Motivation From Actor Sam Shephard

I heard the sad news this morning that actor Sam Shepard had died at the age of 73.

He was born in 1943 and not only was he an actor but also a playwright and writer.

I was reading about him online before I began writing today and I found his story to be remarkably motivating.

It seems that during his life he starred in over 50 movies. That is a lot of movies.

Not only that but he also wrote 14 plays AND wrote over 20 novels.

I sat there in amazement at how much this man has achieved.

It takes months to make a movie, not to mention all the travelling and promoting that the stars do for marketing.

And Sam Shepard was in 50 movies!

That is a lot of acting and promoting.

Not only that but he also found time to write over 20 novels.

AND he also wrote 14 plays.

This man was a working and writing mash-eeeen.


I sat in awe at how much he had achieved in his life and thought about what had motivated him to work so hard.

And I figured that maybe he just enjoyed what he did so much that he just couldn't stop doing it. No one could work that hard at something if they weren't fully motivated and inspired to do so.

In a way, it's the same for all successful writers. They work so hard at what they do because they love what they do.

Just like in the book I read recently, Careergasm, you need to find what you REALLY love to do and that will give you all the motivation you need to be a writing mash-eeeen.

And now...it's time for me to write my own 20 books, 14 plays and audition for 50 movies.

Wish me luck.

Stop Listening To Others And Start Writing And Earning More

I spend a lot of my time learning about how to earn money from writing.

I learn through emails, podcasts, books and articles, all giving me different advice  such as, I should email more often, use social media more, use forums, write more blog content, make videos, use different daily routines, up my words per hour, use a special writing place…and the list goes on.

Everything I learn from all contains different advice (often about the same thing) but there are some golden nuggets of information contained in a lot of them.

Each of the people giving advice are usually telling me what works for them.

But everyone is different so what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for all.

As an example, Ben Settle (who is a self confessed email expert) says it’s better to email daily. But he is brilliant at writing short, pithy emails that hold attention. I, on the other hand, don’t have this talent so when I followed his advice, I failed.

But he was right about one thing, which is that everyone needs to know how to do copy writing because we all need to sell our books. But sending out daily emails just doesn’t work for me.

So in the end I recently decided that although I’ll continue to listen to podcasts and read as much as I can about writing and earning money, I will ignore most of the advice and do what I do best.

Writing.

Just writing.

In my own time.

My own way.

This make me happier and more productive.

There is a lot of advice out there that also tells me that I should have a strict writing routine so that every day I sit down and write certain things, like an hour writing my book, an hour writing blog posts, an hour doing marketing, etc.

But that’s not how I roll.

I’m an all-or-nothing person. Once I start working on something I like to see it through to the end rather than jumping around from project to project.

So that’s how it’s going to be.

Having said that, on days when I don’t feel motivated to write, I use the Pomadoro Technique so that I do actually sit down and get some work done.

But I like to work my way.

And so should you.

But never stop learning.

Just decide what works for you and what doesn’t.

And ignore the rest.

Changing How I Work So I Can Write More Books

Over the years I've earned money from my writing in several ways.

I sell affiliate products, advertising, sell my own books and do freelance writing work.

But lately I've had a yearning to only do the type of writing that I love the most.

And that is writing books.

Not only is it the type of writing I prefer to do, but also it provides more income in the long term and is also passive income which means that once a book is written, it can go on earning money while I get on with other projects.

I earn money from every book I write, but the same cannot be said for the other ways in which I make money from writing.

For instance, I have no control over the products that I sell for other people and sometimes products are withdrawn while I'm in the middle of promoting them.

Only recently I was promoting a product by doing article marketing when suddenly it was withdrawn from the affiliate network and was instead only sold by the owner. So then I had to go through all my articles and change the link to another similar product or unpublish the articles. Such a waste of time.

Freelance writing also involves a lot of pitching with very few offers. That's not to say it's not worth doing because most assignments are worth several hundred dollars if I can land them, but constant pitching can feel frustrating at times, and it's unpaid work.

And advertising doesn't always work. Some ads are popular while others attract no attention at all and so just sit there taking up valuable space on my websites.

