will do that and exactly that Tek user. But I did a little searching on the Lose it! App and discovered one can add Customized Workouts to the list of exercises listed. So that’s what I did.
I added “Writing” to the list of exercise options. And, because the App requires one to post the calories used beside exercises, I figured dang, when I’m writing, my brain is clicking—as are my fingers—so that has to use calories. At least as many calories as resting Yoga, hence I gave it 10. That’s it!
Amazing how a tiny change to My Story and rewarding myself by tracking my success has made such a difference! I’m still hauling around all that luggage, but the promise and reward of 15 minutes writing has me singing a new song. And not going overboard, I’m considering adding a few more goals worth tracking to my handy dandy customized LOSE IT app. After all, “Leisure Reading” and “Photo Sorting” are workouts, too, right? Care to join me?
Lose It is helping me Do exactly what I want! Now that’s inspiring!
*No Lose It App didn’t pay me to write this or provide the download link. But they should…hint hint
What Inspires Me #9: Paid to Play
What Inspires Me #9
Getting Paid for Doing What I Love!
When I began my writing journey, there were SCADS of paid gigs out there for writers willing to put in the hours. Back then, a single mother of 2 with a dream of being an author, I worked as a waitron robot so I’d have the flexibility to be there for my kids and work at being a writer. (Definitely more “Flo” than “Alice” although I fancied myself “Jenna”.
I didn’t go it alone, thank heavens. I was part of a team. My writing partner Ronnie and I queried and wrote and submitted stories, poem, articles. And the best part we began having work accepted. Each acceptance—each check—meant less wait shifts I had to work to make ends meet. Alas, nowadays with so many writers writing free content—basically giving it away for free (with blogs like this, Huff post, Wikipedia, etc. etc) those paid opportunities are harder to find. So, when Lucy Reed from Gigmine, approached me asking to share this article on how to get paid writing gigs, I said Yes!
Guest Post by Lucy Reed, founder of Gigmine
A Guide to Freelance Writing for College Students and Recent Grads
One of the best things about pursuing a freelance career in writing is that you can write from practically anywhere, no matter the time or day of the week. As long as you get everything done before your deadline, it doesn’t matter whether you’re working nights, weekends, or a standard 9-to-5 schedule. And because of the flexibility freelance writing provides, it’s an excellent career path for college students as well as recent graduates.
If you’re looking to get started as a freelance writer, this guide will tell you everything you need to launch a flexible, profitable, and rewarding writing career. Read on to begin!
Boost Your Writing Skills
Whether you’ve recently graduated from college or you’re working toward your degree, there are several steps you can take to become a better writer as you prepare to launch a freelance writing career. As one option, you could enroll in a writing degree program if you haven’t already completed one. Different types of writing majors include:
● Professional writing
● Creative writing
● Technical writing
● Business writing
● English
● Journalism
● Mass communications
● Marketing
● Public relations
● Digital communications
As an alternative to obtaining a writing degree, many free online courses are available to improve your skills as a writer. Amy-Mae Turner of Mashable shares 10 great courses for writers, or you can browse courses on learning platforms such as Masterclass, Udemy, Coursera, and edX to find the right fit for you. Reading and writing exercises can also help you to become a better writer, speller, and proofreader.
Find Your Writing Niche
If you’re working toward your college degree, you may still be finding your writing niche or specialization. After all, the niche you choose as a freelancer should depend on your passions and interests, areas of expertise, and competitors — and it can take some time to find the right niche for you.
Some examples of profitable writing niches to consider include finance, cryptocurrency and blockchain, technology, digital marketing, software-as-a-service, alternative health, and education. You could also specialize in a particular type of content, whether it be long-form blogs, white papers, case studies, or e-books.
When you’re just getting started as a freelance writer, there’s nothing wrong with marketing yourself as a generalist. You can always choose your niche once you’ve launched your freelance career and gained some professional experience as a writer.
Launch Your Freelance Writing Business
Once you’ve improved your writing skills and explored possible niches, you’ll be ready to launch your freelance career. Some of the steps you’ll need to complete when launching a freelance writing business include:
● Creating a professional website. This website should include a professional web domain, homepage, several writing samples, About and Contact pages, and testimonials from your teachers, colleagues, or former managers. Create your site using free website builders like Wix, GoDaddy, or Weebly, or hire a web developer to create one for you.
● Choosing a legal entity. Some of the most common legal entities for freelancers include limited liability companies (LLCs), sole proprietorships, and S corporations.
● Applying for an Employer Identification Number (EIN). Regardless of how you choose to structure your freelance writing business, there are many benefits of applying for an EIN (or a Tax ID Number). An EIN allows you to separate your freelancing from your personal life, simplifying the process of filing state and federal business taxes, building credibility as a freelancer, and applying for a business bank account. Plus, you can get EIN online using ZenBusiness formation services.
● Filing taxes as a freelancer. Above all else, make sure you’re keeping good records and filing the appropriate forms at tax time. As a freelancer, you’re responsible for all parts of the tax-reporting process, so ensure you’re tracking things like expenses so you’ll have accurate records. Collective has an excellent guide to help you get started.
On the topic of federal and state business taxes, many freelancers opt to pay estimated quarterly taxes in addition to filing an annual tax return. Alexis Grant of The Write Life shares some tips for paying estimated taxes as a freelancer, or you may wish to meet with an accountant to learn more about your tax obligations. Alternatively, use tax software to help you determine how much money you need to set aside to cover any money owed at tax time. Determine which system works best for you.
Furthermore, several business tools can make life a whole lot easier when you’re getting started with freelance writing. You can use free accounting tools like Wave and Zoho Books, time trackers such as Toggl Track, and project management tools like Trello and Asana. Other online tools can be used to check for plagiarism, grammatical errors, and readability.
Look for Freelance Work
Once you’ve launched your career as a freelance writer, there are several different ways to find freelancing opportunities. As one option, you could cold-pitch clients directly: Just make sure you have a professional email address and you don’t use your college email to reach out to potential clients.
As an alternative to cold-pitching clients, you could create a freelancer profile on job boards such as Upwork. Once you’ve created your Upwork profile, you can search for projects and assignments and submit proposals for the projects you’re interested in.
Another option for beginner freelancers is to use online job boards to look for paid writing opportunities. A few places to look for freelance work include ProBlogger, Freelance Writing Gigs, BloggingPro, and FreelanceWriting.com.
Market Yourself as a Freelance Writer
Building up a freelance client base takes a great deal of time, patience, and perseverance, so don’t be discouraged if you’re not finding immediate success as a writer. Continue to promote yourself online by guest posting on other websites, writing content for your blog, and sharing your work on social media. You could also contribute to freelance forums, improve your website’s search engine optimization (SEO), and join and participate in groups on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Pursue Your Writing Dreams
As long as you’re skilled at writing, have a curiosity for learning new things, and you’re willing to put yourself out there, you can pursue your writing dreams — even if you’re still in school or have recently graduated from college. You don’t necessarily need a degree in order to pursue a career as a freelance writer, but the important thing is that you never stop learning.
While rejection is inevitable as a freelance writer, knowing this shouldn’t hold you back from launching a writing career if it’s something you’re truly passionate about pursuing. Whether you’re a college graduate or working toward your college degree, freelance writing can be a great way to make some extra money while improving your skills as a writer!—Lucy Reed is the founder of GigMine.
Walking Into The World-And Over The Edge
Mondays, the GGs (my Girl Group)–a Sisterhood of Creative Explorers–gather. We are working through Walking Into the World by Julia Cameron. It is a follow-up to The Artist's Way, her twelve-step guide to creative living. One component of Cameron's creativity recovery program is the Weekly Walk. "Most of us spend life on the run, too busy and too hurried to walk anywhere," Cameron writes, maintaining the solution to many of our problems will arise if we make time to walk. "Native Americans pursue vision quests, Aborigines do walkabout. Both of these cultures know walking clears the head." And so, for the duration of the course, she asks us to commit to weekly 20-minute walks. "You will find these walks focus your thinking and instigate your breakthroughs," she concludes.
