Occasionally, I get burnt out. I lose interest in reading, writing, and talking about reading and writing. This used to scare me, as I thought I'd lost "it" (it being my muse, my talent, my ambition), but it doesn't anymore. I know "it" will return, so I focus on something tangentially related to writing so I get a break while not actually taking a break.
Lately, I've been attending free online business classes. I am working on a writing career, not a writing hobby, so I have to train the marketing department of Marie, Inc.
Right now I'm learning about strategic planning and execution--or envisioning my ideal future writing career and building a plan that will lead to realizing that vision. I even found a quote worth online course-napping:
"You are either writing the story of the future or you are living inside the story of another. There can be no other possibilities."
Apt for us writers, no?
If you're feeling the burn or fretting the loss of your "it," I recommend visiting SmallBizU, which I found by searching the University of Scranton Small Business Development Center site. As someone who's considered pursuing an MBA, I can say that the classes I found there saved me a few tens of thousands of dollars.
Are you writing the story of your future? Do you train your inner marketing dept.? How? Where? Why?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
by Gayle Forman
by Lauren Barnholdt
by E.M. Forster
by Francesca Lia Block
by Alyson Noel
by Kirsten Miller
by Stephanie Kuehnert
by Harvey Karp
Posts
All I can think about is what sort of hairstyle someone wears when they are a "writer in the front and a biz dev in the back"
ReplyDeleteDoes it resemble a mullet? Or maybe the opposite of a mullet - long bangs and shaved back of the head.
I'm picturing it like Kate Gosselin's weird cut, only if you spun her head around backwards so the sleek part was in the back and the unkempt part in the front.
I want to be in the Matrix. They could just dowlonad all the knowledge and skills I need directly to my brain. Instant Karen, Inc. success with everything I need. :)
ReplyDeleteOoo, that's a very apt quote for writers.
ReplyDeleteI have the feeling Marie, Inc will go a long way. Other than working in a bookstore, I haven't thought about training my inner anything. Most of us aspiring writers just write. And sometimes we just, um, procrastinate... You are so smart to be studying the business/marketing side of writing.