Be the type of person you want to meet

Actually ... I am. But I enjoy meeting people who are different from me because I can learn so much from them and enjoy new things with them that I wouldn't have thought of.

Also, making the effort to get along with people who are different from ourselves helps round off our rougher edges.

 

Advice to aspiring business writers

I am approached now and then by people who "have a passion for writing" and want to change to or commence a career as a professional writer. Naturally I am happy to serve as a coach or, sometimes, a Cassandra, to these seekers. I wrote down some tips today for an aspiring writer who didn't know how to prepare for a job search, and decided to share an edited form of my tips here. There is much more that could be said, but I thought this list was a good jumping off place.

My advice is confined to people seeking writing positions within business. If you want to be paid for writing jokes, greeting cards, poems, screenplays or novels, or as a journalist, you will have to seek advice from someone more knowledgeable in those fields than I.

So, you want to be a business writer!

First of all, have you decided what type of writing position you want? You could be a technical writer, advertising copywriter, marketing communications writer, corporate communications writer, speechwriter, and so on. You need to focus on the path your skills are best aligned with, so the essential first step is to define that path.

Educate yourself

It's not enough to have a flair for writing. You must be able to demonstrate your knowledge of communications and know how to defend anything in your portfolio based on an understanding of the communications goals, specific medium, and audience.

Hunt around on MarketingProfs, Creative Business, MediaPost, and similar sites for information and advice on writing/marketing for different media. You can and must educate yourself on best practices and latest trends in advertising and marketing communications.

Make a portfolio

Create an organized and attractive portfolio of your past writings. This will be essential when applying for writing jobs.

If you need to build your portfolio ... 

• Do some professional writing for free. Not for big companies (they probably wouldn't accept you yet, anyway) but perhaps for friends who have small businesses of their own. Offer to edit their website or write a brochure or sales email for them. You can save the results in a "before and after" file for your portfolio. 
• Or, do this for a non-profit organization as a volunteer.

There are lots of online marketplaces for freelancers to find jobs – just search Google for "freelance writing." However, I have to warn you these sites are filled with desperate people who offer to take on big jobs for mini-fees. Not a way to make a living, but again, maybe a way to get your feet wet and add to your client list.

Take career advice from experts

Rewrite your resume to focus on your writing abilities and aspirations. A skills-based resume is probably the way to go when shifting careers. Look at the other skills and knowledge you have and see how these may actually play into strengthening your resume.

Consult a resume/career expert on the ins and outs of career changing.

Apply at a marketing temp agency. They will pre-qualify you by looking at your portfolio and giving you a proofreading and editing test. This will allow you to measure your current skill level and better understand how prepared you are to enter this field. The agency will also give an idea of how much jobs that fit your skills are paying.

Network

There is a world of advice available on LinkedIn. Join a few writers' networking groups – just search around and join and start asking questions.

Get real

Read employment ads for writers. What are clients looking for in a new hire? Read all the qualifications listed in the ads and see if you have them or can get them. Also, you will probably have to start out as an entry-level writer no matter where you go. Can you live on the salary?

Promote yourself

Start a blog to show off your writing skills and to comment on business and marketing issues in general. Be sure you treat each post as if it were going to be a published piece, writing and editing and proofing it carefully before you publish. Blogger is free and easy to use, but there are other simple platforms as well, such as WordPress.

When you are really ready to look for that first job, let all your contacts know! Use your writing skills to position yourself correctly in the market and to promote your capabilities. That is the hardest writing job you will ever have, by the way.

Summary

By all means use LinkedIn and other forums to get more answers and learn from other people who have walked the same path you are on.

Finally, writing for a living is not easy. Consider the possibility that you could satisfy your itch to write by maintaining a blog or writing short stories, while getting on with your career in other areas.

Brideshead Revisited

One of my all-time favorite novels is Brideshead Revisited.

I caught him with an unseen hook and an invisible line which is long enough to let him wander to the ends of the world and still to bring him back with a twitch upon the thread.  (Chesterton, from the Father Brown story "The Queer Feet" - famously quoted by Lady Marchmain in Brideshead Revisited)

How to receive criticism

I'm one of those people who react badly to criticism. I don't mean to -- it's an ingrained habit for me to respond with fear and defensiveness instead of remaining calm and listening. Probably goes back to some trauma in my childhood. But you see, in reality I welcome constructive criticism because it gives me a new perspective on myself and helps me grow or change in positive ways. 



