Thursday, July 29, 2010

Don't Shortchange Yourself

I learned a very important lesson this week. You know that little voice inside your head? That inner critic that's constantly chattering away, nagging you and making sure you never step outside your comfort zone? I have one, too, and I finally told her where she could go. And believe it or not, it worked!

I'm so excited, and I thought if I could share this with anyone who would be happy for me, it would be all of you in this group! I was searching online sites that were looking for freelance writers, and finally found one that seemed to match my interests: LIVESTRONG.com (the site associated with Lance Armstrong's foundation). It's all about science, health, and wellness, and I have a BA degree and a background in environmental health, so I thought, why not? However, they really wanted health professionals with a Master's Degree, but said they would consider experience. So I put my resume together, attached a few writing samples, and sent it off, all the while enduring the endless negative self-talk of my inner "fault-finding committee".  In fact, I was absolutely positive that it would return to me with a big fat "UNDERQUALIFIED" stamped on the front.

But it wasn't! In fact, I was approved as a freelance writer for LIVESTRONG.com, and hope to start claiming assignments very soon. Who knew?

I guess the point is to always give yourself more credit -- I think all writers tend to be too self-critical. Just put it out there and go with it. I mean, really, what have you got to lose?

So I'm wondering, can I officially call myself a writer now? :)

~Jo

2 comments:

  1. You WERE a writer, you just needed a publishing outlet which you found. That's what we like to hear. Somebody in our group that took a chance on their writing ability and found out somebody else is impressed with it also! We look forward to seeing your first article soon. And believe me, once you get a taste of publishing you want more, feed the beast of writing!

    Rich K.

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  2. Thanks for the encouragement, Rich! I really need to come down from this high sometime soon or I'm not going to be able to get myself to sleep tonight! I think I've been running on adrenaline all day :) (Hence the excessive use of happy-face emoticons :):)

    ~Jo

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