Category Archives for Articles
How to Strive for Excellence (Without Burning Out)
Professional writers are a varied breed. But whether you make your living writing web content, fictional best sellers, or the latest headline articles, nearly all authors who stand above have one thing in common: a persistent and committed dedication to excellence.
As noble and rewarding as a quest for excellence can be, it can also come along with some pretty nasty side effects: stress, anxiety, exhaustion, illness, lack of enthusiasm, and a lack of inspiration or motivation (AKA writer’s block).
When we deal with these side effects for too long, we burn out.
Practical Creativity: Craft Your Perfect Writing Routine
Routines tend to get a bad rap. They’re stuffy, uptight, unforgiving, and only for the most anal types who wear suits to work and get huffy when things don’t go exactly as planned. But in reality, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
When you design your routine the right way, and take into account your personal style and needs, you can actually boost your creativity and become even more inspired (and say hello to your muse whenever you want).
If your personal brand of writing isn’t creative writing (say, if you’re a copywriter or a journalist), molding your schedule around creativity may seem a bit frivolous. But even the most factual, reality-based writing is still creative at its heart; you need to find a unique, personable way to educate, inform, or reach people using only words, which is an art form in itself.
If you’re a creative writer, you may think that scheduling your creativity is the perfect way to kill it — but that’s true only if you try to force it into a schedule that works against it, not with it. Or you may feel guilty for making getting inspired such a priority. But when writing is your passion (and especially if it’s your career), then your creativity deserves care, focus, and commitment — and the right routine will give it just that.
How to Get the Most from a Writing Conference
Writing is, generally speaking, a solitary activity. Sure, working at a busy coffee shop or out of a co-working space gives you access to people, but if writing = work, then when you’re working, you’re very much in your own head.
It’s important for writers to find other people to interact with, of course. We all need friends and social contacts.
But if you write professionally, you must find the right people to engage with from a professional perspective. You might belong to a writing group that shares critiques of each other’s work, or one that is more about accountability and getting stuff done.
You might belong to a professional association that gives you a business network and maybe a place to look for gigs. Or a Facebook group that functions in the virtual networking space.
One opportunity you might be overlooking, though, is writing conferences.
Continue reading
Maintaining Consistency While You Evolve Your Content
Freelancers become what our jobs need us to be. We must be adaptable and flexible, but still maintain consistency in the quality of the work we produce.
I’ve learned a lot about consistency during my time as a content producer. Besides maturing as a person, I’ve also matured as a writer and entrepreneur. You have to when you’re producing the majority of several clients’ content.
I’ve also learned that entrepreneurs don’t always know what’s best for their company when it comes to content.
That’s not to talk poorly about any of the people I’ve worked for. I have great respect for people who can start a business from nothing and grow it into something sustainable.
The problem has to do with human nature and our aversion to long-term commitment.
AKA we tend to get bored of things after a while.