Well, I’ve tried creating schedules for myself in the past. I’ve paid coaches good money to help me figure out what I’ll be doing during which hours and on which days; for example, most recently I decided to do wellness coaching and mentoring on Mondays and Wednesdays, and writing tasks on Tuesdays and Thursdays. (I typically take Fridays off.)

I was all psyched to get started on this new schedule — and it lasted exactly one day. Not even one day, in fact. I had to face it: If I’m not interested in writing on a Tuesday, then I’m not going to write. And if I’m suddenly struck by the urge to work on an article at 8 pm on a Wednesday, then that’s what I’m going to do.

Last week my partner for the Freelance Writers Blast Off class, Carol Tice, said something during the class that articulates exactly how I work: “I always do whatever I’m most passionate about every moment of the day.” I had never thought about it in those terms before, but that’s precisely what I do.

For example, Monday might find me writing blog posts all day. On Tuesday, I might work on an article that’s coming due for a little while and then follow up on some old LOIs and then implement some crazy e-course pricing scheme I came up with five minutes ago. Then, on Wednesday I may be in one of those moods where I just can’t get any work done…so I don’t. But as soon as our 3-year-old goes to bed, I’m inspired to finish that article I started on Monday.

This always felt just wrong, but when I thought about it, I realized it’s always worked for me. Everything gets done, and it gets done on time. So I’ve come to trust the process and let it go. I have one ADD mentoring client who is religious, who originally wanted me to help her come up with a schedule, and the saying that resonated with her was “Let go and let God.”

This tactic also works well with the typical ADD sufferer’s problem of being unable to force himself to focus on something he’s not interested in. If I’m trying to write an article when I’m not really inspired to do so, it’s torture and I click away every paragraph or two to do something more interesting, like check my e-mail. But when I am inspired to write, well, get out of my way!

Some people with ADD actually tend to hyper-focus on things they’re interested in and block out all distractions (including people trying to get their attention, police sirens, and other important events), and working on what you’re most interested in every minute is one way to take advantage of that.

Of course, if you decide to go this route you need to take a small leap of faith to test it out and make sure everything does get done. We’re all different, and some writers simply need to create and stick with a schedule.

So, all you writers who are ADD or even just easily distractible — have you ever tried to force yourself to stick to a writing schedule? Did it work, and if so, how did you do it? If it didn’t work, did you manage to come up with a better plan? [lf]

Have you ever wondered how some freelance writers seem to shoot to success?

Here’s how it happens.

I know because it happened to me.

Once upon a time (in a decade far far away), I was a starving songwriter living in Los Angeles. Then I entered a couple of essay contests and won them.

The next thing I knew, I was writing features for the L.A. Reader (R.I.P.) and the Los Angeles Times real-estate section.

I was terrified and excited all at the same time. This article-writing thing seemed really fun. And it paid money, a nice change from my songwriting life.

I had no idea what I was doing.

I had been writing prose for about five minutes.

How did I go from there to a six-figure freelance writer?

One word: Mentors.

Two incredibly generous editors at these two publications took me under their wing and taught me how to be a reporter. From scratch.

They liked my writing. They thought I had potential.

I was willing to work my rear end off for cheap, and was thirsty to know
more.

I’d come in the day after a Reader piece of mine came out and say, “I see you changed my lede from this here to that. Why?”

He loved that.

When I started, it took me six weeks to write a 600-word feature for the Times. I kept asking if I shouldn’t know more about real estate, maybe be a former Realtor or mortgage broker. I felt really in over my head.

“Perish the thought!” said my editor. “Those people can’t write. You’re funny!”

The Reader editor helped me write a 3,000 word feature for the first time. My first draft was 10,000 words long.

For reasons I’ll never understand, this generous man was willing to show me how to sculpt it into a compelling feature that fit in the paper.

I did mention I had no idea what I was doing, right?

After he helped me and the story came out, I sold a one-year movie-rights option on that story for $10,000. True story. (No, it never did become a movie, darnit.)

