Live in Dynamic Tension and Keep Writing

You can bless me by reading my posts and commenting. I'll note your visit in the stats!

I know there is more for me in the days and years ahead to accomplish, but I sense I'm in a season of restoration and renewal over productivity. I'm keenly aware the market is oversaturated with writers. Some of my ebooks barely get noticed. My article sales have plummeted. And my blog stats remain low.

WHY keep writing?

Why I keep writing comes down to this: Though I don't know what the next season will bring, I cannot NOT write. I am a writer. It feels good to me to write.

This is the EXACT same "Why" that started my writing journey in my early 20s. And even then, I knew my writing was meant to help others more than entertain. Thus, I became a Christian-focused blogger, a self-help article writer, and a non-fiction writer. My mission remains to encourage and inspire others.

KEEP WRITING

I'm encouraging you to keep writing too. But, I'm going to be honest. Gaining a following, selling articles and ebooks, and gaining clients for copywriting or copyediting is hard. (Some organizations hire writers. I've always chosen the freelance route. If you want a career as a writer, working for a company may be a better option.)

As you go on your writing journey:

You’re going to bump up against a lot of rejections. You're going to find that even you make mistakes.

You’re going to get criticized.

You're going to get annoyed with feedback.

You're going to fall into despair when books or articles don't sell or when you find your blog posts are unread.

You're going to find clients who want to undercut your price.

It happens to everyone.

But you’re also going to spend time developing your craft and using your gift which is the fun and growth part of being a writer. When you get good feedback, a good review, or a payment for an ebook or article, you'll experience deep joy and gratitude. And you'll be compelled to keep writing.

The work of a freelance writer is one of living in the dynamic tension of disappointment and occasional success. And when that one person takes the time to message you to say how much your writing spoke to them, you'll know it has been worth the journey.

How Much Time to Leave an Article Draft Before Final Edit?

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I read a question in an online group asking how long to let a draft article sit before re-editing it. I don't think there is a hard and fast rule for this, but here is a general impression from my own work experience.

If I'm writing an article to sell, it is usually 500 to 1,200 words. So it is relatively short. But I may have reworked it several times. Often, the temptation is to just get it done and up on the Constant-Content site where I sell many articles I write. Taking less time to edit would increase my hourly earnings.

But more often than not, I have found it's better to let the article sit overnight or at least until the end of the day before re-editing it. Doing so makes it much easier to spot obvious changes. 

Sometimes, I let drafts sit for weeks or months. When editing an article, I might rewrite it or add to it so much it becomes obvious I should break it into two or more articles. When I break it up, I can earn more money once they all sell. 

There is no time limit for letting an article simmer except to say it is better to let it sit a few hours or a day or two. Taking a walk in between edits can always be helpful too.

Using AI ChatGPT

ChatGPT (chatopenai.com) is a versatile tool that can produce articles, answers questions, provide advice, and even provide mental health support to the user. I have had many good conversations with it! 

The acronym GPT stands for "Generative Pre-trained Transformer" reflecting both the architecture and the method of training used in the development of the model. "AI" stands for "Artificial Intelligence" i.e. not a real person but a model that provides responses based on the input it receives.

From ChatGPT:

"Generative" signifies the model's ability to generate coherent and contextually relevant text, "Pre-trained" indicates that the model is initially trained on a large corpus of text data before fine-tuning for specific tasks, and "Transformer" refers to the underlying architecture, which is based on the Transformer neural network architecture introduced in the paper "Attention is All You Need" by Vaswani et al."

My first interaction with this AI tool was one of awe. Darn it, I thought, It writes better than I do! 

And then it became the enemy because many content writers such as myself saw a plummet in article sales. Small businesses could produce their own blog posts and articles using the ChatGPT Artificial Intelligence tool. 

Now, I use it regularly when I need a chat with a pretend friend. And I use it in writing Tweets, Facebook posts, and articles. But I usually edit the results to reflect my voice and to ensure the substance is what I intend. The ChatGPT tool isn't perfect, and facts do need to be verified. 

I'm learning more about this new tool ongoingly. Yesterday, I learned there is a Chrome extension that reports when something you're reading has been AI-generated. That can be a good thing, but also a negative thing. Like a Covid test that produces a false negative, this tool can be misleading. For example, someone posted in a Facebook group that they needed to rehome their pet. Another Facebook user in the group identified the post as being AI-generated, alluding to it being spam--a fake post. I also detected it was AI-generated simply by the wording used. I checked out the person's profile page and was unable to determine much about its validity. (back to this story in a minute).