But writing books is what I love to do and because it's something I enjoy, I'm more motivated to do it and so I'm much more productive when I do sit down to write.

So if you have a favourite type of writing that you love to do, plan to do more of it.

It can be any type of writing that appeals to you including copywriting, article writing, blogging, ebooks, fiction script writing, comedy writing...you choose.

Then buy whatever you need to help you and learn as much as you can.

And then write.

And then write some more.

Write Any Book In Just 28 Days...Or Less

I know this course works because I've done it. I love this ebook because it really does take you through writing your book in a month.

http://ruthiswriting.com/links/writequickly.html

Amateur Mindset V Professional Mindset

You've probably heard it before that our thoughts control our lives.

Everything that happens to us depends on what we’re thinking.

So where is your mind when it comes to your writing?

Do you have an amateur mindset or a professional mindset?

Are you planning to work as a professional writer or do you just think that if you write enough pretty words you’ll make money…somehow?

Being a Professional Writer

All successful writers have a blog (or website) and they use social media to grow their audience, get attention and spread their message.

And if you want to do the same you firstly need to have a clear message.

You need to know what it is that you’re trying to say.

And once you know what your message is, you need to get it across clearly.

When you first begin a blog, you only need to get your message across clearly, not perfectly.

Don’t wait for perfection before publishing online because clarity always trumps perfection.

If you’re still unsure what your message to the world is, then try and think of what your worldview is.

Every great writer has a worldview.

To find yours, just ask yourself what is it that bothers you that needs to be fixed?

What problem fascinates you?

Once you know your worldview then you’ll know the audience you’re trying to reach and exactly who you're talking to.

And if you’re still unsure of your worldview, ask the 5 people closest to you to describe you in 3 words or 3 short phrases.

You’ll be surprised what others know about you that you’ve never noticed yourself.

And it doesn’t matter if you want to write fiction or non-fiction. Your worldview will be visible in your writing whether you know it or not.

So it’s better if you know exactly who you’re writing to and what it is that you want to say.

Because that is what writers with a professional mindset do.

http://ruthiswriting.com/links/quickcash.html 

Don't Say Yes When You Want To Say No

We've all been there.

Someone asks you to do something you don't want to do, yet you agree to do it.

Or someone wants to do something but they need your permission (like one off your kids), so you say yes even though you want to say no.

So why do we do it?

It's usually to avoid bad feelings, friction, or conflict.

Yet the truth is that people won't like you more or give you more respect, if you say yes all the time instead of standing up for what you really want.

And at the same time, saying no is empowering. It won't make you popular, but it will help you to set boundaries of what you will and won't do.

Best of all, you only have to say no once, and it's easy to do it every time after that.

But...you may be wondering what this has to do with writing?

Saying no to things you don't want to do opens up more time for the things you DO want to do and for the things that are important to you.

And that means more time for writing.

Sure your friends will be annoyed with you if you tell them you don't want to go out drinking with them because you want to stay home and work on your novel instead, but who's life is it?

And if anyone pressures you for an immediate answer to something, but you don't want to say yes, or you're unsure, just say "I'll have to think about it." And if they still pressure you tell them "If you want an answer right now, it will have to be no. But if you give me time, I'll think about it." (This works amazingly well with teenagers in the family.) :)

Don't let time-vampires steal any more of your time.

If you'd rather be writing, go and do that and say no to the unimportant things or stuff you'd really rather not do at all.

And if you want more inspiration read the short viral article written by Derek Sivers, "No “yes.” Either “HELL YEAH!” or “no.”

Then get back to writing.

-------------------------

Discover the writing resources I've used to help me  make more money from writing in my latest article for writers, "My Top Ten Writing Resources."

Say No Not Yes To Be More Productive

We've all heard that in order to get more done you need to say no to requests from other people or no to things that aren't urgent.

But that's not the only type of no that you should be saying.

If you have a lot to do and you feel overwhelmed, here is a simple way to eliminate the unessential.

Look at everything that you have to do.

If it's more than you can do, or more than you want to do, take this next step.

Usually when we feel overwhelmed with how much we have to do, we look at what is the most important thing on our list or which is the most urgent.

But forget that.

