Being new to the freelance world, I am stumbling along as many others have and will continue to. I'm curious though, how many now-established writers have been successfully mentored by someone more experienced? What was your experience like? Would you pay that forward and be a mentor for those of us sprouts trying to grow up to become writers in this competitive world?
ps. I'm always open to having a mentor of my own if anyone is offering! Just sayin'...
Follow your heart then you will know how to live. And write. Know thyself. Read, take classes, study the dictionary and learn new words. Learn about subjects which interest you with an eye toward growing. Open your heart to understanding others. Listen. Absorb, be like a sponge and take in everything everywhere. Nothing is so small as to go unobserved and nothing is so large it can't be broken down into little pieces, pieces which, once observed, can be written about. Take a new perspective with you. And did I say LISTEN? OBSERVE? READ? LEARN?
Hi Stacebird,
Welcome to Hubpages! I've always loved writing, ever since I was a kid. However it was only a year ago that I discovered Hubpages and realized I could make a living from it as well as achieve all my writing dreams.
In answer to your question, no, I didn't have a mentor. I had dozens. The great members on this site such as Marissa Wright, ThisIsOli, Website Examiner, Ryankett, Darkside and countless others are always willing to provide answers and information.
By the sound of it you're not so worried about your writing itself as finding out how to profit from it and write correctly.
Check out some of the people I mentioned, and drop by my hub on the topic (linked on my profile.) That should give you a good start.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask or email me.
Lol, I'm not always willing to provide answers, just almost always. If any emails take this format:
"tell me how to make money" or "howz u make money on hubz" or "how much money do you make"
They actually get deleted immediately. Generally I like an email to start: "I know that your probably a very busy person, so I don't expect a response, but...." or "Hi Ryan, I've been reading some of your stuff and was hoping for some clarification on..."
I have written 1500 word emails to people who have asked for help before and then not had a reply to say thanks. Can you remember when I turned off my contact facility for months? That followed several of those emails in a row!!
One of those people is still very active on the site (and forums) and implemented every piece of advice that I gave. I am actually very reluctant to give advice over email now because of that, I keep it to forums or hubs, so that somebody else can show gratitude if the asker turns out to be a d*ck.
I liked you though, of course, so I was happy to help. The most helpful person on Hubpages is Darkside, although I must hastily add that if anybody wants help from Darkside they only need to read the Learning Centre below rather than bombarding him with email questions!
Not a baby sitter. Don't think you have much luck there since no one any good would have time? What you do is you read the best in whatever area of writing you are interested in, as in best, most coherent, simplest, best constructed honest writing technique, and never based on social and political value judgments as authority, which dictates that agendas determine content of writing.
That is true, I offered to mentor somebody once and then let them down. I helped them a bit, but just didn't have the time.
The Learning Centre is the only mentoring that a new member needs, it is a fantastic resource and it would be a shame if it went largely unused.
I'm definitely on the ball as far as reading up on the subject of freelancing, in fact I can't seem to stop reading everything I can find on it!
I really appreciate all of your answers and I definitely am not looking for a babysitter or even for someone to lay out the stepping stones before me. I think this question will be of particular benefit through directing me toward the hubs of experienced writers who are good at answering questions in their comments section (this includes you all!).
I look forward to perusing your hubs and I'll definitely check out the Learning Center. Thanks!
I want to congratulate ryanket for having been selected as my mentor!
Congrats and where do we start!?
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