According to her instructions we are to put on comfy clothes and shoes and just go out walking-"go far enough and long enough that you feel both your body and your mind "unkink." Jakarta is many things, but it is not walker-friendly. The streets are busy, loud, cloudy with fumes, often rutted and potholed. The sidewalks-where there are sidewalks- are riddled with holes and loose stones and catawampus paving, or are crowded with parked motorcycles and food carts. No matter how many kilometers I walked, my mind and body would never "unkink." And so, I have taken Cameron's proclamation: "Where you walk matters less than that you walk," as permission to take my weekly walks on my backyard treadmill.
Giving due credit, the image "backyard" conjures is far from the truth. The area beyond my French doors is better described as oasis or resort-a delightful place to "unkink" even without the walk.
Oasis or not, it takes me longer than the proscribed 20-minutes to warm up my creative world. First I have to examining my garden, looking for weeks that need pulling, bushes that need pruning, twisted flags, untidy vines (Oasis are the bottle-blondes of gardens). The twisted flags can eat up 10 minutes easily as I imagine myself untangling-untangling-untangling them. I follow the yard survey with a run through of everything I could be doing if I were not walking on the treadmill and chase that with everything I plan to do when I finish. Eventually, after breaking the cycle with a 3-5 minute run which leaves me nauseous and too oxygen deprived to think, I drift into that mindless, floating place from wince solutions come.
I was there, totally there, last night -completely unkinked and free, drifting, bouncing, floating from thought to thought to...the solution. I had walked into the World, Julia's World, so lost in my alpha that I forgot where I was-and stepped right off the edge.
Fortunately, the treadmill backs into the corner of the patio and the walls stopped my fall.
Julia Cameron should paste a warning label on the next edition: Creative Recovery Can Be Dangerous.
- See, the pink flag is tangled in the vine--and who didn't roll up the hose?
Doing the Hemingway
I read somewhere that Ernest Hemingway wrote 500 words day in and day out, "wife in and wife out." For years I have resisted imposing that kind of structure on myself. There have always been enough "have tos" and "must dos" in my life, I didn't feel I needed anymore. Forcing myself to write would take away the joy and leave me with just a job. But now I am rethinking my position. Talking Books by James Carter, is a collection of interviews with mostly British contemporary children's writers." The writers discuss their journey to becoming authors including schooling, favorite books, writing habits, family life, etc. etc. I keep the book in an orange metal magazine rack in the loo, along with other pick-up-and-put-down periodicals. One of my favorite interviews in the book is with Phillip Pullman. Each morning, Pullman he goes down to cluttered, filthy, messy garden shed "and generally write[s] three pages by lunchtime, always by hand." Pullman is very specific about the type of paper he writes on--never recycled because it's "too gritty and full of bits of twig and stuff." He selects a type of paper for "each particular book and it's got to be used for only that book and nothing else." He color codes the corner of each piece of paper: Subtle Knife's color was yellow; Northern Lights color was indigo.
John Cheever, the short story master, used to go downstairs to the boiler room of his apartment building, take off and put back on his suit and then return to his apartment, thus beginning his writing day. (I also recall reading that he wrote naked in the boiler room of his building.) I prefer the first scenario.
Cheerer's and Pullman's routines sound OCD, Hemingway's less so, until you consider that along with "wife in and wife out" he purportedly kept this 500 word commitment war in and war out, safaring, fishing, binging whatever. I prefer to think of it as ritualistic--like baseball players who don't change their socks during a winning streak or my daughter who kisses her fingers and touches the ceiling of the car whenever she goes through a yellow light--mindful.
"As a writer," Pullman says, "you have to write whether you've got ideas or not, whether or not you're feeling inspired. He notes that people who do not write talk "as if it all depended on inspiration" and the way they say it makes it seem as though they too could be writers if only this "mysterious inspiration" would strike them. "The trick is to write just as well when you're not feeling inspired as when you are" --Do the Hemingway.
Pullman believes that success in writing is due to three things: "talent, hard work and luck" and the "only one you have any control over is the hard work" --Do the Hemingway.
So I am rethinking my writing life. Maybe these rituals are good things. I ritualistically brush my teeth everyday--and put the cap back on; I eat breakfast, make coffee, make phone calls first thing every morning--day in and day out. Committing to write a certain number of words, pages, minutes could be a good for my writing life. And on some days, if I'm lucky, if I work hard--Doing the Hemingway-- inspiration will strike.