When I started my writing career, I maintained my corporate job, which offered me the stability I needed after surviving leukemia and the respite of part-time work during my long convalescence. I took a very business-like approach to jumpstart my writing life.
Find feedback fast
Corporations invest in intensive employee feedback to help people grow fast and produce better results. Employees can be more efficient only when they know how to leverage their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses.
As a lifelong self-doubter, that kind of feedback helped me grow into managerial roles in the corporate world in less than two years. Naturally, I wanted feedback on my writing to grow just as quickly.
I found NYC Midnight, a series of writing challenges with prompts, tight turnaround times, and feedback from judges in the film, publishing, and literary industries. With this method, I produced at least two pieces of writing for each contest, which cost me far less than what a professional critique would have for one short story. It also forced me to commit and create a portfolio of good work in short spurts.
I didn’t win any of the competitions, but I came away with constructive feedback that might have taken me years to understand on my own, as well as more than a few compliments that motivated me to keep going.
Follow a mentor
When you want to take the next step in a corporate career, you find a mentor—a role model who can share their know-how, help you identify the skills you’re missing, and teach you how to leverage the skills you possess.
While I used contests to improve my creative writing, short stories would not sustain me in the long run. So I invested in a mentorship program to become a certified content marketer through Jon Morrow’s Smartblogger course. Two months after completing the course, I found my first freelance job.
If you can’t afford courses, know that free writing mentorships exist. The Association of Writers & Writing Programs offers a mentorship program twice a year in various literary fields and communities, from travel writing to YA fiction to LGBTQ+ writers. And the Women’s Fiction Writer’s Association runs a semi-annual members-only mentorship program for writers at any stage in their writing journey.
Get networking, get noticed
Before being diagnosed with leukemia, my networking skills opened the door to international opportunities in the corporate world. But even the solitary writer can access networking possibilities online during this COVID age.
To start, follow your preferred publications on LinkedIn, share their content in your personal feed, and include a comment on why that particular piece resonated with you. Then tag the editor and writer. The goal is to get noticed and establish a rapport, making it easier to pitch the editor a story or apply for a writing job later on.
You can also follow authors, copywriters, and editors on Twitter, which is an unexpected gold mine of writing jobs. Just run a search using the hashtags, #journojobs, #journalismjobs, #journorequests, #writerjobs, and #writingjobs.
Finally, online writer communities offer support via job boards, webinars, and courses. Look for the ones that also have forums and chats where you can connect with other writers, like Freelance Writers Den and Peak Freelance. The more you open yourself to a virtual network, the greater your chances are of getting noticed and hired.
Grow the writer in you
When you combine feedback, support, and networking, you can jumpstart a career in any industry, including writing. Small, calculated steps will help you grow into a more confident, reputable, and published writer.
Bio:
A U.S. expat living in Italy, Michelle Grace Maiellaro is a leukemia survivor who helps people triumph over life challenges and change. She’s a content marketer, freelance writer, and blogger. You can discover more about overcoming hard times and grab free resilience resources on her blog, The Resilient Woman.
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