Discernment: It's a Grown-Up Thing

August 12, 2014 Michelle Griep

"When you’re just starting out, you’re at the bottom of everything going on. When you’re at the bottom you need every opportunity you can to climb higher. Each opportunity opens new doors, builds your experiences, and can help create new connections. But as you grow in your career, you need to instead focus on producing quality work. More opportunities later in your career can hinder, rather than improve, your ability to do focused work." ~ Liz Danzico

No matter what it is you're pursuing, it's tough to figure out where you're at on the spectrum of experience. Oh, it's easy enough to pinpoint when you're a newbie rookie, but when exactly does one cross over into semi-professionalism? Is it a dollar amount? A certain number of books published? Getting asked to speak or being sought after for endorsements? Or is it something more nebulous like a confident state of mind?

Yes, yes, and yepper. All those ingredients go into creating a professional writer. Taking on different writing challenges helps you gain experience. Case in point: I started out writing poetry and devotionals, moved into time travel, and settled in historical, though I've taken breaks to pen a contemporary mystery and some non-fiction. Trying various formats is fun and stretching, making growth as a writer almost a given, but at some point, it's time to buckle down and focus/achieve in one particular area.

The most difficult thing about being a writer is learning when to stop saying yes and start saying no. Tweet That.

It's hard to turn down offers. Sometimes you have to sacrifice the good for the best, and that goes for all of life, not just writing.