As a new writer, you get to indulge in the idiosyncrasies of being green. I, for example, learned not once but twice, the reasons why you MUST get a contract before you send off your manuscript. I also learned that while I want to make a living writing, I also don’t want to take any and every job that comes my way.

So here it is, a bunch of tools to get you writing successfully by doing the opposite from what I did. Keep reading if you want to avoid hitting your head over and over on your desk from low or nonpaying clients.

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The belief that we should ask for what we need is a difficult concept for me. I am a woman for one and a minority for another. I’ve been brought up to believe statements like, “You can’t really do anything about it. Don’t bother/make trouble. Just let it go.”

This is the reason why I used to wonder if I was born in the right family. If I didn’t look so much like my parents, I might really question where I came from.

Instead, I took on a different belief system. The belief that I could do anything and be anything, if only I asked. It still wasn’t easy, however, to get past this long-held belief. Every time I ask for something I need, I take a deep breath, grasp onto faith, cross my fingers, say a prayer, and do anything to deal with the anxiety that starts when I do anything contrary to what I was raised to believe.
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Part of the gift and the challenge with being a freelance writer is not knowing what comes next. While you may be riding the wave of good fortune this month, you may be drowning the next. Although there is the rare writer who radiates an envious and endless optimism, most of us struggle day to day, typing along, hoping to be discovered and appreciated for the hard work writing requires.

I’m of the more common variety. And after reading Julia Cameron’s Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance, I was relieved that even best-selling authors go through this too. It’s actually Cameron’s phrase “keep the faith” that inspired the title and content of this post.

I think it’s easy to get discouraged in this field. Like my husband often says, “You picked a very challenging career.” Although I’m not saving lives here, because writing is such a personal endeavor, I sometimes feel like the life I’m trying to save is my own.

Staying Positive

I have to work on keeping positive and optimistic so that I can get through the valleys and get on to the mountaintops. For me, this means going out of the house to meet with weekly groups (I just joined a professional work at home women’s club.), talking to other writers, and saying silly mantras in my head like, “I’m a successful writer.” I do this all to get through the lull and discouragement that is inevitable in this business.

All Rejection is Temporary Except Your Own

I remember reading somewhere that the only real and permanent rejection is your own. You may not get that seemingly perfect writing job or get your piece published in that national magazine, but those rejections are temporary. If you give up on yourself, then the journey is over.

No matter what stage you are in your writing, don’t give up yet. Keep the faith. And do whatever you must to keep pushing through. If you quit now, you’ll never know how close you were to success. You might have been just a day away…