By Cheryl Rushing

Image by ooh_food via Flickr

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.”

from On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft
by Stephen King

(review coming Monday!)

As part of my plan to show my willingness to actually do this thing called writing, I decided to do something that might be considered a bit drastic: I started applying for freelance jobs.

I get emails from several different sources that include writing opportunities, but for some reason I just end up leaving them in my email with all of the other junk, then end up deleting them en masse a few weeks later.  Perhaps I should open and read those?

So I did.  I applied for two separate opportunities, as well as for what looked to be a content mill.  The content mill work looked to be the most promising, though it requires an application process to get started.

I am a darn good writer, so I wasn’t too concerned.  The fact that they made me send a resume left me cold, since I don’t have a writing resume per se.  I just have my regular work resume.  I sent it anyway.  The writing speaks for itself, right?

Apparently not.  Within about 4 hours they e-mailed me back to say “Thank you for submitting your writer application to xxxxxx. After careful review of your resume and writing sample, we are unable to offer you writing assignments at this time.”

So much for that.

Trying and failing still counts as trying, though, right?

Oh, what a cute little to-do list that is for July 23.  Adorable, in fact.

As it turns out, the weekend was largely rainless, and my quickie professional meeting on Saturday ran a bit longer than planned.  I spent the rest of the weekend doing laundry and napping.  I was lazy this weekend.

This upcoming week promises to be very busy.  My professional designation graduate seminar runs Thursday, Friday and the first half of Saturday.  I except I will spend the rest of the weekend recovering from being away from home for 2 nights.

What DID I accomplish this weekend?  I did a bit of reading, then worked for a little while last night on a story that has been banging around in my head.  It’s not going as planned, and I’m not sure whether to rein it back in, or let it go where it wants to go.  We’ll see.

I think I am going to commit myself to completing just ONE item on that to-do list by the end of the week, and I think it needs to be the resume.  Not going anyplace without that, am I?

Image by Tony₂ via Flickr

I’m having one of those days where I need to remember that writing is the ultimate goal.  Here’s my to-do list for the weekend (thank heavens for rainy weekends):

1.  Create writing resume.

2.  Update writing samples page.

3.  Do SEO articles currently scheduled.

4.  Review freelance jobs sites and apply for at least 4 jobs, if not more.

5.  Work a bit on the novel.

6.  Put together a daily writing schedule.

Tropical storms make for great writing weather.  Should be a good weekend.

Once upon a time I was in the process of writing two stories.  I don’t know if they were going to be books or what, but I was enjoying writing them.  One took place in the Midwest (where I am from), and the other in San Francisco (a place I adore).

Life got busy and things got in the way, and then I did that self-defeating thing that I do and suddenly those projects were on the back burner, or in the back closet.  For some reason the other day I was thinking about both of them, and how I could loosely tie them together.  I had a little idea and I made a note of it.

Both stories have their own folders in Google docs, and I’m currently re-reading the one with the working title “JT” (it will have a real title someday, that’s just how I’m filing it for now).  Turns out I really, really like what I wrote back in June 2008(!!!).  I love the characters, I like where the story is headed, and I think it’s worth pursuing.  I’m going to start working on it again.

The premise is that mousy Leah’s friends railroaded her into going on a show somewhat like The Bachelor.  She ends up in the final two but she isn’t picked, and the story is about what happens next.  I generally don’t like to share stories until they are done, but since I never seem to finish anything, I’m going to share what I think will be the opening scene.

Please keep in mind this is a ROUGH DRAFT.  Comments are welcomed and encouraged.

The sample is HERE – please do not print or share!

(I tried to embed it, but I couldn’t find anything I liked)

Title:  The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Updated: Expanded and Updated, With Over 100 New Pages of Cutting-Edge Content
by Timothy Ferriss

I’m reading the Kindle edition.

One of the great things about the Kindle (besides being able to carry 400+ books around in my purse) is that you can download a sample of book before you buy it.  It’s usually the first few pages or first chapter, but a good writer can get you hooked in that amount of time.

Timothy Ferriss definitely got me hooked.  I wanted to know how I could have a life like his.  I was hungry for someone to tell me life could be different from my 40 hour workweek at a job I’m not always crazy about.  That’s his message, and he sells it well.

I’m going to be honest here and tell you that I have not finished reading the book.  According to my Kindle I’m only 33% done with the book, but I can tell you what I think so far: it’s an interesting concept.

Ferriss gives you a brief biography of his life, then explains the process of going from office drone to international man of mystery in a few (easy?) steps.  He talks about how to automate your life by controlling e-mails and phone calls, as well as become a remote worker at your current job, and even recommends that you outsource some of your regular functions to India.

