It is a Dog eat Dog World. A word on writing, niche, and business growth.

Not what you think.  Two months ago, nephew #1’s dog had puppies.  Strype has 2 sons, 5 daughters.  Some of the names are:  Cayman, Duchess, Princess, Penelope or Venelope (not sure what niece (7) named her), not sure with the other names are.  Great nephew called them all Scripy (he is 14 months, and trying to say Strype’s name, and cannot say the other names). 

I met all puppies but 2 of them yesterday.  When I first met Strype, she was about the size these new little ones were.  I was also glad she was named for the stripe down her nose, and a great tribute to a previously-owned dog also named Stripe.  We had this Stripe, who was a Beagle mixed with German Shepard for 18 years.  He was family, not saying that Strype and the puppies are not part of our family.  I am a dog lover (more dog than cat).  Other family dogs were PJ (Puppy Junior) a Beagle, who lived with us only a few months, and Victoria, a German Shepard, who lived with us for 4 years in California.   All of them resided with my parents.  I personally have not owned any dogs in my home. 

Now you are wondering what do dogs and puppies have to do with writing.  Dogs are exciting to watch, and if you notice how they react to something new, they get excited, and they are excited about everything, and they want to know about that new thing to the point knocking over anything that gets in the way.  Today, I was at parent’s house, and I went outside to the dogs.  Strype jumped all over me, while Cayman, Duchess, and a puppy’s name I could not remember was grabbing and pulling at my left pant leg.  I never had that experience since Victoria kept knocking me over when I was 4 (she was much taller than me standing up on two legs).  I am sure part of Strype’s jumping were to make sure her puppies are safe from my feet, (she I also a little jealous) while the puppies wanted something to chew on (they are teething after all).  Princess wanted to do her own thing by trying to climb onto the deck through an opening in the railing, which she failed at and gave up.

As new writers, we are excited when anything new comes our way.  We jump at the chance to get noticed and we chew and claw our way to the top.  That goes for Freelancing as well as Journalism.  As we get older in our craft, new people come in and feel the same way.  We fight our way to stay at the top of our game.  For freelancers, client come to see the “pick of the litter” writers, and when they find one they like, it is a match made in heaven or not.  Sometimes, we are like Princess, who finds a different way of getting to where she is want to go, by different means.  Instead of climbing the one step to get onto the deck, Princess chose to go between the wood bars.  As proven, you can either fail and give up, or try something different another day.

If you try doing it your way, just like Princess, do not give up.  In fact, it that does not help, try yet a different way but never sell yourself short.  There are many different ways to achieve the same end goal.  This is how human babies learn to do things when no one is helping them.  It does not have to be the traditional method.

Also, be like the puppies who were chewing at the leg of my pants.  This represents a person who is thirsty for knowledge.  Always want to learn more.  Never settle for less. “The more you learn, the more you know.  The more you know, the more you grow.”  This was a quote I heard in my teens.  This talks about wisdom and knowledge. 

For instance, I am a crafter.  I have talked about it several times on this blog, as well as other blogs.  What if I learned to only glue paper to another surface?  That may be fine, but if I want to teach someone or write about crafting, I can only get so far with just the gluing part.  That does not get very far into the process.  In order to do that, I had to learn how to use tools, different techniques with the appropriate tools and gluing, and even go outside that crafting area to learn how to teach a crafting technique or writing techniques in order to write about it.  sure that last part I should have learned starting in Elementary school and through my parents, but it also took a lot of practice and hard work to get to this point in my life.  This is how most blog posts are born.  Another subject for another post.

So the conclusion of this thing called writing is simple:

1.       Do find a niche.  Be excite about that niche, because, it will come through in your writing.  One tip:  If the post does not feel right, you will know it.  You have a choice to change it or write something else.

2.      Be alert.  There will always people who have started writing before you and people who will start writing after you.

3.      Do not stay in one place.  Always learn from your niche, hobby, and new ways to get your point across.  Always be prepared to teach and to be teachable.  Rules, techniques, and time are always changing.

4.      Find new ways to do something new and different.  It goes back to #2 and 3.

If you are not willing to change with the time, you will not grow in writing and in your niche.  If you do not grow in your niche and business, you will not increase in income nor influence someone else whose life you may not get to change.