I haven’t posted in a while, I know. I was working super hard on my writing assignment through American Writers and Artists Inc. (AWAI), which was to write a sales copy for a website, and I finished it!
So, even though I haven’t been seen on here, I have been very busy writing.
Submitting my assignment was super scary, and it was just as scary to get my review back. There was encouragement, but there was also a few notes about how I could make my copy better, and they honestly kind of threw me…
I felt so good about what I had written, I expected to not have any notes at all on what could be improved. I felt it was perfect!
Man, did my bubble get burst.
I read through the notes and had to take a few days to let my hurt feelings heal before I could look at them again and really take in what was being said and look at how I can make my writing better.
I revised my copy and submitted it, and felt that I applied the suggestions well. (The revised version hasn’t been reviewed, yet, so we’ll see if they think I did better, too *fingers crossed*.)
Even though I didn’t like the feedback at first, it helped me realize that this is how it will be when writing for real clients —
you write your copy, they read it and then send notes on what they didn’t like and what you should change. Then you revise it and send it back and they let you know if it’s perfect at that point, or if there’s anything else that needs to be done to get it to perfection.
So, it ended up being a really good eye-opening experience.
It is so scary to put anything out in the world, no matter what it is, because criticism and negative comments are real, and they hurt.
Even constructive criticism doesn’t always feel good.
And part of you wonders what if the comments and criticism are so bad that they crush you?
What if they make you stop writing? Or dancing? Or singing? Or drawing? Or painting? Or even blogging?
It’s not only fear of failure that stops us from continuing with our dreams, it’s fear of words against us.
But, if you can stand behind your own words and actions, then it doesn’t matter who says what — you will come out stronger and you’ll be able to take from it what you can and then move on, making yourself better FOR YOURSELF.
I’ve had many words against me in my life, but also many words for me. And I choose to think about the “for me” words, and also speak them to myself, especially when met with negativity from others or from myself.
I’m very excited to be finishing up with my AWAI training. This means I am that much closer to being a full time copywriter!