Margie Lawson

No doubt about it, writing is a tough gig.

It’s tough to make a living, to find an agent, an editor, a publisher.

It’s tough to sit down and do it – how many people do you know who “want to write a novel?” And how many do you know that have actually done it, published or not?

It’s tough for many to announce to friends and family that they want to be a writer. I know one woman who, when she told her family she wanted to write, they asked her to please not use her real name. No, she isn’t writing erotica. She’s writing romance novels. With a pen name. Secretly.

And it’s tough to stay committed to the writing gig when you hear things like “you must write for 10,000 hours before you’re actually good enough.”

This statement is based on Malcolm Gladwell‘s book Outliers: The Story of Success that was published in 2008. His theory is that the key to success in any field, not just writing, is practicing in said field for a minimum of 10,000 hours. It’s an interesting theory, one that seems to make a lot of sense. It can also be a bit overwhelming.

10,000 hours. That’s five years if you do an 8-5 day, five days a week. Five years…

Even with that floating around in my head, I continue to pursue the dream, to write and edit and polish, and work to up my game. Do I still have many hours of work ahead of me before I’ve got something really good, really ready? Absolutely. But I want to share a little secret: MargieLawson.com

Last September I wrote about one of Margie’s classes, the first I’d ever taken, called Story Structure Safari taught by Lisa W. Miller. For me, it was a game changer. It transformed me from random writing by the seat of my pants, to focused and organized but still with lots of freedom. With my current work in progress, I feel like I’m in a country that I don’t really know, things are still changing, but now I have a GPS device so I know where I’m ultimately going. Love that.

After that course, I dove into several of Margie’s classes including Deep Editing, Writing Body Language and Dialogue Cues Like a Psychologist, and Empowering Characters’ Emotions. Every one was as informative and impressive and as valuable as the last.

Well, last week I went all in and took Margie’s Immersion Master Class. Four days of intense work onsite with Margie. Exhausting. And exhilarating. And the best part? I believe I garnered at least 1000 hours of writing experience in those four days. Every Margie Lawson course has upped my game significantly. Immersion vaulted me to a new level.

So, yes, I am an evangelist for Margie Lawson. No, I’m not getting paid anything for this endorsement. I just want to share this with all of my writerly friends because, well, MargieLawson.com is one of the best values out there for writers.

Her courses are extremely affordable. Too affordable, really. If you’re interested in her classes, even a little bit, get thee to her website and sign up. Before she’s “discovered.” Before she’s elite. Before her prices go up.  My two-cents.

Have you taken a Margie course already? Do share.