Instead, look at your list and ask yourself which do you want to say no to?

Then ask yourself why?

This simple step will give you more clarity on future decisions and helps you to easily eliminate the unnecessary.

Just ask yourself "What is essential?"

Then eliminate the rest.

This works so well it will blow your mind and free you up to do what is most important to you.

But I didn't think of it myself.

I learned it from reading Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown.

How I Get More Writing Ideas

It’s OK to say that to be a successful writer you need to write.

But what when you have no ideas?

For me this isn’t a problem for two reasons:

• I’m extremely creative (always have been)
•  I have 2 notebooks full of ideas

Being creative and blessed with a good imagination helps. But many people ask me how I find the time to come up with ideas.

And the answer surprises them.

They seem to imagine that I sit and wait for the muse to strike me.

On the contrary.

Usually I’m not even sitting when ideas strike me. When I get an idea it normally strikes when I’m busy doing un-related things that have nothing at all to do with writing.

They come often when I’m dog walking, from what I see, what I think, or what I hear if I’m listening to an audio as I walk.

Many ideas come to me when I’m doing mundane things like housework, car cleaning and even mowing the lawn.

But most importantly – and this is really, REALLY important – I write all my ideas down IMMEDIATELY.

And that’s how I collect so many.

Try it for yourself and see.

Get a notebook just for ideas. Mine are spiral-bound shorthand notebooks.

Then every time you get an idea, write it down, or, if you’re out, voice record it till you get home.

But never EVER think that you’ll remember an idea – you won’t.

That’s a lesson I had to learn many times over.

So don’t make the same mistake.

Kindling - Ignite The Fire Under Your Kindle Publishing Dreams

This is a free ebook all about working as a published Kindle author. 

If you've ever dreamed of writing and publishing books for a living, 

this ebook will show you how you can do it. 

Download it now and start living your dream as a published author.

Just click the image above.

You CAN Have It All

Recently I decided to change the type of writer I'd become.

You see, I had somehow become an online writer, working on my websites, writing articles and selling my own products as well as affiliate products and earning money through advertising.

This meant that I spent my days working on keywords and always checking on what my online competitors were doing.

But I wasn't happy.

So I decided to shut down most of my sites and concentrate more on book writing.

But...then I wondered if it's the right thing to do because mine is the only income and my husband is busy working at home everyday on our house renovations (which is a huge task). So we need enough money to not only live on, but to pay for the renovations too.

So was this a good time to follow my dream of being a full-time book author?

Then a read a really inspiring article written by one of the most prolific writers I know, Mridu Khullar Relph. This woman has one of the most amazing hard work ethics that I've ever seen.

Her article is called Writing Saved Me and in it she talks about how we are told (and we always believe) that we can't have it all. We can have a great life or a great career. Or we can write what we want and be as creative as we like, or write for the majority, but we can't do both if we want to earn money.

She says that none of this is true and that we can have it all.

But...we must own it on our own terms and own it all, the downs as well as the ups.

Where we are in our lives and in our writing careers is through the choices we have made so far, and if we're not happy where we've ended up, then we have the freedom and the control to change things.

But we have to be true to ourselves and forget about societal obligations, because we CAN have it all, if we want it badly enough.

And I do want it badly enough.

I want to write many books and earn money as an author.

And I do believe that if I'm true to myself and work hard, then the money will come.

So here I go...

How about you?

Are you living your dreams?

How You Do Anything Is How You Do Everything

There are no double standards in life.

That’s why how you do anything is how you do everything.

A person isn’t lazy at home and hard working at their job. They are lazy wherever they are and whatever they’re doing.

Likewise, a person isn’t mean to animals and kind to people. They’re just mean all the time, even if they try and come across differently in different situations.

I remember years ago saying to a friend of mine that a man we both knew was a really nice guy and that I couldn’t understand how he could be married to the woman he lived with becasue she was so nasty and was always upsetting people and causing trouble.

My friend instantly said to me, “He’s not a nice guy. He’s just as bad as she is.”

“How do you know?” I asked, perplexed, because the guy always seemed so smiley and friendly.

