Amanda Linehan's Blog, page 3

This is the INFP Motto…

Going backward is forwards for INFPs.

Once again, going against traditional advice for getting started and moving forward is our best bet. Don’t worry about being all planned out, just get in there.

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Amanda Linehan is the author of Productivity For INFPs. She is an independent author, coach, and INFP, who has published six full-length books and has been read in 113 countries. Amanda was a speaker at the INF Summit in February 2020. Learn more about her Productivity For INFPs Online Course on the course page.

How INFP Productivity Is Like Bowling Alley Bumpers

Have you ever been to a bowling alley where there were bumpers in the gutter? Not on every lane, of course, just some of them. I’ve often seen them used when there are a lot of kids using a lane.

The idea with the bumpers is that they prevent a ball from going into the gutter. The ball can move all over the lane but ultimately must go toward the pins because it can’t fall into the gutter.

This is exactly how INFPs need to approach their productivity.

You don’t need a rigid productivity system. You just need bumpers. Why? Because bumpers allow for movement and flow while keeping you moving forward.

If you’ve ever watched a child bowl on a lane where there are bumpers, you may have noticed the ball swinging between the bumpers, first hitting one side, then bouncing off and hitting the other. But, ultimately, it makes it to the end of the lane and hopefully hits a few pins.

When INFPs set up some mild structures for themselves so that their ball can’t go into the gutter, they can still move and flow between those structures, and that’s where INFPs really get their energy.

Some people get their energy from the structure itself. It makes them feel comfortable, safe, and secure.

INFPs get their energy from the movement and the flow of the ball. It makes us feel enthusiastic, creative, and alive. We just need to have some structure in place so that we hit a few pins at the end.

Let me give you an example of my own bowling alley bumpers:

I enjoy running for exercise. At a minimum, I want to run twice per week. I can do more (and I do other forms of exercise as well), but I want to make sure I’m doing it at least twice.

Instead of scheduling these twice-weekly runs into a calendar, which might be the typical productivity advice, I track them on the calendar. This allows me flexibility while still giving me some accountability.

When I track my runs (by simply writing an R on a paper calendar I have), it not only gives me a visual of when I’ve run, it also motivates me to want to run, so I can write an R on a particular day.

Other than that minimum structure of two runs a week, everything else is flexible. The days and times I run. How long I run or maybe how much distance I run. Whether I run outside or on a treadmill at the gym. This flexibility and variety keeps me interested and motivated to keep running.

In short, my ball can move all over the lane, but it won’t go into the gutter because I have my bumpers up.

Do you have any “bumpers” in your life or work? Feel free to share in the comments. I bet it would be helpful to someone else! (Including me. )

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Amanda Linehan is the author of Productivity For INFPs. She is an independent author, coach, and INFP, who has published six full-length books and has been read in 113 countries. Amanda was a speaker at the INF Summit in February 2020. Learn more about her Productivity For INFPs Online Course on the course page.

Admitting You’d Like To Earn Money With Your Writing

This is a funny one.

For many writers, one of their goals is to earn money with their writing. They may not be interested in earning enough for a full-time living, but they’d like to earn something:

Doing some freelance workHaving a short story published in a magazineSelf-publishing their novel or non-fiction bookBloggingSelling a book to a traditional publisherEtc.

But this may make their writing feel less… pure. After all, when you are writing for money, there are other things to consider than when you are writing for the sole purpose of creative expression or to share something meaningful with the world.

However, that doesn’t mean that earning money and creative expression are mutually exclusive. They aren’t, but you do have to do some exploring to find out where they intersect for you.

But back to the “purity” of your writing. Admitting that you’d like to write for money can make you feel a little dirty or a little icky. For starters, you’re going to have to sell it, promote yourself, market it. And doesn’t that involve repeatedly yelling to everyone around you, “Buy my book!” (or the equivalent)? Isn’t that going to be pushy? Or aggressive? Or downright manipulative?

Well, no. When done appropriately, it means taking some time to explore the intersection of what you enjoy and what is needed by other people (i.e., there is a market for it) and then building relationships (of a professional kind, this can be confusing for people) and communicating to them about what you have and why it helps them.

