Essential Rules for Living Life as a Writer

Essential Rules for Living Life as a WriterEssential Rules for Living Life as a WriterOver the years, this Book Publishing Expert has listened to, read about, and polled many successful authors about their writerly habits and their best advice to their fellow writers. Heres a roll-up of some of the core lessons from the pros. Professional Authors Write a Lot If you want to be a writer, you need to develop disciplined writing habits. Even if you have another day job, if you want to be a writer then writing is your job. If you havent written today, you havent done your job. Researching, reading about writing, talking about writing - all nice and maybe even necessary. But ansicht are no substitute for getting the writing done. Healthy Professional Writers Move Around a Lot Admittedly, this is advice from health advocates more than writers, but writers need to hear it. Writers jobs are at the computer, sitting for long stretches of time - which, studies show, is really, really bad for your body and your health. There is a lot of very lovely advice about other aspects of the writing profession, but if youre in a hospital, you wont be able to worry about those. To offset the dangers of a sitting profession, a couple of big pushes at the gym during the week arent nearly as effective as raising the general activity level during each and every day. So between chapters get up and get moving around as much as possible. Some writers set timers and make it a point to get up and walk around for a few minutes whenever it goes off. Dan Brown (The DaVinci Code) is reported to do calisthenics periodically during the day. Sane Writers Ignore the Critics and (Especially) the Trolls Literary critics. Reviewers. Your Aunt Mabel. If you get a bad review, give yourself a set amount of time hours to be upset and/or mad, then get over it. You have work to do and if you let a bad review or a careless comment derail you from your writing job, then the lousy critics win. A sp ecial note on Internet haters and social media trolls Most of these are not legitimate critics, but nasty internet folks whose only goal is to create controversy because it leads to them increasing their pageviews - the only thing they care about. The only way to beat them is to ignore them and let the noise die down - which it will when they move onto their next undeserving victims. Good Writers Read a Lot Its what made you want to be a writer in the first place, no? If you got away from avid readering, start carving out some time from Candy Crush Saga and get back to the books. Read in the genre youre writing, and read more broadly. Read for research and read just for the fun of it. Reading will make you a better writer and it will make you more interesting to talk to at cocktail parties... and on Facebook. Lifelong Writers Find Their Own Writerly Paths and Their Own Voices No matter how established the author, agent or editor giving you advice, know that your path will be yours alone. Respect your own writers process - no matter how different from others. Your brain works the way it works and its what makes you unique. The same goes for your writerly voice. Respect the composite of your DNA and hopes and dreams and experiences and talent and skill - they, too, make you unique. Remember that your job is to show the world something it didnt know it needed. Get going.

The Biggest Secret to Getting What You Want at Work

The Biggest Secret to Getting What You Want at WorkThe Biggest Secret to Getting What You Want at WorkWhen I was younger, I had a practice of going up to food trucks toward the end of the day and asking if they had any leftover food I could eat- completely for free. It initially started because I was a struggling 20-something New Yorker on a tight budget, but I ended up noticing I was also curious to see what would happen- if only I asked. Sometimes, of course, I got nopes, but more often than youd think, the chef would say, Sure, I have to get rid of this at the end of the day, anyway, and share a small snack or pile me a plate of delicious food. I didnt fully realize at the time how much those silly experiences were preparing me for what I would need to be able to do in business. So often in my day-to-day as a CEO, there are things that my company doesnt just want, but needs, to move forward- and other people or organizations are the key to getting it. By knowing how to not just as k, but to ask in a persuasive way, Ive been able to get publicity for a fledgling product, food for a cash-strapped organizations launch party, and even free conference passes for early Muse employees.Even if youre not running a business, you need things from other people in order to succeed. You might need a professional contact to give you an intro at your dream company. You might need the expertise of someone in the next department over to get a project done. You might need a vendor to cut you a deal in order to stay within budget. You get the picture- learning how to be persuasive, particularly in a professional context, is a skill that pays dividends over and over.So how do you do it? There are a lot of different strategies here, but my specialty is sealing deals by finding ways for both parties to get something they want, even if those two items arent directly related. For example, lets say you want some new software for your team at work, but you cant afford the price tag. In stead of just asking if the company can cut you a deal- or assuming theyll say no and throwing in the towel- consider whether theres something you can provide in return. If its a small company, maybe theyd trade a testimonial and some social media promotion about their product by your company in exchange for a discount. Similarly, if you need a colleague to put in extra hours to help you with a project, you could offer up your expertise for a work swap.You dont even always have to give something away to create a win-win deal. Sometimes, simply by helping you, other parties are helping themselves. Maybe by helping you with your project, your colleague will get more visibility in front of higher-ups or experience in an area of the business that theyd been curious about. Or maybe by discounting your services to get your company on board, your vendor would have its first client in your region. And those food truck vendors? Well, the food they gave me resulted in less they had to take ho me or throw away at the end of the day. And many of them were bored and happy to have someone to chat with for a while. If you can find that value-add and demonstrate it to other people- either explicitly or subtly, depending on the circumstances- theyre much more likely to be willing to want to help you.At the end of the day, remember youre talking to another human being. Yes, your deal may be with Forbes or you may be trying to sell into Facebook. But ultimately, its another person across the table- someone with his or her own personality, preferences, and goals. The more you treat your contact like a human- and understand what he or she wants- the more likely you are to get what you want as well.This article was sponsored by University of Phoenix. Im a compensated contributor, but the thoughts and ideas are my own.Photo of women talking courtesy of Shutterstock.

10 of the Highest-Paying Work-from-Home Jobs [Infographic]

10 of the Highest-Paying Work-from-Home Jobs Infographic10 of the Highest-Paying Work-from-Home Jobs InfographicWorking from home has become the new norm for many of todays workers. Increased satisfaction and a boost in productivity are just two of the potential benefits of logging hours from your couch. But these benefits arent necessarily a trade-off for lower compensation as some may believe. Check out FlexJobs infographic on 10 of the Highest Paying Work-from-Home Jobs, which highlights a number of six-figure (and almost-six-figure) remote-working gigs in a range of industries.This infographic was created by FlexJobs.