Wow!  All the questions in last weekâ??s article were a lot to ponder but so necessary in this all essential step of going from casual to career in writing.  I hope you took some time to decide if you wanted to financially invest in writing, wrote down some other skills and talents you have to compliment your marketability as a writer, and mainly decided that this was something you just had to do.  With all the hard work that lay ahead, you will need that relentless attitude when the going gets tough.

     The story behind my reaching this crossroads came about when an editor/writing coach came to speak to our writing group.  I had timidly brought along a small non-fiction work I had written and showed it to her.  She told me to email her the first ten pages and she would give me a free critique.  This turned into a phone conference where the editor liked the work but asked if I would consider getting my point across that the work talked about through the avenue of fiction.  Talk about scary!  I had written little fiction and wasnâ??t sure if I even wanted to.

     I said I would try and within a month had some ideas and fifty pages that I sent to her.  Seeing that her coaching ability and editing expertise would help me, I made the big financial plunge and invested in her services of coaching and editing.  To me, it was the best decision I ever made.  On my own I think I would have given up after a couple of months, but she would encourage me and give me ideas and really push me harder than I would have ever pushed myself. 

     Within two years, I had my first novel complete and edited, my second novel partially complete with ideas down for at least three more.  Just as important was the fact that I learned a lot about computers, marketing, advertising, publishing, editing, websites; blogs and a host of other things that I didnâ??t know were even involved in a writerâ??s life. 

     I wish I could say that it was all easy and I accepted with enthusiasm each challenge as they came along but honestly my writing coach pulled me kicking and screaming all the way.  Wanting to run from each challenge was more like it but I have learned that I can do more than I ever thought possible.  I am now in the process of looking for a literary agent for my first novel and am finishing a novella that I intend to publish on line. 

     You can see that much more is involved than my dream of sitting at the computer typing the novel, mailing it out and then going to the mailbox to receive my big checks, so much more.  All in all, I believe my journey is going to be worth it, whether the financial rewards are big or not.  I believe I am being a positive influence on people and in the process am learning much about myself�

     Join me next week as we talk about working with a writing coach