Now, none of that is easy, but it doesn’t involve repeatedly yelling, “Buy my book!” and you do not have to be aggressive about it. You can be a gentle (but assertive) marketer.

And maybe the biggest roadblock at all is the idea that we actually have something of value to sell. That something we write will be desired enough that people will open their wallets and give us their hard-earned cash for it. That we are “arrogant” enough to think that. (That’s not truly arrogance, btw.)

Money is an emotional topic, and when combined with writing (weirdly, another emotional topic), it can be truly explosive in our own psyches.

But stop and think that you may have something in you that people will pay for. Gladly. And it will help them so much that they will come back for more. Over and over again.

I’m teaching a course on writing for money (literally titled Writing For Money) beginning February 15, 2023. Register below to grab your spot today. Registration closes this Friday, February 10th, at midnight EST. Details below.

…

5 Easy Ways To Earn Money From Your Writing

I think it’s a rare writer who doesn’t want to earn some money from their writing, even if it’s not their primary goal. I’ve been earning money from my writing since 2012, when I started my writing business with the release of my first novel, Uncover. Since then, I’ve earned money in a variety of ways, but here are some that I have used that are simple and easy to get started with.

Medium

Medium is a blogging platform, and the best part about it is you don’t have to have any technical knowledge to use it. You set up an account and can start posting immediately. But the great thing about Medium is that if you are accepted to their Partner Program, you can earn money from your blog posts when people read them and also through referrals. You do need to have 100 followers and have published one post before you can apply to the program, but that’s very doable.

I have two accounts on Medium – one under my name and one under a pen name. The pen name account is the one where I’m in the Partner Program, and each month I earn a small amount, somewhere in the range of $5 – $20. The more I post, the more that increases. I’m pretty relaxed with this, usually posting a couple of times a month, and it’s nice to know that each time I do, I’m contributing to the steady stream of income I have there.

Another great thing is that you don’t have to post exclusively on Medium, which means if you are already blogging on your own website, for instance, you can take those posts and re-post them to Medium. In that way, you can get more eyeballs on them while still building up the content on your own website.

Easy to get started and fairly easy to apply to the Partner Program. Check this one out.

Fiverr

Fiverr is a freelancing platform that makes it easy to connect with people looking for a service. You can list a “gig” for as little as $5, and that’s exactly what I did to get started.

I’ve had a number of gigs on Fiverr throughout the time I used it, but the main thing I did there was writing book blurbs (or book descriptions) for other indie authors, and I really enjoyed it. I started off offering them for just $5, so I could practice a little and build up some reviews, and once I did, I raised the price. I don’t have any active gigs right now, but here’s my profile if you just want to take a look.

That was doable for me because book blurbs are short (only about 150 – 200 words) it was okay for me to write them for just $5 at first.

And that’s one piece of advice I have–make it reasonable for yourself. Don’t offer to write a novella for $5, but think about what you could offer that would be okay for that price. And also, you can obviously charge more, but getting people to take a chance on you is easier if your service is cheaper.

Fiverr is a great place to get a little money rolling in from something that you can write and allows you to practice your freelancing skills as well. Brainstorm some simple things you could write for somebody or browse through the site to get some ideas that way.

Ko-fi

Ko-fi is a platform for creators where people can tip you, commission work from you, buy products or services from your store, and a bunch of other things, too (they are always adding stuff).

One of the easiest ways to use Ko-fi is as a “tip jar.” On your Ko-fi page, front and center is a place where a supporter can “buy you a coffee” (or, in my case, a club soda). You can make a quick ask and link over to your Ko-fi page from anything that you create, and it’s an easy way for someone who likes your work to support you.

One of the best ways that I used my Ko-fi “tip jar” was when I was writing a serialized story in my fiction newsletter (which has since been published in book form, The Beach House). After each episode, I would ask people to buy me a club soda if they enjoyed it and then link to my Ko-fi page. I might get one or two or three club sodas, and then I would thank those people at the beginning of the next episode, which acknowledged their support but also encouraged other people to support the story too.

