Reactivate Your Writing-Brain with Other Creative Pursuits

I've always been into the artsy stuff. When all the other little girls were taking ballet or soccer I was painting a multi-colored duck I made from clay and making my Thanksgiving turkey ceramics "multi-cultural."

I wasn't so good at that math stuff so I threw myself into reading, writing, collaging, jewelry making, music appreciation, catholic iconography (I was raised in a non-devout Southern Baptist family though), Ouija board-making (complete with a popsicle-stick thingie that you put your hands on and it moves around...you know what I'm talking about?), cross-stitching, sewing (by hand, I was afraid of my tiny sewing machine I got for Christmas when I was five), and several years ago I started painting in acrylics on canvas. I am a connoisseur and appreciator of indie crafts.

I did play T-ball for two years when I was six and seven but much of my time was spent in the outfield where I picked dandelions and shuffled my feet while staring into space.
I took figure skating lessons around that time too and ended up getting kicked out because I thought I knew how to do everything and would literally skate circles around the other kids. Not because I was that good--I physically skated in circles around the group and didn't listen to the instructor.

On the other hand, my drawing of a woman with a veil in the middle of a happy jungle made it into a museum for a period of time when I was in first grade.

My point is: I no longer play t-ball or have plans to compete in the winter Olympics anytime soon for ice skating, but I still do all of these other creative things. I immerse myself in many other creative forms whether I'm good at it or not because it relaxes me and gets a different set of creative functions working in my brain which refreshes my perspective and I can tackle my writing with a new energy and insight.

So try indulging in other forms of creativity whether it be refinishing furniture, cooking, quilting, knitting, collaging or whatever, it could bring about stress relief and shake up your brain a bit.

Kick Your Writer's Block Out of the House with Blogs

I found something very interesting about my writing process the other day...I found that when I blog I write faster, it's stream-of-conciousness, and I don't worry about what I'm writing I just get it down.
This is NOT how it works when I work in a word processor. When I work in Microsoft Word or other, I stare at a blank page, every word matters and I can't seem to just "let go." It's painful and makes me move slower than I want or need to.

So...my idea is to start a private blog where I can write every day--things I'm working on for people, my creative work, a journal, etc. No one reads it and I don't have to worry about what I'm writing but I still get the feeling of writing a blog post.

Do whatever you have to do to be an effective writer. If you have to trick your mind into thinking it's doing something else, then do it!
I'm constantly playing games with my mind to get it be more efficient and get things done so my stress levels stay low. Which in turn tricks me into believing I have some sort of control over it when really it's as manic as the tweakers who lived next door to me in college and would wake me up with their vacuuming every night. My brain likes to vacuum at inconvenient times too.

Do you trick your mind to make your process easier?

Setting Your Freelance Writing Goals

When it comes to setting freelance writing goals most people have a different process. Some swear by their method, others by theirs and I think all methods are correct depending on YOU.

Here are the two main methods I see most often:

1) Set your goals to be reachable. Some say that setting goals too high will just disappoint you, and sometimes this is the case. Again it depends on how you operate. Do you like slow and steady? Do you like the feeling of achieving goals regularly? Who doesn't? It feels good to keep moving. But some thrive off of hitting those goals from week to week. Does getting those smaller goals out of the way motivate you? This is the one for you then.

2) Set your goals sky high. This is often regarded as the best way to stress yourself out and disappoint. This is the one that works for me though. When I set my goals high I am more likely to throw myself into it fully thus passing any smaller "would-be goals" along the way.
When I set a small goal I will reach it then stop there to reassess whereas when I set them higher it effectively motivates me to plow over those smaller ones to get to the next level. I don't always meet those larger goals but I am also able to feel satisfied with what I did accomplish towards it.

3) A synthesis of both. (duh). This method is highly recommended. I don't follow it well enough, I tend to be too manic but it seems to be the most generally logical way to set goals for most people.
Imagine the biggest thing you want to accomplish with your freelance writing. Then, form a tree that branches down identifying "stepping-stone goals" that could get you there. That way you have varying degrees of difficulty to overcome, can work on the smaller goals needed to get there and still have your eye on the big guy.
This helps to organize your thoughts, your process and what you want from your career. But again, you may prove to be more effective with one of the other two above or your own plan.

It all comes down to knowing how you operate and figuring out what works best for you, these are just simple guidelines to get you started.

In short: Don't listen to what self-help books tell you on HOW to set your goals, figure out what works for YOU.

Networking and Volunteering

Short and sweet:
When I started the volunteer process to teach literacy I went to a workshop/training session on how to do this.

