You have the power

The late, great, John D. MacDonald, in an introduction to one of Stephen King’s books, told the story of how irritating it was to have folks come up to him at parties and say something inane like, “You know, I always wanted to be a writer”.

Now, every writer gets some of this, but to put it in perspective, MacDonald was a professional writer; that is, he earned his living writing (most do not). During the Depression, he made in excess of $5,000 a year (solidly upper middle class) by his writing, often having as many as 30 manuscripts in the mail, crisscrossing between editors. So, it would have to be especially grating to him, someone who had worked so hard on his craft, to hear this. His standard reply: “I know what you mean, I always wanted to be a brain surgeon”.

The way you become a writer is to write. Thinking about writing won’t make you a writer. Getting an MFA won’t make you a writer. Hanging out in smoke-filled coffee shops, wearing a black beret and listening to some tattooed, tongue-pierced 18 year old rant about her “Angry Lesbian Breasts” won’t make you a writer. If you want to be a writer, you have to write.

I work for myself. I know that most do not, and many wish they did. I did not plan it, I did not set a goal, I did not make an affirmation which I would stand in front of a mirror and read aloud that “By the year 1994, I will be self employed“. I just did it.

A formula I was taught by Dan Kennedy that radically changed my life goes like this:

You will never be ___________ as long as you depend on others to make you _______.

Insert whatever word you want in the blank: Rich, happy, thin, successful, a good parent, contented. As long as you depend on someone else to do it, it will never happen. No one has to give you permission, no one has to give their approval, no one even has to like the idea. The way you take charge of your life is you take charge of your life.

[tags] Dan Kennedy, Writing, John D. MacDonald, success, self employed[/tags]