So Now it Begins…

I received my study materials from the Writer’s Digest School yesterday, for the ‘Writing and Selling Nonfiction Articles’ course. I am going to focus my energies and apply myself to this course the way I did all my other courses when I was working toward my BS degree.

Thankfully, I finished reading ‘Cold Mountain’ last night. It had a tragic, but not an altogether unexpected ending. I read a couple of dozen entries in the ‘Paris Review’, but returned it to the library this morning along with the Frazier novel. The Cussler novel will also be on the back burner for now. I’ll read a bit of it here and there as time or want dictates.

My focus now is getting to work on the materials and lessons. In addition to the coursework binder, I also received ‘The Writer’s Market Online 2003’, and the Writer’s Digest ‘Handbook of Magazine Article Writing’. I have begun reading the handbook, as it is requested in my introduction assignment. Once I’m done with that, I will need to complete a Profile Questionnaire. The questionnaire will serve to pair me up with a professional writer and mentor – one that most closely matches my style and interests – for the duration of the course.

In addition to starting out on my own education towards becoming a published writer, it was also the first day of school for Heather and Sarah. Sarah had her first day in Junior High, and Heather just started her journey through High School! I can’t believe how quickly it’s come upon us. I mean, I still remember my own high school days. It just doesn’t seem that long ago. Time is slipping by entirely too quickly.

I’ve gotta start working off of lists again as I have had good success with that method in the past. This will ensure that I keep on track with my studies as well as getting SBI up and running. I will also need to work on a new article for Red Paper. I think the next one will be about a new way to get rid of Spam in free-mail accounts. I’ll need to get it done by the end of the week so that I can publish it early next week.

~W~

On the Night Table…

This entry has taken longer than I intended. No excuses – just plain laziness.

I have posted my first article to Red Paper – under Infomaniacs. Today I found that someone purchased a copy of the article. I have made my first $0.25 cents as a writer.

Books I’m Reading Now:

‘Cold Mountain’ by Charles Frazier.
This is a modern literary work from 1997. I have been reading many references to it as of late and decided to pick it up at the library. This is a well written story and I highly recommend it.

It’s the story of a man, gravely injured during the Civil War fighting for the Confederate cause. He deserts the CSA and goes through many reversals of fortune trying to make it back to his beau and his home in North Carolina.

The story also revolves around the man’s love interest Ada. Her life of privilege in Charleston is interrupted by the war. She struggles to learn what it takes to survive on her own and run a small homestead farm in rural North Carolina.

‘The Paris Review: 1953 – 2003’. It is the 50th anniversary of this quarterly literature review magazine of world renown. The book is a compilation of the best articles, essays and short stories over the last 50 years. It covers topics from drunkenness to death, love, war, sex, madness, dinner, baseball and the art of writing. There are many excellently written pieces in this book and I recommend it.

‘Atlantis Found’ by Clive Cussler.
I used to read Clive’s stuff when I was in my late teens and early 20’s. I picked this up as a hardcover remainder at B&N. It’s like reading a junior version of a Tom Clancy novel mixed with some James Bond exploit cheesiness. Still, Cussler knows what it takes to draw you in and get you turning pages. It is an entertaining read if you like “guy’s stuff” type of action/drama stories.

Waking Up

There is a definitel need for me to look at my life in terms of a longer view instead of the “right now”, or my perceived immediate future.

When it comes to facing what I think will be a long, difficult task – I only look at how long it’s going to take to get through it and not on the end result. The feeling usually takes on a whiny quality: “Jeez, it’s gonna take me years to earn a degree. With that time I could be earning money and getting out and having fun instead of working and going to school, doing homework and term papers.”

I seem to approach many personal long-term tasks this way. However, when I ask myself “What’s going to happen a year from now if I don’t do it?”, the answer always is – I will just be another year older and no closer to the life I want to create. When I do become fed up enough to get moving, I do well at the task and wish I had done it earlier. I’m not so much a late bloomer as a world-class procrastinator.

I have decided to stop looking at life in terms of how things are going to affect me over the next few months or a year. I will now focus on the long-term results. To do what I am supposed to do, in order to get where I want to go.

Looking back 10 years ago, it wasn’t hard to envision what life would be like with the actions that I was taking at that time. I was going to school and knew I wanted to get my degree, to get out of a nowhere job, to do something more progressive.

I did all of that and ended up where I thought I might. At that time I wanted to get away from the financial services field, but stayed with it because it’s all I know and it pays pretty well. Although I am used to the corporate culture, it just doesn’t feel “right” enough to me.

So now, I need to look five years into the future to see where I want my life to be and go for it. The following is what might happen in five years if I don’t work toward the future I want: I will probably still be here, or doing similar work, commuting, tired, uninspired, no sense of accomplishment, no sense of making a difference and still unhappy with the direction of my life and my work. Pretty much on a treadmill of sameness to Nowheresville.

What I can envision my life to be like five years from now is exciting: By taking the necessary action, I can see myself as an accomplished writer. I’ll have paid my dues and gotten through a storm of rejection slips before getting my articles and stories published on a frequent basis. I realize that the rejection slips mean that someone is looking at my work, and that I’m learning and getting closer to my goal.

