The number one thing preventing you from completing that manuscript? FEAR. Getting your words on paper is one thing, but dealing with all of the scary feelings you have about doing so is another. No matter how many online or in-person classes you take, you will never accomplish your writing goals unless you first deal with that dreaded four letter F-word. Creativity coach Robert Ressler, Ph.D. says, “Fear is behind all the things that we sometimes describe as our problem.” These are problems you might label as writer’s block, procrastination, the inability to complete a project, being undisciplined. Ressler says that…
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Finding the perfect writing or creative coach can feel as effortless as looking for a needle in a haystack. Type “writing coach” and you will suddenly feel inundated with too much information. If Google could only use its keyword magic to help you find “the one” that will help you get your writing on track, get that manuscript completed, out the door and give you the oomph you need to start on that project you’ve been meaning to get working on. Instead, I’ve done the next best thing and wrangled together two coaches, a writing and a creative coach to…
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{photo} When you’re working with someone else, there will come a time when you’ll wonder why the heck you ever decided to work for yourself in the first place. I’ve heard it from fellow entrepreneurs who’s ego got beaten by constant criticisms and demands placed on them by unsatisfied customers. I’ve went through it myself. Time. And time again. The thing is… You can’t buy perfect. You can’t bottle it up and serve it on a fancy shiny silver platter. It just doesn’t exist. But sometimes you’re placed in a situation where a client believes that in exchange for his…
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{photo} I’ve been slowed down a bit, but a mountain of obstacles that have suddenly flooded my productivity levels. What’s all this drama about? For some reason, MacAfee (but no other security alert programs) decided to flag my website as a potential security risk. I’ve emailed them and hopefully the issue will sort itself out. There is no risk here people! In addition, I’ve been working on a newspaper article, a magazine article, web content for someone inspiring, on top of my day job. All good stuff. But it makes it hard to keep this up. Which explains why today’s…
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{photo} One of the things I enjoy doing is helping entrepreneurs get clear about their writing ideas. It’s something we all struggle with. Even writers get baffled when it comes to writing sometimes, especially if it’s about them. If you’ve been spending months on the same copy are stuck on what to write about on your website, here is a quick tip to help you get started. Remove Extraneous Words (Like extraneous.) I love fun, cute, descriptive words too. But when people are searching your site, they’re looking for the meat of what you do. That doesn’t mean you have…
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{photo by} You’ve worked really hard on writing that book, conceiving a new idea or blogging, but you still haven’t seen results with your efforts. Literary agent Kevin Small who I interviewed in part I of this post, sets us straight this time with the unintentional mistakes you could be making that’s sabotaging your career. 1. You’re undisciplined. Yikes. Has Mr. Small been reading my blogs? Yes, folks. He didn’t quite say that us writers are “lazy.” In fact, he said he wouldn’t use that word, but that we have a tendency to be “undisciplined.” I would like to add…
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The Impact of E-Readers on the Publishing Industry and the Way Literary Agents Help Authors I don’t have a book yet, but I’ve always wanted to know the process and steps involved if I did. My writer friend and I were particularly interested in what literary agents do and what their role was in the book selling process. We had so many questions and no answers so I sought help from literary agent, founder and managing partner of Result Source a.k.a. RSI, Kevin Small. My chat with Small garnered up so many juicy bits of information, information that I know…
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I don’t know what your mother, father, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, friend told you, but freelancing is hard. Writing is hard. And so is starting your own business. With Memorial Day coming up, I thought it apropos to start the weekend off right, by composing a list of a few must-dos that’s 100% light and fun without the heavy sugary carbs to weigh you down. Reward Yourself Remember when you were a kid and your parents gave you an allowance or took you out for ice-cream on account of good behavior? Don’t ya miss those times? I’m betting that your…
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*The title’s paying homage to Flo Rida featuring Timbaland’s Stuck On My Elevator. “You’re a busy entrepreneur. On top of doing what you love to do, which is making your product or providing a service to others, you’re in charge of marketing, accounting, and writing your own copy. But your business is off the hook. You can barely keep up with the demands let alone sit down and right that newsletter, press release, blog or product description. What are you going to do? Why not hire a freelance writer? It will save you time and money. Instead of sitting…
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{flickr photo by: khaybe} Just last week I read an author’s tweet about her lackluster review on a movie based on her book. And several weeks before that, a writer expressed her frustrating over feedback from an article she wrote. Bad reviews are a part of life. They can happen whether you are a writer, entrepreneur or a 9 to 5 employee. I certainly have had my fair share. But what do you do about them? {Besides run under the covers and hide.} Basically, you have 3 options: a) Sulk b) Quit c) Suck it up I’d opt for the latter…