Have you ever felt like giving up?

 

As a writer, you will experience stumbling blocks at one time or another in your career. You may face the dreaded white screen frustrated because the words just won’t come. You may submit what you think is your greatest masterpiece only to face a mountain of rejection letters. It may seem at times that no matter what you do, you just can’t seem to take a step forward towards realizing your dream.

 

Your inner critic then begins to raise his voice. You start to think that maybe you just aren’t cut out to be a writer after all. Dejected, you turn off your computer with a strong desire to climb into bed and pull the covers over your head, dreading the dawn of a new day.

 

If this sounds like you, take heart in the fact that you are not alone. Countless writers struggle with these stumbling blocks each and every day. There is a light at the end of the tunnel (and no, it’s not a train).

 

Achieving success as a freelance writer takes time and countless hours of hard work. That’s something us writers have a difficult time dealing with. We live in a world of instant gratification where we have come to expect everything to be right there at our fingertips. These expectations hamper our ability to have patience.

 

We need to be determined to not allow anything to get in our way on the road to success. Persistent and consistent actions over a period of time will take us where we want to go.

 

It helps to remember why we became writers in the first place. Reconnect with your original source of inspiration for becoming a writer. There once was a specific seed of passion that desired to express itself. But over time, we disconnected ourselves from this passion in pursuit of other goals.

 

Once you have reconnected with the reason why you became a writer in the first place, nurture that passion until you see it in full bloom. Make the decision that you will accept no other option. Maintain that passion by taking action every day that will lead you to the living the life you deserve.

 

Believe in yourself as a writer. You were given the gift of expression for a reason. Perhaps that reason was to make a powerful impact in the life of someone else you may never meet face to face. Maybe you will give someone hope that things can and will get better.

 

Perhaps you can inspire them with an idea that they would not have thought on their own. You might even save a life from the pits of despair. But if you don’t sit your butt in the chair and get to work, that may never happen.

If you are struggling, know that there is tons of help out there. Here at Freelance Writers Academy, we help our members benefit from expert advice in developing queries, finding freelance work, answering specific questions, and dealing with all the aspecsts involved in freelance writing.

You were born with a special gift. Don’t squander it. Take your freelance writing seriously and let your voice be heard. You were called to be a writer, so start acting like one. Time to get back to work.

When I was in elementary school, I would often write stories. Some of them were for school assignments, and others were just stories I would type up on my computer. I often made “family newspapers” where I documented the current happenings of everyone in my family. That was when my love for writing first was sparked.

 

 

In high school, I always loved writing essays. All of my friends thought I was crazy, but I looked forward to the classes where we could write in-depth analyses on topics of our choice.

 

 

When I went to college, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I went through five or six different majors, feeling totally lost. I wanted to graduate, but I felt like nothing was the right fit. I did horrible on every multiple choice test I took, but excelled when there were free responses. I continued to do well in my essays, and I kept a personal blog where people would compliment my writing.

 

 

One day, when I was trying to decide what major to try out next, I thought to myself, “Katie, you are a good writer. Try the journalism program out again.” It was actually the major I started with, but after a bad experience with one of my professors, I backed out. However, this time, I went to talk to the head of the department, and he inspired me to try again. I realized that I should be doing something that I’ve always loved and excelled at, even if it was something that others looked down on and claimed to be a dead field.

 

 

To make a long story short, after taking a few pre-requisites, I was accepted into the print journalism program. It was there that I flourished. I wrote articles on every topic, and loved my in-depth reporting courses. I won awards for my writing, and I realized where my passion was. Writing.

 

 

Right before I graduated, I started my blog, Clarks Condensed. It became a place for me to continue writing, even though I had decided to be a stay-at-home mom. It’s been a place for me to express my thoughts, share them with others, and make a difference. As a journalist, I became dedicated to making sure I didn’t fit in with the current trend in journalism to be extremely biased and ignore the facts. It makes me so sad to see the lack of ethics in journalism that is practiced today, and I have made it a goal to always write the truth, and seek out both sides of every story.

