For the past 8 weeks, before doing anything else in my day, I wake up, sit at my kitchen table, and write for 3 full pages.
My fiancé got me the book The Artist’s Way for my birthday. Admittedly, I’ve yet to crack it open, but I was intrigued by its companion piece: a book specifically designed to be used for the practice of morning pages.
What are morning pages? Perfected by Julia Cameron, it is the practice of getting up every morning and churning out 3 pages of writing. The idea is that you would purge all the unhealthy energy, thoughts and feelings onto these three pages so that when you were ready to actually write, all that remained would be quality creative potential to flow onto the page.
These morning pages act as a sort of journal for ‘word vomit’ – they are not intended for anyone’s eyes, including your own; they are meant as a tool to maintain consistency and to clear the way for a writer to create without impinging upon themselves.
I initially bristled at the thought of the morning pages. I am a person that dislikes writing exercises where the final product doesn’t involve something I can share or publish. It’s one of the reason I dislike “prompts” – why waste time on this prefabricated idea? I should be expanding on my own ideas, not pulling interesting threads from someone else’s thought process.
I understand I speak for myself; there are many writers who swear by prompts and would just as soon defend the practice of writing morning pages. And while I can’t see myself continuing this devotion beyond the required 12 weeks, I’ve gained the utmost respect for its usage.
Even if it’s trite, even if it’s just pages upon pages of rambling garbage, the fact is that I’ve been writing every day since I started the morning pages.
One of the biggest things I promote to aspiring writers is the importance of consistency.
When I wrote fanfiction, I used to write in spurts; I would churn out 3 chapters in under a week, then I would sit on a story for a couple of years, updating sporadically, or whenever I felt “inspired”.
Not only was this a horrible practice for building an audience (who’s going to wait 2 years for you to update your story?!), but it was a terrible habit that kept me firmly situated as an amateur writer.
I can now attest that the only way to excel, the only way to get better is to BE CONSISTENT.
This may mean writing every day. I like to use the analogy of working out to achieve a certain physique. If you wanna get as “swole, tan and juicy AF”….well, consult RobertFrank615’s Youtube channel because you’re barking up the wrong tree.
But if you want to tone up your arms and gain some muscle definition, you’re much more likely to achieve results if you go to the gym every day and spend 30-45 minutes weight training than to go to the gym 1-2 times a month and crank out a marathon 3-hour lift session.
You don’t have to spend your life in the gym, or hours on writing. The important thing is that you SHOW UP, be it a 30-minute writing sprint, or just 100 words typed. At least you’re flexing your creative muscles.
So here are some actionable ways you can stop treating your passion as a hobby and turn it into a full-fledged (profitable) job:
- BE CONSISTENT
- Do Your Research
- Stop Writing for Free
- Go for no/Pitch Please
- Stay Focused/Choose Wisely
BE CONSISTENT
At the moment, I update my site weekly. I don’t always feel inspired to write, and sometimes I’m not 100% happy with what I publish, but I create because I strive for that consistency.
I’ve published a post almost every week since January 2019. Not only have my views steadily increased due to my output, but I’ve developed a rhythm and speed to my writing that has made it considerably easier to churn out content.
Though I’ve made some mistakes and detours along the way (ie. writing on Medium, getting distracted by other social media app networks, treating my site more as a personal blog than a learning tool) I’ve learned quickly and have course corrected.
So what motivates me to publish every 7 days? By treating my writing less as a hobby and more like a JOB.
When I earned an honorarium upon the publishing of “Writing Room”, I learned it was indeed possible to earn money from my passion.
I’ve witnessed firsthand I can make a little extra income by selling stories to publications; I wish to capitalize on my talents and turn my writing into a side-hustle opportunity.
I still wish to write my YA novel; that is still my top priority. But I see no reason why I can’t earn some money while I’m in the process of revising my manuscript.
Do your research
When looking for potential markets, the Internet is a treasure trove of possibilities. I have regular emails sent to my inbox from Authors Publish about publications looking for short stories, and I organize potential projects in a spreadsheet to keep track of what I’m interested in. Deadlines, word count limits, submission fees, payout out rates — all get recorded in the Excel spreadsheet.
Stop writing for free
At the start of my writing journey, I was more interested in gaining an audience than making money, so I volunteered to guest post for numerous sites.
While I’m grateful for the experience and the opportunities, I found myself disappointed with the return on investment. For the amount of time and energy I was investing, I wasn’t getting the views I expected, and in some instances I would have to wait MONTHS before my work was even posted online.
The wait time wasn’t what bothered me; it was the fact that I was devoting all this time and energy and not getting properly compensated in views, engagement, or money.
I decided to be more selective about the sites I would write for. Something clicked within me that decided I would only write for free on my own site and for no one else.
We love the concept and it’s evident that you’re a talented writer. We would love to publish your piece on our platform!
Just to clarify, unfortunately we aren’t able to pay freelance writers at this moment in time…
Your time is important. Your work deserves to be compensated. If you don’t value these things, no one else will.
Go for No/Pitch Please
Rejection hurts: let’s just get that out the way now.
Deal with it. Find the sites you want to write for, and constantly be pitching and submitting.
Most will be a no. A lot won’t even respond. Even fewer will write back to reject your idea; fewer still will write back a rejection, but with encouraging feedback. And only a small amount will write back with a yes and that coveted promise of payment.
Acceptance is a numbers game. Instead of getting bogged down in how many yeses you receive, strive to accumulate as many rejections as you can, or as Dr. Aziz says, Go for No.
The more you hear no, the less it will affect you, and eventually, someone will prove you wrong and break the cycle of predictive no’s with a yes.
Stay Focused/Choose Wisely
As I mentioned above, there is a myriad of options when it comes to making money through writing as a side hustle.
However, I still work full-time; I only have so many hours in the day to write. Does it suit my needs to go for a gig that pays $400 about horse riding and equestrian care? No! I don’t know the first thing about horses! So how would it benefit me to spend my limited free time researching and writing about a topic of which I know or care so little about?
Will it make the boat go faster? This is the mantra an Australian rowing team used to win the gold at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
I’m not a journalist: I’m a fiction writer. Therefore, I seek out publications that ask for short story submissions, because that’s where I excel.
Even if a job or project boasts a hefty payment, you have to be realistic. Don’t divert your time to pursuits that won’t help you achieve your ultimate goal. For myself, that goal is writing a YA novel; I’m much more likely to develop my skills by honing my ability to structure a story than writing an SEO-optimized article about something that doesn’t move me.
So that’s my advice on how to treat writing like it’s your job. Do you agree? Do you have any other tips and tricks on how to change one’s mindset on viewing writing as more than a mere hobby? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
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