Professional Writing Takes Work - There Isn't An Easy Way

Despite what many think, professional writing is not something that comes easy. I have talked about this before but again, this must be the week of refreshers. Writing is work. Writing takes time. And, more than anything, there are no easy approaches to getting your writing published.

 

The writing process of creating an idea, crafting it and getting it published is the same for everyone. No writer, or I should say successful writer, skips steps to the published category. They have streamlined the system, found ways to do two and three things at a time, but the process is still the same.

 

I think that for many new writers, there is a belief that once they get published, the workload goes down, the writing becomes easier. This is far from the truth! Sure these writers may have found a way to streamline some of the writing process but the work is still there. It has just shifted to a new type of work. Now deadlines are coming into play. One of my writers, for example, just called me yesterday about new deadlines for material she thought she had more time for. Not that she was complaining, and getting the material done is not a problem, but it was, as she put it, “another thing to add in to her schedule.” For people with busy schedules, you understand that feeling.

 

Once you hit the “published” side of things, it is time to start thinking marketing, website building, attending conferences, creating presentations, guest blogging… and the list goes on. With all of this, you now have to keep the writing going, and, in some cases, you might have to write faster.

 

So, why do I bring this up? It’s simple. I want to ask: “Are you ready to move on?” “Do you have what it takes?”

Why did you start writing in the first place? Are you writing now because it is fun? Do you treat it as a job right now or just say that it is?” A lot of questions but certain ones that you need to figure out before you start sending in proposals.

 

 

Scott C. Eagan