(Excerpted from the book, From Spark to Flame: Fanning Your Passion & Ideas into Money-making Magazine Articles that Make a Difference which is currently being revised and updated.)

Growing up, one of my favorite places to spend summer vacation was along the coast of North Carolina at Atlantic Beach, and one of my fondest memories is of watching the automatic taffy-pulling machine. Into one end of this magical machine, the owner would pour the ingredients for making taffy that, of course, included a lot of sugar. He would then turn the machine on and after a few minutes, it would begin churning out multi-colored strands of taffy, ready to be boxed and sold to a line of salivating children, including me.

Because of that cherished memory, I now have upon my office wall what I call my “Writer’s Taffy Machine.” At one end I pour in the sweet blend of ideas and passion, while the other end churns out checks from magazine publishers. Between these two ends are all the steps we’ll cover in detail in this book.

By the time you finish reading, you’ll know how to build a writer’s taffy machine, and, if you accept the coaching and do the assignments, you’ll be well on your way to building one for yourself. 

At this point, ask yourself a couple of important questions:

  • Am I interested in building my own writer’s taffy machine?
  • Will I do the necessary work to maintain my machine and have it churn out publishable writing that makes money?  

Take a few moments now and answer these questions for yourself. Then, get a notebook or journal to use in conjunction with this book and make your first entry a written statement of what you intend to accomplish from our working together through this book. Be as specific as possible. If you’re unsure whether or not you’re ready to commit to doing the work, that’s fair. Write that down. This is just a starting point, and you can always revise your intentions later. I encourage you to stretch beyond what you think you can accomplish. Remember, part of my job as your writing coach is to improve your performance beyond what you can accomplish on your own.

Because of that cherished memory, I now have upon my office wall what I call my “Writer’s Taffy Machine.” At one end I pour in the sweet blend of ideas and passion, while the other end churns out checks from magazine publishers. Between these two ends are all the steps we’ll cover in detail in this book.

By the time you finish reading, you’ll know how to build a writer’s taffy machine, and, if you accept the coaching and do the assignments, you’ll be well on your way to building one for yourself. 

At this point, ask yourself a couple of important questions:

  • Am I interested in building my own writer’s taffy machine?
  • Will I do the necessary work to maintain my machine and have it churn out publishable writing that makes money?  

Take a few moments now and answer these questions for yourself. Then, get a notebook or journal to use in conjunction with this book and make your first entry a written statement of what you intend to accomplish from our working together through this book. Be as specific as possible. If you’re unsure whether or not you’re ready to commit to doing the work, that’s fair. Write that down. This is just a starting point, and you can always revise your intentions later. I encourage you to stretch beyond what you think you can accomplish. Remember, part of my job as your writing coach is to improve your performance beyond what you can accomplish on your own.