Pursue a Freelance Writing Career: Overcoming Your Fears

Laurie Darroch-Meekis is a writer who is finding some success at what she does and knows she can find even more success with her writing as long as she puts the effort in. This wasn't always the case however. There was a time when Laurie didn't trust herself or her writing. Overcoming the self-doubt and naysayers took courage and strength. I hope this interview will help others who wish to be writers, who dream of their name in publication, to take the chance.

Angel: How long have you been freelance writing?

Laurie: I didn't start freelance writing until last year but I've been writing since I first realized the power of the written word and could write my first story and poem when I was small child. Unfortunately in all the moving we did growing up, most of my writings disappeared.

Angel: What kept you from starting your freelance writing career sooner?

Laurie: I spent much of my life trying to be what was expected of me, trying to please others in my life and listening to them tell me that I couldn't do what I really wanted to do, that it had no merit and very little value. That was one of the most idiotic mistakes I've ever made. You can't fit in someone else's mold. I paid a huge price for not following my own dreams and aspirations. To put it quite bluntly, I was miserable behind the smiling face and diplomatic behavior. God gave me skills and I wasn't using them.

As one of the pastors at my church put it recently when he was talking about faith, I wasn't stepping out of the boat with faith in the middle of the storm. I was sitting waiting to be rescued while my boat was sinking. I was only destined to go down with the boat if I didn't make that step of faith.

Angel: What was the impetus, the one thing that pushed you to give writing a shot?

Laurie: It isn't just one thing that got me going again. It was a number of things. There have been a number of large changes in my life in recent years including a wonderful husband Durrell, who believes in my abilities and encourages me, my daughter Stephanna, who loves my stories, a new family and having to restart my financial life from the very bottom of the barrel. It is now or never.

First, I didn't want to reach the end of my life sometime in the future and regret the fact that I never tried to do something I loved. Secondly, because for the moment my family is in two different countries, I need to do something that allows me the freedom and the income to go between two places until that gets straightened out. Thirdly, I need to prove mostly to myself but also to all the naysayers that I can do this and be successful at it. Finally, it is time to make that step of faith.

Angel: What are your long-term career goals?

Laurie: To be successful in many fields and genres of writing, and to be able to make a good living at this. My star that I reach for is to have my family together, even if we travel back and forth as a family unit. When I have doubts and when I fear and falter, I focus on that, with faith to keep me on the path. I would like to have many books, stories and articles published and well accepted.

Angel: What are your long-term life goals?

Laurie: To always live with faith, honor, love, respect for others and myself and to never forget whom this all really belongs to. We are just borrowing it for now. Plus to never forget that if everything else is stripped away in life, what matters are the people you love and those who love you. Without faith of some kind and hope and love, there really is no point to anything else. People above things.

Angel: Do you enjoy fiction or non-fiction writing best?

Laurie: I enjoy writing everything from poetry and lyrics, to articles, essays, and stories. I don't want to limit myself. The one curious thing that I've found is that both fiction and non-fiction have elements of each other in them.

To make a fiction story believable, the details have to be believable too. It doesn't matter what genre you write in either. In every one of my fiction stories there are pieces of real people, real events and real places from my life or other people's lives that have touched mine.

Angel: Please tell us where we can find your published work.

Laurie: My first, in print, really hold it in your hand, published fiction story is coming out in a yet untitled anthology book after Christmas. I am hoping there may be more than one piece in it. Hopefully more will be accepted soon in other books and publications. I have definitely been submitting them.

This is only part of it, but online you can find some of my freelance writing, poetry, blogs and stories at:

http://ponderings.today.com/

http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/45466/dreamweaverr.html

http://www.ehow.com/members/DS_LaurieD8267-articles.html

http://www.squidoo.com/WinnipegGuide

http://www.squidoo.com/ThePoetsCorner

http://www.squidoo.com/KidzCrafts

http://petchronicles.today.com/

http://www.ehow.com/members/Dreamweaverr-articles.html

Now let's talk about freelance writing in general.

Angel: How do you handle rejection as a writer?

Laurie: Sometimes I handle it well and other times it crushes me. I think sometimes itdepends on what kind of emotional or financial burden I have put on it.

The trick I am learning and constantly having to remind myself of is that I have to keep writing and submitting constantly to increase my chances of acceptance and my skills. If I sit waiting for the results of one piece of writing only, then when it doesn't achieve what I hoped it would, everything is tied in that one piece and the disappointment is huge.

