What is your writing budget

Today I'm going to shift gears and talk about....the economy.

Not the stock market or the gold/silver ratios or the mortgage crisis. I'm going to talk about the economy of your writing business.

Oh, you mean you don't have one?

Dictionary.com gives seven definitions for the word economy but it is the 3rd one I want to key up on. It says:
3. the management of the resources of a community, country, etc., esp. with a view to its productivity.

Are you managing the resources of your writing business with a view to its productivity? When you pay $1,500 to go to a writer's conference are you taking what you've learned and applying it to your writing. Is there a direct correlation between what you spend on writing 'stuff' and what you earn writing [your ROI-Return on Investment]?

Now all of us have a period of "paying our dues" by submitting articles to magazines, writing things for free and rewriting our manuscript to the point of frustration. But these are all ROIs. You are getting a RETURN on each of your investments when you do this. You are writing, editing, submitting, networking and growing as a writer.

My experience as a writing career coach has been VERY different than what I've just described. I sell my writing career coach course "Intro to the Writer's Life" for $35 on my website. That cost includes not only the 86 pages of lessons but each lesson gives exercises that people are encouraged to complete and send back to me for feedback. I work very hard to give meaningful feedback on each lesson sent to me. I usually spend between 30-60 minutes reading and responding to each email from each lesson. This is a GREAT value because I charge $15-$20/hr for coaching.

Now, over the last two years out of all the copies of this course I've sold or donated to raffles do you know how many people have actually taken the time to complete all 12 lessons and send them to me?? Guess....2. Yes, two people.

This is what I'm talking about when I say "What is your writing budget". Do you have so much extra money that you are able to spend hundreds of dollars [or thousands] to work with a writing coach, attend a conference buy a book, pay for a class and then do NOTHING with it.

Likewise I have taught more than 2 dozen people in classes through the Christian PEN. Usually in each class there will be 2-4 people who are really involved and participating in the lessons. The remainder of the people will "lurk". They've paid $30-$50 usually for the class and they don't participate.

I've been guilty of the same thing. When I won the Daphne I also won a free class...I lurked.

So we all do it. My question to you is are you done lurking? Are you ready to grab the bull by the horns and really get focused? Learn, apply, learn, apply. When I taught about showing vs. telling did you take the time to look at one of your writing projects, even a page, and see if you could bring it up a notch?

If you are too busy now, then when are you ready to stop wasting time and start really writing? NaNoWriMo is coming up in a few days. Why don't you use that time to DO what you say you want to do?

I dare you!!

Your Coach for the Journey, Tiffany Colter

Have you gone over to read the latest installment of A Face in the Shadow? Go over and read it from the beginning at http://tiffanycolter.blogspot.com