You may or may not know, that my first paying gig as a writer was for the Yahoo Contributor Network. For three years I wrote articles for yahoo.com and was paid per click… like $1.25 for every 1,000 clicks or something like that. You think I’m joking, but I’m serious. Sometimes there would be an assignment payment (say, $4.00 an article upfront) but other times, not. The idea was that you’d make money by creating a massive pool of content. Sure, this article might have only earned you $.17 this month, but so did a dozen others. And that one featured on the yahoo.com home page was viewed 3,000 times… so yeah, small potatoes, but it added up. By the time the YCN closed down I had written nearly 200 articles. Even more valuable than the money, was the experience I got while writing. You can get pretty good at something if you do it over and over again… 200 times.

Why is this information relevant to today’s blog post? Because today, while cleaning my office, I found two binders full of those articles. Like a good little nerd, I had printed off each article and saved it. And good thing too, because when the Yahoo Contributor Network folded in 2014, it deleted allllllll of the pieces off the internet it’s writers had written. What had felt a bit silly and self-glorifying, became the saving grace for my portfolio of work.

In the name of nostalgia, I took a walk down memory lane by browsing through those binders full of my articles. I thought that perhaps there might be an article or two that I could reuse and repurpose here and now on my blog. As an authorpreneur with an overflowing to-do list, the prospect of recycling something so few of you have likely read was just too tempting to pass up. In the collection I found a lot of pieces on parenting and education, but a few random ones about Olympic Athletes and travels (such as a review of Spirit Mountain Ski Resort in Duluth and how to make the most of a three day trip to NYC). Lo and behold, I did find a few articles I could share again.

The piece I’m going to share with you today was simply titled: Writing Resolutions. If you are just starting out on our writing journey, you might find it helpful to look at the ways in which I (as a very new writer) I planned to make the most of the year ahead. Tune back in again next week, when I share my goals for this year (2022) … now that I’m a decade into the game.

Happy reading and happy writing!

Amanda

Writing Resolutions

Written by yours truly on December 30, 2012

Nine months ago, I started to play around with this whole writing for money thing. As the year closes and I reflect at my writing journey this far, I am incredibly pleased with my mild success. I am ready to stop playing and around and start being serious about my writing. With the New Year approaching I thought that I would list my writing resolutions. My hope is that they help me reach new levels of success in the print world and that maybe by reading them, they can help you too.

Writing Wednesdays

I resolve to set aside two hours every Wednesday to write. I will leave work as soon as I am able, go to my local bookstore and write and write and write until it is time to go home for dinner. I will write and edit and submit and research. I have never had a set writing schedule and while I am sure that I can’t accomplish all of my writing in this time, it is a guaranteed time slot that I hope will help me produce more finish content. On that same note, I also resolve to wait until my children are sleeping before I drag out the laptop to work.

Creating Connections

I resolve to make ten new contacts each month. Whether it is as simple as obtaining email addresses of family and friends and acquaintances to send my published online work, or something major like connecting with an editor, I want to work this year on promoting my work and propelling my writing career.

Improving my Craft

I resolve to subscribe to a writing blog or writing magazine to sharpen my writing skills and stay abreast in the latest industry trends and topics. Recently I have stumble upon Brain A. Kelms The Writer’s Dig. It is a blog that has helpful posts on everything from grammar to inspiration and is one that I plan to follow in the New Year. One resolution he suggested was to start a word count calendar to keep track of your productivity.

I hope that these resolutions increase the amount of my published work and the places where my words are seen. I hope that I can increase my writing income and also my credibility as a quality write. These are my resolutions for this year. and who knows, maybe next year my novel will even get finished.

A few quick insights from my vantage point of 2022

I did start and maintain Writing Wednesdays from 2013-2016. It was a wonderful weekly habit, and one I would highly recommend. During those Wednesday I did not pick up the boys from daycare, did not exercise, make dinner or do errands. I didn’t even answer phone calls from my mom during that time. (Don’t worry, I usually called her back on my way home and eventually, we just picked a different time for her to call me.) From 3:30-6:00 PM I wrote. It was both enjoyable and productive. My husband’s coaching schedule and a move ended my formally structured Writing Wednesdays, but I still take time each week to write.
My contacts have definitely grown. I now can boast of an email list home to ___ people, 1,600+ followers on Facebook, almost !,000 on Instagram and countless writing friends I have met through organizations like SCBWI and the Mississippi Valley Writers Guild. If you are looking for writing friends, join a group… it’s the best possible way to connect, learn and grow!
It’s been awhile since I’ve taken a class or attended a conference (thanks GOVID) but I’m hoping that 2022 will change that. For many years I consumed all sorts of content on how to become a better writer. Now, I spend more time creating than consuming… and that’s okay. There’s a season for each, and perhaps in the year ahead, the seasons will shift and it will be time for me to learn something new.

Alright, what about you? What writing resolutions do you have for the year ahead?

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