Author = Idea Man = Entrepreneur???

I'm an author, and the way I see it writing is by its very nature an entrepreneurial pursuit. You are your own sole proprietorship. The only difference between an author's products and a brick and mortar business is that an author's workshop is in their mind. We manufacture our products -- our stories -- in our heads, pump them out through our fingers and into our computers, and, eventually, on down to the printing presses (or spit them out electronically to all you kindle/nook/ipad readers).

The point I'm slowly getting to is that I am always asking questions. Not just about writing, but about life in general. Business, personal and professional goals, careers, relationships, etcetera. And the ultimate follow-on question that ties them all together: "What am I going to DO with my life?"

I know, it sounds silly asking that in middle age. Especially when you would have thought I'd answered it years ago after college. But life these days is not as straight forward as it once was. Not all people stick with one profession their entire lives. Sure, doing so suits some, and kudos to them. Life is much less complicated. But for those of us who choose lives that have little to do with conforming to society's norms, those previously mentioned questions on life (and about what we/you want to do with mine/yours) are important.

To that end I've decided to post a link to a powerpoint presentation I thought very informative and inspiring. It was intended as a kickstarter for those freshly graduated from college, but I think it suits my sort of person too. It was pieced together by billionaire entrepreneur Reid Hoffman, the creator of LinkedIn.

Enjoy, and be inspired.

Time waster or future maker?

I’m in grad school finishing up my last term this summer en route to my master’s degree. I have essays coming due, a big term paper that I’ve yet to start (and have little interest in writing), and a mid-term to prep for next week. So, what have I done with my time today?

I read a blog. Not just any blog, but the blog of another indie author who has managed to turn indie sweat into legacy house dreams. (‘Legacy’ meaning the traditional publishing houses). It was and is and interesting, engaging and utterly absorbing read for someone at the start of their own indie publishing career. A sort of “how to” manual that speaks to the doubts, frustrations and tribulations that I’ll wager all writers endure, whether they cop to them or not. It begins prior to her even being an indie author and ends (haven’t gotten there yet) with the news I’ve seen of her getting signed by the big boys.

So as the day winds down and I look at the calendar on my desk chock full of to-do’s with not a one of them scratched out, I sit here with a sense of guilt at having not accomplished any tangible work. But should I have the guilt? Another way of looking at this is to say that I’m still studying, just in a different class. The class of publishing and of life; or, more specifically, the class covering the “how to guide of getting to where I want to be.”

I suppose the guilt comes from the grown up side of me that has worked, sweated and bled in the “real world” and considers this writing stuff to be for those wishy-washy artist types out there who would rather live out of their vans buying meals with the pocket change they garner from busking than having real jobs. The trick is to manage both until one or the other takes off, I guess. In my heart I know which I’d rather take off. In reality, I’ve paid a pretty penny for this degree, and it’d suck to piss it away with only a few months to go, so even if I have low hopes for using the degree in the “real world” I’d better get’er done.

‘Nuff said.