Why You Don’t Write - And It’s Not Procrastination or Writer’s Block

More and more often I come across people who want write but never do. Or they do write, but not as much as they want to.

It happens to most writers. In fact, it happens to every writer.

Sometimes it’s blamed on procrastination.

But what does that really mean?

It means that you’re not writing because you don’t feel like doing it. Which doesn’t really explain anything.

Then there’s writer’s block. This is when you sit down to write, but don’t know where to begin. Or you’re already writing, but the ideas start drying up.

The reason for the former, is because you don't have a task list so you don’t know what to do first. The latter is because you’re tired and need a break. So both of these have a reason that’s easy to fix.

But why is it that most days you just simply don’t feel like writing? You know you really should sit down and start, but the motivation just isn’t there.

I can’t answer this for every individual because there could be many reasons.

But one explanation could be non-writing related.

What You Need to Do If You Want to Earn Money From Writing

The past couple of weeks has been hectic for me. I was initially busy sorting out all the issues that went along with selling my old website for writers (very long, complicated and drawn out). My new website for writers is at http://ruthiswriting.com (which I only just managed to get online today, and it's still far from being completely ready).

Then just when I thought I was safe to get back to writing, I had a close family member get really sick and she was in hospital for a week. This meant spending time driving to the hospital and back every day and staying most of the day, then getting home and rushing around doing everything that still needed to be done (dog walking, washing, cooking, etc) before catching little sleep and rushing back to the hospital again.

Thankfully it's now all over and she's home again and things are getting back to normal again.

But one thing that I did keep doing was checking my emails every couple of days or so and one thing kept occurring.

Someone was going crazy buying all my writing ebooks and emailing me about how it's not working for them.

Well...it won't work unless they work it.

What I mean by that is that if you want to earn money from your writing, you have to actually do the writing. And plenty of it. Not buy several writing ebooks and courses over a two week period and then complain that they're not working and you're not earning any money.

If you want to be a professional writer AND earn all your income from it, then you have to put in the time and effort to write.

It's easy to think that writing isn't working (and many people think that about me because they see me sitting at home every day and so don't consider it to be 'proper' work).

And it's not a shortcut to being rich either.

But even though it's work, it's somewhat enjoyable work. I say "somewhat" because sometimes when I have a deadline I'm working to, it gets hard to sit and write on days when I simply just don't feel like it.

I guess it's the same as being a doctor in that regard (and boy have I seen a lot of those recently). By that I mean that although people say they want to be a doctor and that it's their dream job, that doesn't mean it's easy for them to do. They still have to work hard and sometimes work long hours. But they'd still rather be doing that for a living than anything else.

And it's the same with writing. You might not always feel like doing it, but it has to be done.

On the plus side, the income is passive so once you've established yourself enough, even when you're not working for a week or two, the income is still there. For instance, over the past couple of weeks, even though I didn't put finger to keyboard that whole time (except to check my emails and respond to my ranting customer), I still managed to sell quite a few ebooks and I received a couple of payments from Amazon for my affiliate money and my book sales.

But writing income doesn't last (or I should say doesn't stay as high) if I don't eventually get back to work and start writing again.

That's because NO BUSINESS can survive without work.

But at least being a writer affords me the opportunity to be self employed and still earn income when I take time off from my job.

The good thing though, is that I'm now more than ready to apply my backside to my chair and get back to writing again, now that I've been away from it so long and life has gotten back to normal.

And anyone who wants to know what the "secret" is to becoming a successful and well-paid writer, it's writing. It's sitting down every day and working.

Buying ebooks and courses won't work unless you follow them and there's no way my ranting customer had time to work through them all in such a short time, especially considering one of the things they bought was The 12 Month Writing Challenge. (I think they didn't understand the words '12 months' and perhaps thought it said '12 minutes').

So if you feel that you've not been doing enough writing recently, then like me you need to sit down and write more.

And that's what I'm going to do right now.

How about you?

How to Write a Novel: Idea to Manuscript in Five Simple Steps

If you want to earn money from writing fiction then time really is money because the more you write, the more books you can sell.

I’ve been writing a lot of fiction lately and the biggest projects are the book-length manuscripts.

These can be anything from 20,000 words to 85,000 and more.

