Look for Writescape’s 10 on the 10th for writing tips, advice and inspiration on the 10th of every month. Think of it as Gwynn and Ruth sitting on your shoulder and nudging you along.

Being skillful as a writer is more than having your work published. It’s also linked to the business side of writing, how you conduct yourself, and how others perceive you. Creativity and professionalism are two sides of any successful writer. In fact, the more professionally you function, the more your muse will drop by to inspire you.

1. Track your submissions. Keeps you focused and prevents you from losing track of where that suite of poems actually got sent. You can follow up intelligently. It also keeps you professional in your head space. And come tax season, you have a record of your writing work. Use a simple table with headings (i.e., title of work / date sent/ where / response / payment) or set up a formal spreadsheet.

2. Keep a calendar. You can go wild and colour-code: conferences & workshops; critique group meetings; time spent researching; coffee with a colleague writer to talk about WIP, projects, etc.; time spent pitching articles; time spent editing. It’s all about a visual reminder of how hard you’ve been working at your craft. More than one calendar? Synch them. And it’s good business to have a paper copy as backup (but note #4 & #5.)

3. Have a logical folder system.   For both your computer and email, set up a system that works like your mind does. Being consistent helps you to file things quickly and, more importantly, to retrieve them. Same goes for naming conventions for the document files themselves. If you like to use dates, great. If alphabetical is your thing, go for it. Just be consistent. Group together files that make sense with subfolders: Writing: Poetry. Non-fic. Stories. Novels. Plays. Readings: Open Mics; Libraries; Book Stores…

4. Keep all expense receipts for sorting later. Better to keep them and throw them out when you have had a chance to decide if they are useful than to wish you had kept them. The tax department disallows any expense you can’t prove you paid for. For more on taxes see Deducting Convention Expenses.

5. Purge the paper as much as you can. Digitize what you think you might need and park it in the cloud. Look, we understand. Writers and paper just seems a perfect match. But with so much available online or able to download, why not just keep active the papers you need only as you need them? And when you’re done, scan what you must and pitch the rest.

6. Defrag. First focus on the computer to rearrange your files so that they are easier to find and things work faster for you. Kind of like tidying the linen closet. Then defrag yourself (see Writers Guide to Self Care & Your Anytime Writing Retreat) because you need to be in a good space for it all to achieve creative harmony.

7. Schedule professional development. A focus on your craft is more than creating elegant prose or memorable metaphors. It also involves taking in new ideas and perspectives. From intensive master classes to an afternoon speaker at the library, it’s all grist for the mill.

8. Subscribe to publishing and other professional magazines. Quill & Quire, Publishers Weekly, Writer’s Digest, etc., will help you learn about trends, agents, markets and tidbits that can add up to your own savvy marketing plan. Paperless option: Subscribe to the online version. Budget option: Ask your local library if they can add a subscription to their magazines (if they do, remember to say thank you.)

9. Participate in social media. Choose at least one platform and then do it well — remember that calendar (#2)? Schedule social media time in it for at least 30 minutes once a week to post or tweet or comment. Keep it as simple as you like. There’s networking to be had on social media, markets to discover and learning to be absorbed. (Tip: social media can become an enticing sinkhole of limitless depth, so set a timer to climb back out if you need it.)

10. Constantly update your writing profile. Call it your full bio, literary CV (curriculum vitae), writing credits, or whatever you like. Just know that over time, it’s easy to forget the odd poem published, open mic you read at, or the workshop you attended or presented. And like a work resume, when you need it you usually need it fast.