Take a look at my Ko-fi page and scroll down to my feed, and you can see the people who have bought me a club soda. Some of them left me a little message, and I always thank them.

Again, this is an incredibly easy way to allow people to support your work, and it doesn’t have to be heavy-handed at all. You may notice that I have links to my Ko-fi page in various places on this website, including underneath all blog posts. The more links you have up (in appropriate places), the more chances for someone to see it, and people will gladly buy you a drink when they’re really feeling appreciative of your work.

Amazon Affiliates

Amazon Affiliates is great for having a little money coming in from a website and is easy to set up. I’ve never had tons of money come in from Amazon Affiliates but being that I’m a writer and I’m often writing about or recommending books, this one is a no-brainer because it’s really easy to set up.

Basically, you sign up for an account, and you’ll have to let Amazon know which websites you plan to place links on. Once that’s all approved by Amazon, you can link to products on their site from your site, and if someone clicks on that link and then buys something at Amazon within the next 24 hours (I think), you get a small commission.

Like I said earlier, if you are already linking to Amazon for books, for example, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be an affiliate. If you’re going to send people to Amazon anyway, then you should get that commission if they buy something.

A couple of things to note here, you do have to have a disclosure statement on your website (maybe in a few different places) if you’re using affiliate links. You’ll notice I have one in the sidebar, and I also have a page called Disclosure Policy. Also, you can’t use Amazon Affiliate links in emails, so, for instance, if I have a link in one of my newsletters, it can’t be an affiliate link.

But otherwise, this is pretty easy. And again, if you’re going to link over to Amazon anyway, you might as well be in their affiliate program.

Publish An Ebook Through Draft2Digitial

Ebooks are slightly more advanced than these other things on the list but publishing them through Draft2Digital (D2D) makes it really easy. Draft2Digital is an ebook distributor, among other things, but that’s the center of the service.

(That link above is my referral link, which means that if you click it, sign up with them, and then sell books through them, I get a small commission at no cost to you.)

I’ve been using Draft2Digital for 7 or 8 years now, and one big reason why I’m recommending them is that they make creating ebook files dead simple. Basically, you need a simply formatted Word document (or equivalent), and they will create a great-looking ebook for you.

They will then distribute that ebook to a variety of different retailers, subscription services, and library catalogs without you having to lift a finger. You can then manage the book in just one place–on the D2D dashboard.

Also, it is completely free to use D2D. The way that they earn money is by taking 10% of each of your book sales, which is completely worth it because of all the services they offer. So, basically, they earn money when you earn money.

You will need to have an ebook cover image to upload your book, but those aren’t too hard to hire out or find a template for or make one yourself if you know how to do that.

Your ebook doesn’t need to be really long, but you probably don’t want it super short, either. Think about what you could put into ebook form that would be helpful, useful, or engaging to people and get to writing!

So, there you go! Five easy ways to get started earning money from your writing. And remember, in many ways, getting started is the hardest step.

Have you used any of these methods? What was your experience with them? Let me know in the comments below. I’m always interested to hear.

Amanda Linehan is an Independent Author, Coach, and INFP. She is the author of  Productivity for INFPs: How To Be Productive Within Your Natural Rhythms  and has published 16 titles since 2012, including five novels. Since 2017, she has run her author business full-time. Get  exclusive access to her INF Summitt Interview  on fiction writing, self-publishing, and being self-employed by  joining the For INFPs newsletter here .

The Benefits Of Joining A Writing Group

This post was originally published on May 4, 2018. It was updated on December 9, 2022.

I have been an active member of a local writer’s group for over eight years now. And it’s one of the best things I’ve done for my writing career.

We are mostly a critique group, but we do other various activities as well, and most of all, I think we like and respect each other as people/writers and support one another in various ways. Oh, we also have fun together.

Here’s what I’ve gotten out of my writing group:

Feedback on my work

The bulk of what we do together is to critique each other’s work, and while I’m cautious about changing too much of my story based on the feedback I get, it’s good to get a reaction to what I’m writing. What do people like about it? What do people think could be worked on? Are there certain things coming up over and over again? It’s also good practice to have to sit and listen to other people react to your writing without saying anything. (We have a critique structure where the person getting critiqued does not respond while the critique is going on.)

