Remember, You Love to Write
Invoices, sales pitches, copyright forms, contracts — all of these important magazine-writing job duties can weigh you down psychologically if you find yourself focusing on them day in and day out. That's unfortunate for obvious reasons, but it's even more so because a frustrated writer is usually a bad writer. You can't very well sell articles to magazines if your verb and adjective choices outright stink.
You need to make sure that you not only keep your wits about you when managing your writing business, but that you also remember why you got into the business in the first place: because you love to write. Scheduling days into your calendar when you will have nothing to do but write is a good way to make sure your creative juices keep flowing.
Every Minute Counts
You can really get into a writing groove by turning off your telephone, shutting down your e-mail, and focusing — if only for a few hours — on whatever article you happen to be writing. Even if you can't set aside an entire day just to write, you can at least set aside part of a day to focus on the craft you love.
Is it smart to turn off your telephone and e-mail when editors might be trying to reach you?
Of course not. You need to be available to your clients. However, if you're not on deadline and aren't expecting any editors' calls, then there's nothing wrong with giving yourself at least a few hours of uninterrupted writing time.
It's surprising how much more fun magazine writing can be when you give yourself the time to focus on an assignment without any distractions. This is especially true for assignments about topics that truly interest you. It's also a good idea for assignments where you have tons of great research and interview notes that you need to pare down to meet your required word count. The more interesting an assignment is, the better your article has the potential to be — potential that you might not even realize if you're trying to write various paragraphs in between phone calls to accounts-payable departments and the U.S. Copyright Office.
Words to Live By
If you find that you're the type of person who gets too wrapped up in the business end of magazine writing, then you should consider placing reminders all around your work space to help you remember why you love to write in the first place. Lots of writers jot down meaningful quotations or even just beautifully crafted sentences that they come across while reading for pleasure. Print out a few of your favorites and place them strategically on your desk, in places where they won't get lost or be shoved out of view. This is a terrific way to help you remember that when the business tasks are done, you get to go back to the fun of creating memorable sentences of your own.
Sticky notes are terrific supplies for magazine writers to keep handy. You can use them not just to mark important parts of your notes and files but also to keep some of the quotes and phrases that inspire you tacked onto or nearby your computer screen.
Taking a peek at these inspirational quotes from time to time should help inspire you not just to write but to write