And that’s where he lost me.  Outsourcing to other countries is not something I support.  I understand why he would think this is a good idea, but it’s not something I would do.

Ferriss also has the luxury of running his own company.  He has (or rather, had – I believe he sold it) a company that sells supplements over the internet.  He built it up himself, and then automated the process so much so that he only checks voicemail and emails every few weeks.  The income from the business finances his globe-trotting lifestyle.

That’s all well and good, but I don’t own a business, and my employer seems to think that remote workers are nonproductive workers.  We have to be where we can clock in and be monitored.

That’s not to say he doesn’t have good ideas, and some of his concepts are very solid.  Why are we checking email 45 times a day?  Have we trained our clients and coworkers that everything is an emergency that we will be available to correct 24 hours a day, seven days a week?

Essentially, Ferriss is preaching that there isn’t just one way of doing something, and that just because you’re busy all day doesn’t mean you are productive.  That is a powerful message to someone like me who spends a lot of time thinking “there has to be a better way!” while doing the same old things.

I plan on finishing the book in the next few weeks (I will definitely post an update to this review if something blow my mind).  It probably doesn’t help that I’m reading two other books besides this one, and those are actually writing-related.

Interestingly, the latest version of The Well-Fed Writer references The 4-Hour Workweek, so I am looking forward to seeing what Peter Bowerman gleaned from this book and how it affected his processes.

Do I recommend this book?  If you’re an outside-the-box thinker, absolutely yes.  It might be a little bit of preaching to the choir, but there is helpful information and some practice exercises that can get you out of a rut.

“What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do. As I have heard said, a person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have. Resolve to do one thing every day that you fear.”

from The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
(review coming Monday!)

Image via Wikipedia

Over the past couple of years I’ve been trying to focus more on writing of the paid variety.  I like to write, and I like money, and I’ve heard there are people who are able to marry those two concepts.  I’d like to be one of those people.

My problem is, I’ve been going about it the wrong way.  I started out by searching for blogs about “freelance writing” and then subscribing to them.  ALL of them.  Then I started subscribing to those job posting sites for writers.  ALL of them.

I had come to the point where my RSS readerwas over 2,000 unread items, almost all of it freelance-writing-related, and I began to feel equal parts guilty and overwhelmed.  I unsubscribed from about half of them, but just the ones I was consistently skipping over.

Then I found a few freelance sites that offer classes and ebooks, and I started buying ebooks (the classes always seem too expensive).  Those ebooks are mostly unread.

Then I started reading those freelance blogs I was still subscribed to, and this is what I read:

• Freelance writing is so easy, anyone can do it.
• Freelance writing is not for the faint of heart.
• With a little hard work and some pluck, you can have a successful freelance writing career.
• If you don’t already have a two-page writing resume and a degree in marketing, you will never make it in this business.
• You have to pay your dues to be a true freelancer.
• Forget about “paying your dues” – get paid for your work!
• There are plenty of great writing jobs out there.
• All the great jobs are taken, and print work is dead.

And so on, and so on.  There are some freelance sites that want to teach you to be a freelancer (for a fee, for a course, for a book), and there are sites that want to discourage you from it (to reduce competition?).

I got caught in the trap of thinking I needed every resource, and then getting overwhelmed by the number of resources out there. 

The bottom line is: I want to write, I want to freelance, and I want to make money at it.  I’m smart, I think I’m talented, and the opportunities aren’t going to come to me.

I think I have managed to cobble together enough good and positive information that, when added to my desire to succeed, I can probably get somewhere.  The journey begins here and now.

Image via Wikipedia

Time flies when you’re having fun.  Or doing whatever it is I’ve been doing since the beginning of January.  Where to begin?

I have been writing a bit, mostly SEO articles for paid blogging sites at other locations.  It usually results in gas and grocery money for the week, sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less.

I’ve whored out my oldest blog to pretty much nothing but paid articles.  I won’t even link you because some of it’s lame.  The bad thing about those content mills is they don’t let you choose what you want to write about.  At this point the only thing I’m refusing to write about is diet pills (and by refuse I mean I ignore the assignment until it goes away).

I’ve also been doing a lot of reading.  I got a Kindle in April (yes, two months before the price drop), and after filling it with stories of wizards, vampires and werewolves, I started in with the self-help books.  These are the ones I am currently reading, and I will be sharing more about them in the coming blog posts:

The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Updated by Timothy Ferriss

On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft by Stephen King

The Well-Fed Writer by Peter Bowerman

If you’re still reading, thanks for hanging around waiting for me to come back.

Only 6 months between breaks this time!  I guess it’s only fair to tell you what I’ve been up to, and then get back to the business of making this blog something readable.

Regular posting resumes shortly.  Pinky swear.