Besides all the invaluable information provided in the workshop, I also came out of there with 3 potential opportunities for freelance work simply by mentioning what I do for a living.

One of the best...an editor for a fairly popular national publication also volunteers with this organization.

The other two opportunities were possible SEO/Copywriting clients with the potential for long-term work.

So get out there and volunteer, you'll meet some awesome people and get your name out there in the community and be able to work your way into opportunities you may not have been able to otherwise.

Tip #2 continued from the last post "What Else Can You do as a Freelance Writer?"

Last time I posted about teaching in general and identifying the needs of a client to gain work, play it to your advantage, etc.

This time I want to write about volunteering.

I recently started the process for volunteering to teach literacy to adults. 1 in 3 people in Houston are functionally illiterate so that's over 1 million people in just my area that can't even read the words we write. This often keeps them from getting better jobs as they have to get jobs that don't require any writing or reading...mostly blue collar jobs like construction where their paycheck comes up short whenever it rains.

I consider myself very lucky to have been born into a family that regards reading and writing as the bread of life which then enabled me to pursue writing and a freelance career. So it feels great to be able to pass on that knowledge that has become so commonplace to me.

Consider volunteering in any capacity. Relate it to your writing if you want, teach creative writing workshops to inner-city kids, volunteer with a literary arts organization in your area or whatnot. You'll help someone else which in turn can help you. Helping others is a great way to spark a different sort of creativity in yourself. It helps keep stress levels low and can kick depression or cabin fever out.

What Else Can You Do As a Freelance Writer?

Well, here we are at the end of September and it's been one whole month since I last posted. I apologize, it's been one hell of a month and I'm not sure where it's gone. I've started teaching an ESL English class, dealt with hurricane Ike, had future in-laws in town and have been catching up on wedding planning that I hadn't done for 2 months and now it's getting to be crunch time.
I've been working very little with my actual writing, and reading as much. I'm not worried about the money I'm losing because I'm making up for it by teaching, I'm more worried about the fact that I'm going days without writing a single word that doesn't have the words "invitation," or "non-traditional wedding" spelled out in italics to make my point heard.

That said let's talk about one of the other things you can do in addition to freelance writing and how they can benefit you.

1) Teach a class of some sort, somewhere. I started teaching ESL because my fiance (I really hate that word for some reason so I most often just say "my dude") has a lot of "english-as-second-language" speakers at his work where he is an engineering supervisor and there had been numerous complaints about the lack of understanding between them and the salesmen so some had suggested replacing them. Now, although it is important they communicate effectively at work I have to say most of them are rockin' out at their job better than native English speakers...so "why get rid of them? Why not FIX the problem?" I suggested. Then I suggested to them that I could teach a class. I drew up a short proposal of what we'd cover, we negotiated a fantastic rate and I was in.

What does this do for me?
a) It provides me with some lovely corporate rates without actually workin' for the man.

b) It gets me out of the house when I normally wouldn't leave

c) I interact with people--which, as an introverted freelancer is sometimes difficult.

d) It lets me switch gears a couple times a week and focus on different things when my brain is getting foggy from looking at the same project for hours.


Identify a need and determine what you can do to help them with it then pitch yourself.
Look for every opportunity and try it out. Nothing has to be permanent. Maybe you even take a short-term, on-site, part-time job doing some writing to get you out and meet people. It's so easy to get into a routine of holing up in your house, but I find that if I do that for too long I start getting depressed and can't focus on my work.

Do you have any auxiliary jobs you do?

Tip #2 in next post...stay tuned...

Many thanks to Wired Magazine for my geekness. Until recently, technology was a thing in my peripheral. I watched tech geeks in the same way I would watch cheerleaders at the highschool pep rallies, rolling my eyes and wishing I had skipped school that day. Although, with tech geeks it was more like rolling my eyes and being thankful I wasn't the one spending $3000 on a computer or trading out my PDA every year. Now it's: More gigs to the iphone? Rock on! (not that I even have an iphone...yet)

Now, however, things have changed as things do and I find myself saving paychecks and skipping lunches to buy these cool toys that are out. Luckily, many of them can be used in some way for my writing and since I make money off of writing it looks like they are attractively tax deductible. If that's not a reason to buy a new toy, I don't know what is.
But there are also a lot of non-geeky things out there for writers that are nearly as fun and cool and less expensive which I'll also post about as we go.

I'm going to start posting reviews, books and tools for writers on this blog since I couldn't seem to keep up with my geek blog. That blog is now deleted and gone for good! (or at least for now).