How To Shift Your Writing Into The Big Leagues

Every business goes through many stages, from inception to success.

It can be a struggle for the owner to adapt as things change over time.

Growing pains occur, as what began as a small one-man show, expands into a larger shop with employees to manage.

There are stages every business goes through. Becoming aware of what they are is part of the solution.

These stages can be applied to your writing business.

Hey, I felt that.

Just then, I felt you cringe as you read the words — ‘writing business’.

I’m familiar with the thoughts that crossed your mind.

“I’m a creative person, my writing is my art.”

“Writing isn’t really a business.”

“I don’t know how to market and I’m embarrassed to do it wrong.”

That’s part of what I’m talking about. You’re stuck in a mindset.

Shifting your mindset takes some contemplation. Becoming aware of where you want to go begins with examining where you are right now.

Examine your daily habits. Take an inventory of what you do each day and how much time you spend doing it. What are you focused on? Do you feel excited about new challenges or are you bored with what you’re doing?

It’s easy to get stuck in a routine.

You find a comfortable niche. Maybe you belong to a private group of writers on Facebook where you encourage each other.

It’s a safe place, and you’ve been talking about your next steps. You’ve been discussing those next-steps for months, maybe longer.

You’ve created a blog and have been writing and posting regularly. It’s a bit frustrating that not many people follow you but at least you’re getting your writing out there. Some days you aren’t sure you want to be much more visible than that anyhow.

Or maybe you’ve found your groove on Vocal, writing a certain style of articles. You have a following. You’ve met some other great writers.

You’re making a dollar a day, or slightly less and you’re finally a bit more confident about your writing. It feels a bit flat though. There’s something missing and you don’t know what it is.

You’ve hit a plateau. You can’t go any higher.

Something is holding you back.

Knowing what the stages are is important. Realizing what you need to do to help your business move on to the next step is essential.

It’s all in your perspective.

Deciding to make a change is the first step.

Your attitude about your business or life situation is part of the problem. Attitude drives behavior and that impacts everything you do.

If you change your attitude, it changes the context in which you do things, and that can change your business.

“It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it.” Cheri Huber, Suffering is Optional: Three Keys to Freedom and Joy.

Shifting from one level to the next is like climbing a high staircase. Lifting each foot and carrying your weight takes effort. Once both your feet are firmly planted on the top of the next step, you can pause and relax a bit.

Here are some of the stages I’ve experienced. The transitions were different at each level, but more than once it took conscious effort and planning to move to the next stage.

The Stages and some Breakout moves.

1. Self Doubt Stage

At this stage, you’re still not sure of yourself and doubt whether your writing is good enough to share with the world.

You’ve been writing for a while now, watching and learning from the ‘experts’. A distinct style is emerging, and you’ve been dreaming of creating a Vocal account to see if your writing will resonate with a wider audience.

You are wondering if any publication will accept your work and you are on the edge of finally making a submission.

You’ve never done that before and you’re afraid you’ll do it wrong.

Breakout Moves for Self Doubt

Prove to yourself that your ideas or opinions are worth sharing.

Go out and get validation that your product is worthwhile. Encouragement is nice, but some kind of proof is better.

That might be when a publication accepts your submission.

You have to take action to get this validation and it will be uncomfortable.

• If your product is self-help advice, help someone.

• Write a poem and submit it to an online publication.

• Write an article that makes a difference and receive feedback. Believe in your writing.

Credibility is established when your story is accepted. That changes your idea about worthiness and reduces your self-doubt.

Do it again.

Keep proving to yourself that your idea is a good one by selling more, helping more people. Keep doing what you are doing. If you let yourself get discouraged at this stage, you can get stuck.

“Just keep swimming”, Dory, Finding Nemo

2. The ‘Playing It Safe’ Stage

At this stage, you’re doing ok, people like you and enjoy your writing.

You’re good at giving them what’s expected. You’re making a bit of money, but not a lot. This stage can be a trap. You can get stuck if you keep seeking the approval of others because you will write the same kind of story over and over again.

Breakout Moves for ‘Playing It Safe’

Do what you need to do to make your idea bigger. Make it different.

• Expand your topics. Write poetry if all you write are essays. Write essays if you usually write poetry.

• Create an engaging pitch to send to your favorite magazine. Pitch to larger publications.

• Contact a publisher and pitch a book idea. Take risks and get turned down. You will receive a lot of rejections if you follow this route, but if you don’t try you will be stuck in the Playing it Safe stage.

“Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway”, Susan Jeffers, Ph.D.

Now is a good time to create your vision.

What does success look like for you? A publishing contract? A dollar a day on Medium? A group of connected writers that publish an anthology together?

What are you doing and why are you doing it? Do you write children’s books to help them understand the world? Do you write humorous articles to lighten people’s lives? Is your vision to make connections and help others connect?

When you are clear about what and why you are writing, it will give you an idea of what direction to pursue next.

3. The ‘Too Big For One Person’ Stage

This is the point where you might feel overwhelmed. There are so many administrative details to take care of and there aren’t enough hours in the day.

Breakout Moves for ‘Too Big For One Person’

Delegate. Hire a babysitter, a cleaner, an accountant.

You’ve been performing all of the roles in your business and it’s taking a toll on your writing.

Maybe you need some help with setting up that website or a quick meeting with a lawyer to get your business name registered.

Above all, don’t micromanage ‘the help’. Allow them to do what they do best.

Find people that love to do what they do. That frees you so you can do what you love to do.

4. The Too Much Demand Stage

I wish.

I know it seems like there will never be enough demand, but as your business grows, you will eventually reach the point where you can’t produce enough content to meet the demands of your customers.

You’ll find you are feeling pressured to produce. Demand is a good thing, but you are only one person so you need to make a shift.

Breakout Moves for the Too Much Demand Stage

When you get to the stage where your growth is pressuring you so much that you resent the demands on your time, have a look at outsourcing some of what you do.

• A great example is Julia Cameron. She wrote ‘The Artist’s Way’, which became a successful bestseller.

• As her book became more popular, she taught courses and traveled around the country, promoting the book and meeting her readers. Eventually, she realized she couldn’t do it all.

• Now she encourages ‘Creative Clusters’ where someone forms a group and teaches her course by following the book. You can find her guidelines for teaching on her website.

Breakout at this level requires a huge personal shift, as you must let go of some of your creative process with no control of where it will end up.

It’s like watching your adult children go off to college. You’ve done your job, and you know they’ll be fine, but it takes effort to let them go gracefully.

Success.

Congratulations, you’ve arrived.

You’ve achieved success, but it’s not over.

Success isn’t a destination, it’s a way of life. You now have a chance to choose to live any way you want to. Be thoughtful in your decisions and mindful of your activities.

How you approach your day to day challenges is how you create the best life for yourself.

Love what you do. Believe that answers will come to you.

Be a true leader in all areas of your life.

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This story also appears on Medium by Tree Langdon, the author.

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