by selfpublishing.com
Writing Career Quiz
Writing Career Quiz
Home > Blog > Blog > How Writers Can Fulfill Their Mission – Today

How Writers Can Fulfill Their Mission – Today

Carol Tice

Table of Contents
2
3

As a writer, how do you know if you’ve really made it?

Here’s an idea: You can say you’ve done it if you have fulfilled your mission.

This thought was put in front of me by literary agent  Donald Maass, one of the presenters at Surrey International Writers Conference, which I attended recently.

This reminded me that one big problem with being a writer is that it’s so easy to get off track.

There are so many things we could spend our time writing.

If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time writing for clients, to pay the bills. I’ve gotten to help a lot of small business owners along the way, and even expose a few wrongdoings. Which all feels good.

Clients call and want to hire you, and you say ‘yes.’ Then you look up, and it’s five years later, and you wonder where you’re headed.

I enjoy the challenge in writing for clients, but is it truly my mission as a writer? Not so sure.

More recently, I’ve been getting to help freelance writers learn how to earn more. I’ve taken a stand against writer exploitation and low pay by becoming a paying market myself. Which all feels terrific.

I feel like I’ve left a real legacy with all the tips I’ve given, and all the thank-you notes I’ve gotten from writers.

But I’m not sure that’s all there is to it.

Asking the hard questions

Have I truly lived up to all of my writing potential?

Have I done all I can with my gift? Probably not.

Maass asked it like this:

“What do you NEED to write? Is there something important you want to tell everyone?

What will you write that will change the world?

Write it.”

I have to admit I was a little flummoxed.

I like to think of myself as having a good handle on my goals and direction as a writer.

I’m well-organized and all. I get a lot done.

But I don’t really know the answer to this.

Is there more important stuff I should focus on writing in 2013? Maybe so.

There is this young-adult novel concept I’ve been talking about with my daughter, who loves it and wants to illustrate it. Maybe it’s time to tear up my playbook and learn more about novel construction, and somehow find the time to write that.

And an idea I’m kicking around in my head about creating a blog that would promote world peace. Now there’s something important to write about, where you could really leave a legacy.

How can you fulfill your mission?

Take that important thing you need to write, Maass said, and write a bit on it every day.

Get it on your agenda, and get it done. Even if you have to do it a little at a time, inbetween kids and life and paying bills and everything else.

Because life is short. And we never know how short it might be.

It’s another way to look at success. Not a best-seller, necessarily, or a top blog.

Just taking a little time today, to write that thing you know you were put here to write. That’s victory.

What’s your mission as a writer? Leave us a comment and share it.

More Related Posts
What is Copywriting? A Modern Definition and How-To Guide

What is Copywriting? A Modern Definition and How-To Guide

What Is Copywriting? The How-To Guide for Freelancers. Makealivingwriting.com

It’s a question so simple, you might think everyone already knows the answer: What is copywriting?

But in my decade-plus helping newbie writers launch their freelance careers, I’ve learned not to assume. People come from all walks of life into freelance writing, and aren’t born knowing the lingo.

When I researched this question, it got even more interesting. Because I disagreed with many of the most popular posts on the topic.

What I have for you isn’t your grandpa’s copywriting definition and description. It’s a rebel’s 21st Century copywriting definition — and a how-to guide on how to break in and do it.

How copywriting evolved

Old copy hacks will tell you copywriting is the art and science of crafting writing that sells.

They’ll tell you writing that overtly sells a product or service is copywriting — and everything else is ‘not copywriting.’

That was once true — but it isn’t any more. Because the Internet changed much of what we once knew about marketing.

I’ve got a new definition of copywriting for you, one I think is more accurate for the 21st Century marketing era we live in now.

Read on to learn what copywriting is today, how to do it — and how you can capitalize on the changes to earn well as a freelance writer.

List Of Free Blogging Platforms (2023 Options)

List Of Free Blogging Platforms (2023 Options)

Starting a blog doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. If you're interested in checking out a list of free blogging platforms, you have come to the right place. As of the time of writing the article, there are still a few great options! Free blogging sties won't suit...

9 Ways to Monetize a Blog + 3 Methods to AVOID

9 Ways to Monetize a Blog + 3 Methods to AVOID

Some would say that blogging is dead. But with all the ways to monetize a blog in this day and age, that's just not true. Blogging is still just as relevant as it was before, and this idea that it's "over" only comes from the fact that other mediums of making money...