Monday, February 4, 2019

Be Fearless! Become a Professional and Successful Writer



From Kate’s Writing Crate…

          My professional life has gotten very busy. I’m editing and indexing a book for publication in early spring as well as working on a book I’m co-authoring with Cheryl L. Butler, co-founder of this blog. Add to that a few other freelance projects, this blog, and my day job of editing and writing for two publications and I’m very busy indeed.

          There are so many opportunities for writers these days as an employee, a freelancer and, best of all, as your own boss!

          Whatever your dreams, be fearless!

You have to be able to write on demand to meet deadlines. Have great ideas for articles and follow through with interviews and/or finish the book you are always talking about and get it published.

Write. Rewrite. Polish. Publish. If you are a writer, those are the job requirements to make a living doing what you love.

          Practical ways to achieve your dreams:

I recommend reading:

 Fearless Writing: How to Create Boldly and Write with Confidence by William Kenower is essential for every writer. Inspiring. Motivating. Supportive. Fantastic! (Please see my reviews of this book on this blog.)

          Ensouling Language: On the Art of Nonfiction and the Writer’s Life by Stephen Harrod Buhner. Read it for the sheer beauty of his written words as well as his remarkable thoughts—a fabulous beacon for anyone on a writer’s path.

          The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield will keep writer’s block away. Whenever I’m not inspired to write, I flip it open and read a page or two then I’m raring to write again without fail. I most love his encouraging and inspiring essay “The Artist’s Life” on page 165—which I think should have been the first in his book because it’s essential for writer’s to know and believe in it.

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg will get you thinking and writing. Follow her routine of filling a spiral notebook every month. I’ve been doing this for well over a decade. I have no fear of the blank page because I face it every day in this low-key way.


          I recommend writing:

          Fill a spiral notebook a month as recommended by Natalie Goldberg in her book recommended above. Upside—no fear of blank pages. It's a private way to improve your writing and capture ideas fearlessly.

Start a blog on any topic of interest so you write regularly—never missing a deadline. Gain an audience. Get feedback. Improve your writing fearlessly.

          Take a writing class. I did and besides learning more about the writing craft, I met the new owner of a local magazine there. This led to an internship, then a staff writing position, then Assistant Editor, then Editor, then Editor of two publications, then three, then four. Then all the freelance work I’ve done—and soon a published book—all because I was brave enough to go to one writing class and willing to work hard and fearlessly.

          Cheryl wrote her first book, Pregnant Women Don’t Eat Cabbage, for one hour each Saturday (all the time she could spare while raising eight children) until completed. She was brave and did some public speaking events. In the audience one night was a woman from Macmillan Publishing. A while later when the current Mighty Mommy left, this woman remembered Cheryl and recommended her to become the company’s Mighty Mommy columnist and podcaster—all because Cheryl pursued her writing dream fearlessly!
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Amazon has certainly opened up opportunities for authors. I have several friends working on books they plan to publish through Amazon. A friend of one of these friends has published both through a traditional publisher and Amazon, and she prefers Amazon as she has full control over the cover and content and receives more of the profits. Publish fearlessly.

Be fearless! That’s what it takes to be a professional and successful writer!




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