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Are You Insane?
By Cheryl Pickett
It is said that the definition of insanity is doing the same
thing over and over again and expecting different results.
If you've been struggling month to month or even year to year
with your writing career, maybe it's time to determine if
you're truly insanely passionate about what you do, or just
plain insane.
As you make plans for 2008, take some time to evaluate what
you've been doing thus far to see what's working, what needs
to be tweaked, and what should be thrown out with the broken
decorations and wrapping paper scraps.
The following three steps will help you in this potentially
daunting, but very necessary task.
Step 1 - Review Your Overall Writing Life for 2007:
1. Were you frustrated over the number of accepted queries/articles?
2. Were you frustrated about your income, or lack thereof?
3. Did you regularly use phrases like "If I could just..."
or "If I only had…"?
4. Did you do more activities related to writing (email, blogs
etc.) than actual writing?
5. Did you consistently produce less than anticipated when
you did sit down to write?
6. Were you bored with your writing tasks; did you seriously
question why you write or threaten to stop altogether?
If you answered 'yes' to one or more of these questions, now
ask yourself two more:
1. Were your answers/results for 2007 similar to years past?
2. Did you essentially follow the same patterns and do similar
activities in '07 as you did in previous years?
Maybe you can already see how the little white coat that ties
in the back could be in your future if you don't change
something soon. Whether you see it or not right now, there's
more to do.
Step 2 - Review Your Writing Activities
While keeping the questions from step one in mind, it's time
to take a hard look at all the things you do that you
consider part of writing.
Queries: Have you been using the same general format for
your query letters? Have you sent out about the same number
each month/year?
Markets/Income: Do you only target smaller markets? Conversely,
are you avoiding small markets in hopes of landing big pay,
but with no success? Will the number of queries or manuscripts
you send out logically produce the income you desire?
Writing related activities: How much time do you spend
reading blogs, email, newsletters or chatting online? How
much time do you spend researching topics? How much time
do you spend organizing material?
Actual writing: Where and when do you write? What topics
and what kind of writing do you do?
Step 3 - Determine What's Working & What's Not
At this point, we're getting to the nitty-gritty of this
exercise. It's time to compare your information from steps
one and two and begin to measure the logic or insanity of
what you've been doing.
Here are your three big questions:
1. Which activities produced significant success (as you
measure it)?
2. Which activities yield minimal or no success?
3. Which activities or processes could you change/improve
to make them bring success?
Some answers will be obvious. For instance, planning to spend
minutes that turn into hours reading email is probably a major
time waster. Others may take a bit more digging; do your query
or proofreading skills need help?
Step 4 -What Are You Going to Do About It?
The bottom line is this: if you're struggling in one or
all areas of your writing career, your problems may stem
from processes or activities that haven't produced success
all along and maybe never will. If this is the case, where
is the logic in continuing to do them next week or next year?
Yes, they may be familiar and comfortable, however, here
are your final questions:
Which do you want more? Comfort and familiarity with the
same limited success, or a little shake-up, a new path
and a greater potential of reaching the goals you've always
dreamed of?
And finally, are you insane?
BIO
Cheryl Pickett has experienced some freelance success over
the past eight years. However, she's already started to take
her own advice and plans to accomplish something new in 2008.
A preview is at her current site
www.Brighterdaypublishing.com
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