Get Ready. Get Set. Write!

Lately I've been experimenting with different ways to increase my writing output.

I read an ebook about a writer who went from writing 2,000 words a day to 10,000 words a day just by going out to write every day instead of trying to do it at home.

She found that even though sitting in a cafe was noisy, there were no distractions and no demands on her time which freed her up to just write.

The reason I want to increase how much I write every day, is so that I'm more focused and more productive while I work.

I find that when I can sit down and get plenty of writing done in a short space of time, I'm far more creative and it feels like I'm working in a giant window of inspiration.

If I don't sit down and focus on what I'm doing, I get easily distracted and end up wasting time so it takes me twice as long to get anything done and my writing isn't as good.

So now I've gone as far as giving myself set writing times every day so that I have to sit down and write, even if I don't feel like it.

And I find that no matter how reluctant I am before I begin, once I actually start writing it's easy to carry on.

It was the famous horror writer Stephen King who said, in his book On Writing, that it's important to sit and write at the same time every day and always sit in the same place so that you know that you should be working. And preferably make that place a room with a door you can close.

Focus and self discipline are the two most important things if you want to be a productive and prolific writer.

Yet these two things IMH(yet accurate)O, are the hardest to conquer.

It takes practise and determination.

How I'm Becoming The Organised Writer

For me, self discipline is the hardest thing about being a writer.

The writing part is easy.

Actually sitting down to do the work in the first place is hard.

It's too easy to be distracted by other things when you're working from home, all alone, with no boss looking over your shoulder telling you what to do.

It's even harder on days when I'm tired or feeling unwell or if I have a project in the garden that I'm dying to get started on.

The way that I've gotten around this problem is by being a highly organised writer.

I have set times every day when I must work, whether I feel like it or not.

That keeps me working to deadlines.

I also have certain writing jobs that need to be done on certain days so I have to keep working during my set times to fit it all in.

I work well this way because if there's no pressure, then I have no motivation to keep going.

Being completely organised also makes it easier to work because I don't have to think of what I have to write because I already know. It's written in my diary.

All I have to do is look in my diary every day to see what needs doing and then I get straight to work.

I also find that the more I write the easier and faster it gets.

Try it for yourself.

You've got nothing to lose.

Free Podcasts That Are Helping Me to Double My Writing Income

I started a part-time cleaning job a few months ago so that I could get more exercise.

I clean two local banks which takes me less than 2 hours a night.

I've got my routine working so well that I don't have to think very much about what I'm doing.

So now I listen to audios while I work.

I plug my ear buds in and listen to audios about writing, marketing, wealth, time management, blogging and more.

And I find that not only do I get my cleaning done faster AND better than before, but I take home a few nuggets of useable information every week.

So I look forward to going to work every night because I know that I can listen to more inspiration and informational audios (and there's something really soothing about working alone in the evening).

And what I learn is helping me increase my income from my writing.

Sometimes I only have to make one small change and the impact it makes is clearly noticeable.

And not only is all this new-found knowledge helping me to earn more money from my writing, but the cleaning company I work for is paying me while I listen.

So it's like I'm being paid twice.

And double money is always good.

And just in case you're curious as to what I'm listening to and learning from, I'll tell you.

I'm currently listening to free podcasts on iTunes which are:

Ben Settle - Anti-preneur Show

Jeff Goins - The Art of Work

Jeff Goins - The Portfolio Life

Yaro Starak - Entrepreneurs Journey

I've also recently listened to all the free podcasts at http://bensettle.com/blog/media-interviews/. There's quite a few hour worth there.

Enjoy and I hope they help you too.

:)

How to Have More Ideas For Your Writing Than You'll Ever Need

It's one thing to say that you want to earn all your income from your writing, but how do you know what to write about?

And how do you come up with enough ideas?

You might think that you need to constantly sit and deeply ponder possible writing topics, but the opposite is true.

Rarely does anyone have great ideas while they're writing.

It's more likely for great ideas to occur when you're away from the keyboard.

It's at these other times when you're not writing that you'll have "eureka" moments.

That's because it's our subconscious mind, not our conscious mind, where great ideas are born.

But you need to be ready, because ideas can disappear as quickly they appear in the first place.

So when a great idea comes to mind, write it down.

Don't think that you'll remember it.

You won't.

An idea is a gift. Don't lose it. Write it down so that you can keep it.

If you do this every time an idea comes to you, even if it's only an incomplete idea, write it down and you'll soon discover that you've got more ideas than you can ever write about in your lifetime.

How to Change Your Writing From Good to Great

I've said it before and I'll say it again: If you want to know how to do great writing, copy it out yourself.

If you want to write a really persuasive sales letter or a piece of suspenseful fiction, find some that's already written.

