writerspathway

I am writing about confronting this portion of becoming a successful writer because my inattention to it has meant that I am not one.  I remain in the aspiring range although am assembling a body of work which with proper marketing and faith in self could propel me to the next level.  The matters of business have never been my forte although I do have a degree in Business Administration.  It was while receiving this degree that I became interested in literature perhaps for something more pleasant to read than all of the economics and accounting chapters which I was supposed to read but did not.

The point being I have no interest in business affairs and therefore have not put my attention toward them.  I have what I believe is the creative mind because it wanders aimlessly and the only method to control it is to find a book to read or sport on tv which I enjoy and then it will stay focused.  After being a writer in training for over twenty years with no success I began to consider my situation and how to advance my career.  I want to be a writer who makes a living as a writer.

Therefore I began to focus on marketing and all that is involved on the business side and find that it is not as intimidating as I had imagined.  There is an infinite support system for those of us whom are less than confident about beginning the process; people who will show us the way.  I am plugging in to this resource and my confidence that it can happen for me is slowly building.

The support on this site and other writing sites is giving me the tools and it is then a matter of doing it regardless of whether I want to or not.  Then measuring my progress by  setting goals and organizing my effort, because without a plan I find that I procrastinate and lose my focus.  And therefore remain an aspiring writer rather than a writer.

This has been my weakness as a writer and therefore that which requires my attention and the admission that I need assistance in this area.  I enjoy the pleasure of reading and this lead me to a place whereby I began writing.  However the process of working my way thru the publishing quagmire has been intimidating to such a degree that I have avoided it.  One way to avoid rejection is don’t try and perhaps that is what my subconscious mind was doing.

I have taken classes in how to get published and in promoting myself as a writer, then the task becomes to follow thru and utilize the information which they provided.  After more hesitation than I care to admit getting on wordpesss and starting this blog was the initial phase in terms of a breakthru.  A part of me wanted to continue to procrastinate yet that was overcome by a desire to find a little victory to get me out of the starting gate.  Also to continue to delay was imposing upon my self-respect and I was condemning myself for not making any progress.

I had actually started a facebook account first but the benefits of using it cannot be obtained without having a blog or website or both.  Of course Linked In and Twitter are next for me in addition to starting a website but by finding a starting point I am able to build upon that and find that the blog lead to many other sources of information.  Getting on Writers Digest email list also opened a new source of information along with the freelance writing journal site.

With all the resources I have tapped into it now seems that there is almost too much information but I am sorting it out.  I want to join the freelance writers den so I have someone to guide me thru the process of making money as a freelance writer; this could produce my first writing credit which would be a major leap for me.  So this is where I am, no longer living in fear and slowly building my faith with the resources available online being helpful to someone who is not a natural at self-promotion.

I intend to use a portion of the new methods to promote myself and also some of the old in that I will also try to get an agent and a contract.  So that is my situation, a work in progress both as a writer and a marketing traineee.

It is almost a given for many of us whom want to write that the novel has the most appeal.  The potential income and prestige can motivate us.  So it was for me and after reading many novels and biographies I decided to begin my first one.  It was completed about seven years later and has yet to be published but now with e-publishing I can become a published writer.

Before completing it I decided upon a children’s book as my next project.  Having spent all of my energy and spirit on my first novel another one was too much for me.  I eventually completed this project while beginning number three.  A book of research.

A research project seemed the best direction for me because I would be reading and researching and not having to be entirely creative.  I have committed to finishing this project but find that it requires greater discipline than the novel because it does not draw me to it nearly each day as the novel did.  This failure to work on it regularly may be personal issues rather than the project itself or a combination of the two.

One final note on choosing a genre: the theatre has much appeal to me but it is a collaborative effort which appears at this point to be beyond me although perhaps finding success in another area will give me the confidence to pursue this avenue.  To clarify I know I can write  a play but the process of getting it to the stage is the intimidating step for me.

So it is for this writer, I am creating a body of work and moving to the next phase of becoming a published writer and then promoting my work via this blog and other methods.

I am not certain what I want to write about in my first post so I am simply sitting at the keyboard and allowing the process to unfold.  Probably after sending this one I will feel that it does not quite meet the high standards which I set for myself as a writer.  However having had no commercial and thus monetary success the bar is actually quite low for me.

Having always wanted to be a writer blogging gives me the opportunity to go public without having to get a contract and have my work formally published.  For this I am thankful and will attempt to utilize my blog to promote my writing and to build a community of friends and associates  whom will support me as I will them.  Marketing myself has been my shortcoming not only as a writer but throughout my entire career.  What is happening now with WordPress and all it has to offer is the missing part of the puzzle for many of us whom are not instinctively inclined to promote ourselves.

After reviewing the above it seems enough for my first post and so will keep it short and thus a quick read.

Welcome to WordPress.com. After you read this, you should delete and write your own post, with a new title above. Or hit Add New on the left (of the admin dashboard) to start a fresh post.

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1. You can find new ideas for what to blog about by reading the Daily Post.
2. Add PressThis to your browser. It creates a new blog post for you about any interesting  page you read on the web.
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