Part of having a fulfilling career as a web writer is to do your best work.
There’s just something about looking back at a project and knowing you gave it your all… especially when you feel proud of the result.
But doing your best work isn’t always easy… especially if you don’t give yourself enough time.
It’s also harder to do your best work if you don’t have a process in place — a series of steps you go through to put yourself in a working mindset and to make sure you cover all the bases of a project.
And not being in love with your topic — or at least genuinely fascinated by it — can also make doing your best work tough.
It’s well worth the effort to figure out what you need in order to do your best work because the more often you create work you feel really good about, the less likely you are to burn out, the more likely you are to get repeat clients, and the more likely you are to put in the effort to continue honing your skills and getting better at your craft… because you’ll be enjoying what you do so much. All of that is a recipe for success and contentment.
A few things to consider when setting yourself up to do your best work…
What types of projects have you felt the best about?
As a writer, you’re capable of tackling a lot of different types of projects… but that doesn’t mean you feel equally confident in every one of them. When you look back at projects you’ve done, what are the ones you’ve been proudest of? (If you haven’t landed projects yet, ask yourself what types of projects you think you’d excel at doing.)
What clients do you feel the best working for?
Believe me, the quality of client (and their product) can make a big difference in whether you feel like you’re doing your best work. If you’re writing about something you don’t believe in or for a client who’s heavy on the criticism and light on the appreciation, even if you write something award-winning, you’re probably not going to look back on it fondly.
Do you have a documented writing process for the projects you most commonly work on?
“Documented writing process” is a fancy way of saying you have a checklist or a step-by-step outline of what you need to do to make a project the best you can make it. If not, think about the last three projects you worked on, and write out the steps you went through. Think through anything you missed that would have made the project smoother or the result better and integrate those into your list. Then next time you work on that project type, even if you think you know exactly all the steps to take, break out your writing process and review it first. You might be surprised how much more confidently you move forward after taking this one small step.
Do you have a welcoming workspace?
I’m not going to tell you your workspace should be clean and uncluttered (or that it should be untidy with stacks of books all around, for that matter). I will say, having a workspace you enjoy going to is important to doing your best work. So, what would make your workspace inviting? A comfortable chair? Perfect lighting? A handcrafted vision board? Imagine the perfect workspace for you, and then start taking steps to bring your current workspace into line with that ideal.
When you give more thought to what you need to do your best work, you’ll set yourself up to do great work more often… and that will mean a more fulfilling writing career.
New on the Site
Being on the fast track to success sounds good, but there’s something to be said for taking a slow and steady route. It’s possible to overload yourself with business tasks trying to reach every goal as quickly as you can… and that can lead to setbacks. If that sounds familiar, you might enjoy Suzanna Fitzgerald’s thoughts on why a slower route can be the healthier option.
Being a writer in the Digital Age comes with a fair bit of pressure. There’s always a need for a fresh angle for this blog or that newsletter or this social media landing page. The good news is you can train your brain to generate limitless ideas. Lynelle Suan shares five tips she learned about better idea generation from the book Limitless.
And don’t miss the second part in a two-part series from Suzanna Fitzgerald about positioning yourself as an authority in your industry. In this article, Suzanna talks about the importance of subjective value in your marketing, and how it can make a big difference in the way your potential clients feel about you.
Mark Your Calendar
January 19 (Tomorrow!): Plenty of companies are looking for professionals — including copywriters — who understand how to create a good user experience. That’s why I’m going to demonstrate some of the easiest ways to improve a site’s marketing UX. In this webinar, I’ll do a live review of websites and emails to talk about the experience they’re creating and how to improve it. I hope you’ll join me to get a taste of how much fun UX Copywriting is!
Around the Web
Have you been hearing buzz about the creator economy and wondering what’s up? This article from Copyblogger will give you a quick introduction to the creator economy and what it means to you.
Do podcasts make sense for e-commerce brands? The folks over at The Good think there are definite possibilities to be explored.
If you’re thinking about doing more writing on the road, you might find these tips from Make a Living Writing helpful.
And this is just a beautiful piece on the reason we make things.
That’s all for now. Make it a great week!
