And I have you, Hugh, to thank for the inspiration, as so many of us do. If that helps you solo your work better. When you blog, you will begin to find your voice. However, when you submit your writing to the publishing world, that changes. Write like you breathe, write like you drink coffee or check email, like you check texts or the latest news aboutthe, or even Tout daily. You close the file, you bury the pages. Some people only believe weird stuff if it is old religion.
As the writer of Psychology Today's on women and , and the author of the book, , I receive a lot of correspondence from women who read my work, but you may be surprised to know that a large number of those letters are not comments or questions about high-achieving women or stress. And not writing as a stress reliever; writing as a writer. But if your dream is to become a writer, there's one critical question that you need to ask yourself, and that is, what is a writer? You're waiting for the punch line. But it's not a trick question. How you define being a writer is key to accomplishing your dream of becoming a writer, and here's why. Simply defined, a writer is someone who writes. So for those of you who dream to be a writer because it's your passion, it's what you to do, then it's hard to imagine that you haven't already accomplished your dream. If you love to write, then chances are you have written in some way, shape, or form much of your life. Therefore, by definition, you are a writer. But of course, that's the simple definition, and as high-achievers are prone to do, the simple can become complicated. From my perspective, when you start talking about publishing and agents and getting paid for your writing, you're no longer talking about writing. You're talking about the business of writing. And because these are two very different things, they have two very different definitions. Would you define a dog and a wolf exactly the same way because they're similar? I would hope not. They're very different animals. Well, the same holds true for being a writer and being in the business of writing. These are very different animals that are likely to lead you down two very different paths, so it's important not to confuse the two simply because they look a lot alike. If you do, you're taking a very big chance of being eaten by a wolf that you've mistaken for a dog. So to all my readers who dream of being a writer, here are a few words of to help you avoid being eaten by a wolf as you pursue your passion... If you write about what you love, then the rest will fall into place. If you want to be a writer, that's easy. Write whenever you can catch a few free moments--before you go to bed, when you wake up, on your lunch break. It doesn't matter when you do it or how well you do it because you're writing for you. If that writing later gets published, that's a bonus if that's what you want. In fact, if judging isn't a part of the picture, writing can be very stress-relieving, especially if you write just for the love of writing. However, when you submit your writing to the publishing world, that changes. You're inviting other people to judge your work that's right, in the business of writing, it's called work , and their view of good and bad is always--yes, always--based on how many books they think they can sell or how many more readers they think they can draw in with your work. It's a business just like any other, and all businesses have to consider the bottom line. It's the of the beast. People do it all time. I've done it and I continue to do it. Hopefully, you can see how quickly what you thought was your dream can turn into a nightmare, and how something that was once stress-relieving can become stress-generating if you're not ready for it. Like most things in life, it not only has to do with being committed, it has to do with being prepared. I wish you a ton of success on whichever path you decide to take. Knowing high-achievers like I do, I suspect that as long as you remember to keep the wolves in check and the dogs close to your heart, you'll do just fine. Feel free to share your writing stories of success, frustration, or disappointment with readers in the comments section below. © 2012 , All Rights Reserved Follow Dr. Bourg Carter on and. There are others however mostly like academicians or self-help writers who may use writing more as a tool to increase their mastery over the material and share their knowledge with others. I was in this latter category. As a professor and supervisor I had a need to expand my knowledge and experience in helping mental health professionals find new ways to make a higher income. I began educating myself--both academically and as a need to provide the services I was called on to provide--then as others began to prompt me, I decided to publish what I had learned to help others by providing a short cut to succeeding as a consultant. As a life-long student, and Ph. Bryan Miller Author of Beyond the Couch: Turning your behavioral health degree into cash without losing your soul. Never did I consider myself a writer, but I write essays all the time. People often ask me why did I write an article, was it for a class, or work, etc. The answer is always no, I wrote it for myself. I have never cared about having my work published until recently. Now I don't know where to begin....