As writers, we have to get used to people judging and evaluating our work in public, which can be really uncomfortable! A writer’s group provides a good environment in which to practice that so, hopefully, you can develop a little detachment.

The chance to collaborate on projects together

As a group, we have published three short story anthologies. This has been a great chance to work on large projects together. From writing and critiquing the stories to editing them, to coming up with cover designs and creating ebook and paperback files, to marketing, we’ve learned a lot and been able to count on each member’s unique experience and skills to complete the anthologies.

New Information/Skills/Ideas

Part of our meetings is often dedicated to some topic that the meeting leader will present/discuss. It could range from a topic of craft like writing great dialogue or creating conflict. It could be a more practical topic like discussing writing goals for the year or how to beat writer’s block. Whatever the topic may be, we all benefit from the range of experiences and knowledge each individual member has as we share stuff with the group.

Opportunities and Events

One of the really cool things we’ve done together as a group is host open-mic literary nights at a local outdoor venue. They are a great opportunity for members to do readings from their work and for us to promote our anthologies. Before our first open-mic night, I had never done a public reading before, and it was a great experience. I got some good practice and learned some new things. And it was just fun.

Another thing we’ve done in the past is held specific meetings for NaNoWriMo, whether that was a planning session or holding write-ins. One of the best things about NaNoWriMo is the feeling of community you have while doing it, and being able to share that sense of community with writers in my writing group made it feel even stronger.

Support, Camaraderie, and Fun

Sometimes it’s just nice to have a group of people to do things with, and that’s doubly true for writers since writing is mostly an individual activity. Having other people who understand what it’s like is great support, and it doesn’t feel so lonely and isolating.

During the holidays, we generally do a white elephant book party, which is a lot of fun and gives us a break from critiquing. We all bring books from our bookshelves (so we don’t buy anything new), and there’s always a lot of stealing and double stealing, and triple stealing that happens. In the end, we all end up with a new book or two.

We even held one of our meetings at a local distillery after they contacted us about the possibility. We used this meeting to practice our readings for one of the upcoming literary nights that was mentioned above. We were also able to do a tour of the distillery and a tasting before the meeting started. It was a nice change of pace and fun to connect with a local business.

Tips For Success

I’m one of the co-organizers of the group and have been for several years. We’ve found that certain things work really well for increasing engagement and keeping things running smoothly.

Yearly Dues – This is a very small amount. I think right now it’s $5.50, but it serves a couple of purposes. One, it covers the fees Meetup charges us for hosting our group on their site. But also, it creates a very small barrier to group membership, which we’ve found increases engagement. Also, it keeps numbers down. At one time, we had over 200 members in the group, the vast majority of which never even showed up to a meeting. Now we have a much smaller number, but more people are active.An open invitation for anyone to take a leadership role – Anyone who wants to lead a meeting, start a new meeting (on a particular topic), organize a project or event, or basically do anything for the group is welcome to do so. There are quite a few of us who have some sort of leadership role within the group, and this works great! Instead of power being concentrated in the hands of a few, it’s spread around, and this also contributes quite a bit toward engagement within the group. We all feel ownership.The “Dome of Silence” – Our critique structure goes a long way toward fostering respect and stability within the group. Feeling comfortable with one another is paramount to being able to discuss each other’s work productively, and for newcomers, it’s important to show that we take this seriously. For our critiques, we give the writer being critiqued a minute or so to introduce their work, and then we lower the “dome of silence” onto them wherein the critique happens, and they cannot speak. Afterward, the dome is lifted, and the writer can take a few minutes to respond to anything they wish. We’ve had very few problems with overly harsh critiques or personal attacks, so I think this works well for us.

So there you have it. If you’re interested in finding a writing group local to you, I’d suggest checking Meetup.com. And if there isn’t a group nearby, maybe you should start one.

