The Pitching Pep Talk Every New Freelance Writer Needs

When I relaunched LittleZotz.com earlier this month, I was met with a very mixed reaction. There were some folks who were just happy I was back in whatever form (you guys are so sweet!), there were some peeps who were ALL about the new stuff (woo-hoo!), some who immediately unsubscribed (no hard feelings!), and some who said: “But… but you were so good at what you did before — why change?”

Well… yeah… I was good at it. But it made me horrifically unhappy!

I’ll get more into that at some point, I’m sure. But, for now, I want to focus on another comment I got after the relaunch:

“You uploaded two Hungry posts and nothing for Motivated.”

Haha! Whoops!! You’re absolutely right. My bad! I didn’t have anything for that Mood category on relaunch day.

But I think I’ve come up with a good one. Something that will help blend the old LittleZotz Writing with the new LittleZotz.com! Something that is still relevant to writers (my people!!) even now and shouldn’t be left behind with the rest of the “old stuff.”

My Very Best Advice for New Freelance Writers

For me, pitching to editors was always easy. Writing query letters? Absolute piece of cake! Everything about the whole pitching process and communicating with editors was so formulaic I could (and did) write a book on the subject (Amazon affiliate link).

I absolutely mastered getting my foot in the door and wowing folks with my writing skills. (My problem, and why I’ve essentially “quit” the business end of things, is that my particular neurodivergence made it painfully difficult to stay employed for anything more than one-off projects/guest posts and kept getting worse until one final heartbreaking job loss — followed by a long-term physical illness — made me reevaluate my life and led me to create HorrorFam.com and revamp LittleZotz.com).

I was so great at pitching articles to editors that I mentored other writers on how to break into the freelance writing industry via guest blogging! And many of my students went on to have extremely successful careers, often far surpassing my own success, at least financially. Which, honestly, is what I always hoped for the people who came to me for advice and I love it when former mentees share their latest projects with me!

But, now that I’ve transitioned to new/different things, my best advice for new freelance writers looking to break into the industry is going to be lost to the ages. Or is it…? Nope. It’s not. Because I’m going to post it here to preserve it for always.

The Pitching Pep Talk I Gave to All of My Students:

“Writing comes with its own set of fears; however, freelance writing takes all those fears, amplifies them to the max, and then adds a new set of fears of its very own. Not only do you have to face the usual fears that no one will like – or even read! – what you write, you now have to worry about that same writing feeding yourself and your family that month.

Forget those fears. They’re only holding you back!

That’s right: Forget your fears about rejection. Forget your fears about clients. And forget your fears about career instability.

The only real thing you need to fear as a freelance writer is burnout – from trying to do too many amazing things at once!

As an Editor, I’ve had to reject literally hundreds of writers. Rejection is definitely a possibility when you pitch your work. But it’s not something you have to let get you down.

Either you pitch and get rejected or you pitch and get accepted. But if you don’t pitch at all, you’re automatically rejected. So why fear trying? By not pitching, you’re already living your worst fears.

A rejection from a publication doesn’t mean banishment forever. It just means ‘not now’ or ‘not this piece.’

Keep trying. And keep learning.”

There you go! Are you feeling motivated? I hope you are.

I even turned the two sections of my Writing Pep Talk former students liked the most into little motivational quote thingys:

I hope those help you get over any pitching fears you may have! Feel free to save those images and look at ’em when you need a pep talk as you go on your freelance writing journey. ♥

Need MORE Motivation?

I thought you might! I only wrote about 700 words above and it was all just… me. And I can only take you so far, y’know?

So, I made a few more of those motivational quote thingys, but with quotes from other people. Counting the two above from me, there are a total of TEN motivational quotes in this post now! That oughta get you feeling PUMPED!!

8 More Motivational Quotes to Inspire You:

It’s no secret that Mark Twain wrote a LOT of books (and short stories, and essays, and…) so he probably knew a thing or three about getting one’s motivation up for writing!

This is actually a great quote for ANY project you need a little extra nudge to get going on!

The full quote is “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one.” However, I find the first half of the quote so inspiring that I’m using zooming off to go GET STARTED on something before I even get to the second half!

“Why not? That’s a good reason for almost anything – a bit used perhaps, but still quite serviceable.” This quote comes from my all-time favorite book, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.

And, really… “Why not??”

Why NOT you? Go to the thing you wanna do already!