Find a sales letter that is so good that when you read it you want to pull out your credit card and buy the product immediately.

Or find a really suspenseful passage of writing in your favourite horror novel.

Then take out a pad and pen and start writing it out.

Spend a couple of hours, or more, doing this and it will give you a real feel for great writing.

And you'll notice so much more than you ever would simply by reading it.

So don't stress or strain about doing great writing, copy great writing by hand and it will give you a real insight into how you can do it too.

I Don't Want to Be A Web Designer. I Want to Write

As you probably already know, I've recently spent quite a bit of time redesigning my websites to make them "mobile responsive."

I did this because of the latest Google update when they threatened to stop including non-responsive mobile sites in mobile search results.

This meant that if my sites weren't mobile responsive (meaning they don't respond automatically to fit the screen size they're being viewed on) they wouldn't be included in search results for people searching online using their mobile phones.

So I grudgingly spent a few weeks changing the designs of my websites so that they can be viewed correctly on mobile phones and tablets as well as desktops.

But damn it! I'm sick of designing websites.

I want to write.

If I was just starting out and knew nothing of web page design or how to run an online business, I'd use an all-in-one web design, hosting and online business building service to simplify everything and get up and running quickly so that I could get back to writing.

But I do know a bit about web page design and I'm stubborn enough to do it all myself.

So if you're in a similar position and there are non-writing-related things you need to do, now would be a great time to do them so that you can get back to doing what you and I love to do.

Writing.

This Type of Writing Will Significantly Increase Sales

Working as a writer means you need to earn a consistent income from your writing which means doing  marketing, because people won't buy your books or visit your websites if they don't know they're there.

So no matter what kind of writer  you are - novelist, blogger, freelancer, online writer, etc, - you also must be a copywriter.

Copywriting is described as salesmanship in print.

And it's imperative that you know how to do it if you want to make more sales.

Copywriting is all about persuasion. It's persuading people to buy your book even if they didn't know they wanted it.

Learning copywriting can also help you in all your writing.

Imagine how great it would be if you could use persuasion in all your writing. Even in writing fiction you'd know how to keep your readers glued to your story, eager to read more.

Just try it and see the difference it can make.

Does Article Marketing Still Work?

Writing articles and uploading them to an article directory used to be one of the fastest and easiest ways to make more money on the Internet.

Article directories like EzineArticles.com were gold.

Writing one short article and uploading it would produce a flood of email subscribers and ebook sales.

Then things changed a few years ago when Google decided to not include article directories in it's search results.

Many writers stopped doing article marketing this way because the results plummeted.

But not me.

I kept publishing articles on EzineArticles.com.

And what I've found is that although my articles get less views now, they still get read and it still produces results.

So although the audience for these types of articles is smaller, they are more targeted and more interested in what I have to say.

So I keep doing it, because it still works for me.

And with less people submitting articles, there's less competition.

Discover How I Earned Over $4,000 Writing Articles 

in Just One Day

I did it using my simple 15 minute article writing system which Includes Research, Writing and Proof Reading

Are You Doing Social Media Backwards?

I see it all the time. People with links on their blogs, websites and emails with the words "Follow Me on Twitter" or "Like Me On Facebook."

But is that the correct way to use social media?

Are you supposed to use it to drive people to your social media pages?

Until recently I used to be the same.

I had links to my social media accounts on all my websites and emails.

Now they're gone.

Why?

Because you should be driving people TO your website FROM your social media pages, not the other way around.

I was listening to a podcast recently and the person being interviewed said sending your website visitors over to your social media pages is like having customers in your store and sending them to someone else's cash register.

It was a light bulb moment for me.

So now my website don't have links to my social media accounts, but my social media accounts have links to my websites.

I've finally stopped using social media backwards.

And it's working.

Why Do Writers Procrastinate?

Look around anywhere on the internet and you’ll come across articles about procrastination, especially when you're reading about writing.

All writers complain about procrastination. It’s like a resistance to sitting down and starting.

We all say we’re writers, but the resistance we feel every time we want to start writing is always there.

If you love to write then why is it so difficult to sit down and do it?

Some say it’s because of a fear of failure, fear that your writing won’t be good enough.

Others say it’s because of a fear of success, of how much your life will change if your writing is popular.

I say “Get over it.”

It’s just laziness.

I feel procrastination and resistance to anything that feels like hard work.

And writing is work, no matter how much of a romantic idea is conjured up about being a writer. It takes work.

But all you have to do is start.

Sit down and start writing.

Tell yourself that for the next 30 minutes you cannot do anything else.

Sit at your computer (or with a pad and pen) and tell yourself that you can only write or sit and do nothing. But you cannot do anything else.

Before you know it, once you start writing, it’s easy to keep going and you’ll soon get plenty of writing done.

You just have to start.

So what are you waiting for?