Before you write a book, you need a good book idea. This sounds obvious, but deciding what you want to write about is a challenge.

You need to have an idea that excites you, is worth writing, and provides value for your readers.

So how do you know if you have a book idea worth pursuing?

A lot of people talk about dream jobs, but few people take the practical steps to make them a reality. Do you know what your dream job looks like? Or if it even exists?

There’s plenty of shallow advice online about following your passion and throwing caution to the wind. The trouble with that approach is passion alone doesn’t pay the for the gas in your car or your morning latte.

But what is a dream job without passion? How do you know what you were made for? How can you discover your purpose?

Living your “dream” doesn’t look the way people think it does. Many people talk about creativity as this mystical thing, but reality is a little less magical and a lot more work.

IMAGE: SPARK

As someone who makes a living through creative work, people are often surprised to learn that I don’t write all day. In fact, despite publishing three books and over 900 posts on this blog alone, writing is probably the thing I do least each day.

Most professional creatives do more than one thing. They are not a jack of all trades, but rather masters of some. And, as I learned the hard way, there’s plenty of non-creative work that goes into supporting a creative career.

As we get ready to close registration for this round of Tribe Writers, I’m getting some questions on whether or not the program “works” and what kinds of success previous students have had. And I realized something: those are the wrong questions to ask.

When you set out to do creative work for a living, there are all these unexpected obstacles you face, things like finance and admin and marketing. Which add up to a lot of work that doesn't necessarily feel creative. So the question becomes: Is getting paid to do what you love really worth the cost?

A platform is people, nothing more. It’s how you connect your message to the needs of the world. And if you have something to say or share, it's essential.

Here’s the thing, though: You don’t have to do this the same way everyone else does. You can build a platform your way. In fact, it's supremely important that you don't chase other people's success or try to give people what you think they want.

Have you ever felt like the work you’re doing is not important? Do you sometimes feel like an amateur pretending to be a professional? I feel this way all the time.

Jim Henson is most famous for co-creating The Muppets, perhaps the most iconic puppets in history alongside the characters he made for Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock. What you may not know about Jim is that he never set out to become a puppeteer.

Some people don’t have a spending problem. They’re great at cutting coupons and keeping costs low. But saving money only goes so far. At some point you need to address the income problem because you can’t save money if you don’t make money.

With the rising cost of raising a family, many homemakers dabble in blogging and online business to make ends meet. Fueled by a desire to get out of debt and leave a financial legacy for their children, stay-at-home moms (and dads) start websites dedicated to one topic or another in hopes of earning a side income.

Your personal beliefs are part of your identity. They guide your decisions and behavior. What you believe inevitably ends up in your art. But how do you stay true to your values without alienating your audience? It’s not as tricky as some would have you think.

No one likes being preached at. We much prefer a friendly chat over coffee to listening to someone shout their dogma through a megaphone.

One of my first breakout speaking engagements was at Blissdom, a popular blogging conference that was accidentally started by Alli Worthington. Yes, by accident. She winged it the first year and the rest is history.

But after six roller coaster years, while planning speakers and themes for the next event, Alli pulled the plug and BlissDom was done just about overnight.

The sudden death left her community surprised and disappointed. Why quit such a successful endeavor in its prime? What was she thinking?