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Positive Writer

Monthly Archives

June 2019

How to Refine Your Raw Writing Talent – by Jerry B. Jenkins

How to Refine Your Raw Writing Talent – by Jerry B. Jenkins

written by Bryan Hutchinson

Discouraging, isn’t it?

You write a few blog posts and friends sing your praises. You dream, Maybe I’ve got what it takes to score a publishing deal.

But then you run your idea and your samples past an agent, an editor, or a published author, and the music screeches to a halt. You interpret their “meh” as a scathing critique and you’re rudely awakened from your dream.

Special Note: This is a guest post by New York Times Bestselling author, Jerry B. Jenkins. Jerry’s one of the most successful authors of our time with over 70 million copies of his books sold. Visit: jerryjenkins.com

Unfortunately, I’ve seen it over and over.

Writers ask me for feedback. I believe they want real input, but when they see my suggested edits, their faces fall.

I know they were dreaming I would say, “Where have you been? How has a major publishing house not found you yet?”

They weren’t really looking for input—they were looking to be discovered.

You might have a boatload of talent—enough to tell compelling stories in fresh ways. But if you can’t accept criticism from those in the business, you’re not going to succeed.

I’ve written and published 195 books, including 21 New York Times bestsellers, yet I still need fresh eyes on my work. And I’ve had to become a ferocious self-editor.

Writing is a craft.

That means you must build your writing muscles and learn the skills.

Writing is a craft. That means you must build your writing muscles and learn the skills. Click To Tweet

Regardless how talented you think you are, writing takes work. Many talented athletes never become pros because they believed raw talent alone would carry them.

That doesn’t have to be you, as long as you cultivate your skills.

3 Ways to Hone Your Talent

1. Read, Read, Read

Writers are readers. Good writers are good readers. Great writers are great readers.

Writing in your favorite genre? You should have read at least 200 titles in it. Learn the conventions. Know the rules you plan to break.

You’ll become aware of what works and what doesn’t. And you’ll likely see a vast difference in your writing.

2. Write, Write, Write

Dreamers talk about writing. Writers write.

Don’t expect to grow unless you’re in the chair doing it. 

Write short stuff first. Articles, blogs. Learn to work with an editor. Learn the business. Get a quarter million cliches out of your system.

3. Welcome Brutally Honest Feedback

The fastest way to shave years off your learning curve is to seek real input from someone who knows.

But be prepared. Your ego may take a bruising.

Yes—the red ink hurts. During my early years in the newspaper and magazine business, editors tore my work apart.

But it made me the writer I am today. Without that scrutiny I don’t know where I’d be, but it wouldn’t be on any bestseller lists.

Expect to be heavily edited and learn to aggressively self-edit.

Take advantage of every opportunity to grow. Assume there is always room for improvement.

I am still learning and trying to sharpen my skills, after over 50 years in this game.

The #1 Way to Write Without Worrying About the Gosh-Darn Bills! (It’s not such a secret anymore, but do you know it?)

The #1 Way to Write Without Worrying About the Gosh-Darn Bills! (It’s not such a secret anymore, but do you know it?)

written by Bryan Hutchinson

One of the most widespread myths about writing, especially if you create a blog to build your online platform, is that you need a big following to be successful.

It seems every day there is a new “guru” telling you that you need to build your email list and increase your social media reach. And until you do, you just need to give away your hard work for free, in the form of free eBook’s, free courses, free podcasts and you name it – as long as it’s free.

But wait a minute, if you give everything away for free how do you earn anything to keep doing what you love?

The hard part of writing isn’t necessarily the writing, it’s being able to afford to do it without worrying about the bills day in and day out. It’s the truth most of us don’t talk about, but maybe we should.

The hard part of writing isn't necessarily the writing, it's being able to afford to do it without worrying about the bills day in and day out. Click To Tweet

Through ignorance (or self-motivated desires) the gurus tell you that you can’t possibly monetize your online writing platform until you have (insert random number here) people on your email list, or enough people who like and share your pages.

NOTHING could be further from the truth.

You CAN monetize your writing platform even if you don’t have a huge email list or massive twitter following.

Your writing platform is your online blog, Facebook Page, Twitter handle, and all of your other social media pages which focus on what you create via your craft.

Monetizing your online presence is a critical factor for writers today in order to earn income while creating work that matters to them. The sad part is most writers don’t know how, or worse, they’ve given in to the belief that it’s impossible. I mean, how many of us have put an ad or two on our blogs and watch the money never roll in?

I’ll be honest with you, I’ve tried basic ads and they don’t really work, and I have a pretty large following.

I’ve also tried sponsored posts, but most of those seeking to sponsor a post on websites don’t want you to advertise that it’s sponsored. And, guess what? That’s illegal, so, uhm, no thanks!

It was a conundrum, if ads don’t work (pennies aren’t worth making your site look like a night in downtown lit-up Tokyo) and sponsored posts don’t work all that well either, what, pray tell is a writer to do?

I’m glad you asked.

I was writing blog posts like a demon and working on my book projects at the same time, all the while holding down a day job in order to afford to work on the craft I love, but I kept getting upset with myself. After all, if you’re going to work so hard on your craft, but it’s not – in some way – paying for itself, how long can you keep at it?

It’s not just physically exhausting to try so much and so hard, for so long, it’s also mentally exhausting. Because, let’s face it, as writers, you know how much work is involved and there should be some kind of payoff.

BREAKTHROUGH!

And then, a few years ago, just when I was thinking about giving up on at least part of what I was doing, my friend, Jeff Goins introduced me to someone who would change everything! Jeff was promoting his popular course Tribe Writers and the person running his promotion was the affiliate mastermind Matt McWilliams.

When someone like Jeff Goins recommends someone, you listen. Unless you’re a complete and total idiot, and that my dear readers, thankfully, I was not!

Meeting Matt was the breakthrough I was looking for but I didn’t know I was looking for!  He has directed affiliate marketing programs for people like Jeff Goins, Chandler Bolt, and many of the top writing experts online. Best of all he teaches Affiliate Marketing and this is where he made the difference for me.

Wait, back up, Affiliate Marketing? WTF is that? It sounds shady, not the slim-shady, just shady! At least, that’s what I thought at first. But truth is, as I found it, it’s one of the best legit ways to make a living online and gives you the time to do what you love, focusing on working your craft.

Affiliate marketing lets you earn extra income, passively, while serving and helping people in your communities.

If you’re a writer and you’re doing anything online, such as blogging, posting on Facebook, or sending out tweets and you are not using Affiliate Marketing, you are missing out!

The classes this post linked to as resources are over, sorry.

Have you been struggling to make an income via your online presence, like I was? What ways have you tried? Are you ready to learn about Affiliate Marketing and see if it’s something for you?

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