I discovered the beauty of knowing other writers at the Colonists Summit back in 2014. At that conference, two dozen writers came together to talk all things writing and publishing. I was in heaven.
Although I knew about the concept of starving artists, and therefore writers, I’d worked on my overall money consciousness such that by the time I started writing and publishing books, I had the solid expectation I would earn money from them. So I did.
At the conference, I found that about half of the attendees were earning a living from their writing. The other half weren’t and shared they didn’t believe they could. It inspired me to help them, so I created the Prosperity for Writers course prior to writing the book, Prosperity for Writers.
I know every breakthrough in life and work begins with a decision. My big decision when I turned forty was to become a full-time writer. With just two books to my credit at the time, I gave myself five years to turn writing, and books, into my full-time, mega-money-making career.
Here’s where outlining comes into play. I want to help you eliminate your money blocks—or at least get started on eliminating them—in this article and throughout this series. I hope I’m not the first person to tell you that you can earn a living from your writing.
Even if you know this, if you haven’t figured out how to grease the wheels, it might surprise you to learn that earning a living from your writing is as much based on your thoughts and beliefs as it is your writing.
Now I’m not suggesting you can be a terrible writer and still make a fortune, though we all probably just brought someone to mind who has. I’m saying you’ll write better when your mindset game is tight. I’m here to help you get it right where it needs to be. And we’ll start by creating an outline for your future success as a writer, simple, easy, and in writing.
Line One: Make a Decision. Decide what you want, and by when. Draw a line in the sand and decide how you want your writing career to be, when it needs to get there, and how incredible you’re going to feel when it does. Dream big; shoot for the stars. What have you got to lose? Hint: Not a thing. Write a line like this: “By the time I’m forty-five, I’m going to be earning a living as a writer, making at least one hundred thousand dollars a year from royalties.” If this is too much, too soon, try deciding what just this year will look like by the time you ring in the next new year.
Line Two: Give Yourself Permission to Make Money as a Writer. You might be making a fine living doing something else, or you might have never earned as much as you’d like. Either way, set aside anything you might have assumed was not possible for you and embrace the possibility of an incredible, prosperous future. Write a line to yourself about yourself, such as, “I am a writer. I earn a fantastic living as a writer, writing books about writing for those who want to write better and make money more easily.” You might also want to read Jeff Goins’ Real Artists Don’t Starve. His writing is helpful to reinforce your burgeoning beliefs it is perfectly fine to prosper as a writer.
Line Three: Decide Money Is Awesome, You Love Money, and Money Loves You. Stay with me here; this is important. If you have any negative energy or thoughts around money—that it’s bad or that having it makes a person bad—you’ve got to get rid of them. If you don’t like something, do you want to be around it? If someone doesn’t like you, do you want to be around them? Nope and nope.
If you haven’t had money, perhaps it is a challenge to envision you could have it. That, then, would be your first step—begin to imagine you not only have money but also that the money comes from your writing. It might be fiction at first, but I promise, with continued use of your creative imagination, you can turn what is now fiction into nonfiction. If you can’t get into the “I love money!” spirit, at least find a way to be neutral about it. You probably didn’t fall in love on your first date, so this part may take time. It is worth it, I promise you.
That’s it! Put your three statements up where you can see them daily, and if you’re feeling extra motivated, say them out loud twice a day. I’m looking forward to hearing what happens next.