And with so much writing to do I find it impossible to start with a blank page.

Years ago I read about Ranger Ingerman’s ‘Snow Flake’ method for writing a novel and it really is an ingenious and easy-to-do idea.

You can read more about it at http://advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/snowflake-method/. 

The snowflake method of writing a novel includes knowing your characters extensively before you begin writing your manuscript and also constructing a complete story outline.

So here I’ve broken it down into a simple, but thorough, five step process that really does help you to go from idea to full manuscript:

1. Write one sentence to describe your story idea. It should be just a few words like a movie description in a TV guide, perhaps something like, “Aliens invade earth.”
2. Expand your idea into a paragraph which must contain a beginning, an end and at least three plot crisis points in between (5 sentences). The story starts with the main characters moving from having a goal to reaching it and at least three things, or people, that try and stop them. The ending must contain some kind of change in the main character/s life/lives - either physical or emotional.
3. Expand each sentence into a paragraph so that you end up with a one-page summary.
4. Expand each paragraph into a one-page description of scenes and things that happen in them. Break each scene into chapters that all have a cliff-hanger ending.
5. Now use this outline to write your novel.

Once you start writing your idea and expanding it into a full outline, it quickly becomes easier to think of new plot ideas and conflicts to add.

It really does help to get your creative writing juices flowing.

Thinking and Thinking Then Changing What I Write About

Thinking Hard

The last few weeks I've been doing a lot of thinking about all the writing I do.

And thinking that much is SOOOO hard for me.

The reason for all the thinking is that I'm really not enjoying writing anymore.

Shock! Horror!

But how could that be? I just couldn't work it out.

I'm a writer.

I do a lot of writing.

So why wasn't I loving it anymore?

And then the reason came to me.

I'm not doing the kind of writing I like to do.

I'm bored with blogging and article writing which is what I do mostly because I have other websites in different subjects.

So I made an executive decision.

I'm closing down all my websites except this blog, writeaholics.net and my publishing website Cheriton House Publishing.

Everything else just has to go and some has already gone.

And I feel elated.

But...what am I going to do instead?

Well, I also thought about that a lot too and I finally realised that the kind of writing I enjoy the most is fiction writing.

So, apart from my two writing sites, I'm only going to be writing fiction.

I know that this is what I want to do because it makes me so happy to think about it.

I've been wondering what has been wrong with me for a while now (although some would say the there is plenty wrong with me) and I just couldn't understand why writing had become such a chore.

It was getting harder and harder to sit down and write every day, and I don't usually feel that way, but the last year or two (or longer if I'm honest), writing hasn't been my favourite occupation.

Then I had my Aha! moment and realised that I don't like blogging and writing articles all the time.

What I really want to do is write and publish fiction books and short fiction, which includes submitting stories to magazines.

I think that my epiphany came a couple of weeks ago when I had borrowed some magazines from the library and I was plotting and planning sending in article proposals to them all. I also created a list of fiction markets for this blog without even realising why I must have unconsciously done it.

And that's when it hit me.

I used to enjoy submitting to magazines but I was mostly sending in short stories (and getting them published) and it was all more fun then.

So that is what I'm going to be doing now, as well as writing novels.

So I will keep you updated as I go along and let you know what I'm doing and what is working for me and what isn't and hopefully I'll have more hits than misses with my new fiction writing career, and all my successes will inspire you to write more as well.

And if you fancy becoming a fiction writer too, here are a few places online where I've been looking  for fiction markets today:

JBWB Fiction Markets
http://www.jbwb.co.uk/markets.html

Show Me the $$$! Literary Magazines That Pay
http://thereviewreview.net/publishing-tips/show-me-literary-magazines-pay

esthernewtonblog. Markets For Freelancers
https://esthernewtonblog.wordpress.com/markets-for-freelancers/

that's life! Fast Fiction Guidelines
http://www.thatslife.com.au/fastfictionguidelines

The People’s Friend Guidelines
https://www.thepeoplesfriend.co.uk/guidelines/

Where to Find Unlimited Ideas For Writing Fiction

Writing fiction is fun. It’s much more fun than writing non-fiction.

