Hear Me Roar!

I just got tagged by Susan at The Urban Muse for a meme: "I am Writer, Hear Me Roar!" The idea is to post three tips on writing, then follow up by tagging five other writers. Here are my tips:

Read. Read a lot. There is absolutely nothing that will help your writing more. Read a lot of what you plan to write. If you're a sales letter writer, read all the junk mail that comes to your door. If you're doing article marketing, read what your competition is putting out there. If you want to write mystery novels, read everything you can get your hands on. Reading what's out there will help you learn and internalize the conventions of that market. Once you're "fluent," you'll have more to offer your clients.

Develop a thick skin. Even if you're the best there is, somebody out there won't like your style--or might just have some slight improvements to offer. It can be particularly tough for the best writers to accept criticism, because these high-performers are more used to receiving praise. But if you're going to do this professionally, that means a lot of people will see your writing--and it's impossible to please everyone. Do your best, learn from your experiences, and then make like a shark and keep moving.

Be persistent. Writing is all about endurance. Whether you're writing a novel or building a freelance business, the one who succeeds is the one who's in it for the long haul. Set an ongoing daily schedule you can live with, break big goals up into small, reasonable steps, and don't get freaked if you have to change the plan from time to time. Life isn't perfect, and you have to adapt to the situation on the ground.

Those are my tips for both the nuts-and-bolts and writing as a career. As for tagging, I'm now tagging: you. Put your own roar out into cyberspace, and post a link in my comments section once it's up. If you're feeling particularly generous, feel free to link to my site in your post. Happy meme-ing!