While most of my clients are pinch-myself-fantastic, I've had my share of unpleasant collaborations. Rather than grumbling on sites where others share the dumb, rude, thoughtless sentences their know-nothing clients have uttered, I've tried to make it a learning opportunity to help attract well-meaning, knowledgeable clients moving forward.
That's why I reached out to five established writers and marketers to get their take on what makes for a positive client relationship.
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If you're serious about being a writer, there are no two ways around it: You have to invest in yourself. The good news is that some investments are free (wahoo!) while others will cost you a bit of cash (less-than-wahoo).
Here are my favorite sites, apps and Twitter chats for learning and earning.
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The advice "write what you know" holds a kernel of truth, and its intention is pure: You'll have more confidence in your writing if you've already experienced your story, drawing from those real-life emotions and their turmoil. You know how to fill in your friends on your life's happenings, so surely that translates to writing and pacing a fictional story, too. Or so one would think.
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What would happen if you committed to weekly writing? If you're anything like me, you'd find a million reasons to do anything except the hard work of meeting your most vulnerable self at your desk. That's why I created The 52-Week Project, for writers like you and me who need a nudge. This project is a free weekly email series. One writing prompt a week: That's all there is to it.
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My intuition is you've had some crummy writing days, too, sessions that produce nothing of value. I don't want to be the type of writer thwarted by a bit of writer's block. (And I'd argue that much of so-called writer's block is simply good ol' procrastination.) To that end, I've made a list of ways to reroute a poor writing day.
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There are fears at every turn in the creative life, fears about identity, money, recognition, misunderstanding. Fears that we're doing it wrong and others are doing it better.
But at what point are you going to embrace the fact that you're a writer, you're established because you say so?
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Online workshops can be tricky to suss out. Are they going to solve your problem? Do they contain information you don't already know? Will they be worth your money?
The truth is education is ongoing, and when you've been out of the classroom, you're a lot less likely to keep up with your studies. That's one of the reasons I created Fiction Workshop: for people who are creative, know they can write well and want to write better. If you want to embrace and own your writing life, for once and for all, Fiction Workshop is for you.
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For longer creative writing pieces -- novellas and novels -- I find character profiles to be enormously helpful. They help give definition and breathe life into people who only exist on paper. If ever I'm unsure how a character might respond to his circumstances, I refer back to the profile I created to remind myself of who he is and what drives him. This profile acts as a blueprint for a fictional person.
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We understand by now that writing is hard work. Many writers don't like the act of writing and instead prefer the joy of having written. Me, I really enjoy the writing process, in part because of cheerfully I enjoy words.
Masterfully, in her poem "Tides," Mary Oliver thoughtfully chooses words we don't see every day.
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Creatives know how scarce and unreliable money can be, which is why so many opt for unrelated full-time employment so as not to put the stress of a relied-upon income on their passion.
It’s the main reason I like giving away things for free. The 52-Week Project -- free writing prompts each week for a week -- has been a beautiful experience and so amazing to see embraced. Today, I’m really excited about another free venture: The One-Week Daily Writing Devotional.
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