Good Morning,<\/p>\n
I’m sitting here in traditional writing position at my computer this morning with a large cat curled up in my lap. For all of you cat people out there (and aren’t most writers cat people?), this is Max. He’s a handsome chocolate brown and white formerly feral cat. He and Sophie take turns warming my lap all thoughout the morning. Sophie is a year-old tortie who, had it not been for a caring soul in a nearby town, would still be living on the streets. We also have Winfield, a white odd-eye cat (one blue and one green). He isn’t a lap cat unless you are lolling near the fireplace or sitting in a spotlight of sunshine. All three of the cats have been fodder for some of my articles to cat magazines, pet trade magazines and others. I guess that makes them famous.<\/p>\n
I woke up to a new world of writing this morning–a mode of writing called blogging. Personally, I don’t care what the activity or process is called, as long as writing is involved. I think this is true for most writers who were born with the passion to write.<\/p>\n
For those of you who don’t know me, I’ve been writing articles for magazines for over 30 years. I am also the author of 24 books. Read about my latest book, “The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book” in a former post. I am also the president of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network). www.spawn.org<\/a>. We have oodles of information and resources for freelance writers and authors here.<\/p>\n It isn’t easy building a business as a writer. And it is rare for a working writer to claim a large measure of fame and wealth. It takes constant work and a lot of time just to maintain a modest lifestyle. But what most would-be writers don’t seem to understand until they take the plunge, there’s more to being a writer than just being a writer. <\/p>\n The first thing I ask a hopeful freelance writer do to is to explore his\/her reasons for wanting to write. Make sure that your motivations are reasonable. Fame and fortune are not reasonable motivations. Neither is “So I can work at home.” There has to be an underlying passion for writing in there somewhere. Not to mention a level of skill. Here are some additional qualifications for working successfully as a freelance magazine article writer:<\/p>\n 1. Time management skills. My book, “A Writer’s Guide to Magazine Articles,” is a complete guide to magazine writing. This book, along with all of my books, can be ordered at www.matilijapress.com. Most of them are also available at amazon.com <\/p>\n Well, that’s it for my first blog. Thank you for reading.<\/p>\n Patricia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Good Morning, I’m sitting here in traditional writing position at my computer this morning with a large cat curled up in my lap. For all of you cat people out there (and aren’t most writers cat people?), this is Max. He’s a handsome chocolate brown and white formerly feral cat. He and Sophie take turns […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n2. The ability to discipline oneself to write even amidst distractions.
\n3. A knack for coming up with good article ideas.
\n4. A talent for slanting an article appropriately for a particular magazine.
\n5. Enough assertiveness to keep swimming even in a sea of rejections.
\n5. A business sense–working writers must use both the right and left brain.
\n6. A sense of follow-through.
\n7. Research and interview skills or a willingness to develop these.
\n8. Patience.
\n9. Persistence.
\n10. Writing skills.<\/p>\n