Amanda Linehan is an Independent Author, Coach, and INFP. She is the author of  Productivity for INFPs: How To Be Productive Within Your Natural Rhythms  and has published 16 titles since 2012, including five novels. Since 2017, she has run her author business full-time. Get  exclusive access to her INF Summitt Interview  on fiction writing, self-publishing, and being self-employed by  joining the For INFPs newsletter here .

The F-Word For Writers

This post was originally published on September 11, 2018. It was updated on December 8, 2022.

Fun, of course.

How much fun do you have as a writer? Or as a human being?

Writers have a way of talking about writing that makes everything sound very tortured. Full of strife and anguish, and I guess that will always be there. For myself, included. But what about all of the fun stuff?

Like getting to hang out in your own imagination with all the worlds and characters you’ve got floating around up there. Or learning something new about writing or about publishing. How about getting to know other writers, either in person or online? Some people really get into doing research for their stories. I could go on, but you get the point.

The fun tends to get pushed aside by self-doubt, fear, worry, anxiety, pressure, and stress, but I wonder if focusing in on the fun might lessen those other beasts we have to contend with.

I remember the first story I wrote called Their Love Could Follow Moonstones. I happened upon a writing prompt, and in fact, the prompt was the title of the story, and I just went at it. It’s a piece of flash fiction, so it’s under 1000 words. I wrote this story with a lot of enjoyment, just enjoying my imagination and the flow of the narrative arc, enjoying getting to know the characters and the little details my imagination supplied me with about them. A little while later, I was finished.

I was so pleased with my little story. Not because it was going to bring me fame and a billion dollars but just because it had been fun to write, and now it was complete. I moved on to other stories.

Fast forward to last month, and I’m starting to fret about what my next novel should be. I’ve had this idea that’s been urging me to write it, but I don’t know. Maybe I should write something that’s in a more popular genre or would be a little easier to sell once I publish it. I’ve got a writing career to think about. Is this the right novel at this time?

So I did what any sane person would do. I consulted The Secret Language of Color Cards.

I silently asked for guidance regarding my next novel, and I picked a card randomly from the deck. The card I picked was White, and the little message underneath it read, “Lighten Up.”

Message received and understood!

I think the Universe was clearly trying to tell me to stop worrying and bring a little more fun into the process, just like when I wrote that first little story. So that’s what I’m going to do when I get started on this next novel in the next couple of months–focus on fun and enjoyment. I’m betting the other details will take care of themselves.

Amanda Linehan is an Independent Author, Coach, and INFP. She is the author of  Productivity for INFPs: How To Be Productive Within Your Natural Rhythms  and has published 16 titles since 2012, including five novels. Since 2017, she has run her author business full-time. Get  exclusive access to her INF Summitt Interview  on fiction writing, self-publishing, and being self-employed by  joining the For INFPs newsletter here .

3 Questions With An INFP: Jas Hothi

3 Questions With An INFP is a short interview designed to share the unique voices of individual INFPs and see how similar, and different, we all are.

And now I present: 

Jas Hothi

How did you find out you were INFP?

My journey feels like it started around 10 years ago, when my deep-diving into ‘self-help’ led to discovering I was an introvert (thanks to Susan Cain), a highly sensitive person (thanks to Elaine Eron) and an INFP personality type. Lots of things started to make sense. Since then, it’s gradually been a case of understanding my personality better and slowly figuring out a way of living and working that’s aligned who with I am. Managing my time – and my energy­ – is so important for me. Freedom is perhaps my most important value, in every sense of the word.

What do you create?

One of the things I’ve realized is that to create is really important for my enjoyment, my life and my soul. When I left my job in 2015 I started writing things to process what was going on for me at the time. These sporadic pieces led to my first blog, and the next, and then the next. I gradually developed more and more confidence in my blogging and writing, in my identity as a creative (and what you might call a creator these days, as this is now my work, too), and I also now have a podcast and youtube channel. I seem to have built my work around creating and connecting with others, and these outlets all help me do these things in different ways.

