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A STEADY STREAM. As with the above, and with the advice on adding research and consistent writing into each daily work routine, learn to vary your tasks so you will always have something in the works. You may have 10 query letters on 10 different ideas circulating and you feel very confident that most of these will sell. Given that, you may not want to develop more query letters, especially ones that are time dated. Suppose you get the thumbs up on all of them at once. You may not be able to meet the deadline, so although it's a good problem to have in theory, you don't want to risk overbooking your work. So, change it up. Spend an hour a day writing queries, another hour on a work of fiction you want to complete in the long term and another hour towards a current article that isn't due right this minute, but will be needed soon. If you have editing work, throw that in to break up the day. Unless you are on a tight deadline on a project, odds are you will be more productive if you take breaks throughout the day. In this case, however, your "breaks" will not be real lapses in work, just a change of scenery, in a manner of speaking.

Take Advice
LISTEN UP. When you get a rejection, and you're lucky enough to receive a person note or any sort of explanation. If you see a trend in why your work is turned down (not enough anecdotes, for example), take the advice. You don't have to agree with the opinion. You don't have to heed the advice either. In the end, however, these are the people who will sign your check, so you will have to learn to pay attention or lose out.

CONTINUE TO GROW. The fastest way to fail is to do nothing, right? In the freelancing field, that can be expanded to include doing the "same old, same old." To start, writers are a curious lot, so unless we stretch our muscles, we're going to wither creatively. This is where I get into more of those mind games I mentioned before. I have always been a proponent of long-term planning for my personal and professional life. Over the years I kept a 5-year, 1-year and 1-month plan. The 1-month would include current deadlines, as well as time set aside towards long-term projects and goals.

As part of the 5-year plan, I look over the markets I tend to sell to regularly and see them as the foundation for "where I want to be when I grow up". This is the eye I use every time I look at the long-term plan. I then set attainable goals, staying away from stating very general things. For example, my 5-year won't say anything to the effect of: "Make a six-figure income from writing by the end of 2010." Even though I break down this sort of major goal into tiny bites in the 1-year and 1-month goals, this six-figure chant is one of those things that will weigh heavily on my mind and even hinder me on those days when I get a few rejections at once.

Does this mean I won't think that way? No, never. In fact, that may be a single statement taped inside the binder or notebook you keep your goals in, but it's more of an inspirational.

What I put in this 5-year plan, on the professional level, includes the way I want to expand my business. For example, I might list: "Break into the men's magazine market." That leaves a lot of wiggle room and allows me to narrow things down in the 1-year plan. It also moves me towards higher-paying markets.

Just as you will learn to develop items for your long-term goals that will spur you on to increase your output as you grow your business as well as your bank account. In addition, you will also devise your own productivity joggers and methods for ensuring discipline to your craft.

Learn more about this author, Kim Remesch.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

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