Getting the First Writing Assignment

The latest update on my journey to write for a living, including my first article assignment, and a plan for getting more writing assignments.

The original plan was to find local businesses I could contact about being a content writer and website-spiffer-upper, but I am still not sure how to go about that. Nevertheless, I have found a couple of opportunities that I am very hopeful about and are better than either CrowdSource/Mechanical Turk or Content Divas, because well, they actually pay more than a pittance (see previous article). 

Both of my new options were posted on that old standby Craigslist. The first job is writing articles for a website that is about to launch. I will share the website when it's up and I have some content on there, but for now I'll just tell you what I know. This website will be focused on featuring people and organizations what are making progress and solving world issues. There are a lot of options and angles to be taken. I actually have an assignment, which is strange to think about. And it will be paid a reasonable amount. So now I've done a bit of research and made first contact via email with a person I would like to interview. My only fear is that my old shyness will get in the way. Journalistic pursuits have always scared me a bit because so much rides on talking to strangers in the middle of a situation, and for whatever reason that was not easy for me to do in High School. I have to realize for myself that I am a very different and much more confident person now. And that is why I am actually making plans to write a couple travel articles in the next month as well. More on that later.

The second opportunity is to write content for real estate websites. It's a decent hourly wage for this job, and is something that would start slow before becoming a part-time or full-time position. Now this is more like a normal J.O.B. than a freelance job, but it is beginning as a remote position and has the ability to stay that way, which has obvious appeals because I could use this for some stable income as I do other, less stable writing.

So my plans for this week are:

1.Find someone to interview and put together my first assigned article.

2. Complete a few small assignments via Mechanical Turk and/or Content Divas

3. Research publications that may be interested in the travel articles I have come up with.

4. Draft a Query letter or two about these articles.

5. Talk to someone on the phone about the real estate content job - basically an interview for a position and my opportunity to learn about it some more.

6. I am also going to work on following the advice in "How to Build a Web Copywriting Portfolio Fast" which will help when it comes to contacting those businesses in the future.

I will also be writing about my experience with the Mechanical Turk platform as well as Content Divas and maybe some tips on where to buy used books in San Francisco. Links for those to come.

~CJ

Practice Makes Perfect

If you want to improve, write as much as you can, even if it starts out horribly.

If you've been reading the countless articles, letters, and stories written by writers about writing, you know the ever present suggestion that practice makes perfect applies to writing just as much as any other craft. To learn to write you have to, well, write. The more words you put down the closer you will get to being a word artist. The more sentences you create, the better you will be at manipulating their structure. The more stories you craft, the more interesting and dynamic your characters and plots will become.

Right now perhaps you are waiting for an idea, or for inspiration. Maybe you're making up excuses about not having time. Maybe you think you need to take a class first. While a class, more time, and ispiration can certainly help you write. They won't turn you into a writer. Only you can do that, and only by consistantly practicing in one way or another.

You can practice by freewriting, practice by finding prompts, or even practice by copying the style of others. And though all of these things may not be publishable, and actualy likely won't be because they will be sloppy or to similar to another story, you will be learning something. You may also find that ever elusive inspiration.

I will be posting exercises in another section of this blog that will help you start practicing, so stay tuned!

Fearlessness Gives you the Choice to Succeed

If you want success, you have to stop being afraid and try, because then you will at least have options despite the inevitable challenges.

Perhaps you want to write a novel, perhaps you want to go to Asia, perhaps you want to get published someday, perhaps you want to be a famous travel writer...

Will these goals be hard to attain? Yes. Is it possible you'll never get them? Absolutely. Will you achieve the goal if you don't even try? No way. A lot of people settle for things that are less than what they want in life. Perhaps circumstances just get in the way: you don't have the money, your mother gets sick, you need to work. Circumstances can be valid, they are obstacles to getting our loftiest dreams, and they are hard to overcome. Yet, in most cases where there is a will, there is a way. And in most cases, big dreams are completely achievable despite obstacles.

