Meet Ruth Kogen Goodwin | Writer and Editor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ruth Kogen Goodwin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ruth, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Resilience. I keep at it. Even if there is a lean period with few client projects or a streak of rejected pitches, I keep moving forward. Freelancing can be feast or famine. The amount of work is not always consistent, and to succeed, you have to become comfortable with uncertainty. To be honest, this is something I am still working on. It is easy to become discouraged when you are hearing “no” more than “yes”. The key for me has been to continue chipping away at building the business through those discouraging times.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Aside from a short-lived plan to be a marine biologist and work as a whale trainer at Sea World, I had always dreamed of becoming a writer. As soon as I learned to put words on the page, I was writing, whether it was fantastical stories about dragons with my childhood best friend or poems about nature. In fourth grade, when one of those poems won an elementary school contest, my mind was set. I was going to spend my life immersed in the written word, shaping my own stories and those of the people around me. I was lucky in that I never doubted that I would be able to make this happen. I grew up watching people pursue their careers not necessarily for income potential, but to satisfy a passion. My mother was a middle school music and English teacher, and when I was in elementary school my father left a stressful office job to become a massage therapist. No one ever told me I couldn’t become a writer, so I went for it. I was fortunate and privileged to be surrounded by people who didn’t scoff at the idea of studying poetry (and in fact, encouraged it). For that, I am eternally grateful.
In 2010 my husband and I took an opportunity to move cross country and return to our hometown to be near our families. I did not have a full-time job lined up, but I did have some leads on potential writing and editing clients. So, I decided that this move was the perfect time to take a leap and become a freelancer. For a couple of years I taught writing classes as an adjunct professor at several colleges in the area to supplement our income, but once my daughter was born, it no longer made sense to be a freeway flyer. Instead, I decided to focus all of my efforts on freelancing from home.
Working from home requires constant attention to work life balance. I started down the freelancing path precisely because I wanted more control over how I spent my time. I wanted to spend more of it doing the things I love, including writing and editing. Of course, over the years, big life events have altered the way I use my time. The birth of my daughter, for example, upended my schedule, as have issues with my health. But even smaller events, like vacations and holidays require conscious modification of my workload. For me, work life balance is about knowing my priorities, and checking often to make sure I am able to complete the “life” items at the top of that list. If not, it is time to re-evaluate and fine-tune how I am spending my time.
Another thing that has contributed to my success is diversifying my work. I both write and edit, and my clients include publishers, businesses, individuals, and publications. I do many types of content writing in addition to creative writing and journalism. Not only does this variety help keep my daily work fresh and engaging, it also helps me weather periods of time when one type of work is slow. If there is a month or two when my pitches aren’t hitting with editors, I can focus on writing web content for a small business. If people aren’t submitting much to the journal I manage because of summer break, I can take time to work on submitting personal essays. Over the past decade I have been able to tweak the balance between content writing, editing, and freelance journalism to fit my needs, and I have greatly enjoyed the flexibility that working for myself has provided.
One thing that most people outside of writing and publishing don’t know is that if you are doing it right, a writer faces constant rejection. Even successful (and famous) writers are rejected all the time. Often, it has nothing to do with the quality of the writing or ideas. Editors accept and reject work not only based on merit, but also according to budgetary concerns, space limitations, publication schedules, other articles in the pipeline, and any number of considerations. Most often, the reasons are unclear. The best thing a writer can do is continue to write and submit their work, and eventually, when the stars align, their words may reach an audience.
Because of this, it is very difficult to say “no” when the opportunity to work presents itself. When you are building a business, you want to say yes to everything. After all, you want to be successful, and you never know when a slow period will strike. But one thing I have learned over the past decade is that I can’t say yes to everything. Maybe the work isn’t within my expertise. Maybe the pay isn’t what I need to justify the time it will take. Maybe I simply don’t have the bandwidth to take it on. Whatever the reason, being comfortable with saying no is essential to building a business that is not only sustainable, but something that I love and enjoy.
Overall, when it comes to work, I want not only to do what I love, but to use my writing to help people make sense of the world. I want to be remembered as a writer who took risks, telling the stories that needed to be told.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’d kick off the week with a visit to the Aquarium of the Pacific. We’d scope out the sea otters, the octopus, and my personal favorite, the puffins. I’d also make sure to feed the lorikeets, and maybe book a private animal encounter with the sea lions. During the week, we’d spend an afternoon shopping 2nd Street in Belmont Shore, being sure to browse the unique gifts at Fern’s Garden and then grabbing an enormous gooey cinnamon roll from Sweet Jill’s. We’d also take a morning to luxuriate in the outdoors, hiking the El Dorado Nature Center and picnicking in the shade of a tree in El Dorado park. Other days, we’d stop for amazing coffee and baked goods at Coffee Parlor or the fanciest of toasts at Ubuntu Café. Later in the week we’d have an elegant seaside brunch at Claire’s at the Museum and walk along the bluffs afterward. On Saturday we’d head to Lakewood Village for pancakes at the Village Café and then spend a bunch of time searching for hidden treasures at Once Read Books. To round out the week, on Sunday we’d sample the many fresh fruits and vegetables at the Farmer’s Marketplace, winding our way through the booths of handmade arts and crafts. Finally, we’d finish with plenty of mimosas at nearby Schooner or Later.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I serve on the board of the Long Beach Literary Arts Center (https://www.lbliteraryarts.com/), a group I became involved with after attending one of their events several years ago. Literary life can be a lonely life. LBLAC’s programming helps to build a literary community for writers to meet in non-intimidating environments to share resources, connect, create, and collaborate. In LBLAC I have found a community that is both inspiring and encouraging, one that fosters my creativity and pushes my work forward.

Website: www.ruthkgoodwin.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruth_k_goodwin/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruth-kogen-goodwin-24200869/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RuththePuth

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RuthKogenGoodwin/

Image Credits
Blossom Blue Studios