The fastest way to build your professional writing career is to develop professional attitudes, preferably right from the start. Let's look at five attitudes which will kill your career.
1. "I Just Want to Write"
There's more to a professional writing career than writing. You need to build your career with networking and marketing. If you've ever said: "It's who you know", you're half right. It's who you know, and who knows you.
Does this seem unfair?
Think about it. Anyone can claim to be a writer, and many people do. This puts people who buy your writing into a quandary. To accept writers at face value isn't just naive, doing so is the road to ruin.
So, they need evidence that you can write, which you must provide in the form of clips, or writing samples initially, but ultimately in your reputation as a professional. Every writing job you accept builds your reputation, and it's very easy to lose your reputation. At every level of writing, it's a small world. People will Google you to learn about you.
Providing clips and samples isn't enough if you want your books, articles, and copywriting to be accepted and published at the highest levels. Your professionalism must shine through: you must understand marketing, and constantly market yourself.
2. "I Already Know How to Write"
The world of writing is changing every day. So, since writing is constantly changing, you need to keep learning.
3. "I Don't Need to Practice"
Professional writers WRITE. They spend many hours a day writing, both to meet their commitments, and also to practice new skills. Practicing is essential for writers.
4. "I Don't Need to Study"
Professional writers are always studying something. A mystery novelist studies the latest in forensic techniques. A copywriter studies sales pages and psychology. A Web writer studies search engine optimization.
Studying is part and parcel of professional writing.
5. "It Should Be Free"
Professional writers expect to be well paid for their writing. They also expect to pay for software, for courses they take, and for anything else which can help them to build their writing career. The things you get for free are generally worth what you paid for them.
Recession-proof your freelance writing career
"Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process" gives you all the tools you need for a thriving writing career, no matter what the economic climate.
Three weeks after completing the class one student wrote:
"Thanks Angela, for all your help and advice in class. I'm quitting my job next week. I printed out my letter of resignation tonight after landing a contract writing job that will pay me more for three months part-time work than I earned in from my day job in the whole of 2007! You were right – the great gigs are out there, and now I've got the skills to land them. Your class opened my eyes. Bless you…"
"Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process" shows you how to thrive as a freelance writer. Would you like to write five times more than you're writing now, and sell to higher-paying markets? Take the class.