So I thought about how I could overcome my knee-jerk reactions and instead of feeling threatened, move more quickly to a space of reason and openness. The result was the six-step process you see above. I believe that by consciously following these steps I will be able to improve the way I receive criticism, protect my relationships with those who offer me a chance to know myself better, and implement healthful changes more rapidly.

What do you think -- would this process work for you, too?

That would be an ecumenical matter

Death? That would be an ecumenical matter

Fans of Father Ted* will get the reference in the headline. For the rest of my three readers, I can only say that my attempt to stir up some interest in chatting about life and ... er ... you know ... failed abysmally. This leads to me to assume that most of my friends are not of a philosophical or introspective bent, as I am.

But I think I am right about the prevalence of the subject. If you check the bestseller lists in terms of movies and books at any time, a large proportion of them deal with spiritual matters from one perspective or another. The Secret, Harry Potter, The DaVinci Code, Tuesdays with Morrie, Become a Better You ... these and many other hugely popular works have spiritual matters firmly at their core. And what is the whole spiritual dimension but the realm of trans-physical-life? (There I go with my euphemisms again!)

I have more to say but don't worry. You - my friends - are off the hook. I am no longer expecting anyone to join in. I will continue to ramble on for my own amusement.

But feel free to jump in if you wish.
-----

*A favorite TV show of the Archbishop of Canterbury -- and people wonder why the Anglican church is confused today!

Death becomes her subject

I've heard that men think about sex all day long - someone counted and the daily thoughts about sex in the male mind came to several thousand.

Leaving aside the absurdity of trying to count thoughts (ooh, there's one! and yes, I just had another!) that doesn't seem to leave much room for thoughts about death. Lucky men!

I think about death a lot. I can't count the times, no, but let's just say I noticed it today and realized that it is a leitmotif in my mental cacophany. I am neither morbid nor depressed, and do not contemplate dying for a long time yet. What do the Scotch say? ... "Be happy while you're living, for you're a long time dead." Good phrase. I am fortunate to count myself among the Happy Living now.

So why all this thinking about death? Well, that's what I'd like to know. Do other people think about it a lot? I would guess they do; that life and death are as common as grass in the landscape of human thought. Mostly I think about other people dying, which is perhaps more palatable than thinking about my own you-know-what (exit ... swan song ... demise -- there, I said it. What would we do without euphemisms?).

So maybe it is the fear of abandonment that causes these thoughts. What if mom dies, what will I do? What if dad dies ... my son ... my dog ... etc. When one has aged parents, the thought of their death is ever-present, I hate to admit. And when one has experienced firsthand the death of pets and family members, the reality of death never goes away. It happens, it sucks, and you can't change it.

That's the part I hate - I can't change death. No one can, except Jesus, which is where being a Christian pays off big time. Yet even Christians still have the physical death, and even Christians mourn and feel the gut-wrenching pain of loss and separation.

As a believer in heaven I am not worried about the afterlife. This may be why I am not depressed or worried about my own death one day. I can get quite excited about the thought of meeting people in heaven whom I would have enjoyed knowing on earth, such as favorite authors, saints, interesting ancestors, would you believe even actors like Richard Burton? And in heaven none of these encounters would be awkward or tongue-tied as they would be if they happened on the temporal plane.

I'm still not sure why I think about death so much, but maybe if other people will add their thoughts it would help clarify the topic for me.

Word of the Day - Palaver

–noun
1. a conference or discussion.
2. a long parley, esp. one between primitive natives and European traders, explorers, colonial officials, etc.
3. profuse and idle talk; chatter.
4. persuasive talk; flattery; cajolery.

If I fell in the forest would I make a noise?

Sometimes blogging seems self-centered and pointless. Just thought I would blog that. :-)

Martha Stewart is my friend

Martha Stewart talked about her Facebook blog on her show yesterday, so I went to my account (twice in one day! -- a record) and asked her to be my Friend. Since I am still at Wallflower level on Facebook, I thought I would aim high.

And guess what - she said yes! :-)

I still have no friends

This just in from Facebook:


Nobody lists you as a Top Friend yet :(
Invite your friends so they will!

Your Popularity Level: Wallflower

What it is to be new!