For the most part, circumstances are just circumstances. They are just excuses. When circumstances get in the way it is because you are making an obstacle into a priority instead of putting your dreams at the top of your list. The thing that is really holding you back is yourself. It's the little voice in the back of your head saying; but what if I fail? What if I make a fool of myself? What if I wind up disappointed? Disappointment is certainly one of the worst feelings, but then again, so is regret. Sometimes you just have to weigh your options. What will you regret more failing or never trying?

If you plan a trip to Greece, for instance, but then your car breaks down and you have to spend all of your money to repair it, you can either decide to start over with saving money again, or you can say, "screw the car, I'll take the bus when I get back". Because you've made the attempt, you have options and you can prioritize. If you never save up, if you never plan to go to Greece in the first place, well then, there are never any options except to never go at all. I leave you with some quotes to inspire you to the path of fearlessness:

There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.

--Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little coarse, and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice? Up again; you shall never be so afraid of a tumble.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

--Confucius

~C.J.

Take a New Route

You don't have to go far to discover somewhere new
You may or may not know your way around the place that you live, but in either case there is almost always more to find out. If you always take the freeway, you may be missing the inspiration of a really unique house on the corner, or the perfect writing place in the form of a park, or maybe just a surprisingly faster route to wherever it is you're going. So explore the side streets, and if you're brave enough, even the alleyways, the windy roads through the forests, and any other new routes that you haven't tried before. When you do, don't be afraid to drive a bit slow, or even pull over (it helps if you're not in a rush) and actually pay attention to your surroundings. You can plan the routes out ahead using the ever handy internet, or go at random without fear (but be sure to have your cell phone, gps, or at least and old fashioned map with you in this case)! And even though you're not going far from home, you are still having the mentality of a traveler and getting out to see new places. That's what  it's all about.

Designate a Writing Place

It must be a place with the right environment for you, and ideally a place where you never go unless you go to write...


As a busy person I always think I'll just write at home, but the fact of the matter is that I'm always more productive out of the house. I just moved to a new city, and thus far haven't discovered any places as peaceful and inspiration as the ones I left behind, but I'm always on the look out. Today I found a park not too far from my house that may serve the purpose perfectly. Right now I'm sitting at a picnic table in this fairly deserted place, with just the voices of a few kids and some far away cars. No access to the internet, no television, no family members interrupting. For me that's perfect, but everyone is different. I also enjoy a coffee shop from time to time, but only if it's just the right level of busy. I highly suggest you find a place close to home that you can walk or drive to and spend a couple hours really writing without distraction.

If you must stay home, it can also help to designate a very specific spot where the only thing you do is write. If you use the desk for other things your mind will not automatically focus on the writing each time you sit there as it does when the place is associated with only that one activity.

An old writing place.

The 3 Things You Need to Be a Writer

Get Writing today with Advice from Faulkner

I have been worried lately that I am not a writer at all, or rather not a very good one. And a quote that I actually received from a new fellow-writer-friend (though he actually misquoted the idea was nearly the same) helped me confirm what I was missing. Here is the actual quote from the great William Faulkner:

“A writer needs three things, experience, observation, and imagination, any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others”

My friend said that there are three things that make a great writer, and you only really need two of them. They are: experience, hard work, and imagination. I feel that I have a lack of experiences that are very far outside of myself, very outside of a life that (thankfully) lacks a lot of hardship and conflict. However, I definitely have imagination. I'd been thinking lately that I know I can be a great writer, if only I will work hard enough. I guess that's not really what Faulkner said, though. So then I must ask myself if I observe enough, and I do think I need to improve on that as well.

In any case to improve, I plan to observe more, especially as I travel the world, but also anywhere and always. I also need to stop being lazy, and work much harder. Look at these 3 things, and see if you can work on being great at least two, or even three of them.