Without these two mentors, I might have floundered around for years and years, slowly figuring out how to write an article on my own.

I might have just given up.

Mentors help you keep the faith that you can do this.

Mentors are your career’s rocket fuel.

Ask any successful writer you know how they got started and somewhere in the story, there will be mentors.

If you’re struggling to launch your freelance writing career right now, ask yourself: Where are your mentors?

You need to find knowledgeable people who believe in you and will help you develop as a writer.

They will cut years off your ramp time.

It might be a college writing professor, or a magazine editor, or a marketing manager, or a professional writing coach.

But if you want to speed up this process, get to where you make a living at writing, and cut the agony factor down, you need a mentor.

Looking to launch your freelance writing career in 2012?

Join the Freelance Writers Blast Off 2012 for Newbies on January 17 to learn from two longtime writing professionals how to choose your writing niche, explore potential markets that want your writing, market yourself, and run your freelance business. We now offer three levels of the Blast Off to match your budget: You can audit the course, participate in the webinars, or participate in the webinars and get phone mentoring sessions with Carol and me.

http://www.therenegadewriter.com/?p=3676

This is a guest post by Ruth Zive.

Let’s face it – writing can be drudgery. Day in and day out, staring at a screen, scrounging for new ideas and creative inspiration – it’s a grind.

Some days, writers need to find motivation in unconventional and dramatic ways. We need to tap into a sense of bravado that puts a snap in our step and arouses the confidence to power through our work with attitude.

We need to learn how to access our inner diva.

According to Merriam-Webster, a diva is, quite… Click here to keep reading...

This is a guest post by Ruth Zive.

Let’s face it – writing can be drudgery. Day in and day out, staring at a screen, scrounging for new ideas and creative inspiration – it’s a grind.

Some days, writers need to find motivation in unconventional and dramatic ways. We need to tap into a sense of bravado that puts a snap in our step and arouses the confidence to power through our work with attitude.

We need to learn how to access our inner diva.

According to Merriam-Webster, a diva is, quite simply, a famous opera singer – a prima donna. In fact, the word is derived from the Italian noun ‘diva’, meaning female deity.

But in today’s day, the term has assumed a different meaning – implying a self-confident (sometimes mean-spirited and egotistical…but ignore that for purposes of this post) woman, of some status, who heralds only the highest standards and expects nothing short of the best.

And lest you men feel at all overlooked – the masculine term divo pretty much implies the same thing. So keep reading!

Divas may alienate people from time to time, but more often than not, they are successful and adored. As writers, we stand to learn a great deal from the diva mind-set. Here are my tried-and-true, epic strategies for accessing your inner writing diva.

Go ahead…indulge.

Self-indulgence doesn’t have to be costly or time consuming. But taking care of #1 is critical if you want to maintain a sense of momentum as a writer. Divas (think Beyonce or Lady Gaga) treat themselves like veritable queens, so why not do this on a smaller scale? Here are some easy ways to spoil yourself:

• Crawl into bed early with a big bowl of your favorite Haagen Dazs treat!
• Light some candles, run the bath, and soak for at least 45 minutes.
• Scope out one of those gourmet chocolate shops and treat yourself to 3 luscious truffles (or 4, or 5).
• It has been proven that floral scent is actually a mood manipulator, and flowers can make you happy. Treat yourself to your favorite bouquet and place them somewhere that is easily accessible.

Don’t let the naysayers get you down.

Jennifer Lopez left home at 18 because her mother refused to support her pursuit of a career in show business. Oprah Winfrey was fired from her job as a television reporter because she was deemed to be ‘unfit for television’. Before starring in I Love Lucy, Lucille Ball was widely regarded as a failed actress and a B movie star. Even her drama instructors encouraged her to change careers.

But these diva-esque women took the judgment and criticism in stride and plowed on in pursuit of their dreams. They owned their talent and believed in themselves.

