Getting into the Writing Mood

©2007 ©2010 Mary Anne Hahn

How often do you sit down at your keyboard, stare at the screen, and
think, “I’m just not in the mood to write today?”  Or maybe you
don’t admit that to yourself, but instead use the time you’ve set
aside to check your e-mail, read about the latest celebrity or political
scandal, or play solitaire (Spider Solitaire is my personal current favorite)
…until you realize your writing time has evaporated and you need to be
somewhere else.

If you’re either smiling or grimacing in recognition of this
scenario, you’re not alone.  Sometimes it is joyously easy for us
writers to write.  But at other times, maybe even most of the time,
it’s—well, it’s work.

And if you’re freelancing, there’s no boss (other than you) to set
your goals and deadlines, no one giving you annual performance
appraisals, no one disciplining you when you fail to measure up.
You might get the occasional question from a friend or relative
(“Have you written anything new lately?” or “Are you still
writing?”), but that’s hardly life-threatening.  You might
experience a twinge of guilt or remorse.  Maybe you even lie and
say, “Yeah, of course I’m still writing.”  But the truth is, you
haven’t been in the mood, and you and your conscience know it.

What is it about writing, especially for us part-time or aspiring
freelancers, that leads us to believe we can let ourselves off the
hook so easily?  On the one hand, we claim that’s what we want to do
and be more than anything in the world—to write, to be a writer.
Yet, is that really true?  If so, why aren’t we making time to write
every single day?  Even when—-especially when-—we’re not in the mood?

Here’s what I think.  Other than the fact that we’re postponing our
own writing goals and dreams, which should be important enough in
themselves, there are really no immediate consequences to putting off
our stints at the keyboard. If we simply stopped showing up at our
day jobs just because we weren’t in the mood, we’d lose it.  If we
stopped preparing meals for our children because we just didn’t feel like cooking,
someone would eventually notify Social Services.  But if we go a day, a week,
heck, even a year without writing,  who besides ourselves would care?

We need to start looking at our writing goals much the same way we
do any other obligation in our lives, as something that must, not
should, be done.  Like arriving to work on time or doing the laundry
regularly, we need to schedule our writing time and just do it,
regardless of the mood we’re in.  Why?  Because, unlike doing
laundry or showing up at your day job, sticking with your writing
and getting published brings the most extraordinary sense of
accomplishment and fulfillment—-something we can point at and
say, “Look, I did that!”  And it’s a feeling we can recreate many
times over, the more we devote ourselves to our writing.

So if, like me, you really, really, really want to be a writer,
this is what I want you to do—join me, and commit to writing for a
minimum of 15 minutes a day, or one hour and forty five minutes a
week.  Minimum.  It doesn’t matter what you write, or how many
words, at least not at first.  Just make it a part of your daily
routine, like taking a shower or brushing your teeth.  I think
you’ll find the time spent writing even more invigorating and
refreshing.
P.S. If you’ve been struggling with the dreaded writer’s block,
I’ve found a way you can eliminate it, once and for all…
http://budurl.com/blockCD

What Do We Want Our Writing to Accomplish?

I have this friend who, every time she hears or, even more fascinating, sees the word “yawn,” she, well, yawns.  I discovered this quite by accident years ago, and have used the knowledge to play the occasional cruel trick on her ever since.  For a time I was even able to simply type the letter “Y” in an e-mail and send it to her, getting the same result.  And then there was the time I learned the word “pandiculation,” and sent it to her with a drawing of someone in the process of pandiculating, mouth agape, eyes squeezed shut…I was wickedly delighted to hear that made her yawn (and most likely pandiculate!) as well.

Obviously, not all of our readers or writing clients react so strongly or readily to everything we write.  Often we can put our words out there in the form of blog posts, articles, queries, submissions, proposals, contest entries and so forth, and not generate any response at all.  That can leave us feeling like we’re trapped in the darkness of a carnival fun house, feeling a bit nervous, fumbling our way through, wondering when we’ll see daylight again.

