By Sharon Hurley-Hall –
Writing – A Hidden Vice
“I can hardly remember a time when I wasn’t writing,” she says. “According to a family story, I talked about being a freelance writer when I was in the 6th grade. By the time I was in the 7th, I was working on the school newspaper.” In spite of this early start, though, it would be a couple more decades before Anne turned her secret passion into a bona fide business. Instead, her writing was swept under the carpet and she would sneak out to buy copies of Writer’s Digest.
Anne’s dad had a real estate firm and the ups and downs of household income as she was growing up prepared her well for the vagaries of freelancing. Ironically, it was while working in this firm in the 1960s that Anne honed the writing skills that would make her the successful writer and self-publisher she is today. She was a ghostwriter for newspaper columns and wrote all the sales and advertising copy for the firm. “I learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t work in marketing,” she says. But she still didn’t acknowledge herself as a writer. No one thought that was “real writing”.
A Wall of Rejections
The landmark moment for Anne came when she made her first submissions to Family Circle and Women’s Day in 1974. “I traveled 15 miles from my home town in Oceanside to Vista to mail my submissions, because I was afraid,” she recalls, “but I understood that submitting work was significant.” Though her initial submissions were rejected, Anne pasted all the rejections on her bedroom wall and kept on writing and submitting. A year later, she had her first acceptance, a piece in Runner’s World.
The 1970s saw Anne married, divorced and with three children as well as successfully emerging from a 12 step recovery program. That would lead to writing and selling a pamphlet called Successful Single Parenting to Hazelden, as well as three subsequent booklets on various aspects of recovery.
One of Anne’s key skills is technical writing, which got her started in freelancing. “In 1980 I bought an Apple II and was in tears trying to set it up. I went to a computer show in San Diego and conjured up a job documenting printers, so I started technical writing on a freelance basis.” She followed that by a job as a technical writer for KayPro, shifted to a magazine role at ProFiles, then went freelance because they failed to promote her work. Anne comments: “I was a good worker but a lousy employee and since my dad sold real estate, dealing with uncertain income wasn’t a problem for me. That’s how I grew up.”
Challenges and Opportunities
So how did Anne shift from freelance technical writing to the writing, ghostwriting and self-publishing career she has now? In order to get fully into writing there were three things Anne had to address. “My first major challenge was getting over myself and all those self-worth issues. I had to learn not to apologize for my rates, undertake a long journey of self-discovery via 12-step programs, counseling and meditation. And I had to stop negative self-talk, using the rubber band trick.”
At 69, Anne is in the position many aspire to, with a successful career and no need to chase clients. Anne’s business consists of ghostwriting, coaching and mentoring, writing ebooks, blogging and copywriting. Variety has been the hallmark of her career, with publishing credits including being the About.com Freelance Writing Guide for more than 3 years and being part of the founding team for Match.com.
Committing to Business
Anne has never really sat still: “I run a complex to-do list & I give myself permission to not get it all done.” She has also always done things other than writing, whether that’s been working in real estate or varnishing boats. “I learned to be a commercial fisherman in my 40s,” she throws in offhandedly. She enjoys her grandchildren, her cats, the canyon view from her San Diego home, walking by the ocean and writing that’s going well. “People perceive me as a serious person, but there’s an awful lot of gladness in my heart.”
She writes Gatha poetry and is working on a family history. One of the backbones of Anne’s life is helping others, which she does through her blog, through her books and through her Twitter stream. For some years now, her first question is ‘who can I help today’, which she started in answer to a challenge from Jonathan Fields. “I wondered if I would get overwhelmed,” she admits. “It doesn’t serve others for me to get overwhelmed, but the response has been positive.”
Looking Beyond Writing
So what’s next for Anne Wayman? Anne wants to do her bit to heal the planet, shown in her “When Grandmother Speaks” blog, and contemplating a new edition of Powerfully Recovered and is thinking about working more with the seniors market. She concludes: “My mind is opening up to things in addition to writing. I’m looking at what I can offer the planet in a whole new way.”
Sharon Hurley Hall has been writing professionally for almost 25 years, and she does it because she loves it. She is a word nerd, a Scrabble fiend, fanatical about grammar, and is fascinated by learning new things. Since 2005, Sharon has mentored other writers at Get Paid to Write Online to help them improve and build sustainable and successful writing careers. Sharon subscribes to the ‘fine wine’ theory of aging – getting older also means getting better! Find Sharon on her website, Twitter and Facebook.
One Comment