As writers, we often receive negative feedback; we have to develop thick skins. Constructive criticism can help us to grow, but you can’t personalize every opinion you hear.

Keep your standards high.

Divas never stand for incompetence. They strive for perfection (or close to it) and work hard to realize their ambitious vision.

We need to do the same as writers. Scrutinize your work until it is fabulous. Surround yourself with professional colleagues and coworkers who aspire to greatness. Maintain high expectations – of yourself, and of others.

Command respect.

Truth be told, I often work in my pajamas – with my hair unwashed and tied back in an unruly bun. But lately, I’ve been resisting that temptation.

If you work from home, it’s easy to slip into a very amateurish and casual mode that can make you feel alienated from the tempo and professionalism of the writing world.

As a writer, it is important to present yourself respectfully. Whether you work with corporate clients, editors or marketing firms, you need to look the part. You don’t have to spend thousands on Dolce and Gabbana (a la Madonna), but a crisp pair of pants and a nicely pressed white shirt can go a long way.

Similarly, carve out a professional office space, with an ample desk and plenty of supplies, even if you work from home.

If you respect yourself enough to take make these things a priority, you will command more respect from others.

Do you think you can access your inner writing diva? What other diva-style strategies help you to feel confident and poised for writing success? Share them in the comments below.

Ruth Zive is a freelance copywriter and content marketing strategist. She is mom-to-five (plus pooch), special needs advocate, designer handbag enthusiast, Ashtanga yoga devotee and vegetarian chocoholic.

]]>

I think you can do it, and I’m going to tell you how.

Make a Resolution

Resolve in 2012 to STOP pitching the content mills and anything that pays well under your hourly rate (more on setting your hourly rate in a second), or, worse, that pays in “exposure.” You can’t pay the bills with exposure.

You can’t make a living writing for $15 per article. Well, maybe you can for a while, but it’s likely you’ll burn out pretty soon churning out dozens of articles per month to make ends meet.

It’s scary to leave that comfy world where you know another assignment is always waiting, but you can use the time you’d spend writing for cheap to pitch markets that will pay you a living wage.

So what should you charge? Erik Sherman at WriterBiz has a great free e-book called Planning a Writing Business, which you can download here, that gives lots of detail on how to set your hourly rate. If you get an assignment that offers a per-word rate or a flat fee, you’ll need to estimate how much time it will take you to complete and calculate whether it will fall within an acceptable per-hour rate for you.

Do the Math

It’s math time: First, figure out how many queries, sales letters, and letters of introduction you made in 2011 and how many assignments you got from those. Then, calculate your success rate; for example, if you sent out 100 letters of introduction and got 5 assignments, your success rate for LOIs is 5%. You can do this calculation with sales letters, cold calls, queries, and other forms of marketing as well, and average them for your overall success rate.

You can use this number to roughly extrapolate how many of each type of marketing communication you need to send out each month in 2012 to hit your goal. If your goal is to have five assignments per month, and your overall success rate is 10% across the board, then you’ll need to reach out to 50 prospects per month, which comes out to just about 12 per week.

Keep in mind that the more you market and the better you get at it, the higher your success rate will probably become.

Also keep in mind that you need to be sure each assignment pays what you require to hit your hourly rate; those five assignments per month don’t count if they each pay $15. Restrict your marketing to high-paying magazines, websites, and corporate clients.

Refine Your Skills

You can hit your marketing numbers every week for a year and not have any success if your queries, LOIs, sales letters, and cold calls, well, stink. You’ll also guarantee failure if you don’t know the basics of running your own business, because freelancing is about much, much more than writing skills.

Make this the year you learn how to craft perfect pitches — and don’t be afraid to invest in yourself and your business. I teach an 8-week e-course on how to write a killer query letter, my co-author Diana Burrell teaches an idea generation class that’s landed students in The New York Times and Saveur, I can critique your queries before you send them out, and Carol Tice’s Freelance Writers Den offers free e-courses, tons of resources, free weekly webinars on topics like cold calling and query letters, and forum where you can ask questions and learn from the experts.