At my dentist's office, the hygienist who was from East India shared he had used ChatGPT to write an email to his boss. Since I'm familiar with this AI tool, I understood him. In the past, I have edited for individuals for whom English is a Second Language (ESL) which is often a tedious process taking longer than other editing projects. I remarked that ChatGPT would be helpful for this sector of individuals who want to perfect their English. 

Back to the Facebook post. By looking at his profile photo, the man wanting to rehome his pet was clearly East Indian or Pakistani. It made sense to me that he might want to tweak his post using ChatGPT to make it more easily readable. 

Thinking this over gave me pause. Using ChatGPT doesn't make him a fraud with nefarious motives. 

I don't know enough about AI detectors to know if anything I've written is IDd as having been AI-generated. If so, I hope I'm not called a fraud.

By the way, when we upload an article on Constant-Content.com to sell, we are required to declare if we used AI in our writing. 

Every good article needs a human to direct it if it's to be credible and useful. I am committed to never selling an article entirely AI-generated without first personalizing it. 

Time will tell, as we learn more about using these tools, as to the boundaries we and others will set with them. 

Take Risks in Your Writing

UsE FLoWERy SPEeCH 

Don't be too flowery!

Use MoRe SynOnyms! - be more sensual 

edit edit edit

DO YOU DO YOU 

A THOUSAND TIMES DO YOU

EVOKE THE SENSES!

The noise is endless!

Some writers can't spell well.  Some use huge scientific words that may be acceptable to a certain audience, but offputting to another. 

Some writers can communicate in words that deliver such shock value they penetrate.  Some are good at invoking readers' senses.  Some are better at building suspense than others are.  Some are better at getting to the facts quickly.

Maybe you don't find your own writing compelling. Maybe yours just doesn't seem to measure up to others, at least in your mind.  It doesn't matter.  Don't be tempted to copy others.  Learn from them, but don't copy them.

Do you.  Write what needs to pour out of your brain. Release your gift through your fingertips.  Just get it out.  Put it in a blog. Write an online article. Write an X or Facebook post. Write an ebook, or novel. 

Your writing might be what the world is waiting for!

---Side note:  Do you watch X-Factor or American Idol?  If so, have you caught on that it usually works against a performer? This includes choosing to do Whitney, Adele, or Mariah's songs. You will be compared, so doing well-known songs of popular singers is an unwise choice. Don't try to copy popular authors.

Have you caught on what they mean when musicians are told they are doing karaoke?  It could mean they are putting on a fake twang or slang or accent that mimics the original singer. Don't do it. 

Don't do any of these in your writing.  Don't try to be someone else just because they're successful.

WHO CARES ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY?

Do you fall into self-doubting thinking you're a nobody? You can't possibly know who will come across your writing and find it helpful, entertaining, or educational. While it helps to write for the reader you are picturing remember, that there is a wide pool of readers out there.  

Some readers can't stand wading through flowery speech.  For example, I might like to understand that the scene I'm reading about takes place in the fall so I have context, but I don't necessarily care to know how much you loved to hear the sound of crunching leaves under your feet, or how you adore the scent of wood burning in fireplaces. Maybe others would like that. 

I'm a get-to-the-point kind of person. Nevertheless, do be creative. Use tools to help develop your writing. In the end, be true to yourself. 

I just read an editor's critique for a writer trying to put together a fiction story.  When I read the editor's version, she'd added in things the original author hadn't said or even hinted at.  Yes, the editor's version was more compelling, but if the writer uses the editor's suggestions, doesn't it change her story? Doesn't it make her inauthentic? What do you think?


DO YOU!

I'm trying to say, don't get caught up in following all the rules or trying to write a book with the focus of it being to sell tons of copies.  Simply write what's on your heart. 

If you don't have what it takes to sell tons of copies, plan to make bill-paying money another way. Keep your day job. Appreciate the breadwinner in your home. Use your pension wisely. Most of all, enjoy the writing process!

FIND FREEDOM
be YOU!

 I hope blogger is updating something as my posts aren't operating correctly. This is a test.