Why I'll Never be as Prolific as Jo Harrington

Jo Harrington is a Wizzley powerhouse, which leads me to think she's probably a powerhouse in everything she does. 

I am constantly, and I do mean constantly, overwhelmed by the amount of work she posts - and she's not just tossing out some hastily put together stuff, either. Everything she writes is well-researched, excellently written and, often, epic!

It would be easy to hate her if it weren't for the fact she's also a lovely human being. 

I'm dazzled by her, because I'm not sure how she finds the time and energy to turn out (on average) one excellent piece on Wizzley per day.

Presumably she does manage to fit other things into her life, like food and sleep, and, I believe, a day job. I can't imagine shuffling my own schedule around to squeeze in such a wealth of top-notch Wizzes.

But I do think her example offers some secrets to Wizzley success that we can all follow. And, as with most of the best things in life, they're simple:

Patience
Perseverance 
Passion

The concept of patience is probably the very first thing an online writer needs to wrap his, or her, head around. It takes time to build a solid collection of articles; it takes time for each of those articles to 'mature' and find its groove; it takes time to see the money dribbling in. And it's incredibly difficult to remain motivated when your hard work seems to be getting nowhere fast.

For me, patience is a particular problem. I know, in the long run, writing articles on Wizzley could prove a lucrative and mostly hands-off source of income. But it isn't that at the moment, so it's difficult to remain focused.

My mind tends to wander and my time is spent on freelance gigs for which pay is very much in sight. I dip my toe back in the Wizzley pond whenever I can, partly because I know it's a worthwhile use of my time, but mostly because I enjoy writing here. But I'm aware that this split focus is why it'll take even longer for me to achieve the kind of success Jo is enjoying.

Perseverance goes hand in hand with patience: it's slogging through even when you don't seem to be achieving anything; it's maintaining the belief that, if you just stick at it, eventually you'll start to reap the rewards. This is tough when rewards don't seem to be on the horizon.

Most of us, me included, begin to lose heart if we don't start to see things going our way. One method of reawakening my own perseverance is to look to Jo's 'Tips and Tricks' articles, which always give me a good shot in the arm, and prove that, unlike poor Sisyphus, there are gains to be made in pushing the Wizzley boulder uphill.

And finally, passion is key. Having passion, not just for the act of writing, but also for the things you're writing about, is vital. Jo seems to have an endless stream of inspiration, which in itself impresses and intimidates me all at once!

Of course, it's silly to be intimated by Jo's output and success, because writing on Wizzley is not a competitive sport.

And that's one of the reasons I enjoy posting work here - there's a community spirit I haven't experienced on other sites, and there's an awareness that what's good for one of us is, ultimately, good for all of us.

Realistically speaking though, at this point, unless Jo stops writing entirely (which I'm sure she never would), I have no chance of catching up with her. But that's OK, too. Does that mean I won't be able to achieve a successful stream of income on the site? No.

It simply means that when my inspiration and motivation start flagging, I have to go back to those three basic Ps. And I urge any other online writer to do the same. As John Lennon said, "Give Ps a chance."