<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since this site is dedicated to getting good writers to become professional writers, the first discussion we advance is the idea of thinking like a professional from the beginning. Students in TC classes tend to think that when they graduate they will become professionals. That is not how you should approach the issue. If you are a writing student or just a good writer wishing you knew how to become a professional writer, you should begin by deciding that you ARE a professional writer right now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You may not be as good as you think you should be, but in the beginning of\ntheir profession, nobody is. A new lawyer hangs out a shingle (old school slang\nfor starting a new business). That lawyer has little or no experience, and\neducation does not replace experience. That lawyer will have to try, make\nmistakes, and try harder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figure skaters do not start out skating beautifully. Nor do Olympic divers\nbegin by making splashless dives. The fact that you have to grow into expertise\napplies to all difficult skills, and professional writing is a difficult skill.\nYou, like everybody else, have to grow into your profession. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is an applicable term: \u201cFake it \u2018till you make it.\u201d More reasonably,\nit should be, \u201cYou have to do the work and make your mistakes until you know\nthe profession so well you make few or no mistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So . . . what are we trying to tell you to do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell yourself, right now, that you are a pro learning to be a better pro.\nStart working as a professional writer even if you are only beginning classes .\n. . even if you are not taking classes. We are not saying sell the farm or quit\nyour job, but you don\u2019t need to. Let it be known to your network of friends\nthat you are willing to write and edit for them. Start building a portfolio now,\nusing the writing opportunities you generate, so that when you are ready to\nlook for a real job, you\u2019ll have something to show prospective employers. There\nare other things you can be doing to prepare for the workplace, but that will\ncome in later posts here or within the website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For now, this is about attitude. You are not a writer wishing you were a\nprofessional writer. You are a professional writer working to become an\nexcellent professional writer. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Since this site is dedicated to getting good writers to become professional writers, the first discussion we advance is the idea of thinking like a professional from the beginning. Students in TC classes tend to think that when they graduate they will become professionals. That is not how you should approach the issue. If you … Continue reading “Critical words . . . “Fake it ’till you make it!””<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advice-to-new-writers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imrl.org\/public_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imrl.org\/public_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imrl.org\/public_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imrl.org\/public_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imrl.org\/public_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/imrl.org\/public_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27,"href":"https:\/\/imrl.org\/public_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15\/revisions\/27"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imrl.org\/public_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imrl.org\/public_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imrl.org\/public_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}