I was just getting established as a freelance writer some years ago, when circumstances swept me into a completely different direction. Now I’m in a nice, cosy, secure J.O.B. …. and wondering how I’ll ever get the confidence to launch myself back into freelance life.

You reminded me that it’s all a matter of attitude. Nice!

So happy you’re inspired – the FWJ community inspires me in return.

The humor writing job was a challenge, it’s not easy to be funny every day. If I can offer a tip is to have other people choose your funniest sample – sometimes the things we think are funny aren’t so funny to others? As for where to find the jobs, I’d look for blogging and columnist opportunities as these are the ones that allow for humor.

You’re right! Positivity and enthusiasm are contagious–and so hard to sustain.
I’m guessing our general fatique, the media’s emphasis on what is terrible and wrong, our sense of helplessness, the isolation we feel during winter, old age, the complexity of our lives, jelly donuts…who knows? No, not the jelly donuts.

Think you’ll like this. Your post reminded me that I recently found a “positivity body mist” spray by The Healing Garden. Yep, it’s called “gingerlily therapy” and contains “extracts of rosemary and St. John’s Wort.”

Hysterical, isn’t it? I’m going to put them next to my computer and whenever the negativity slug tries crawling up my arm, I’m going to splash myself with the “positivity mist.” Should change my life.

BTW: The Healing Garden also has “juniper therapy” a “CLARITY body mist” spray with extracts of geranium and ginko leaf.” I figure I need juniper therapy “clarity” spray all day long!

I can see the cartoon representation right now: the poor depressed writer is sitting at her computer, there are newspapers on the floor with headlines about the publishing industry going to hell. She is reviewing her rejection letters, working on draft 59 of her novel. She puffs the gingerlily and juniper therapy body mists over her head and–shizam, she now has positivity and clarity!

Wonder if these sprays are what they call the “cloud” or “Writer’s Fog”?

Thanks for the positivity shot in the arm this morning.

Your post served up a big dose of inspiration and is much appreciated! As an aspiring humor writer, I was wondering if you had any guidance on how to find jobs in this genre. I have started blogging and am completely overwhelmed with what channels to pursue next. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciate.

Best,
Ann-Marie

Probably the hardest thing to do is stay positive even during those not-so-positive times. To get me by, I always remember a quote by someone who I can’t remember:

“It’s never as good as it gets or as bad as it seems.”

I like your logic for handling “nos” and will apply it to my positivity plan.

Positivity…that’s a great word. I like saying it out loud. It sounds powerful.

POSITIVITY!!!!! I can just imagine shouting it out with a magic wand in hand to get magic positive power.

Seriously, I jest ( a little) but you are so right, we need to find the ways to keep our faith in ourselves strong to overcome the fears that we all have. And I do think we all have them. It’s natural.

After landing my humor writing gig, I was met with several rejections too. Glad I didn’t let it get me down. I saw it as a rite of passage.

And yes, negativity shows in everything we do. As bloggers, we have to consider how our community reacts too. The FWJ community votes for positive and I’ll bet the AFW community does as well.

This post was mentioned on Twitter by PublishingGuru: Positivity Rocks: Why Having the Right Attitude Will Ensure Freelance Writing Success http://bit.ly/64zLLH...

About fear of rejection and the dreaded “no”- A friend recently said to me that you have to expect a certain amount of rejection, a certain number of “no’s”. The problem is, you don’t know the exact number of “no’s” you’ll get on your way to a “yes”. So see each “no” as an accomplishment – one less “no” on the way to your “yes”. What a novel idea!

When I get down, which happens, my stats go down, my bank account goes down and I get fewer requests for my work. When I remember that my world generally works well and remember to be grateful, things turn around.

Gratitude is probably the closest thing I have to a secret weapon.

A