All Posts Tagged: Freelance Psychology
Is Your Social Circle Helping You Achieve Your Travel Writing Goals?
On the flight home from the North American installment of the TBEX travel blogging conference, I reflected back on the big-picture, future-of-the-industry conversations I’d had with travel writing heavy hitters.
The redux version: in terms of opportunities, it’s an incredibly exciting time to be a travel writer.
But there was something deeper that I noticed, a thread underpinning so many conversations I’ve had, both in my own coaching and in the conferences I’ve attended.
The Paradox of “Successful” Travel Writing
Why did you decide to become a travel writer?
No, I’m not referring back to the three main types of travel writing motivation and how that informs the types of writing you should do and the clients you should work with.
What Is Your *One* Thing Right Now?
When I speak with my coaching clients, I’m always struck by how much more impact we achieve when we focus on things that seem small or narrow or insignificant as “issues” in terms of “becoming a travel writer.”
I’ll never forget one unexpected conversation I had with someone who has what others would no doubt consider a very cool and interesting life. She lives in Europe (she’s not from there). In the mountains, where there are opportunities for her to indulge in day-long climbing adventures with partner (that’s what brought them together). And her partner typically works in a different country, where he guides tours, so she gets built-in regular travel to popular travel destinations automatically.
This might sound way more interesting than whatever the circumstances of your life are right now, but she actually had an issue gunking up her enjoyment of this situation in a big way.
The Only One Holding You Back Is You
You’re a writer, so how much pitching have you done lately?
No, I’m not about to harp on the importance of marketing. I hope I’ve done that enough.
I’m asking for a different reason. To save you from yourself. Or from suffering for success.
Why Do We Avoid the Simple, Easy Steps that ACTUALLY Move Us Toward Our Goals?
I had a reminder to myself for weeks to do the smallest, simplest thing: email one person I’ve met several times over several years to reconnect and ask for advice.
The reasons I kept thinking of it and not doing it immediately are myriad, even removing busy-ness from the equation.
A very small number of you that I’ve met in person may have heard me mention in passing a narrative travel book I have in the works, My 15 Big Fat Indian Weddings.
(I share the story of how it immediately got 22 very well-respected agents hungering after it my first time out pitching it–and how you too can have the same experience in our webinar series on How to Publish Non-Fiction Books Easily.)
What You Do 60% of the Time is What You Do
No, I am not rephrasing the Pareto Principle.
You know, the one that says that 20% of the work you do yields 80% of the results. Though if we apply that here, it’s even more telling.
I’m talking about how you spend your time—your work time specifically—and what that says about you.
Do You Thrive on Riding the Waves in Style? (Danny Meyer-style)
For what I do, helping writers understand, come to terms with, and make the most of, the marketplace for travel writing today, it’s very important that I not only spend time with a diverse company of writers, to understand the issues in the industry today from many different viewpoints in terms of both background and experience, but also that I spend time with those on the other side of the desk—the editors and companies that hire writers.
The First Humbling Lesson of Building Your Own Business
At the airport on the way back from an author’s conference a few years ago, I was magnetically drawn to scan the best seller lists and consider who was there and why.
There were so many of those names you’ve see there over and over for decades, like Nora Ephron or Dan Brown. An entire, multi-shelf section devoted to Ann Patchett. The requisite books about how companies can motivate millennials next to Mark Manson’s bestselling The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life.
My eye caught on a cover simulating (well, graphic-designed rather than photographed) a page torn at the top and bottom with a lowercase title etched out in a watercolor-style gradient migrating from aquamarine to forest green like descending through a cross section of the ocean.
An Important Public Service Announcement About Following Up on Your Freelance Pitches
This week, I wanted to take a minute for an important travel-writing public service announcement on following up with editors after a pitch!
But this topic is not only near and dear to my heart because it is a such a big deal for writers, but as it seems like we are reaching a certain tipping point here that doesn’t have a good solution.
Redefining (Walter) Mittyesque – Let’s See Your New Resume
The Ben Stiller-directed “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” came out in 2013. Instagram hit the scene in late 2010.
Watching the film today, the cinematography oozes shots that we now think of as Instagram tropes: packing flat-lays, travelers in profile walking in front of brilliantly painted walls, a lone traveler in a long shot on an otherwise empty road. Just cue the overlaid text of the Robert Frost poem.
One Sunday night, however, we knew that “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” was just what we needed.
We had an intensive Saturday of soul-searching and Sunday of planning our first Detox + Reset retreat and Walter Mitty came up as a frequent touchpoint throughout the weekend. On the one hand, for the gorgeous visuals (we didn’t see the Instagram-style until re-watching it now!), but, more importantly for the character and journey of Walter Mitty.