My journey has been a slow and gradual one, but I would not change it for the world. I also enjoy both doing and consuming different forms of writing and music; I’d like to write more poetry and perhaps put it to music. For me, though, I see my fiction/poetry/creative writing as for me and not for making money. I also journal. It’s important for me to have writing that’s writing just because, without any expectation or pressure attached to it.

What do you enjoy?

As I’ve mentioned already, I really love to create and connect with others. I often speak of my most important values being growth, connection and freedom. I enjoy exploring new places, whether it’s spending time abroad (I spent a couple of months as a digital nomad in Madeira this last Summer), or simply exploring coffee shops and green spaces closer to home. I love watching sports, and spending time walking outdoors or stretching out on a mat. I also enjoy absorbing the stories of others whether it’s through an auto-biography, a biographical documentary or a podcast interview. I’m continuing to learn and grow and see where life takes me next

Tell us a little about yourself.

Jas Hothi is a writer and indie author. He made a life-altering choice in 2015, decided to share it online, and has been writing ever since. He has run several blogs, a podcast, and has co-hosted two online summits for creative introverts. He is the author of The Indie Author, and is currently building The Indie Writer, a gentle community for ADHD writers. Find him at www.jasraj.me

That wraps up this edition of 3 Questions With An INFP. Stay tuned for more!

Amanda Linehan is the author of Productivity For INFPs. She is an independent author, coach, and INFP, who has published six full-length books and has been read in 113 countries. Amanda was a speaker at the INF Summit in February 2020. Get her free Productivity For INFPs Mini-Course when you sign up for the For INFPs newsletter.

Spending Money Is An Investment (Not A Vice)

A few hours ago, I signed up for a class–Continuing Calligraphy. I took Beginning Calligraphy earlier this spring and really enjoyed it. (If you’d like to see my final project for the class here’s a picture I shared on Instagram.)

As I filled out my registration and entered my credit card number, I realized that I was making an investment. I was investing in something that I enjoyed and that was enriching my life.

It can be easy to see spending money as a necessary evil. Things cost money, right? We have no choice but to pay for things. But that perspective is disempowering.

When I spend money I put energy toward things that I need or that I enjoy. The class I registered for wasn’t super expensive, but it wasn’t cheap either. Instead of griping about the money leaving my bank account, I can see it as a way that I’m putting my mark on the world, by giving to things that I see as important.

Also, it is an investment in myself. When I spend money on things that I enjoy, I increase the amount of enjoyment in my life and that is always a positive thing. When I spend money on something that is a new skill, I’m investing in my learning. I am better off for having taken this class.

Here’s another example: As I type this I’m sitting in one of my favorite local cafes. They make craft bubble teas and they are delicious. Right now, I’m sipping one made with jasmine green tea and I’m filled with delight. Also, I really enjoy supporting local businesses in my city, so I’m happy to have handed over $5 to them. I invest in my own enjoyment and I invest in a local business.

I could have gone to a chain cafe and ordered a cheaper drink–say $2 as opposed to $5. That would have saved me 3 bucks but I would have lost something. I would have lost the enjoyment of that craft bubble tea and the opportunity to invest in my local community. Saving that $3 would have cost me too much.

Let’s do another example where the expense isn’t so fun or enjoyable: a car repair. Periodically, my car needs something replaced and it’s usually expensive. I can complain about having to spend money on the car repair or I can feel appreciative that I’m keeping my car up because I depend on it so much. When I invest in my car, I’m investing in myself because it gets me around. Paying for a new battery isn’t that fun, but when I use this perspective, I feel grateful for putting that money into my car.

Do you gripe about having to spend money on things? Even when it’s something you need, enjoy, or would be an investment in your skills or life? Why?

Money wants to move because it is a representation of energy, and energy wants to move. Spending is an integral part of that cycle and when you spend deliberately, it can greatly enhance your life and the lives of those around you.

Amanda Linehan is the author of Productivity For INFPs. She is a multi-genre fiction writer, indie author and INFP, who has published five novels and has been read in 113 countries. Amanda was a speaker at the INF Summit in February 2020. Get her free Productivity For INFPs Mini-Course when you sign up for the For INFPs newsletter.

