Writing Without Chaos

In 1996 — imagine the size of the internet then — I taught a free course to writers online. It went really well and some people tell me it set them off on their career. I’ve taught writing for years — marketing, writing, time management, assertiveness for writers.

I’ve made a living writing for years. I’ve taken the last two and a half years to re-evaluate life while I served as mayor for a small Canadian town. It was like a crash course in just about everything from patience to marketing to writing and then some more. As my term draws to a close, I want to shake off the old 20th century approach, sort through the crap about instant riches through PLR or any other online promises you have ever encountered.

What worked for me in designing my courses in the 90s was that online course I gave to 700+ people via email. I figure the world has changed but people haven’t. There are newer, bigger, better, faster, spicier and more energizing venues available in 2009. I want to be part of that.

So this is my idea: I will offer a one week course (for lack of a better term) to people who are interested. No matter what your niche, focus, or intent is. please sign up by emailing ghostwriting4u@gmail.com with Writing Course in the subject line before midnight (EST) Sunday night, June 7, 2009. Pass the word. From June 8, 2009 to June 15, 2009, I will teach this writing course prototype. I have 48 modules and will divide the participants into groups according to their stated interests and provide a coaching course for the week.  

Just send me an email ghostwriting4u@gmail.com with Writing Course in the subject line and away we go!

 

I’ve played around on the internet trying to figure out how people make money selling information — which has become the new phrase for making a living writing. I started hanging around the Warrior’s Forum which is full of brilliant marketers and writers — well some are more brilliant than others. The WF has special offers that members post and I have purchased a few. Some, if not all, were extremely informative.

I saw one of Jason’s special offers — “How to Become a $40 an hour internet ghostwriter in Less Than 7 Days” — and dang it all it worked.  But not for the usual reasons that internet marketing usually promises such as overnight riches, instant fame, making big bucks on autopilot, or reselling old and useless articles. (Actually I just read an article and I use the term loosely that was spun out of private label rights and it made no sense at all. It was stupid, nonsensical, and silly.)

It worked because Jason broke the mold and told the truth about life and writing and earning money. He reveals a lot about himself and his way of life and his ability to focus.  He has a bit of his bio at http://www.instantcontentcreation.com/fladbio.html. I want to make it clear that I have no affiliation with Jason other than buying and reading his inspiring material. I just like his refreshing style of writing and his ability to say “this is who I am.”

I could keep on telling you about Jason but if you read his blog, you will get a sense of how this vegetarian, ex-monk grabbed the brass ring.

Jason’s Blog is at http://48hourreport.com/myblog/

Harlan Ellison says it like it is:

Where do you go when you are out of options? 

One step back. Reconsider your options.

Rinse and repeat. Aha, therein lies the answer. It’s like knitting. You often have to unravel back to the dropped or twisted stitch.

I’ve been writing for years — everything from PLR to letters to plays and novels. I love writing. I’ve written millions of words. But — each year, I had to reinvent the wheel. When I saw my writing bogged down, I did not mean I had writers’ block. I mean my writing just keeps on plugging on and it builds no momentum and rouses no followers. The writing itself is fine, or at least good enough, but I kept inadequate records, and badly filed my stories.

I’ve taught writing. I’ve written novels. The novels linger, all three of them, unedited and unsold. Not that they were rejected, they were never submitted. I kept meaning to get around to the editing process, research the market, find a publisher. But meanwhile another bill would come due and I’d turn to something immediate to make the bucks to pay that bill and this would keep happening and happening.

Yes, I write. Yes, I have a very long writing resume.  But there is no pattern. No growth. Each time I sit down to write anything, it is a fresh start. This piece of writing is not connected to any previous piece of writing. If I just wanted to keep on writing this would be acceptable. After all, I do like writing a great deal. However, if I wanted to make a good living at writing, I needed more.

I needed a plan.

A goal.

Anything. So I opened the closet where I keep my stationery. Hahahaha. One might expect a box of pens and a couple of notepads. Maybe some printer paper. I have stacks of notebooks - spiral bound, hardcover, small, medium, regular, jumbo. Stacks. I picked up a notebook at random and it contained a 1991 outline for a great novel I never wrote.

And what was worse — I do most of my writing on the computer. So what is with all this paper?

Confession Time

The complete irony of all this was that I had created an alternate job for myself as the Chaos Queen. People would hire me to declutter their homes. When I came to the internet and thought, well I can do something here in the information world.

Dither. Dither and dither some more. What to do. Sometime I’ll tell you more about some of the decisions I made.

Nothing is lost and in the whole experience I learned an awful lot about so many things. And then it came to me — what if the Chaos Queen organized my writing life. So I separated the two halves of my being and since my birthday in April, the Chaos Queen has been running my life. And my writing.

Follow this blog if you too are having difficulty growing a writing business. Remember just because you love writing doesn’t mean you can’t make a lot of cash at it.