Who said it was easy?

Writing and reading---it's a marriage not without its rough spots. Just as you must write to be a writer, you must read to be a writer. Within the books and articles written about your craft, you'll encounter again and again the idea that rough times go with your work-at-home writing business. It's wise to believe it---and to take steps to keep on keeping on.

Recently, I was inundated with work; writing assignments, editing jobs. I knew I should be looking for work beyond those assignments but I was busy, and loving it. I didn't think much beyond the current work. That lapse in marketing/promoting taught me an unforgettable lesson. Marketing and promoting my services is just as much a part of being a writer as is the actual writing. It's the 24/7 job you must be passionate about. For instance, ideas will pop into your head as you eat dinner, watch a TV program, drive to an appointment. Jot the inspirations down so you don't forget them. Always look for new opportunities to stretch your writing muscles. Thanks to the Internet's appetite for new content, we can all stay as busy as we want.

I've already mentioned that quick quotes are quick energy shots to my writer brain. Another energy shot is reading well-written articles on the craft. I also stumbled across a surprising discovery. Reading bad writing is beneficial, too. Why? Because you think (1) I would have said that another way; and, (2) If this writer can get published, I can, too!

I've already tucked the thought that the writing life is an easy worklife into my mental garbage bag of useless, anti-productive thoughts. The writing life, working from home, is a good life, and one so worth living.

It's just like Dorothea says

Working from home has its ups, its downs. Think about it; they're no worse than the ones you've experienced in the outside workplace where office politics regularly dictate high peaks and deep valleys. We all need little (and sometimes big) encouragements to keep our feet on the highway to $uccess. Quotes I've collected are those quick little encouragements that send me back to the page and the work I love. Dorothea Brande ("Wake Up and Live") penned one that quickly became one of my favorites:

"Act as if it were impossible to fail, and it shall be."

She also says, "Be very clear about the success you desire. Act as if you already had it."

Nice thoughts that could fit any situation, but, if you need a little mental prodding to help you arrive at your home workplace, they're powerful enough that they may just move you to do as a writer does---write---and re-charge your ambition for another day.

Do positive encouragements keep you going? Do you write them onto 3x5 index cards when you find ones that stir encouragement in you?

Persistence equals success

Hard words for me to practice: Be persistent in whatever you do.

I don't have enough fingers and toes to count all the times I've tried something and given up before I'd reached the success mark I'd set for myself. One reason for those failures may be the fast-paced, want-it-now society we live in. If an endeavor doesn't succeed immediately, ditch it and try something else.

Another reason for my failures could be my commitment level. Had I really thought it through, pictured what success would look and feel like? I'm guessing the answer to that question is a no.

Learning from our mistakes is a good thing. Here's what I've learned. Since I've chosen to work at home, as a freelance writer, the sound foundation on which I'm building that career choice is persistence. Every day, I've committed to write; assignments, for sure, and at the very least, my daily article. It's an idea Michael Masterson, a highly successful entrepreneur, writer, and founder of Early to Rise, an e-magazine, suggested after he'd read about a woman who'd written 365 plays, one each day for a year. He challenged his readers to do likewise: write an article, a story, a poem, every day. At the end of the year, you'll have improved your writing, and have a significant body of work that can be marketed and sold, in whole or in part. Not only that. In my opinion, the person who accomplishes that feat has also made significant strides in another area of importance, persistence.

On the flip side, I've noticed that, when I don't write every day, I lose my edge. Re-starting my writing engine isn't easy. Before I can face the page, I also have to overcome another writerly problem, self-confidence (should I really be writing? can I write? etc., etc., etc.)

Dorothy is a retired Latin teacher I once knew. In her retirement, she gravitated to a work-at-home job as a writer. She told me how she'd set up a writing schedule for herself, 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. every weekday, and that she'd stuck to it faithfully. The takeaway I learned? That her persistence succeeded. She produced stories, articles, poems that she successfully marketed. Instantly, Dorothy became my role model.

I'm committed to my work-at-home job. The most important tool I use is persistence because I'm 100% convinced, thanks to Dorothy and Michael, that persistence equals success.

Writing-at-home dream job

Walking the few steps from my bedroom, where I've donned casual wear for the day, to my home office, has been a dream of mine for twenty years. Ditching the day job, the time clock, the annual reviews where I'm awarded a piddly 2% pay increase, and the office politics is the only healthy way to live and work, in my humble opinion. The dream includes never having to make another home-packed lunch, never having to commute through traffic filled with rude drivers and jillions of gas-guzzling, endlessly long stoplights. No more alarm clocks, no more snotty co-workers skilled at back-stabbing, no more begging for time off. But how to leave that insanity behind and earn a comparable, or better, income was my two-decades-old dilemma. I wanted it badly enough that I searched for the key that fit the door to my dream life.

At first, I searched classified sections in the backs of magazines. Sure, I found work that offered high returns for a few hours of effort. Light-heartedly, I'd mail my check and the order form, sit back with fingers crossed, hoping this was that key. Not long after launching the work-at-home program, I'd figure out it was just another scam.

Next, I searched internet leads, and didn't have much success until I ran across a name I recognized and respected. I could trust this man and what he was willing to teach me because he had a reputation to keep clean and shiny. The name---Bob Bly. His business---teaching people like me how to make an income through writing. His informational ads spoke to my dream. After all, he's been a successful, well-paid writer for decades. Here, no doubt in my mind, is that long-sought key.

I just ordered my first e-book from Mr. Bly. I'll update you on how it works for me.

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