This one’s from my other favorite book (graphic novel): The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck by Don Rosa.

If you’re a diehard “Duck” fan, you’ll know that this quote (said by Scrooge) is actually sort of an inside joke/subtle nod/paying homage to a quote (and a painting!) by Carl Barks, the creator of Scrooge McDuck. It’s kind of a Thing among Duck fans — the Barks’ quote was even used to name the publishing company that reprinted all of his old comics!

Anyway, I find this particular quote to be super hopeful/uplifting, and being in a good, optimistic mood always helps me get (and stay!) motivated.

This line from MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This” is the one that always gets me REALLY fired up to go DO stuff!

“You better work hard or you might as well quit!” Man!! How can you NOT want to go do something after he says that?

Plus, that beat. Right? *dances*

Kyle Patrick was the second lead singer of The Click Five. The song “Go for Gold!” was a single from his 2012 solo album and it’s been on my “Get Stuff Done”/Inspirational playlist ever since.

“Even if we fall and make mistakes we live, we learn, we change. Gotta keep on going every day. It will be worth the wait.” Isn’t that such a gentle reminder that you won’t be an INSTANT success? And that there may be moments when you struggle? And that a little progress is still progress? And that everything you do is leading somewhere and that you gotta just keep trying and, and, and…

I really like that song. It’s so sweet. And I got to meet Kyle (and his former bandmate, Ben Romans, who helped write this song!) a couple of times and he was a sweet young man. It didn’t surprise me at all when he came out with a solo tune that was so encouraging.

“Why do we fall, Sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.” I’m aware that this quote has become a bit of a cliche and has been meme’d to death… But I still like it!

And, if I still like it, I figure some of my readers might like it too. 🙂

How adorable is Dolly Parton? Oh. My. Gosh. If you’re ever feeling bummed out, just look up some interviews with Dolly Parton. She’s just TOO cute and will leave you smiling — guaranteed.

“You’ll never do a whole lot unless you’re brave enough to try” is very similar to the MC Hammer quote from above, but “Dolly-ized” and gentler.

Also, if you’re in the mood for more music, check out the song “9-to-5” by Dolly Parton. It’s a great reminder why you left (or are in the process of leaving) your “normal” job behind to pursue something more tailored to your interests (like freelance writing, perhaps? or art?).

I don’t like to get too pushy about my Christianity because that style of witnessing doesn’t really work for my personality type… And I think I’d end up turning more people away from faith in the end than helping to save them. Plus, I’m quibbling with God about some of His decisions on a fairly regular basis (via prayer) and I don’t want to end up talking smack about Him during one of my grumbly days and give folks the wrong idea. But, yep; I’m a Christian.

The Christian Bible is filled with a ton nice, inspiring quotes. They tend to have sort of a calming, sleepy quality to them rather than a “GO GET ‘EM” vibe. But I think that’s much-needed too! If you’re all go all the time, you’re going to burn out! Plus, this particular quote — “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3 NIV — is a nice reminder that you can (and should) ask for help when/as needed, and to hold yourself and your goals accountable.

Even if you’re not a Christian, I think this passage can be inspiring. Having hope – faith – in your goals and moving towards them with optimism will drive you further than negativity ever could. So commit to faith. Commit to positivity. Commit to yourself. You WILL succeed.

Good Luck Out There and I Hope We’ll Meet Again!

Will this be the last post I ever write about writing? Maybe. Maybe not!

That’s the great thing about the new-and-improved LittleZotz.com — I get to write about whatever I want to! I’m no longer restricted.

If I want to write about writing again (and, honestly, I probably will at some point), then I will. If not, I won’t.

But, whatever I end up doing, it will be FUN! Just like this was fun. It was a BLAST compiling advice and quotes and music for you!!

I truly hope you enjoyed it.

And I hope that you, dear aspiring writer, come back to my blog again someday. I’m no longer LittleZotz Writing (“Writing for Businesses. Advice for Writers.”), but I’m still a fellow writer. A fellow writer who wants very much for us BOTH to succeed with our writing passions!

So, hey, if this post inspired you to get your writing “out there” (either via pitching to an editor at a publication or by biting the bullet and finally self-publishing your work), feel free to share what you accomplished in the comments’ section below! And don’t forget to share this post so other aspiring writers can get hyped up to follow their dreams too! We all need a pep talk once in a while. ♥