cliopatra's posterous

Image via Wikipedia

Over the past couple of years I’ve been trying to focus more on writing of the paid variety.  I like to write, and I like money, and I’ve heard there are people who are able to marry those two concepts.  I’d like to be one of those people.

My problem is, I’ve been going about it the wrong way.  I started out by searching for blogs about “freelance writing” and then subscribing to them.  ALL of them.  Then I started subscribing to those job posting sites for writers.  ALL of them.

I had come to the point where my RSS readerwas over 2,000 unread items, almost all of it freelance-writing-related, and I began to feel equal parts guilty and overwhelmed.  I unsubscribed from about half of them, but just the ones I was consistently skipping over.

Then I found a few freelance sites that offer classes and ebooks, and I started buying ebooks (the classes always seem too expensive).  Those ebooks are mostly unread.

Then I started reading those freelance blogs I was still subscribed to, and this is what I read:

• Freelance writing is so easy, anyone can do it.
• Freelance writing is not for the faint of heart.
• With a little hard work and some pluck, you can have a successful freelance writing career.
• If you don’t already have a two-page writing resume and a degree in marketing, you will never make it in this business.
• You have to pay your dues to be a true freelancer.
• Forget about “paying your dues” – get paid for your work!
• There are plenty of great writing jobs out there.
• All the great jobs are taken, and print work is dead.

And so on, and so on.  There are some freelance sites that want to teach you to be a freelancer (for a fee, for a course, for a book), and there are sites that want to discourage you from it (to reduce competition?).

I got caught in the trap of thinking I needed every resource, and then getting overwhelmed by the number of resources out there. 

The bottom line is: I want to write, I want to freelance, and I want to make money at it.  I’m smart, I think I’m talented, and the opportunities aren’t going to come to me.

I think I have managed to cobble together enough good and positive information that, when added to my desire to succeed, I can probably get somewhere.  The journey begins here and now.

I’ve been mulling this over for a while, and I decided that I might try it and see how I like it.   Probably the most important advice I’ve ever read but can’t remember the source of is “If you want to be a writer, write.”

So I shall write.  I think I write much more and more often than I realize, so here is where I am going to try to start keeping track.

Today, January 12, 2010, I wrote the following:

1.  Website copy for my local Mensa chapter.

2.  A blog post for my personal blog.

3.  A paid blog post/SEO.

4.  Another paid blog post/SEO.

The plan is, if I wrote it and I can link to it, I will.  This helps me keep track of my productivity, and might provide some work samples for prospective clients.

Today I received a copy of the 2010 Writer’s Market Deluxe (the one that includes one year of access to writersmarket.com), and the plan is to start scouting the magazine markets for a series of articles I would like to write about a certain topic.  I’ve got some great ideas for the series, and I am going to start writing those this weekend, if not sooner.

I also have a couple of novels in the works, though those are just for play at this point.  I will probably do a little work on “JT” tonight.  That’s the one foremost in my brain lately.

I hope that you have a productive week.  That’s my plan.