Good Girl Gone Freelance

I’m a good girl and I always have been. Just ask my parents or former teachers if you don’t believe me.

I’m an Enneagram 1 which means I like order. So, give me the rules and I’ll follow them – most of the time. (The feminist in me doesn’t always follow the rules about what a woman should and shouldn’t do or should and shouldn’t be – but that’s another post for another day.)

(more…)

November 2020 Goals & Plans

Here’s the thing, November —  October will be a tough act to follow.

Last month I welcomed 33 new members into the See Jane Write Collective.

I was featured on BhamNow.com and xoNecole.com and I was quoted in Oprah Magazine!

I wrote a piece for Reckon South on how breast cancer both ruined and restored my confidence.

I landed my first paid Instagram brand collaboration. And I was invited to contribute a chapter for a book being curated by a high-profile journalist (and I will be well compensated). 

Also, I got my taste buds back! (Along with killing cancer cells, chemo also temporarily kills your sense of taste.)

After a month like that, I’m ready to take on a BIG, HAIRY, AUDACIOUS GOAL.

(more…)

30 Writing Prompts to Help You #BlogLikeCrazy

November 1 is Day One of #BlogLikeCrazy, my annual challenge to myself and any other blogger who wants to participate to publish a new blog post every day for 30 days.

When you’re creating that much content you may be tempted to post simply for the sake of posting, but if you resist that blogging devil, it will flee from you.

(more…)

How to Achieve Your BIG, HAIRY, AUDACIOUS Writing Goal

Let’s talk about your BIG, HAIRY, AUDACIOUS WRITING GOAL! 

A BIG, HAIRY, AUDACIOUS GOAL (or BHAG) is a concept developed in the book Built to Last. A BHAG is a goal that’s clear and compelling and once that requires building for the long term and creates a sense of urgency.

So what’s a big, hairy, audacious writing goal?

I think it’s that writing goal you have that’s so big it scares you. The one that’s so ambitious that you’re afraid to tell anyone about it because you think they’ll laugh at you. Or maybe when you think about the goal you laugh at yourself.

That was me less than 2 years ago. I secretly wanted to quit my teaching job to be a full-time freelance writer. I have other BIG, HAIRY, AUDACIOUS GOALS and I knew that being a full-time freelance writer would give me the flexible schedule I needed to pursue them. But I was convinced that there was NO WAY I could make enough money to pay my bills and maintain a comfortable lifestyle on freelance writing income. 

But guess what? I’ve done exactly that for over a year — in spite of cancer and in spite of a global pandemic that has rocked our economy. 

There are three things that I think helped me achieve this goal.

(more…)