5 Minute Fiction: If I Could Only

I sat down at the bar, the sea breeze wafting through the place and the sounds of the ocean crashing behind me. It wasn’t crowded. The bartender approached me, and I ordered a mojito. I hoped it was good. I was fussy about cocktail quality.

My drink arrived a few minutes later, and I sipped it, then decided it met my quality standards. I took another sip as the song All Night Long by Lionel Richie came on over the bar’s sound system and turned around on my barstool to watch the ocean.

I was waiting for some old friends from college, who wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow morning. The flight I found had been cheap, even though it got me here a day early, but I decided to take it anyway and just amuse myself until they arrived. Didn’t bother me any.

We had decided a few years ago to take a trip the year we all turned 40. I actually still had a couple months, but for the rest of them, their ages now began with a 4. It was great. We hadn’t all been together in several years.

I was entranced by the sight of the ocean and the sounds of the bar. It was then that my mind finally shut off from all the work I had been doing. It felt like time had slowed, or maybe sped up, or stopped altogether. I was simply here, now.

“If I could only…” a male voice to my right said suddenly. A minute ago, there hadn’t been anyone there, and now a dark-haired man stood beside me. He was about 5’9 and looked to be 28 or 29. “Finish the sentence.”

As I turned to look at him, I realized that he was, in fact, directing that to me. I didn’t know if I felt like answering riddles or whatever this was, but he looked friendly enough.

“If I could only…” I said, looking back at the ocean, “continue to sit here and stare at the ocean and sip this drink.” I didn’t actually mean for that to be rude or standoffish, but I realized it may have sounded like that. “I really mean that,” I said, smiling at him. “That wasn’t me telling you to go away.”

“No, no problem,” he said, chuckling. “You actually look really peaceful. Jason, by the way.” He held out his hand to me, which I accepted.

“Jana,” I said.

“Ahhh, yeah, I actually only talk to people whose names begin with the letter J.”

“Well, apparently, you’ve got a good radar for that.”

He flagged the bartender and sat down on the stool next to me.

“I’ll have whatever she’s having,” he said, pointing to my drink. “You want another one?” he asked, and I nodded. Then he spun his barstool around so we both had our backs to the bar.

“On vacation?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said as I watched a wave crash on the shore. “With some friends. They won’t be here until tomorrow.”

“Me too,” he said, then spun back toward the bar for a moment to collect his drink and mine. “Bachelor party. My buddy wanted to do something big. I got a cheap flight for today, so I came out a little early.”

I wondered if we were on the same flight, and I asked him. He was. We chatted for a while about where we both lived, what we did for a living, and all that stuff. Turns out we lived about half an hour away from one another. Small world.

“Alright, I’ve got another question for you,” he said. “You have a celebrity hookup. Who would it be?”

“Humphrey Bogart,” I said without hesitation. Jason gave me a confused look for a second. “Do you know who Humphrey Bogart is?”

“Yeah, I know who that is,” he said, laughing a little. “He’s like an old movie star. So would the hookup be in black and white then?”

“Absolutely,” I said. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Alright, your turn.”

“I have like at least ten of them.”

“Well, just give me one of the ten.”

“Okay, but your answer was interesting and kind of weird, and mine is a really obvious one.”

“Give it to me.”

“Beyonce,” he said.

“Good answer,” I said. “Obvious, but totally solid.”

Jason turned to order another drink, and I focused on the ocean. I realized there was something I had yet to ask him.

When he had stopped talking to the bartender and turned back around, I looked at him.

“If I could only…” I said. “Finish the sentence.”

He looked very serious for a moment, and I wondered what I was about to get out of him. He tapped the fingers of his right hand on his thigh, then turned to me.

“If I could only,” he said and paused, “take a walk with you on the beach after we finish these drinks?” He smiled a little nervously.

“Sure,” I said. “I actually haven’t been out to the ocean yet. And, who knows, we might run into Beyonce.”

“Or Humphrey Bogart.”

“We can only dream,” I said.

“Maybe it’ll turn black and white on us out there.”

“Mmmm. I think I prefer full-color tonight,” I said and watched as the horizon began to turn pink and orange.

