It is not uncommon for writers to feel confident when they have finished one of their quality works-of-art articles. Then, at times when income is slow and gigs are few, they may wane a bit in the area of confidence.
If you are a writer and this is not your experience, consider yourself fortunate. You are there!
Writing Confidence
For some writers, like me, words just flow. I don’t generally have any trouble writing something. I sit down with the laptop and it just happens.
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For other writers, it can come easy on some days and not so much on other days.
My husband says I fit in the “power writer” group, with my inability not to have words to write (type). However, I am only one type of writer. Just because you may not be a power writer does not mean that you are not a writer. You have other skills which pertain to your writing talent!
No matter which type you are, you are normal. Remember that!
And, sometimes you can feel like your writing ability has a leak or is spilling out where it isn’t supposed to be spilling. That is normal, too. Go with it! Make it into something!
Find where you are already confident and go with that. Then, when you are ready to make money, offer those services. This means that you need to identify your best skills as a writer.
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Step 1: Identify Your Writing Skills
Remember we mentioned confidence? If we don’t have writing confidence, we want to develop it. If we have it, we want to build on it and use it to our advantage when it comes to making money writing.
So, your first exercise is to write down all of the writing skills you have. For example, it could be that you are excellent at freestyle writing. Maybe you are a born journalist. Maybe you excel at research and summarizing that it an article (not to be confused with academic writing). Whatever your skill, write it down with your notes.
Don’t be afraid to research your skill online to understand it more. Jot down some notes on what you have learned about your writing skill(s).
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Step 2: Enhance Your Skills
Read about how to write and about writing in general. You can pick up some books online or you can even read some blogs about it.
You might even want to expand your skills by taking a few courses on writing.
Don’t forget about joining some groups about writing. I started a community called “For the Love of Writing (and Publishing)” on the Google platform.
Step 3: Write, Write, Write, and Write Some More
Another recommended exercise is to write and write and write. Then, when you are done with that, write some more!
If you are already a freestyle writer, you probably do this. But, even if you are not, it is an excellent exercise to get your juices flowing. It also gives you the practice.
According to Malcolm Gladwell, in his famous book, Outliers, it takes 10,000 hours of doing something to become truly good at it. Now, some have refuted that, but in my experience, he isn’t necessarily entirely wrong. You can take it or leave it, but some practice is good for you 🙂
Step 4: Think Positively About Yourself / Adjust Your Mindset
Think positively about yourself. If you are not already doing that, your clients will catch it (even subconsciously) and it will affect how they view you.
So, repeat positive affirmations to yourself daily, to help you think good things about yourself. One exercise that helps me is the 5 Successes Per Day, which I wrote about on PositivePersistence.com.
Also, realize that with each new writing project, you have an opportunity to grow and learn new things. It may be a challenge, but it is a positive challenge, with an opportunity to prove yourself, as well as improve yourself!
Grow Your Business as You Move Along Your Journey
You may want to start out with reduced rates to get some clients, but don’t go too low. Also, be sure to increase your rates as you bring in new clients. After all, you are gaining more experience and deserve to be paid such, eh?
Check out what Carol Tice has to say in her article The Going Rate for Freelance Writing — Revealed!.
Step 5: Celebrate Success
Celebrate your success. Even with the most difficult (even mean) clients, when you get to the other side, there is that feeling of finality and success! Celebrate it! Let your confidence grow and encourage your confidence to grow!
If you need to, write out positive affirmations to remind yourself that you are growing! Look at step four 🙂
Also, realize that not every client is going to realize how wonderful you are at writing. Shake it off and move on to the next client. Unfortunately, there are a lot of bully clients, non-responding clients, and clients that want high-quality writing for dirt cheap prices. Don’t lower yourself. Walk away and find the true clients that understand your worth!
In Summary
Ok, here are the steps, again, as a summary 🙂
- Identify Your Writing Skills
- Enhance Your Skills
- Write, Write, Write, and Write Some More
- Think Positively About Yourself / Adjust Your Mindset
- Celebrate Success
Don’t forget that final step. Pat yourself on the back. Know that you did well! You are doing well!