It is much healthier to get a lot out there so some succeeds and some doesn't. It increases your odds for success. Either way you achieve something.

The other thing is what may not work for one publication or website may fit perfectly somewhere else, so don't toss aside any failures as a total loss. You may be able to use them as they are or rework them into something that fits somewhere else. They are not rejecting you as a human being or rejecting your babies, which our writing often feels like. They are saying it isn't what we are looking for.

Remember how many prolific and now very successful writers have been repeatedly rejected. I sometimes laugh and think I bet those publishers who rejected the successful writers must be kicking themselves every time they see those names climb the best seller's lists again and again.

Rejection and acceptance are all part of the same coin. Throw it in the air. You win some and you lose some, but you should never stop trying because you don't win all the time. You have to stay in the game.

Angel: What tips would you give new writers to help improve their work?

Laurie: Think of writing as an oil painting. You have to keep working at it, changing structure, adding layers of element, reworking every part of the painting and using different tools and colors to do it. When some of the greatest pieces of artwork in the world have been put under X-Rays, art experts and examiners often find layers of previous work or totally different paintings that eventually grew into the finished masterpieces that achieve such great stature.

Angel: Which do you think is more important: The ability to tell a good story, or editing skills?

Laurie: For me it is definitely the ability to tell a good story. Editing and grammar are the skeletal structure of any writing. They are necessary to make it stand tall. But to give the skeleton life, it needs the musculature to make it move, the brain to give it reason and most of all the heart and soul to give the life meaning. To me those are the elements of a good story and without those elements; no amount of technically perfect writing is ever going to be a good story.

Angel: What advice would you give a new fiction writer just starting out?

Laurie: You have to get past the dreaming stage and start weaving those dreams into reality. You have to

do, not talk. You can talk about it until you're blue in the face but until you actually write and continue to write, you're not going to get anywhere. You can't wait for the right time, the best skills or the sudden epiphany to tell you this is the time. It is like waiting for the perfect time to have a child. There is no perfect time to have a child. You just do the best with what you have and create from the starting point you're at. Then you grow from there.

To put it another way, you can't ride a bicycle across country if you don't get on the bike. Even if you only have training wheels to start the journey, then that is what you start with.

Don't expect perfection. It doesn't exist. Even the most skilled and successful writers are constantly changing, learning and growing, but do aim for the highest level you can reach for when you write.

Editors and test readers are there to catch what you may miss. Critics are there too and you have to learn how to deal with that aspect of writing too, in whatever way works best for you.

Find a good support system. It might be a friend, a spouse, your children, a writing group or a bunch of people who have similar aspirations. Whether it's one or all of these make sure they give you constructive feedback, encouragement, support in your endeavors, and are there for you whether you are struggling or succeeding.

I am very fortunate in that I have a few close friends who believe I can do this, even though I am still at the struggling, hungry phases. I have a spouse and children who are proud of my efforts and my work and an amazing group of writers from all walks of life and with all levels of ability and success, in what has become a very special family of writers and friends at the Accentuate forum.

Angel: Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Laurie: Don't let fear or temporary setbacks cripple your efforts and don't beat yourself up for not always getting everything right and getting everything accepted. It's self-defeating.

Don't be afraid to try something you haven't tried before. It is stifling to only do the same thing over and over again. I get the most satisfaction and the richest experiences by expanding my horizons and then making progress and having success or even failures with each new attempt. Think of expanding your writing as akin to traveling the world and learning about new cultures by assimilating them to become part of you. It can only give you a richer base to write from and more venues to write at.

For the many people who have asked about the nome de plume, Dreamweaverr (No the extra r was not one of my infamous typos.), it has nothing to do with an old Gary Wright song or the computer program. It is because I am a writer, a weaver of dreams. For me it also ties in with the native storyteller figure of the southwest. The figure is portrayed as a female covered with children crawling all over her, gathering to listen to her stories. I have always loved telling stories both verbally and in writing, so my hope is that my writings will draw people to them like the storyteller draws listeners to her.

Keep writing!

I know you'll agree that Laurie is an extraordinary and talented woman. With faith in God and herself, she is pushing forward, making life-affirming changes, and working toward accomplishing her goals. I believe she will achieve success beyond her wildest dreams.