Write Good or Die

the internet from their computer. Those friends get very little done. All of them have spouses who work, and so the writer doesn’t have to bring in a lot of money. All of them frown at me when I suggest removing the internet from their writing computer.
    Everyone has these leaks, as the poker players call it. A leak is something that drains your income, something that has nothing to do with your work. And it’s often something you’re not willing to give up.
    You have to learn how to control this leak and make it work for you. And, here’s the tough part: If you can’t control it, seek help. I went into therapy a number of years ago to help with one of my writing issues, something that got in the way of my business. And much as I hate authority, I listened to that counselor, because being a successful writer meant more to me than the leak.
    However, had we worked on my discipline issues with music, I probably would have blown off the therapy within weeks. I have never had the discipline there, and I really don’t want it. Not deep down.
    And that’s the final issue. If you want a successful freelance career of any kind, you’ll overcome the things that get in your way. You can’t do it all at once. You have to tackle one problem at a time. But you’re willing to work on those problems.
    If you’re not willing to solve the problem after years of trying, then you probably don’t want this freelance career (whatever it is) as much as you think you do.
    Discipline is not about forcing yourself to improve. It’s about wanting to get better.
    That’s the difference between Tiger Woods and all those other golfers. Tiger wants to be the best, and he knows the only way to do that is to work harder than everyone else. But he doesn’t define himself as the best right now. He means the best ever. He keeps Jack Nicklaus’s stats on his wall, trying to beat them. Tiger’s not playing the current field. He’s playing the entire field from the dawn of recorded golf history.
    And he’s doing a good job at knocking down the records.
    But here’s the key. He’s not doing this for his wife or his kids. He’s not doing it for his (late) father or for golf history. He’s doing it for himself. Because he wants to. Because that’s his goal.
    So . . . .
    How do you get disciplined?
    Here are a few thoughts.
    1. Define what you want to achieve. Not other people’s goals for you. Not what your parents want or your spouse wants. What do you want? And how badly to do you want it? Will you die disappointed if you don’t achieve it? Will you feel like a failure? Or will you shrug and move onto the next thing?
    2. Make a list of what gets in the way of that achievement. If everything you list comes from the outside, then you have another problem. For example, writers often say they can’t get published because the publishing industry is impossible to crack or they need an agent or they can’t figure out how to submit their work. Those, my friends, are excuses. Other people have succeeded in your industry. Figure out how they did it, and then try it yourself.
    By “what gets in the way,” I mean what part of you gets in the way. What are you doing to block your success? How do you change that? Sometimes the change is minor, like asking yourself whether you are really hungry or you are avoiding work. Sometimes the change is major, like the one thing I mentioned (deliberately vaguely) that forced me to go to therapy. I couldn’t change that one on my own—but it was my problem, and I had to find a solution. I just needed help doing so.
    3. Change your thought patterns. When you decide to go full-time freelance, realize that your hobby has just become your job. That realization alone will take time. Then figure out how to make your freelance work a priority in your own mind. Apply patterns from your day job to your freelance work.
    Ask these questions:
    What made you go to your day job every morning?
    What made you stay there?
    What made you work on days when you felt crummy?
    What made you work on days when you had somewhere better to go?
    And so on. Use those answers to design your freelance work.
    For example, my husband Dean works hard when he’s under deadline. He has trouble working when he has no deadlines at all. The key for him is to create deadlines—or to get someone from the outside (an editor, usually) to give him a deadline.
    I didn’t think I had that issue until I started the Freelancer’s Guide.