Did Jeff write me a personal letter on becoming a writer? The voice he writes in rings with the experience of someone who has been through the fire, and come out with pages of knowledge he wants to share! For all the aspiring writers, bloggers, creatives in the building, let me tell you this is worth the price of admission. A short book, granted, but packed full of useful steps towards being a writer.
The most important message Jeff wants to convey is YOU ARE A WRITER (hence the title). I know have done this before, hesitated in describing myself as a writer and going public. Once you have made a commitment, everything simply comes one step at a time, and Jeff does a great job of laying those steps out.
What I appreciate most about Jeff’s writing is his honesty. I see many of my struggles in his writing, and he’s not afraid to tell the ugly parts of his story, of the self-doubt, distractions, and pain involved in being a writer. But he doesn’t stay there, laying out the steps to being successful. He admits the hard work, long hours, and a chance you may never reach the mountain top you have sighted for yourself.
The trick is though, if you love writing, if you can’t do anything else, each piece, each connection, each opportunity to share with others is your mountain top. Pursuing your passion, treating people with respect, and simply writing is what you were made to do.
Oh you want to know details? Of course, how silly of me…
5 Vitally Important Lessons from You Are A Writer
- The Process of Turning Pro
- The Secrets of Successful Writing
- The 3 Tools Every Writer Needs
- The 3 Important Relationships of a Writer
- Preparing & Pitching Your Writing (w/ bonus form letters!)
In keeping with his honesty, Jeff wraps up by sharing the pitfalls of success, and to remember your love for the craft. It’s all that will keep you true.
So what are you waiting for? If you are a writer, it’s money well spent.
If They Can Do It, I Can Do It, and So Can You
I have read on several blogs that a great way to generate more traffic was to be active and comment on the sites and blogs of others. At first, I dismissed this, because I wanted to be known for my writing on it’s own merit. I also didn’t really believe it would help, and I was being greedy and only wanted to do take actions on tasks that would benefit me. Lately though, I have come to realize that the underlying reason behind this was that in essence, I didn’t particularly care to comment, and I was selfish. I was too busy with my own writing and life to spend time on other sites.
I now realize that is a load of crap, both my own reasoning behind it, and my greediness. What was a real kick in the teeth for me was my last week’s post, 22 People Who are Better Than Me (in a good way!). I listed 22 writers, adventurers, community leaders, and creative folks who inspire me with their work. What floored me was getting a response.
The Minimalists (Joshua & Ryan) wrote me, saying thank you for the love. They were also adamant they were not better than me.
Corbett Barr wrote, thanking me for listing him, and encouraging me not to sell myself short.
Brendan Leonard (Semi-Rad) wrote, saying he was not better than me, but that he could probably eat more waffles than I could.
Jeff Goins has responded to nearly every email I’ve written him.
All of these men have experienced far more success than I have, and have lives just as busy as I do. But they all took the time to respond to me, and encourage my writing. What a gift! So for me to be snobby about commenting on other sites is absurd, arrogant, and lazy.
By the way, I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read what I’m putting down, and commenting on it. It’s a tremendous gift to me to receive your thoughts and feedback. I apologize it took some heavy hitters to knock me out of my slumber!
I still don’t believe I’ll go around mass-commenting on posts just to drive up my own brand, but I will certainly be trying to add value or a kind word to the posts I am reading. If we take care of others, I believe we will be taken care of ourselves. Thanks again.