And with fast digital publishing available, it’s possible to sit and write fiction novels every day and publish them in minutes.

In fact there are many fiction authors who can write and publish one or two novels every week.

But sometimes it can be hard to find enough ideas.

If this is a problem for you, here are three things you can do to have a never-ending supply of great  ideas for your novels.

1. Visit the Library. Just go and browse a few books in the genre that you want to write. Read the blurb on the back cover and flip through a few pages to get a feel for the style of writing and the flow of ideas. Then, whatever the plot idea of the book, come up with an even better one. Sometimes just looking at a book cover can spark a great idea



2. Browse Second-Hand Books. Charity shops are usually filled with cheap novels that no-one wanted to read twice. Buy one, read it, and improve on the story idea. Come up with a much better plot and turn it into a best seller.



3. Window Shop On Amazon. This is a great website for coming up with plot ideas. On Amazon you can read book blurbs plus use the “look inside” feature to get better book ideas. Amazon will also show you similar books as you browse, which helps you to keep on looking.

These are 3 easy to use ways to find ideas for your next great novel.

But…there’s one caveat. DON’T PLAGIARISE!

It’s perfectly fine to use someone else’s book to help you to come up with your own ideas, but don’t steal their work.

Everything you write and your ideas must be your own.

Just start looking and browsing and write down all the great ideas that spark in your mind.

And if you keep browsing and keep looking you should never run out of ideas ever again.

Goodbye Writer's Block

How To Be A Creative Genius 

And Have An Abundance Of Ideas 

Plus The Inspiration 

And Motivation To Write

How to Tell the Difference Between an Amateur Writer and a Successful Writer (And This Alone Can Significantly Increase Your Income)

 So what’s the difference between an amateur writer who’s making no, or little, income from their writing and a successful writer who publishes one book after another, has thousands of blog followers and earns all their money from their writing?

Well, it’s a secret that not many people know, but it’s so obvious when you can see it.

And the best thing about it, is that even though you might be making this mistake yourself, you can turn it around instantly and it won’t cost you a thing.

Do you know what it is?

It’s attitude.

Amateur writers act like amateur writers. They act as though their writing isn’t good and that no one will want to read it.

They think that what they say isn’t important and so they don’t update and add content to their blogs very often because they don’t have many subscribers and so they think it’s not worth it.

So how can you change that?

Change your attitude and start acting like you’re a successful writer already.

Even if you only have a few subscribers to your blog, don’t let that put you off from writing and posting regularly.

And even if you’ve only written one book and it hasn’t sold well (or not at all) don’t let that stop you from writing many more books.

You see, successful writers write a  lot of books and they blog regularly to their thousands of subscribers.

And you need to do the same.

If you haven’t sold as many books as you would have liked and you don’t have many blog subscribers, how differently would you do things if your book was selling hundreds of copies a week and you had 10,000 subscribers to your blog?

Would you do what you’re doing now and never write another book? And would you do other things instead of writing posts for all your subscribers to keep them interested in your work?

If you’re not making as much money as you’d like to from your writing then change your attitude and start acting like you’re already where you want to be.

Act like it’s already happened. Act as though you’re earning thousands from your book sales. Blog as though you have a huge number of subscribers with more signing up every day.

Fake it till you make it.

Act like you’re already there.

Once you lift your attitude you’ll lift your game and start doing great writing, like you should be doing, and guess what?

As soon as you begin to act like a professional, people will start treating you like one.

You’ll have a shift in your work ethic and you’ll start writing every day, like you should be doing
already.

So if you want to turn things around today, start acting “as if” and start writing.

You already are the successful writer you want to be.

But you just don’t act like it.

How to Never Miss a Great Writing Idea Again

I don’t know about you, but my biggest problem is that my best ideas come when I’m doing things other than writing.

Sometimes, when I’m driving my car, a brilliant  idea will occur to me for an article or for the next chapter in my book.

So I’ll pull over, whip out my pad and pen and start writing. And when I’m in a creative window like this, the ideas just keep on flowing.

One day, I drove to the library for some distraction-free writing time. I parked in the car park under a tree. The library is on the edge of a park which makes the car park really shady.

