My Journey to Become a Writer 02/06/2024 Post #37

This post may contain affiliate links.

What Did I Accomplish Today to Be a Writer?

I did Day 37 of the 100 Words a Day Writing Challenge 2024 through LA Writer’s Lab.  

I’m writing this post, plus I’m about to attend a practice and informational webinar for the Boston Writing Workshop. Let’s see if I can knock this post out before it begins.

What Am I Afraid of Doing Next in My Journey as a Writer?

I’m afraid of offending people, or stirring up pain, as I hand my manuscripts over to people who might be mentioned in my memoir. I don’t want to scrape at old wounds in any way. And I’m afraid of taxes – trying to do them right and not figuring out how.

Stuff I find myself saying:  I need to write my mileage down. And is it sometimes okay to start a sentence with the word “And”. I don’t know why; but sometimes I like breaking that little rule.

– Jody Susan Writes

How Am I Balancing the Different Aspects of Being a Writer?

Today I finally bought some binders, plastic sleeves, and color coded pocket dividers. I function so much more efficiently when I can group papers, lists and procedures by topics. This should help me have a better visual for what needs to be done, and what keeps getting neglected.

What I’m Doing About Building a Body of Work as a Writer

I met with Lori Overmyer today to discuss my manuscript and how to market it. If I can get this one published (by the way, it’s called “About Trees”), I will feel more comfortable about fine tuning the other drafts, since I’ll have a better idea of what length to shoot for. I’d like to keep all the books in the series at about the same length.

What I’m Doing to Complete My Manuscripts as a Writer

I’m double checking with people I mention in my memoir to see if I ought to change some of my wording.

Today I started looking through photos, so I can start working on a book cover through Canva. I also went ahead and signed up for the Pro version of Canva, so that I can complete the setup process for the books I already have on KDP. The reason they aren’t currently available for print versions is because I’d used stock photos for the kindle covers; but couldn’t find those images later, so I got stuck.

Being able to use Canva should streamline the self-publishing process.

What I’m Doing to Grow My Website as a Writer

I think storing all my brainstorming in a color-coded binder will help streamline my inspirations into actual concrete tasks to keep growing this site. I’m looking forward to trying to add WooCommerce on Thursday. I did speak with my CPA’s office today and decided to use QuickBooks, hopefully this will help with invoicing, if I offer services like editing and coaching for people who also want to write.

What I’m Doing to Build My Blog as a Writer

The color-coded binders are going to help me organize and schedule my blogposts in a much less scattered way.

Not so Fun Fact About Me: I still can’t remember to only add one space after a period, instead of two.

What I’m Doing About Networking as a Writer

Today I met with Lori Overmyer to make plans with moving forward in the publishing process for “About Trees”. I also met with a group to edit a fellow-writer’s content, and I spoke with a local CPA’s office about adding QuickBooks to my “workforce”. I know there are a lot of things I can do myself; but I’m finally starting to delegate things to other people, so I won’t feel so swamped.

What I’m Doing About Monetization as a Writer

The person setting me up with QuickBooks today asked me what my projected sales for the year would probably be. I completely froze and admitted, “I have no idea. It could very well be zero.” She decided to set the number at $25,000.00. That seemed like it would be a miracle; but maybe my lack of confidence is part of what has kept my sales records so near to zero.

What I’m Doing About Social Media as a Writer

I nearly wound up on LinkedIn today – I don’t know that I’m ready for that kind of entanglement. Maybe it’s not as bad as people make it sound; but I’m pretty unsure.

What I’m Doing About Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a Writer

Yesterday I heard about the Purdue Owl; but I don’t know “Hooh” told me. Oh wait, I’m pretty sure it was Lori Overmyer. Anyway, she said it is a great help when it comes to formatting.

APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th Edition) – Purdue OWL® – Purdue University

What I’m Doing to Stay Organized as a Writer

My kitchen counter has binders, pocket sleeves, colored paper, etc… awaiting the moment when I become officially organized. We’ll see whether that happens, or not. Today I looked into getting a business phone number, signing up for QuickBooks, thought through a mailing address, and finished my dishes and laundry.

Looking Back at My Writing Journey

Even yesterday seems like a long time ago. I’m hoping that if I can get into a groove I can get back to creating content and then start putting it out in a timely manner.

Any Other Thoughts on Becoming a Writer, Random Rants, Tales, or Trials…

I just finished the informational video on the Boston Writing Workshop this weekend. I think I will be scheduled to speak with an agent, though I’m not totally positive. I also plan to submit my first page to the “Writer’s Got Talent” contest. We’ll see if anything comes of that.

Thanks for reading what I’m writing,

Jody Susan

11 Tips to Write Fast without Using AI – How to Create Content Quickly (including my number one writing hack)