The Well-Fed Writer

Much better now, thanks! And I hope the same for you. That doesn't sound like any fun.

That would be great. Thank you!

WGU's program, for example, is planned for 18 months, though some do it quicker if their schedule allows. Know someone who just bumped a 16-mo program to 12 elsewhere. Lots of them are flexible. I hope you find one that offers everything you're looking for!

Most I've come across are 10-12 courses. If you want a specialized concentration, that can limit options. Keep in mind "accelerated" can be individual.

Thanks, and sorry! I've been off sick all week and was napping on and off all day. I didn't even remember it was Thursday! Not on BlueSky much, but I'll try to pop in next week. 😊

You'll also want to consider who the school targets. I can see why you'd consider an EMBA in that sense. Recent bachelor's program grads will be at a very different place professionally, so I could see a more experienced group being a good fit for what you're looking for.

Other classes (and programs with other schools) will afford you more time with classmates and professors. With mine being fully remote, it's more on the students to find each other. Reddit helped us connect, and we built our own Discord study group to help and encourage each other.

In-person definitely sounds like it might suit you better in that case. One tip is to look into the course structure closely. For example, that family member in a top school? Some courses are "intensives" - just a few days w/ guests telling stories. Not a huge amount of time to network...

Every program could be hit or miss depending on background & goals. If you plan to work FT, remote and more self-paced might be great for you. Or PT locally. EMBAs can often be done similarly. Great for business owners. Maybe traditional if looking for trad corporate roles after though.

Funny thing is I have a family member doing a top MBA program in-person who didn't love the idea of remote at first. Now they have profs treating 30-50 year olds like children and telling them introverts make terrible entrepreneurs (many freelancers would beg to differ). Plus they felt slowed down.

The coursework for something like that is as robust as you make it. Mix of papers, projects (video presentations), and proctored exams, followed by a CapSim. It's really designed for people coming in with plenty of biz experience, and I found it a solid refresher.

I went with a fully remote program with WGU. You can do it FT or PT, completely at your own pace, designed for working pros. Nonprofit, regionally accredited. If you're used to independent remote work, it can be good, but if you want more direct interaction based on your career goals, maybe not.

Another big life habit that helps with business was removing social media apps from my phone (desktop or nothing... they don't get to come with me throughout the day), and preventing / muting the vast majority of mobile notifications. So if something can potentially interrupt my day, it's important.

While I haven't in a while, I used to plan out / set up a week's worth of clothes at a time, having them organized and ready to grab from my closet. I should again because it was so helpful. I get exhausted with too many decisions, so removing one of the first in a day worked well for me.

Any time!

My bad. I missed the tag again. 😥

I hope I didn't miss anything in the #FreelanceFriends chat today. If I did, feel free to hit me up privately or @ me here and I'll check in again. Lots of folks to follow from this and my personal account as soon as I can. Thanks for having me all. Great chat!

Oops. I meant to say usually up 3-4. 4am is my goal. One cat often decides 3:30 am is better. We're working on that.

Thank you Amy!

I prefer to do any heavy writing early. I love the quiet hours when the world is still sleeping. When the birds start singing, I'll move on to social media, checking email, or other things for a while (mostly because they're so loud). 😄

Sure! I'm an odd one. I'm usually up around 3-5am and working no later than 5. Then I work through lunch. And for more than a decade now, I've worked Monday-Thursday. I found I got much more done in 4 days than 5 starting every week refreshed. #FreelanceFriends

Nice chatting Dava. Enjoy lunch!

Thanks for having me Paula! Still catching up on things, so I'll be here for a little while yet.

Great tip! I have uni access to remote databases and such, and that's been such a great resource. And don't forget to see if your state or county has a larger library network giving you access to more resources than local. #FreelanceFriends

Yes! Such an underrated skill. #FreelanceFriends

I did mine last year. Not looking to use it in the same way, so I can't speak to that. But after 20+ years in business, I found it to be a great refresher more than anything.

SCORE was a great resource when I was starting out with the PR firm back in the day.

That's a great strategy. I try to take that one step further wither newer writers in particular... talk to people working the career you want. For example, yes, I can help them with the business side. But I don't query or write for magazines. If that's the goal, get help from those who do!

Amen to that!

This is true. I've known more than a few to rip off my content, colleagues' content, and abuse colleagues' generosity only to turn around and sell what they hear, claiming it's from their own experience. It's gross. And it's not always easy for newer folks to recognize it which is sad on their end.