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Category Archives for Writing

achieve excellence

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.

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writing conferences

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.

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writers consistency

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.

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writer turned editor

Shoe on the Other Foot: Lessons from a Writer Turned Editor

I am a complicated person.

One day you’ll find me loftily tossing away the instruction manual for my “much assembly required” bookshelf, and the next I’m picking through search results for “best floss.”

I simultaneously love process, order, structure, and organization, and enjoy sending it all up in flames. (Ask my college best friend about the time I undid his perfectly alphabetized DVD collection when he wasn’t home.)

As a writer, I embraced this Pandora’s box of eyebrow-furrowing paradoxes. “Call it my complex creative spirit,” I probably said, on one of my high horse days (to which there was much eye-rolling in the land). You can usually get away with such woo-woo excuses when you’re a writer because, let’s just say it already, no one really expects you to be super reliable.

You know it’s true. Writers rank up there with dreamcatcher makers, crystal collectors, self-proclaimed animal mediums, and Santa Claus in terms of how much adult people believe in us.

It’s part of why a lot of editors and writers fight.

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