20 Minutes to Write

"When we talk about practicing our creativity, many of us think we will do it when we have "enough" time. By that, we mean some vast savannah of unclaimed time -- something we're not very likely to get. We must learn to work with the time we've actually got. Almost anyone can find 20 minutes -- it's enough to start." - Julia Cameron

Steadily Building A Writing Career

I just read a Chinese Proverb that I thought would be good to share with fellow writers, especially moms who might think that the busyness of daily life will keep them from building a writing career:

"Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid of standing still."

If there's one thing that I've learned as a writer mama, it's that life never really slows down and presents the perfect opportunity to begin writing -- you have to make a conscious effort to build your writing career, one step at a time.

Sometimes - especially in the beginning - it can be really discouraging to see what a slow process it is. But, from a different perspective, it's pretty cool that you can actually create a lucrative and fulfilling career doing exactly what you love by simply taking small, steady steps forward.

As long as you set your goals and keep working towards them, you will make progress. Instead of becoming discouraged by the slow process, try to remind yourself that you are succeeding in your endeavor, and that the only way to fail is by giving up and doing nothing. So keep taking those small, steady steps towards your goals and amaze yourself with where you end up!

Balancing Family and Writing Career

I know I've told you before that this is definitely the toughest pregnancy I've experienced so far, but the amazing thing is that I've managed to really advance my writing career during this difficult pregnancy. I now go to three to four doctor appointments weekly, and take care of two toddlers, and write -- all while feeling extremely tired and pretty crappy physically (because of this high-risk pregnancy and the medications that my doc has me taking). One word comes to mind: BUSY.

There was a time in my life when I would have said that just making it through these nine months with my sanity intact would have been a big enough feat on its own, much less actually setting and reaching some lofty (for me, at least) writing goals. So I have to say that I am actually quite proud of myself and very grateful for having come to the understanding that I am really capable of doing quite a lot if I set my mind to it, busy or not.

In fact, I think that might be one of the most important things I've been able to do -- realize what is and is not a priority in my life, and then plan - and act - accordingly.

In my case, my family takes precedence over everything. While writing is important to me, it still comes second on the list of priorities. Knowing this, I am able to schedule my days so that I can be a good mother to my kids, spend quality time with hubby, and still have time to write. Granted, I don't always have as much writing time as I would like, but I make it work. And, for me, the pressure of time limitations works a lot better than self-imposed deadlines, so I've managed to remain quite productive.

Unfortunately, this means that I have to be extremely selective with how I use my time. For example, I often find myself in a situation where I have to choose between drafting an article or sending out a pitch versus writing a blog post. Nine times out of ten, I write the article or pitch letter. But it can be disappointing having to do that because I really enjoy blogging.

My goal here isn't to complain, but rather to show that you really do have options -- you can choose to have a writing career while raising kids. And succeed at both. It's a choice. Everyday you make little choices that end up dictating the life that you lead. Those choices reveal what's most important to you, and have a large influence on the person you are and the person you are becoming. These choices allow you to develop and share little bits of yourself with your family, friends, editors, readers, etc.

In a nutshell, I am busy. A busy mom. A busy writer. A busy wife. A busy preggo woman. Would I prefer to be less busy? No way! Because that would mean that I was giving up something that I love.

So are you a busy writer? And would you change anything?

The First Step to a Writing Career

Let me start by saying that I hadn't planned on posting two quotes in a row, but I read this today and just thought it was really relevant to my blog, especially considering my title -- Baby Steps.


“The grace to be a beginner is always the best prayer for an artist. The beginner’s humility and openness lead to exploration. Exploration leads to accomplishment. All of it begins at the beginning, with the first small and scary step.”

-Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way


Yesterday, I was thinking about how far I have come in creating my writing career, and it struck me that I am so happy that I had the guts to take that first step. Without doing that, I would still just be dreaming about the day when I would be "a real writer" instead of reaping the benefits of the writer's life.

So if you want to make a living as a writer, just take the first step...and before you know it, that first step of setting out on the path to becoming a writer will lead you closer and closer to the realization of your writing goals.

Importance of Daily Writing

"It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by. How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment? For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone. That is where the writer scores over his fellows: he catches the changes of his mind on the hop." ~Vita Sackville-West

Writing Query Letters

I know, I know - I disappeared again. You're probably not surprised anymore, though, are you?

Well, if you're not getting sick of my occasional updates on the life of this particular writer mama, then please read on and don't give up on me yet. I promise that I will soon gain some consistency with blogging. It just might take a little while.

So where have I been?

Well, let me just say that this is definitely my most difficult pregnancy. You see, in addition to feeling just plain miserable due to all the medications I am taking every day, I also have to go to at least two doctor appointments every week. With two toddlers at home, it's been quite difficult to procure babysitters to fill in for me while I attend all of these appointments. Not to mention, I'm shelling out cash to cover my ever-rising co-pay for each appointment. However, I again must say how grateful I am that the baby seems to be developing just fine and everything is basically going pretty well. If the baby does not come sooner, I am scheduled for delivery on August 30th, so the end is in sight.

In addition, I have been taking Christina Katz's writing class, Pitching Practice, which has been a real learning process. In this six-week class, you write a query letter each week, which she reads and comments on (also providing two detailed critiques in Weeks 3 and 6), and you are given weekly workbooks to go through as well. I just turned in my Week 5 work, and feel like this class is a tough workout, but totally worth the cost and time-investment. In fact, I just wish that I had more time to spend on it, and I really don't want it to end anytime soon because I feel like I am finally starting to make some great strides.

Working on writing a query letter each week has been really good practice for me in sticking to a deadline. You see, when it comes to assigned articles and writing projects, I always turn them in early. But when it comes to marketing, it's much harder for me to stick to my self-imposed deadlines. I guess this is where I can see the importance of being disciplined if one wants to maintain a successful freelance writing business.

Am I the only one who has a hard time with staying on top of marketing? Can you offer me any insights or helpful advice for tackling this in a productive and efficient manner?

Business Cards for Writers

Hope you had a wonderful, long, relaxing weekend!

I certainly did. While I had originally intended to finish up some writing projects over the long weekend, I ended up just enjoying the time with my family. Taking the weekend off actually proved beneficial in more ways than one: I was able to have some real quality time with hubby and the kids AND came up with numerous ideas for query letters and fillers. Not to mention the fact that I caught up on some much-needed sleep and now feel ten times more refreshed.

Writing projects have been pretty steady for me lately, which is great. The only downside of it is that I am never able to get everything on my "To Do" list done because new projects pop up before I finish the old ones - but I guess that's really nothing to complain about. In fact, I am really grateful to have reached this point in my writing career.

Which brings me to my question: do you think it's important/necessary for writers to have business cards?

I have been in several situations recently where it would have been quite beneficial to have had some business cards for my freelance writing business on hand, but instead had to scribble out my website address on a piece of paper because I had put off designing and purchasing some cards for myself. After giving this some thought, I figured that it would be much more professional to have a business card on hand next time someone asked for information regarding my writing services. So I finally took the plunge and ordered my business cards tonight. And if I do say so myself, they look pretty darn good! I will try to post a pic when they arrive so that you can see firsthand.

But I guess that I just got side-tracked from my question. So, I will ask again: do you have business cards for your freelance writing business? If so, have they proved helpful in marketing your business?