What on earth am I doing?

Do I really need another blog to write?

(Besides the three I struggle to keep up with already! And the articles and books I'm working on. And the student/parent website I'm designing ...)

Yes. I do. Because this is a whole new adventure in my life and I'm loving it/I'm learning so much at the moment and I want somewhere to record it all/I want to share the things I learn along the way and hopefully help others who are starting out on the same journey.

Written by a total beginner (and by someone who gets a bit freaked out by it all and wants to run away or, at the very least, stick her head in the sand), this blog will certainly be a steep learning curve ...

The lovely Dabbling Mum (thank you, DM!) took time out of a busy schedule recently to advise me to focus Write Here! on freelance writing. I had been thinking about shaking things up a bit on there; moving away from a collection of random posts to a blog with more focus. Having played around on it for almost three months, I think it's time to get serious. But I'm reluctant to give up my Moon posts and I really want to write on creativity/productivity and wellbeing, so have decided to leave Write Here! as it is. (Pretty much.)

But I've taken the Dabbling Mum's advice to heart and feel really inspired to write a blog about my journey into freelance writing ... from the very beginning.

I've done a fair amount of personal and academic writing but have no experience of being published. I've done plenty of research about freelance writing though, so it will be good to get it all out of my head, to organize the scribbles-on-scraps-of-paper into meaningful information, and to finally act on all the excellent advice I've been given.

While I love a challenge and enjoy stepping out of my comfort zone, I've learned where the boundary lies between pushing myself and tripping myself up. So although I'm starting another blog, I'm working it into the things I'm already committed to writing. I'm going to stick to my decision to write Monday, Wednesday and Friday on Write Here! I'll still write one post a week on Student Mum. I'll write once a day on Life is a Learning Curve/The Freelance Writing Learning Curve.

Clever, hey? Haha! Because both blogs are Learning Curve blogs, I get to write an extra blog but without putting any added pressure on myself. (No, it's not cheating ... it's called lateral thinking for self preservation!)

The truth is, I suspect, that I will write more on this Learning Curve, at least for a while. I'm feeling so enthusiastic and excited ... I already have a growing list of posts I want to write.

Even the longest journey starts with a single step.

I have always loved that proverb. But it isn't quite right. A journey usually starts way before the first step, in planning and preparing, in collecting all the things we need. Before that, even ... in deciding where you're going. Perhaps. Sometimes, the best journeys are those where we just head out with no idea where the wind will take us. But when we have a destination in mind, we must make some decisions and take some actions before we set off, so that we give ourselves the best chance of getting there.

Not that I expect it to be all smooth going, not that I would want it to be, but I do want to get there.

So the first few posts on here will be about the preliminary work I've done before that first step on the journey towards my destination. My destination, just to be clear about it (because writing my goals on my blog has really helped me stick to them), is to be a full-time freelance writer, to earn my living from writing. Not in a rich-and-famous kind of way, just in a keeping-the-wolves-from-the-door kind of way. Having everything we need, rather than everything we want.

The first step is to get something published. The preliminary steps include researching the subject, doing lots of reading and actually writing. I have learned about the best place and time for me to write. I have learned something about my style of writing, my strengths and weaknesses, and my preferences. I have learned how to motivate myself. I have realised that choosing to focus on just a few, simple goals and putting them in writing, means I have a good chance of sticking to them.

(Ongoing) Preparation/Preliminary Steps:

Understanding the concept of freelance writing.
Finding the best time and place to write.
Developing writing skills.
Finding motivation and inspiration.
Learning how to set deadlines that work.
Thinking about the possibilities of freelance writing.
Reading and talking to freelance writers.
Assessing magazines and newspapers for style and content.

First Step of the Journey:

To submit an article to a local newspaper about blue (recycling) bins.

I've been thinking about this for a few days, since stating it as a goal on Write here! I was concerned I'd chosen something that everyone might already know about and therefore an article would be of no interest to an editor. But I think if I expand it slightly (to include some other things that can't be recycled in the bins, for example) it might prove a more useful/desirable article. Unless people are really into recycling, they might appreciate some of the facts and figures I found when researching it for personal reasons.

I still have doubts. But I know that self-doubt is the fast-track to procrastination for me. So I have decided I will acknowledge doubts, consider them carefully (in case they do in fact have good foundations) and then totally ignore them.

Ha! A little easier said then done ... but written is a different matter. I have discovered, through writing a blog, that putting goals in writing helps me achieve them. (Part of that is the fact they are more permanent than spoken words, part of it is that I'm writing them down in public so feel I have accountability, and part of it is that I have had amazing support and encouragement from fellow bloggers.)

So, it will be interesting to see if writing such an intangible intention will have the same positive results ...

:o)