One of the things I have been looking at doing for a while now is making my writing important. It has always been my dream to write books. It is something that I have always wanted to do. Why, haven’t I done it? I never made my writing important enough. There have been times where I have made my writing important and the results have been amazing.
When I wrote my book on suicide it was the most important thing to me at the time. The results were clear to see. My book was successful and I felt amazing. I made my writing important at that time. I held interviews with local newspapers. I spent time and energy on marketing. I made my writing important. I know I have repeated that sentence a few times now but, I really can’t stress it enough. I was dedicated. I was focused. I was motivated. I was also determined to write. This made all the difference.
Is Your Writing Important?
In my normal, everyday, life I write for clients. Their articles, blog posts, and books are important. They pay my bills. They are where my focus lies. My own writing sits on my laptop unopened. My own writing doesn’t pay my bills. It brings me great joy when I find the time to do it, but it doesn’t pay my bills.
Working with a life coach has made me realise that I am not making my writing important. I am not devoting time to it. I am treating it like a hobby and something that I have to find time to do. 9 times out of 10, I don’t find the time to do it. My life coach suggested a challenge. I was to challenge myself to write every day but, it had to be my own writing and not client work. It didn’t matter if it was just two sentences once I wrote something every day. I decided that my challenge would be to post on my blog each day. So far I have been doing well. I did miss two days last week because it was the end of the month and client work and invoicing took preference. I know that I shouldn’t have allowed this to happen and that even a small blog post would have kept me on target. Unfortunately for me, I did let it happen. I do realise my mistake though.
It is only a simple challenge but, it is also a great eye opener. It has made me see how much I love writing and how much I have missed it. I love allowing my own words to take over. I love just sitting here and writing about what I want to write about. I don’t have to follow any guidelines. I don’t have to worry about keyword placement. I don’t have to spend hours researching my subject. All I have to do is sit here and write. It really is so refreshing and if I inspire or help anyone along the way, that is a bonus. I have really enjoyed the comments and shares that my posts are receiving too.
What I have learned is that when I make my writing important, I really enjoy it. I experience pride in my work. I love just sitting and letting the words flow. I love sharing any information that I might have. Most of all, I love just being able to be me and write what I want to write.
Making Your Writing Important
What this blogging challenge has thought me, is that when I make my writing important I get results. I guess it is like most things in life, if we want to be good at something we devote time to it. We practice. We learn as much as we can, and we do. For me, it has been the complete opposite. I have given flashes of time to my writing. Starting things but never finishing them. I have put work commitments first. I haven’t practiced or devoted the resources that I need to for success.
No matter what skill we are born with, we need to practice and hone it to perfection. Writing is no different. Just as you would study to become an architect, you have to study writing too. You have to be the best that you can be. I wasn’t doing this. Yes I did do a college course on freelance journalism, but I didn’t do anything with it. I didn’t utilise the skills I learned to further my career. Now is a time for change. Now it is time to make my writing important.
I made a decision over the weekend to fight for my dream. I made a decision to write. To help with this I joined a new writing program. It’s called Story PenPal. It is founded by Dr. John Yeoman, a British writer. It is a brand new program and it does cost money. John also runs Writer’s Village which is another very successful writers group. I decided to pay for a writers group because I wanted to make my writing important. I know that if I am paying for something I will value it more. I have signed up with free writing groups before and never took them seriously. Now that I am paying for something, I know that I will take it seriously. I also know that only those who take their writing seriously will be part of the group.
I am hoping that by joining the group I will be telling myself that my writing is important and I will also get the opportunity to learn from some amazing writers too. Like everyone else, I can improve my writing skills and learn more, and this is what I want to do. I want to succeed. I want to become a best-selling author, and in order to do this I have to make my writing important.
What about you? How do you make your writing important?
Please do share any advice or ideas that you have. I love reading your feedback.
Until next time,
Amanda
Amanda J Evans is an award-winning Irish author and writing coach. Amanda writes adult romance that often crosses into paranormal and fantasy. Growing up with heroes like Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones, her stories centre on good versus evil with a splice of love and magic thrown in too. Her books have all won awards and her novella, Hear Me Cry, won the Book of the Year Award at the Dublin Writers Conference 2018. Amanda is also the author of Surviving Suicide: A Memoir from Those Death Left Behind, published in 2012.
Fantastic. Always make your writing important Amanda. You are such a wonderful writer. I think this post will touch a great many would be writer’s. xx
Thanks Wendy. I am beginning to realise the importance of making your dreams a priority and I plan on going for them.