Being Professional -- Marc Z Jeffrey

Photo by Oli Dale on Unsplash

Professional. It is a word we hear all the time: ‘He has turned professional. She needs to be more professional.’ The word has several nuances of meaning. Macquarie Dictionary (MacMillan Publishers Australia, 2021) lists ten. Three are: 

a) ‘someone who makes a business of an occupation etc., especially of an art or sport, in which amateurs engage for amusement or recreation,’ (noun), 

b) ‘following an occupation as a means of livelihood or for gain,’ (adjective), and 

c) ‘as would be done by a professional; expert,’ (adjective).

So, you want to make money from your writing; or have at least toyed with the idea? No? Then, am I right you want to communicate with your intended audience; you want to honour God, who put the desire to write within you? You want to do it well? Produce something that would please a professional? Then read on.

Being professional gives us credibility in a world that can devalue creativity. For a nation that loves story, Australians can sure be critical of those creating them. The statement, ‘You need to be more professional,’ may mask bias. Many writers and artists, especially those who are trying to make a living through their art, battle stigma. There is a prevailing attitude that unless someone traditionally employs you for what you are doing, then you are wasting your time. Income derived from what has the look of hard work can give much status. But doing a lot where there is no clear connection between effort and financial reward can appear ‘wasteful.’

Now, shake the negative stuff off. What does a professional writer do that distinguishes them from one writing purely for fun or personal fulfilment? What do we need to consider?

In summary, to be professional, we need to research the market, understand our readers, and be engaged with the writing community – which all helps us surf change whenever that’s needed.

First, a professional writer researches the market. The writer needs to understand what readers want and don’t want to read, as well as how and where they choose to access content. We might work our fingerprints off to create; but building our knowledge of marketing is just as important. How and when we sell or distribute our works is as important as the writing and editing them. Being able to judge whether it is time to reinvent how we are promoting ourselves rings true whether you have an agent or are self-publishing.

Second, if we explicitly or implicitly promise a reader something, we need to deliver. That might be as simple as not using cover art that suggests the content is a thriller, when you’ve written a romance. It damages our brand if we fail; and it could scuttle our business. A professional knows how to create an expectation and knows how to deliver on it. If we give the customer over and above what they expect, they are more likely to come back. 

Finally, writing can be a solitary occupation, but if you are a writer, you are a part of a community of people. Christian Writers Downunder is such a community. You can find us on Facebook or via this ‘blog spot’. 

Professional people take time to build their brands. Sharing knowledge is brand central for writers and creators. If you need to make a change in what you are doing, a little knowledge is invaluable in getting it right, so share yours. Sharing knowledge is not giving away trade secrets, it’s sharing what you know and what you have learnt. Knowledge is like the ocean, an open resource of facts; what you are doing is drawing attention to what you’ve found helpful in that ocean. 

Photo by Avi Richards on Unsplash

So, if you want to write for a living, or supplement your other job by writing, or just have fun with your words — then be professional because God calls us to be excellent in all that we do. That is: research the market and understand your readers, deliver on what you promise and engage with your community. Have a clear, well-thought-out plan of action and execute it. When things don’t work, rethink, pray. Then try again.

Marc Jeffrey is an Adelaide-based author and poet who loves to craft words in times when his beautiful wife and lively dog (Shih tzu cross Chihuahua) are asleep. He writes of hope and justice, depositing his characters in the nexus between the ‘what is’ and the ‘what if’ – while wondering if he can leave the house without waking anyone up. 

He is long-time member of the ‘Literati’ writing group, that grew out of the Tabor Adelaide Creative Writing program. When he’s not writing, Marc listens to his favourite music, which ranges from Cold Chisel to Claude Debussy

What Your Daily Word Count Says About You by Charis Joy Jackson

Yesterday I wrote 2,054 words for my WIP. At first, I was pretty proud of myself, but then I started wondering if that number should be higher for an almost full day of writing. What did my word count say about me as a writer? Was I good enough?

I’ve always wondered if I could actually make it as a professional writer.

I imagine my dream lifestyle - living in some majestic place, full of epic mountains, verdant valleys, crystalline waterfalls and soaring eagles. Someplace I could spend my days sitting in a wing-backed chair with my laptop writing all day long. Even if the “magical place” was just a dingy room and I still had the luxury of writing all day and making a living doing this, could I make it?

The fear that this is just a hobby sneaks in a lot.

Or that even if I do have the opportunity to make it a career that I’ll dry up and have no more words to say. Maybe I’m not alone. Maybe you’ve wondered too.

Well, after yesterday’s success, I was curious to know how many words the professionals write on a daily basis. My goal was to start writing the same word count as they did, because if I could do that, then I'd be a pro too, right? My word count would say so.

Famous Word Counts

Trying to google something like this was actually a bit more difficult than I thought, but in the end, I found one post that had a list of 39 Famous Authors and their daily word count. And it was much more comforting than I’d thought it would be.

Yes, there were authors like, Michael Crichton, who writes an average of 10,000 words a day! But the majority of these famous writers sat from 1,000 - 2,500 words a day. And another handful, Ernest Hemingway among them, sat around 500 - 600 words a day.

All in all, it was encouraging to know that some of the "Greats" sat so low on their daily word count.

But what did it say about them? Were they not as professional as others? Did they not take their writing as seriously as others?

This thought process reminded me of something even more important… It’s not how much you write each day, but that you stick to it and write something every day. Even if it’s only 10 words a day.

AND!

Even more importantly, it reminded me to not compare myself and my writing to other people and their writing. It's an easy game to get caught up in, but it will leave us feeling dissatisfied - even with the good things that happen. Take me for example, I had been proud of myself for how much I'd accomplished in one day, until I let comparison set in and take over that joy.

Every Word Counts

This last month, I took part in a writing challenge. It was simple enough. Write something every day. But with my busy schedule, this had even been too much for me on some days and it was easy to feel discouraged.

One of my friends, who was also part of the challenge asked me how I was doing and I told him it wasn’t going so well. I wasn’t the only one. There were a few others that were struggling too. Each time I complained, my friend James, reminde me of how good it was to at least be writing something. If I said I’d written something but wasn’t happy with the way it turned out, he encouraged me that at least I wrote something. Another time when I said it was going too slowly, he stopped me and said, “It all counts.”

Even something is better than nothing.

Write.

Get it out and on to paper or computer screen, whatever your preference.

So what does your daily word count say about you?

Well, let me tell you. It should tell you that you've accomplished something. You've put something out there. You've taken a step or several steps towards your end goal and you should celebrate that, be encouraged by the process instead of looking at the negative of it.

Be your biggest fan.

I was standing in line at an airport once and the man behind me had just been part of a writing conference in the city. We struck up a conversation about writing and when he asked me what I wrote. I started talking down about what I’d been writing and this man - this stranger, stopped me and said, “Don’t do that.” He went on to tell me how everyone else would critique my writing and tear it down, but I needed to be my biggest fan.

If you write. Do it and be your biggest fan. Enjoy the process and remember that every bit counts, whether you write only 10 words a day or 10,000, it all counts.

Each word you write is a step in the right direction, or to be punny: the write direction ;)

Charis Joy Jackson is working as a missionary with Youth With a Mission (YWAM) a non-profit organization & is part of The Initiative Production Company. She loves creating stories & is currently writing a novel, which she hopes to create into a seven part series.

Here's to a life lived in awe & wonder.
Welcome to the adventure.

www.charisjoyjackson.com