 

 

Even though I’m not working as a journalist for a newspaper or magazine, I do my part to be informed, and write posts that others find helpful. I will always be a writer, and even though it took me a few years to decide that’s what I wanted to be, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

 

 

 

Katie Clark is a recent graduate from Brigham Young University and a stay-at-home mom to her 18-month-old, Jack. She enjoys writing for her blog, Clarks Condensed, doing freelance social media and blog management, cooking, and spending time with her husband and son.

This is a featured guest post entry by R.J. Loom for the Freelance Writers Academy Blog Carnival for September 2013. Please welcome her and tell us what you think by posting your comments below. Thank you R.J. Loom for this great entry!

 

Each person is inspired or motivated by different things. Sometimes it’s a significant event in their life or series of events. Other times it’s simply a fleeting moment that on the surface may not seem like much yet, has a lasting effect. In my case, it’s difficult to choose just one person or thing that has influenced me to become a writer. I believe it’s a path I’ve been on for some time now without even realizing it. Though, looking back I can now see what those influences were.

 

I’m the youngest of six kids. Born, the daughter of a poor immigrant as my dad would say. He is by far the biggest influence in who I am today. The life he lived in the Ukraine before he immigrated to the United States after WWII, gave him an interesting view on life. He had been in his words “…starved, bombed at and buried alive. So don’t sweat the small stuff.” His laid back demeanor and stories of his life prior to his family immigrating here, gave me a different perspective on my perceived notions that my problems were the end of the world or insurmountable. He believed anything was possible; that you could do or become anything you wanted to be. His insatiable curiosity was contagious and made me want to be everything from an astronomer, musician, artist or psychiatrist. It wasn’t until I began writing that I realized I could be all of those things.

 

While my father has been a constant influence, the next was one of those fleeting moments in my life. I should say it was a person who believed in me at a time when I think most don’t believe in themselves. Yes, that’s right, the teenage years.

 

In my sophomore year of high school, I took a class called Modern Novel. My teacher was one who not only loved to teach but also truly believed she was making a difference in children’s lives. Being the youngest, my older siblings had already taken her class and one of my older sisters had become friends with this teacher, after she graduated. I had never been much of an academic; doing the bare minimum to skate by. However, this teacher saw something in me that I failed to see myself, potential. Potential for what, I had no clue. But she seemed genuinely interested in seeing me succeed. Her class was interesting and I found it difficult not to get caught up in her enthusiasm for what she was teaching. The books we read and the papers I had to write were not the chore I always viewed homework to be. This should have been my first clue that writing was something I should be doing.

 

One day, I was dealing with one of my teenage crises and she pulled me aside after class to ask me how I was doing. I don’t know what my response was but I remember vividly what she did next. Reaching into her desk, she pulled out a book and handed it to me. No instructions were given. She didn’t give me a due date, expect me to write a paper or even ask me to let her know what I thought of it. She seemed content just to know I had it and confident that I would read it.

 

I went home that day and the first thing I did, was read it from start to end. It didn’t take long. The book was small and the story simple. The message of the story was so basic that many take it for granted every day. Many, except for people like this teacher and my father. The book was “The Precious Present” by Spencer Johnson M. D.

 

Later, she made a recommendation that I take honors English the following year. Taking honors anything wasn’t anything I had hoped to aspire to. Yet she believed I could do it.

 

Many years later, I became a paralegal at a busy law firm. Writing became a big part of my life. The focus however, was on spelling, grammar, punctuation and how to word things in the most professional manner. As an introvert, this work suited me. I was alone with my computer, writing and doing research. It was fulfilling to an extent yet lacked something.

 

Five years into my career, I discovered what that something was; the creative outlet that allowed me to do so much more than professionally word firm correspondence or pleadings. I joined a group of writers who had a shared love of a bestselling author’s work. It was a spontaneous decision but it gave me a freedom to be all those things my father believed I could be. I just never realized writing was the way to facilitate those dreams.

 

 

Bio: I was born and raised along the shores of Lake Erie in Ohio, where I still reside with my husband, two teenage children and spoiled Boxer. Aspiring author of “The Ilia Stone” and Co-Founder of Dead Bound Publishing. Visit me at my blog or on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006493366033