Also make it your new habit in 2012 to read as many books, e-books, blogs, and magazines about freelancing as you can — say, one per week (you can spend a whole week reading through some writing blogs or the online archives of writing magazines). The Renegade Writer will have a new edition coming out this year, and I also recommend The Well Fed Writer by Peter Bowerman, Secrets of a Freelance Writer by Bob Bly, The Productive Writer by Sage Cohen, Writer’s Market (which contains helpful articles), The Wealthy Freelancer by Ed Gandia, Goodbye Byline, Hello Big Bucks by Kelly James-Enger, Writer’s Digest, The Writer Magazine, and my own e-book Get Unstuck! For Freelancers: A 6-Week Course to Boost Your Motivation, Organization, and Productivity—So You Can Do More Work in Less Time, Make More Money, and Enjoy the Freelance Lifestyle.

You’ll need to read up on business management, entrepreneurship, and marketing as well. I like to browse through the business section at the bookstore every once in awhile to see what’s new. In the past year I’ve read books on social media marketing, productivity, time management, networking, and more.

Starting on a shoestring? Many of these books and magazines are available at the library, and some magazines have at least some articles online. Blogs, of course, are free; I have more than 900 posts on freelance writing right here.

Blast It Out

Freelancing is a numbers game: The more you contact prospects, the higher your chances of success. You already did the numbers and figured out how much you need to send out to reach your goals, but you may be freaked out by the numbers you came up with. “What? I have to contact 20 people a week?”

This past year I interviewed Julie Knudson, a writer who sent out 300 LOIs to editors and landed more than a dozen regular clients and more than 80 requests for her clips. That’s the kind of overwhelming force that makes it nearly impossible not to reach your goals.

Keep Going

Sound like a lot of work? It is.

But take heart: If you study, market, and refine your skills in 2012, you’ll be among the few who have the persistence, ability, and motivation to succeed as a freelancer. Many aspiring writers drop out when they realize they’ll have to do more than pen a few pieces for “exposure” for Demand Studios, post occasionally on their personal blogs, or send out a few lazily-crafted queries every couple of months.

Freelancing is not a shortcut to riches for people with the ability to make prose sing. I estimate that just 15% of what I do is actually writing. The other 85% includes marketing, researching, doing administrative tasks, generating ideas, interviewing, and editing.

Do you have what it takes? How are you going to make 2012 your best freelancing year ever? Let us know in the Comments below! [lf]

New writers second-guess themselves all the time.

I had one client who was looking for a job and was sure that she was turned down because the company didn’t like the fact that she had a blog — and should she stop blogging? I told her, “It’s just as likely they didn’t hire you because they wanted someone with more of an Internet presence. You simply have no way of knowing, so don’t let it keep you from blogging.”

Another client, who has a ton of great full-time credentials working in a certain industry, wants to write for that industry but is certain that she won’t be considered for gigs unless she gets just one more full-time job that’s more relevant to her new path. She’s got herself believing that successful writers have years and years of relevant experience behind them before they get started.

We all second-guess ourselves at times, but new writers seem especially vulnerable. My trick is: If you’re going to guess at something, choose the most positive version.

For example, instead of assuming that you don’t have a chance when you’re thinking of sending an LOI to a trade magazine editor, consider the fact that you might be the best match the editor has come across all year because some arcane credential of yours fits exactly with what the editor needs right now. And instead of thinking you shouldn’t send your query on a Monday/a holiday/a weekend because it will get lost in a pile of e-mail, consider that the editor may be sitting in front of her computer right now, bored and wishing for some distraction. (And believe me, that is often the case.)

Since you don’t know the real story, the positive one is just as likely to be true — and it keeps you from holding yourself back.

Second-guessing yourself only makes it more difficult for you to succeed. Think about the potential positives in what you’re doing and you’ll gain the confidence to reach your goals. [lf]