Making a living off words has always felt a little forbidden. Without a journalism background, without decades in the field, making a steady living in the field has always seemed just out of reach. But it's also addictive. I will never forget the thrill of seeing my byline in print for the first time, of my first cocktail piece, or of my first feature.
Unfortunately, some of that shine has worn off. There's still a serious rush in seeing stories published by new places and becoming an expert on a new-to-me topic to beat a deadline. But that part of the job only constitutes a small portion of my time. The rest is spent doing the duties of self-employment: accounting, directing, promoting, and always, always hustling.
To get through that grind, you have to have goals. With my bucket list getting ever shorter and lack of motivation looming larger every day, I need something new to work towards. So, here goes.
- Update my bucket list. What publications and companies do I really want to target? Do my bartending goals belong here as well?
- Share book updates. I should have a cover proof and Amazon listing pretty soon, and I don't need to hide those under a metaphorical bushel. Let's get excited about this thing!
- Do some writing just for me. Not for you, not for social media, not for fame -- figure out what I want to write and do the damn thing.
- Make a choice. When it comes down to it, I'm unlikely to ever entirely stop writing. But cocktail writing is not the sum and total of what I want to be known for. I know I promised to be precise, but I'm going to spend some time this month figuring out if I should stay with writing or go.
- Experiment with motivation. It has to come from somewhere, right? I just haven't found it yet. Right? Right?!
Join me as I try to intentionally blog every day during the month of November as part of Blog Like Crazy.
