Author Archive
Written on December 8, 2009 by Will Irvin
Filed Under: Working To Live
Winston Churchill gave what is quite possibly one of the shortest, but yet most famous commencement speeches at a graduation ceremony. It consisted of only five words…”Never, never, never give up”. The point of the brief speech is that you have dreams, and to let them fall by the wayside is foolish and unfair to yourself. I have become discouraged a lot recently because some of my writing efforts have not met the success I had hoped for them. Being a writer and an author is something that has always been a dream of mine…I just need to take all the right steps to reach out and grab it.
Know Your Goal
Before you can reach a goal, you need to have a goal. It is similar to getting in your car and driving, and not having any idea what your destination is. Being a writer and a published author have been dreams of mine for a long time. However, the dream was not well-defined until very recently. I now realize that I want to be a successful, oft-read writer, and an author whose books sell enough for a small amount of renown (and a decent living to boot).
Have A Plan
A goal without a plan is just a dream. I believe I wrote an article on the subject not too long ago. Just like when you are driving in your car, once you have a destination in mind, you have to map out the route to get there. At first, it doesn’t have to be the best route, as long as it gets you to your destination. Over time, you will hone your plan so that it works better, costs less of your time, makes you more money, and allows you more freedom to enjoy life.
Write It All Down
I am writing this as I say to myself…”Self, why are you writing this paragraph, all the while knowing that you have not followed the advice contained herein?”. Yes, I sometimes refer to myself as “Self” (not really, but I digress). I am going to write it down after I finish this article. It could happen. Seriously, that is the next task I will complete, before starting on another article. Write down your goal and your plan. Be as specific as you like, and be honest. My goal may sound self-serving, but guess what…it is. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be successful and well-known. This may or may not be something that is part of your personal goal, but if it is, be honest about it. If that’s what you require to be happy, then that’s what you must have to be happy. The point is that if it is written down where you can see it, every day, you will be reminded of what it is your working for.
We all have goals and dreams. Why should we be deprived of them? You only get one shot at this life, so you may as well make the most of it. Know your goal, and have a plan to get there. Otherwise, you are just treading water and wasting time. Write it all down so you will be reminded daily of your goal. Your dreams are out there. You just have to make the right turns to get to them.
Never, never, never give up.
Written on December 7, 2009 by Will Irvin
Filed Under: Working To Live
As I continue to get used to my new home, and attempt to finish unpacking (shouldn’t take more than another month or two), I continue to struggle with the motivation to sit down and write like I should. I can’t even seem to force myself to do the “15-minute writing challenge” because I know that I won’t just sit down and write for fifteen minutes. I guess it sounds like I’m afraid of getting a little work done, and in a manner of speaking it is. I know that a writing binge is set off each time I sit down at the keyboard, and the thoughts keep flowing, and before I know it, two hours have gone by, and none of the things I intended to do on a particular day, got done on that day. So, I guess I’m not afraid of getting a little work done…I’m afraid of getting a LOT of work done, just not the work I intended to do that day. So today, I decided to reset my priorities a bit, and just sit down and write a bit. The moral of the story is that sometimes you just have to make yourself do the things that you’d rather not do, whether your reasons for doing so are good or bad.
They Aren’t Just Going Away
The funny thing about doing things that need to be done is that they don’t cease needing to be done just because you don’t feel like doing them. They are still staring you in your face at the end of the day, not done, and just waiting to be a distraction for you until tomorrow. I am a writer by trade, and even the “greenest” writers know that you have to work on your craft every day. So, in order to take my writing career to the next level, I have to work at it daily, and not let other things distract me from it. That was kinda the entire motivation behind moving, wasn’t it? Yes, I believe it was.
Set Up a Schedule
In order to get myself back on track, I self-imposed deadlines on myself to force myself to create so much new content by certain dates. More experienced writers will likely read that and wonder to themselves why I didn’t figure this out long ago, but nevertheless, I am just now seeing the importance of this. My deadlines are Mondays and Thursdays. I have until Monday to get X number of articles written, and I have until Thursday to get X number more written. Once I get back on schedule, I may reduce my deadlines to once a week, but that remains to be seen. I certainly did not want to give myself a daily deadline, so that I can play catch up before a deadline if the need arises. It’s also a bit less distracting having fewer deadlines during the week.
