I've got my first words in print - yey!

As I shared in my first shiftlog, I've made the decision to take my passion for writing and try to make a career out of it.  The biggest step for me was biting the bullet, admitting this to myself, putting my fear of failure to one side and taking some positive steps towards changing my career rather than moaning about my current one.  So, here is my update.

Thank you for your supportive comments. It's really encouraging.  I listened and realised instead of making excuses I needed to focus on finding solutions.  I'm in a good position to give it a go, so why not?

I looked for resources to help me. I was initially sceptical about how useful books and handbooks would be - I feared they would do nothing more than fuel my procrastination.  But I have to admit I've found Andrew Croft's The Freelance Writer's Handbook: How to Make Money and Enjoy Your Life really useful.  Providing lots of practical tips, it's kickstarted my thought process and given me the guidance I needed to make a confident start.

Begin with the end in mind - I'm making an effort to understand my goal.  I've always been an enthusiastic reader but I'm now making a conscious effort to read a wider range of materials to get a better feel for the type of articles they print and their unique styles.  This includes reading publications that I dream of contributing to and also those I have a more realistic chance of getting published in.  

Stop being scared, just do something - what have I got to lose! The biggest step for me was always going to be actually writing something.  So, when I came across a request for contributions to The Observer's "2008: the readers' review", I decided to put pen to paper (or more accurately fingers to keys) and wrote a review  of a Dodgy reunion concert I went to earlier in 2008.  And my review was selected for print.  It's only 100 or so words but I was so excited I nearly screamed down the phone when the Observer called me.  If you want to have a look it's on The Observer website.

Keep going - onwards and upwards.  I've set up a website - www.laurajanewrites.co.uk - and started developing article ideas to pitch to editors. I'm prepared for rejection and realise for me the only way to soften the blow of any disappointments is to have another article in the pipeline to give me new hope. So, I'm always looking for inspiration around me and have a notebook on hand to jot down ideas.  

Make the time.  My biggest excuse for not making this career shift in the past has always been "I haven't got time".  Well, I've decided that that's not good enough anymore.  My new year's resolution is to ban this as an excuse.  OK, it means I get home from a hard day at work and have to find the motivation to open up my computer and get writing. But who said career shifting would be easy!