It helps, I think, to know what it is we want our readers or clients to feel about or do with what we’ve written once they’ve read our words.  In fact, I believe that knowing this up front, and keeping it in mind as we write, is every bit as important an aspect of writing as the story or information itself.  Knowing what reaction we want dictates everything from the words we choose to the cadence of our writing.  Do we want our readers to cry?  Buy something?  Get involved?  Do we want to frighten, inform or inspire them?  Do we want our writing to enrich their lives and, if so, exactly how do we plan to accomplish that?

Yes, effective writing is much more complex than plopping words in front of readers in the hope that they’ll behave in a certain way or take a certain type of action.   We need to know where we want them to go, and then use our writing skills to take them there.  That’s our challenge and, ultimately, that’s where we’ll find fulfillment.

Now, I’m going to let my friend know that I wrote about her today.  That should keep her yawning for the next hour or so at least (I write with a slight, evil smile).

Here’s to your writing success.

Mary Anne

Can Coaching Help Your Writing Career?

In order to succeed as a freelance writer, you need to wear many hats in order to launch, run and grow your business. Besides doing the actual writing for your clients, you most likely perform your own marketing, do your own filing, serve as a one-man or one-woman research department, act as your own project manager, save your own business receipts and maybe even do all your own accounting. Some of these hats that you wear probably don’t fit you as well as others, right?

Of course, the ideal world would be one where we could outsource all those functions that we don’t do well or find distasteful—much like why other people hire us to write for them. But for those business functions that we either keep because we can’t afford to hire someone to do them, or hang onto because we really want to do them better, there exist some pretty affordable options out there to get coaching on them from experts.

One of these options is to join what are known as monthly coaching clubs in the area of expertise where you want or need help. While many business and success coaches can and do charge some eye-popping fees for their time and programs, the ones who form clubs put coaching within our financial reach by holding sessions with and providing tools to multiple clients simultaneously, and by charging palatable monthly rates.

While the concept has grown tremendously on the internet, it’s by no means new. Weight Watchers, for example, is a type of coaching to help people learn to change their approaches to food and exercise. Toastmasters International has provided people with a place to hone their public speaking skills for nearly 90 years. On the Web, I performed a quick search and found a coaching club to manage and eliminate debt (http://www.debtfreecoachingclub.com/ ), increase productivity (http://www.theproductivitycoachingclub.com/ ), learn how to write for children (http://www.cwcoachingclub.com/ ), and even one with the intriguing name of “What You Know Is Worth More Than You Know™ Coaching Club” (http://www.whatyouknowisworthmorecoachingclub.com/ ). As you can see, these clubs pretty much run the gamut.

I personally belong to a couple coaching clubs and have found them to be worth every penny. First of all, not only do I get the opportunity to learn from and ask questions from some pretty successful people, I also get to expand my professional network with the other members in the club. You never know whose ears might perk up when they hear that there is a ghost writer in their midst! The two I belong to are:

Robert Middleton’s Action Plan Marketing Club  (click the “Marketing Programs” tab at the top of the page). Robert targets independent professionals trying to market their services both on- and off-line. Not only are his twice monthly 90-minute coaching calls worth their weight in gold, the club includes a step by step marketing tutorial, recorded interviews with other marketing experts, help with forming your own mastermind group, and a place where you can upload your professional profile so that others can find you and your services. At $29 a month, which you can cancel at anytime, I can’t imagine a better bargain.

Stephanie Frank’s Success IQ Inner Circle. While I can only make every other one of her weekly coaching calls, I still get more than my money’s worth from my membership (besides, I can always catch the call I miss afterwards because they’re all recorded). In fact, I still can’t believe she coaches every week for only $27 a month! Stephanie’s program focuses on ways to eliminate any roadblocks we place in the way of our own success, and I find her enthusiasm contagious. Besides the calls, the club contains a library of audios on topics ranging from peak performance and goal-setting to self-confidence and time management. I always walk away from the Tuesday calls feeling pumped up and motivated.

So if you find there’s an area in your life where you and your writing career can use a boost, perhaps joining a coaching club is a way that you can get the help and guidance you need within your budget.

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