How to Treat Writing Like a Business

For a moment, think of yourself as a business. That’s the theme in my second book, The Business of Being: Soul Purpose In and Out of the Workplace. And so it is with wordsmithing.

How do you approach your writing?

Some writers treat their writing as a hobby—a story here, a column there, with a half-finished manuscript in-between.

Other writers are machines—churning out content that gets published.

The difference between the two is perspective, how the writer views their work. When treated as a business, their work becomes a serious contender in magazines, newspapers, and on shelves in bookstores.

Because it’s a writer’s job to chase improvement, writers who are serious, have their work professionally critiqued and edited. Developing a thick skin, we learn to take constructive feedback in our stride, knowing full well that these trained professionals are on our side. Their job is to help us make our work great!

If our work gets rejected, it may be a simple case of the wrong fit, or perhaps we didn’t follow the submission guidelines to a tee. We can’t take it personally. The best rejection letter I’ve ever received made me feel great:

“This isn’t a reflection on your writing. We pick perhaps one out of a hundred submissions, and the selection process is highly subjective, something of a mystery even to us. There’s no telling what we’ll fall in love with, what we’ll let get away.

“We rarely respond personally to submissions, as the number of manuscripts we receive makes this difficult. We’re aware that writing is hard work, and that writers deserve some acknowledgment. A form letter doesn’t speak to that need. Please know, however, that we’ve read your work and appreciate your interest in the magazine.

“We wish you the best in placing your writing elsewhere.”

It’s our job to accept their decision gracefully and move on.

Did you receive a poor review? Let it go. People have a right to their opinion. Instead of massaging a bruised ego, work on establishing a good report with your readers, whether it’s through your blog, newsletter, or social media presence, stay connected with your audience. Stay relevant.

Here are some actionable tips to invest your time in—schedule into your planner—that will help to strengthen your writing as a business:

Develop Your Writing Skills

This might be accomplished through attending writing conferences, or via teaching resources such as blogs, books, and online courses, or through local writing groups.

Read

Dive into the pages of high-quality books in your genre, and other styles as well. Being well read will serve you well as a stepping stone—a challenge to greatness.

Write

None of it matters if you don’t show up to write. Some writers set a word count goal (I’m going to write 1,000 words today); others set a window of time (I’m going to write for three hours today). Either way, place your stake in the ground and claim it.

Block Out Protected Time

I have a sign on the door to my writing that says: “There better be blood, flood, or fire!” My family knows not to interrupt me when I’m working. Because I treat writing as a business, they do too.

Submit

Whether it’s a manuscript, an Op-Ed piece, an article, essay, or guest post on someone else’s blog, follow the submission guidelines and get your work out there.

Promote

When your work gets published—and it will—promote it by posting links on the social media platforms that work best for you. It might be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn.

Respond

When people in your reading audience send you an email or leave a comment on one of your posts, respond in a timely fashion. On the rare occasion when you might receive negative correspondence, let it go.

Assets

In my perspective, communication is the mortar that holds humanity together; it’s the very currency of our society. With that in mind, language is one of our most significant assets. Our words matter, we need to treat them with respect.

Capture Ideas

Keep a notebook with you at all times (or use the recording feature on your phone) to capture story ideas that cross your mind. My best ideas show up when I’m in bed, so I keep a pen and notebook on my nightstand.

Backup Your Work

Save your work, then back it up on an external hard drive, to the cloud, or on a thumb drive—somewhere.

For a moment, think of yourself as a business… Experientially I’ve learned that when I treat myself as a serious writer, others do too.

—

Board Certified holistic health practitioner, life coach, and award-winning author, Laurie Buchanan, focuses on purposeful living. Her first book, Note to Self: A Seven-Step Path to Gratitude and Growth won six literary honors including the coveted Foreword INDIES Book of the Year. Her upcoming book, The Business of Being: Soul Purpose in and Out of the Workplace, maps personal transformation at the intersection of business and spirituality and teaches how to enhance “profitability”—body, mind, and spirit. Live your best life—always.   

Find out more about her on her Website https://tuesdayswithlaurie.com/

Follow her on Twitter @TuesWithLaurie

THE BUSINESS OF BEING, Laurie Buchanan

This book isn’t just about being in business; it’s about the business of being. But when you stop to think about it, each of us is like a small business. Successful business owners implement strategies that improve their prospects for success. Similarly, as human beings, it serves us well to implement guiding principles that inspire us to live our purpose and reach our goals.

The rich ganache filling that flows through the center of this book is the story of La Mandarine Bleue, a delicious depiction of how nine individuals used twelve steps of a business plan to find their vocation and undergo a transformation (with some French recipes thrown in for good measure).

From a business plan and metrics to mission and goals with everything between—investors, clients and customers, marketing strategies, and goodwill development—this book clearly maps how to create personal transformation at the intersection of business and spirituality. Merging the language of business and self-help, The Business of Being will teach you how to enhance “profitability”—body, mind, and spirit.

A lucid, step-by-step guide to personal and professional success―with vichyssoise mixed in.”
―KIRKUS REVIEWS

“When we allow ourselves to show up authentically―be who we are―we’re in alignment. The Business of Being helps us unlock the power to reach our full potential and thrive.”
―RACHAEL O’MEARA, transformational leadership and executive coach, sales executive at Google, and author of Pause: Harnessing the Life-Changing Power of Giving Yourself a Break

BUY THE BOOK HERE

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips