Is your writing causing you stress? In this article, we'll work on eliminating that stress, and helping you to change the way you think about your writing.
Ultimately, stress is always in your own mind; change the way you think, and no matter how busy you get, you'll be stress-free.
Let's look at three steps you can take to avoid feeling stressed about your writing career.
It's vital that you control stress; or you'll face burn out. Burn out - total exhaustion and the inability to write - kills many promising writing careers stone dead. So learning how to control stress is vital.
Follow these three steps, to enjoy writing and building your career, without stress... but with a great deal of excitement:
1. Get a Plan for the Next Six to 12 Months of Your Writing Career
I chat with writers every day, and the lack of a plan is the primary reason writers experience stress. If you take on any and every writing job you can find, without knowing how a particular job fits into your plan, you'll be stressed.
When you create a plan, and stick to it; then you can laugh at stress because you can happily say "No" to writing offers which don't fit into your plan.
Your plan starts with some goals. Write down a couple of goals for your writing, with the deadline 12 months from now.
For example, one goal could be to make $80,000 from your writing within 12 months. So, how would you go about that? Brainstorm ideas, and develop those ideas into a plan.
2. Learn to Say No
Are you too scared to say No! to writing projects for fear you won't get others? This is a common fear of many freelancers, and it stems from not knowing the value of your skills.
Please realize that your writing skills have immense value to others. Indeed, entire hundred-thousand and million-dollar projects may rest on your skills. If you can write, you're worth much more than you think.
You can eliminate this "I'll never get another writing job" fear by taking a proactive role developing your own writing jobs, because the best writing jobs are never advertised.
Learn how to write proposals. Then propose projects to companies with which you'd like to work.
One freelancer I know upped his income from $50,000 to $250,000 in one year when he wrote several proposals for a large company. They were so impressed with his ideas that they hired him as their marketing manager for a new division.
When you become proactive, you never know where a few simple actions will lead you.
3. Charge More
Got ten writing jobs to complete this week? You're not charging enough.
If you're a new freelance writer, take several jobs to build your portfolio, without worrying about the fees you're paid. Get a testimonial from every client.
From then on, move your fees upward with each job you take.
Within a few months, you'll be in the happy position of being able to cherry-pick your jobs, and will only take those jobs which you know you'll enjoy - loving what you do is the perk of being a freelancer.
Big tip: as you move up the fee scale, your clients are easier to work with; they know the value of good writing from a dependable writer, and are willing to pay for that value.
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