What's on Your Freedom Trail Map?
By Steve Roller

Steve Roller here, back for another week as your guest editor of The Writer's Life.

Since today is Independence Day, I couldn't resist making an analogy to our country's birth of freedom and your quest for the writer's life.

You've heard of the Freedom Trail in Boston, right? It's a 2.5-mile long trail through the city, marked out by an actual red painted line throughout the streets of Boston. The Old North Church, Faneuil Hall, and the Bunker Hill Monument are three of the 16 official historic sites.

Each spot along the trail marks a significant event in the colonists' struggle for freedom from the British.

Now, if you look at a map of the Freedom Trail, you'll see that it isn't a straight, point-to-point line from start to finish.

The other thing you'll notice is that it includes both victories (Old North Church, where two lanterns signaled the coming of the British by sea) and defeats (Bunker Hill, a loss that actually encouraged the colonists to press on).

Your quest for the writer's life most likely won't be a straight path either.

What "battles" have you fought so far? What challenges have you overcome? Who's played an important role in your ongoing journey? What places or things have been significant as you carve out a new career?

Write these things down somewhere. In fact, you may even want to get a huge poster board and draw them out in map form!

Your "Freedom Trail" components tell a story that's uniquely you.

They'll also become part of a document you're going to craft shortly.

What I'm suggesting today is not a "roadmap to wealth" or a "blueprint for success." Those are great topics that have been covered well by other AWAI contributors.

This is more of a brainstorming and personal inventory session. It will help you see where you are now, where you've been, and where you're going.

So what should your Freedom Trail map include?

• A starting point. Every good historic event has a definite beginning. Some would say it was the Boston Tea Party in 1773 or even the site of the Boston Massacre three years earlier. Do you have a "defining moment"?
• An ending point. The colonists' goal was obviously freedom from Great Britain. Your goal may be "the writer's life" and freedom from a boss or a rigid schedule. It means something different for everyone. Spell out exactly what it means for you, and describe in vivid detail what achieving the writer's life will look like for you.
• Significant people, places, and things. The Freedom Trail includes a statue of Benjamin Franklin, the Park Street Church, and the USS Constitution. My Freedom Trail would include a statue of my 4th grade teacher who encouraged me to write. The ballroom at the Marriott where I had my defining moment at Bootcamp. And a copy of the travel journal I kept for three months in 1989 (my earliest writing sample still in existence). What, and who, played a part in your evolvement as a writer? Don't limit yourself here. And finally …
• Passion! Do you think the colonists could have mustered up the courage to fight the mighty British without a huge dollop of passion? This exercise ought to stir up some emotion and passion in your gut. Dig deep and think back (I traced my story back to 4th grade), and you'll find the core reasons you're on this quest for freedom.

I'd love to hear what your Freedom Trail map includes! An interesting story from 30 years ago? A defining moment 30 days ago? A secret you've never let out before? Tell me about it in the comments below.

Whether you're just starting out or on the verge of victory, let me challenge you.

Take your Freedom Trail map, whatever that includes to date, and take it a step further.

Make a big, bold declaration today!

July 4, 2011, is a fitting day to declare your independence. My article, A Copywriter's Declaration of Independence, will help you get started.

235 years ago, the Second Continental Congress gathered at Independence Hall in Philadelphia to adopt the Declaration of Independence. It set our country on a path of freedom and prosperity unrivaled in history.

Draft your own document today, and set yourself on a path of freedom and prosperity as well.