Three Pieces of Advice for Struggling Writers (How To Take Advantage inThis Stage In Your Career)
Failing is hard. Failing as a creative is harder.
When you feel that your talent isn’t good enough, you’re low.
I started my writing business four years ago and started to take it very seriously 15 months ago. The first few months were really painful.
I couldn’t land clients.
The clients I did land paid me close to nothing.
I was failing as a writer. I doubted my ability to succeed. I questioned if I was making a mistake by trying to be successful in a creative field.
Yet, being at my lowest point is the reason I’ve found success now.I’m closing in on one million Quora views. I’ve worked with over 100 entrepreneurs to ghostwrite articles and podcast show notes for them. I’m working closely withtwo podcasts in the iTunes Top Charts to help with the backend and growth of their businesses.
All of this is a direct result of being so low, I had nothing left to fear. When you’ve rationed out two meals a day for yourself, are living in the cheapest accommodation you can find with some (very odd) strangers and don’t have the funds to go or do anything, you’re in the perfect position.
Being at my lowest point as a writer forced me to:
Write seven days a week
Explore different topics to write about, since I couldn’t say no to any job being offered to me
Learn who to say yes to and who to say no to
Because I was writing so often, my writing started to become better and better, and quickly. I had the time to experiment with my words and find the best way to structure them for the most impact.
By writing about different topics, I started to hone in on what I loved to write about, and was best at writing. This is how I started to connect with entrepreneurs.
Being forced to say yes to each client taught me the different types of people looking for writers. I’m now savvy in knowing who will be a great client and who will take advantage of me.
If you’re a struggling writer, here is my advice:
- Write at least three articles per day. These can be all client articles, your articles or a mix of the two. If they are your articles, publish them to Quora and Medium-no excuses. You must get feedback on your writing to improve it.
- Be observant of the work that excites you and the work that you dread completing. Start to figure out where to find more of the work that excites you and less of the work that sucks.
- Remember the cues of a bad client and find the patterns of their behavior that you can identify early on in your communication. Once you learn the cues, you can spot them from a mile away.
Failing at your creative skillset, such as writing, is hard. It’s a difficult time that I would never want to go back to. Yet, I can look at that time with a lot of respect and gratitude. That hardship taught me how to be a great writer, showed me what I wanted to write about and gave me a clear definition of who I want to work with.
As a writer, my lowest point has brought me the largest reward.
“If there is no struggle,
there is no progress.”
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I am a ghostwriter for entrepreneurs and I write podcast show notes for iTunes Top Chart Podcasts.
Interested in working together? Email: Eva@Eva-Gutierrez.com with subject line [YOUR NAME].