I learn from my mistakes, and enjoy learning about subjects that interest me. I resolve to forge ahead. As I wade through the rejections, I will continue to learn my craft and will finally become a published writer. Eventually, my published articles will give the rejection slips a run for the money. Over time I’ll have gained the experience, work ethic and knowledge to write and get my first, in a series of books, published.

Life will be very different. I will be long gone from the corporate world. I will work from a home office, meeting with writing groups, going to writer’s conferences, and producing my own newsletter on my own website. I will be more relaxed, less worrisome and in better health. My career, work and passion for writing will lead to new friendships and acquaintances – with like-minded people.

As my writing career builds, peers and other people will take notice. Self-esteem will grow and as it does, so will the control I have over my life. I’ll feel “right”, comfortable in the flow. Confidence in what I do will grow, but I’ll always strive to be better.

By knowing where I am going, I will live where I want, work when I want, and play when I want. Life will have meaning and purpose. There will be a sense of accomplishment. Creativity will flourish, and dreams and ideas will be fresh and vivid.

Here’s what I will do to reach my vision of the future:

I will continue to immerse myself in learning the craft. I will continue to read genre books in which I want to write. I will continue to read and study writing books and magazines to build my knowledge base. I will query magazines of subjects that I know or have an interest in. I will join or create a newbie writing group to help one another grow as writers.

I will set and attain time limits to complete assignments and article submissions. I will approach my writing as I do my current job: get up every day, get to work on time and do my work day in and day out. Set up a “job description” of what I expect from my position as a writer. It might even help to routinize my writing as I do any typical workday.

“If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write

things worth reading or do things worth writing.”
~Benjamin Franklin~
1706 -1790, US inventor, statesman, printer

Out of the gate like a shot.

Just as I said I would, I signed up for the Writer’s Digest School course:

‘Writing and Selling Nonfiction Articles’.

I should receive the materials in 2-3 weeks and will get right to work as soon as I get them.

I Logged onto SBI and tested out many samples of the look and feel selector and have settled on a logo and button setting I like. I also came up with a good domain name but won’t mention it here until after I have it registered. I worked on the main page getting the title, keywords, description, headline and some body copy set up and analyzed for density and Search Engine (SE) optimization.

I went through the brainstorm & research (B&R) session and came up with 137 keywords for the site. I will use this list to write articles for my keyword focused content pages that will link off the home page and newsletter.

During my search for affiliate sites and other sources, I came across a very interesting website. Here I can submit articles to their site and actually get paid for them. While I won’t get rich doing this (far from it), I’ve come up with a good idea about a serial series to submit to the new site. This concurrent series of articles will be integral to one another and will prompt people to buy my previous articles. I won’t reveal this superb site until I have my own site up and running. I’d like to have a bit of revenue coming in from this new site to use as an example in my newsletter.

I still need to come up with a list of solid affiliate programs for the site to provide my business with additional sources of income.

The momentum is there, I need to keep the fire inside burning brightly to bring my efforts to fruition.

This is getting exciting.

Time for Change

In school, I always wanted to do well in math, but didn’t have the mental facilities for it. Throughout high school and college my English grades were always better than my math grades. The thing is I didn’t care about my English grades.

Through the years, people often said I told good stories and that I should published them. There were more than a few times people suggested I write a book about my exploits and experiences. The editor of a regional newspaper, who was once my instructor in college, told me that I should consider taking up writing as a profession.

A business writing coach taught a six-week course at work. He told me I had a talent for writing. I couldn’t see it as I stood there holding a paper crazy with red-penciled editor’s marks.

When the course completed, the writing coach told my senior manager – that of the 34 participants in the class – I was the best writer of the group. This included several departmental managers. I was shocked and proud by this announcement.

There have been many indicators in my life telling me I should become a writer or get into the publishing business. Why am I fighting it? Making a living as a writer or publisher is time intensive, tedious and hard. My qualitative side doesn’t see the sense in putting in so many hours and effort into a project that may or may not pay. If it does pay, often it comes out to less than minimum wage. However, my creative side yearns to reveal itself.

So why am I getting into the writing and publishing business?

Because I have to.

The way I see it I don’t have a choice. No matter what direction I take in search of my ‘niche’, my profession, my passion – I somehow always come back to writing.

I’ve looked into doing many different things, but no matter how solid the opportunity I never made a go of it – simply because it’s not what I’m supposed to do. I’ve spent a good part of my life pursuing all sorts of interests while doing a job that is not in alignment with who I really am. I’ve not gotten very far in my current career, but not because I’m lazy. I have a great work ethic. It comes down to a lack of motivation. I don’t see that what I do makes a difference. It’s not meaningful, or lasting. There’s no legacy – which is important to me.

I figure I’ve wasted twenty plus years not getting very far in my current career and the outlook for the next twenty are not rosy either. Unless I decide to change things.

I can waste a lot of time on the woulda, coulda, shoulda’s of life, but there’s no use bitching about it. The past is gone, and the future has yet to be written (pun intended). I still have a job bringing in a decent salary, and I am definitely better read than I was twenty years ago. Therefore, the decision to pursue “the writing life” is on.

I have a clear idea of the direction I’m going to follow. I am going to create a writer’s website to feed my passion and keep my focus on the craft and industry on a daily basis. This will also help me to get my name out there, make associations, and build relationships with other writers.