Set Reasonable Goals
Don’t set yourself up for failure. It’s not doing anyone any good, least of all yourself, if you set deadlines that you are unlikely to be able to meet. Start out slow. Assign yourself slightly less work that you think you should be doing, and slowly build up over time. Increase your workload in small increments, but do it frequently, and before you know it, you will be comfortably producing more work than you think you should.
Not Just For Writers
This isn’t just something that works for writing, or other creative type of work. Regardless of your discipline, and especially if you are working from home or freelancing, you have to hone your craft and discpline yourself to keep working at it. I’m not saying at all that you should work 18 hours a day to hone your skills (see previous section), but it can be a valuable tool in helping you develop a rhythm to your work day.
It’s so easy to find distractions from doing the things you should be doing. However, they are not going away. They still need to be done, whether you want to or not. Set up a schedule, with reasonable goals to be met by clearly defined deadlines, and you will develop a rhythm of working that will allow you to get the best, most work done each day and still have plenty of time to enjoy your life.
Written on November 19, 2009 by Will Irvin
Filed Under: Working To Live
As the old Catch-22 goes, “I can’t get a job without experience, but how will I gain experience without a job?” It’s a conundrum as old as time itself, but there are some ways to get experience, particularly as a freelance writer, that don’t require you to actually get hired by someone first. Read More
Written on November 18, 2009 by Will Irvin
Filed Under: Working To Live
One of the main drawbacks of being a freelancer or independent contractor is the fact that you often have to work many hours, and constantly have to look for new work, in order to keep your bills paid. This is what has prompted me to look into other potential streams of income, commonly referred to as residual income, which is basically money that you make that you are not directly doing anything for at the point of sale. Read More
Written on November 17, 2009 by Will Irvin
Filed Under: Working To Live
You know the old expression about the “best laid plans of mice and men…”? Well, sometimes a plan doesn’t work out just quite the way you envisioned, and you have to drop back and punt (pardon the sports analogy…it is football season, after all). After a year of living in a “fixer-upper” and attempting to fix it up while also pursuing my career in writing, I have decided that each was distracting me from the other, so I decided that one of them had to go. So, I have moved into a house that is not in dire need of repair, so I can focus more on my writing for a while. Read More
Written on October 22, 2009 by Will Irvin
Filed Under: Job Hunting
I had planned to take a look at places to look for jobs in several different areas, but I quickly found that there are many places to look in each job field, so I am going to focus today on freelance writing jobs, and where to find them. I had also planned to have this to you on Tuesday, but I discovered that I could not do justice to them all in such a short time. Friday, I will look at IT-related jobs, and the best places to find jobs in that area. I have separated this list into three categories: Free Job Leads, Subscription Services, and Bid Sites. Naturally, the free job boards should be your first stop, but some of the subscription-based and bid sites can yield some good gigs. Read More
Written on October 19, 2009 by Will Irvin
Filed Under: Working To Live
I’ve been away for a while. Despite one’s best intentions, an illness in the family seems to take up more of your time than you think it will. Nevertheless, you have to have your priorities straight, so, I’ve been unable to work much over the last couple of weeks.
All that having been said, I’ve had a lot of time to think about the direction of this blog, and Jimmy and I have decided to change the focus of the site a bit, at least from the standpoint of job postings. Starting this Friday, we will be posting some of the best job postings we have found during the week, and the remainder of the days of the week will be devoted to bringing you information pertinent to working to live. I will continue to write about the different ways you can transform your mindset from a “live to work” mindset to a “work to live” mindset, while Jimmy will focus more on financial advice, to help you manage your money and still maintain the lifestyle you have chosen.
Tomorrow, I will bring you an updated list of places to look for job postings, both in the freelance writing area, and in the area of IT-type jobs. Until then, happy hunting!
Will
Written on October 8, 2009 by Will Irvin
Filed Under: Job Hunting
Here are the jobs for October 8th 2009. Read More
Written on October 6, 2009 by Will Irvin
Filed Under: Job Hunting
I’m back home again, at least for a few days. I have a fresh batch of job leads for you today, so dig in. Read More
Written on October 2, 2009 by Will Irvin
Filed Under: Job Hunting, Uncategorized
The weekend is almost here, so here’s your last batch of freelance writing jobs for the week. Please remember to take the weekend off from job searching, and have some fun. Read More