The End

If you enjoyed this story and would like to support my work, “buy me a club soda” over on my Ko-fi page. All beverages are voluntary and appreciated!

(And while you’re at it, check out my “retired stories” in my Ko-fi store–all of them are “pay what you want.” You may just find something you like there.)

Amanda Linehan is a multi-genre fiction writer and indie author. She has published 13 titles since 2012. Get a free, exclusive short story, The Sommer House, when you sign up for her fiction newsletter. For more stories like this check out her Writing On The Walls series.

Practicing What I Preach: Creating My First Online Course

On Monday I released the Productivity For INFPs Online Course into the world. I had been working on it for about a year and had it on my mind for about two.

As this is “launch week” I’ve been reflecting on the process of creating it and thought it would be useful to share with you all because I actually followed my own advice while I was making it.

The Productivity for INFPs Online Course is a direct result of the productivity ideas that I teach. Who would’ve thought?

Small Steps, Forward Motion

I got started on the course in late spring of 2021 and the first thing to do after a little planning, outlining, and brainstorming (but not too much ) was to start recording videos.

I felt fairly comfortable being on video but I wasn’t as practiced with them as with writing and I was also feeling a little pressure about the course.

Would it be good enough? Would it help people? Was I doing it right? You know, all that kind of stuff that goes through your mind as you make something, especially for the first time.

I would record a video and I would immediately start to question it. Did I say that thing right? Did I explain that well enough? Do I look good enough?

I had doubts, I felt uncertain, and my inner critic showed up regularly, but I knew enough to know that the way forward was to put one foot in front of the other and do the videos one by one (there are 18 of them). I let the voices in my head talk, but I tried not to listen to them too closely. When I was finished with one video I would do the next, and so on.

After some time of feeling very imperfect and questioning myself regularly, I had 18 finished videos. They weren’t perfect, but they were certainly good enough. And most importantly, they were complete.

It was little more than taking one step, and then taking another, and repeating.

Moving Slowly

This course took me about a year to create. Granted, it wasn’t the only thing I was working on during that period of time. I would weave in and out of various projects.

But sometimes I really wanted to move it along faster, and it just wouldn’t go.

As I created the course, I was changing and growing right along with it, and those changes take some time to integrate. If I was wrestling with my inner critic a bit, things would slow down, so I would take an action and then let the feelings of that action settle a bit before moving on.

I’m slow to begin with, really, but when I take on something new or unfamiliar I can really crawl. This was also why taking small, but consistent, steps was so important–to keep things moving steadily, even though they weren’t fast.

Lots and Lots of Feelings

Boy, did I have a lot of feelings while I was doing this.

In addition to the “voices in my head” outlined above, creating a course was something I had never done before. I had hopes, dreams, and aspirations for it. I would think about all the experiences I had that formed the basis for the material.

I would think about releasing it out into the world and what that would be like. I was growing, changing, transforming. I was doing something new. I wanted to help people who were similar to me in certain ways. I thought about the journey I had taken to get here.

There was a lot of stuff.

And then, of course, there was the fear. Would it really be helpful to people? Would it change things for me? Would I receive criticism or judgment for it? And the ever-present, would it be good enough? And the follow-up question, was I good enough?

Yeah, so it was a bit of a roller coaster.

Wrapping It Up

But, in the end, like all things, it was finally complete and ready to go. And I was truly a different version of myself.

There had been some steep learning curves, some doubts, some fears, but I got it done, and considering that this was a course on productivity that was really the most important thing.

The Productivity For INFPs Online Course is available at a discount ($99, regularly $129) and with BONUS material through Friday, April 29, 2022. Learn more and get the course here at this page. If you have any questions, leave a comment on this post or send me an email (take a look at my contact page.)

Amanda Linehan is the author of Productivity For INFPs. She is a multi-genre fiction writer, indie author and INFP, who has published five novels and has been read in 113 countries. Amanda was a speaker at the INF Summit in February 2020. Get her free Productivity For INFPs Mini-Course when you sign up for the For INFPs newsletter.