Monday, July 07, 2008

New York Times Exposure: Can you be the next freelance writer to be featured?

I wasn't supposed to post until Wednesday, but couldn't pass up this opportunity. I'll digress a bit to explain . . . Even though I’m southern by birth, I lived in what to me is the greatest city in the world for 18 years -- New York City. I bought a house in Atlanta four years ago, but still cling to my rent-stabilized apartment in Hell’s Kitchen, and go back to visit friends whenever I can.

So, what does this have to do with the title of this post? Well, I still read the New York Times online. And today as I was perusing the Habitats section (I get a kick out of the travails of apartment hunting in the city), I ran across this article.

It features freelance writer/author Mohammed Naseehu Ali, my ex-cube mate. We worked side-by-side at a legal publishing firm in the city in the early 90s, and became really good friends. I haven’t seen Mohammed for at least five years. We’ve exchanged a few emails over those years, but that’s about it.

Getting Featured for the First Time in the New York Times

Mohammed had his first book published in 2005, a full 12+ years after I first met him. It was written up in the Times. I remember reading with surprise the email he sent to everyone letting us know about the book. You see, there were a group of us who used to party and hang out, obsess over deadlines at work and discuss our dreams all those years ago. Through it all, Mohammed always wrote, ie, he took active steps toward his dream. Now, he's living it.

A somewhat reserved person, he was never a braggart. Most of us didn't even know he'd gotten a publishing contract, never mind the fact that he'd actually finished a book and gotten major press behind it. Seeing him featured for the second time in the Times reminded me -- yet again -- to continue to take active steps toward my life goals.

Make Your Dreams a Reality via a Vision Board

The other two things it reminded me to do was: (i) visualize my life as I want it to be (I talk about this indepth in Inkwell's freelance writing e-course); and (ii) keep plugging away at the steps to get there. If you do these two things, can you be the next freelance writer to be featured in the Times?

Maybe you can if you create a vision board. Do you know what a vision board is? It was discussed on Oprah recently, and I thought, "This is a must. I'm going to make one and frame it for my office wall."

I normally don't get too much into this new agey stuff, but some goals I've just been carrying around in my head and putting minimal effort behind have come true lately. So I thought, what if I really put some muscle behind it -- consciously and unconsciously.

Congratulations my friend. Good to see you again . . . and thanks for the timely reminders.

Sincerely,
Yuwanda Black, Publisher
How to Start a Successful Freelance Writing Career Newsletter
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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to your friend. The vision board sounds like a good idea. Not too flaky at all when you think about it. I'll have to give it a try. Something to put on the wall over my monitor as a constant positive reminder of my aspirations and goals.

Yuwanda Black said...

Thanks Bill. I've already started amassing the magazines from which I want to cut pictures for my vision board. The lady on Oprah had a HUGE one, so it can be as big or small as you want.

My grandmother used to say, "Be careful what you wish for, for you just might get it." The life coach on Oprah said the same thing. So, think closely about your dreams, then get on achieving them.

I'm excited just thinking about putting it together.

Best with yours if you decide to do one. FYI, love your comment, "Not too flaky at all when you think about it." :-)

Anonymous said...

I love this ost! Very inspiring. Now you've got me planning a vision board for my desk (I am very crafty and have to make sure this doesn't distract me too much from my writing).:)