So you think you want to live the True Writing Life. You’re working hard on your craft. Of course, one must eat. Whether it’s books, stories, poems, or songs that are ruling your life, you want to figure out a way to monetize it, right?

Well, the True Writing Life knows that to monetize ones words takes discipline. It is a dogged pursuit in the face of everyone telling you it will never happen. Oh, their reasons vary, but one oft-recurring reason is this: You can only succeed if you “do it by the book.”

Want to know what “do it by the book” really means? It could mean two things. One is negative. One is positive. Let’s look at the positve first.

Positive “doing it by the book” means this:
1. Learn your craft
2. Study the industry into which you want to sell
3. Identify marketing methodologies
4. Make and meet goals
5. Associate with fellow writers
6. Understand what publishers’ and agents’ jobs really are
7. Practice writing at every opportunity
8. And open yourself up to learning from others
9. Challenge the status quo, whether yours or others

Negative “doing it by the books” means this:
1. Too heavy reliance on opinion of others as to what is right or wrong
2. Asking permission to try something new, and quitting when not getting it
3. Never asking “but, why?” when told you “must”
4. Being intimidated by so-called experts
5. Unwilling to ask “who’s the little man behind the curtain?”
6. Not listening to your own intuition
7. Too heavy reliance on outside validation to establish your worth
8. Asking others to believe in the worth of your words when you aren’t willing to

A man once said to me, “Angela, if you stand in line, you are asking permission. Get out of line, and just do it.” I don’t stand in line anymore. Let me tell you, that’s a scary thing. When you’re in line, you have a place. You see yourself shuffling forward. People around you are on the same path. You can talk together and feel supported. But you are still in a line that only moves when someone, you know not who, says the line can move, for reasons you know not why. And when you ask for information, you are told some version of “we’re doing it by the book.”

In the meantime, other people are accomplishing things and when you ask them how they are getting it done, they tell you how and you say, “But, but, but…that’s not what the expert or the book on the subject said to do.”

Exactly. They stepped out of the line. Did that take courage? Hell, yeah. Did it take planning, hard work, discipline, and faith? Absolutely. It is not easy living The True Writing Life. This life is not for the faint of heart.