And as I turned off the engine I had a brilliant idea for a short ebook I’d been wanting to write.

I got out of the car and opened the back door to get my writing bag off the back seat, but the idea was so clear in my mind that I didn’t want to lose it and waste time going into the library and setting up my stuff.

So I got into the back seat of the car, propped myself up with my back against one door and my feet against the other, and started writing.

I outlined my brilliant idea and then started writing the ebook. I just sat there for a couple of hours, writing and writing.

I vaguely heard other cars coming and going but I ignored them because I was so focused on what I was doing.

It was a really great window of inspiration and by the time I’d finished, I’d not only completed the first draft of my ebook, but I’d also outlined a few brilliant marketing articles to help promote it.

And I never actually went into the library at all.

But I know that if I hadn’t stopped right there and then, my window of opportunity would have been missed.

That’s the problem with getting a great idea when you’re out. By the time you get home to your computer, the inspiration is gone and the idea is lost.

So when the idea is there, and the opportunity to write it is there, just do it.

And if you have enough time to write a whole chapter of your book or write a whole short report then grab that opportunity too.

Ideas are a gift. You don’t expect them. You don’t pay for them. They’re given to you.

And the best thing you can do is use them straight away, because the gift is only offered once, and if you don’t seize it, it’s gone.

Grabbing every gift and using every window of inspiration can lead you to writing your next great book.

But only if you grab the opportunity when it’s there.

How to Publish Your Book Quickly, Affordably and Make It Available Worldwide.

Where to Find Ideas For Blog Posts and Online Articles

If you've got a blog or website, you'll know how difficult if can sometimes be to keep coming up with ideas for blog posts and articles.

What you need to do is stop trying to invent the wheel because no matter what your subject or niche is, there are thousands of people who've already written about it.

There are literally tens of thousands of pieces of information out there already.

And if you've got a keen eye (or ear) you can find all the ideas you need.

Just listen to an audio or watch a video which is based on your subject area and take notes.

I'm not suggesting that you copy their words exactly, but allow it to spark ideas of your own.

For example, they may briefly mention something that you think worthy of expanding into an article, or a series of articles.

Or you could take a few notes from something that you're listening to or watching, and organise your notes into a full article with a few added ideas of your own.

My only caveat, is to be sure that what you're hearing is the truth and is accurate so that you're not rehashing incorrect information. But if you know your subject really well, you'll know good information when you hear it.

So when it comes to ideas, just remember that there are already speakers out there, addressing the pains and frustrations of your audience, so tap into what they're saying to help you come up with ideas of your own.

There really is an unlimited supply of ideas already available for both fiction and non-fiction writing. You just need to know where to look.

Goodbye Writer's Block

How To Be A Creative Genius 

And Have An Abundance Of Ideas 

Plus The Inspiration 

And Motivation To Write

Writers Are Readers - And For Good Reason

It's a well known and unarguable fact that writers are readers. Or should I more correctly say that good writers are voracious readers.

I don't know of any writer who hasn't been an avid reader all their life. I've always loved books and can still happily spend hours in the local library.

And if you're a good writer, you'll be the same, and will have had a love of reading all your life.

But it's not just books about writing that you should be reading. Read everything you can.

Read something every day, even if it's just for 15 minutes while you have coffee.

Read trash magazines. Get a feel for what people are interested in and it will help you generate ideas for your writing. It will also keep you up to date with latest feelings and trends which is extremely helpful because you can't write for the people if you don't know what the people are interested in.

Self help books and articles about being focused and creative can also be extremely useful if you're struggling to write.

Also keep up with reading about the latest technology because these days, being a writer is all about being online and using the latest devices to speed up your writing, or make it easier and more organised.

Or use what you read about to get great ideas for discussions on social media, especially if it's something considered controversial or that is currently trending.

Just remember that you never know where your next idea will come from. Sometimes I've had ideas spark just from hearing other people talking about something they read in a magazine.

And whenever I visit my local library and start browsing the hundreds of magazines there, I come up with an almost limitless supply of writing ideas.

Just remember that your writing income depends on keeping up with trends and knowing that the interests of the masses are.

This will go a long way to helping you.

You just need to keep reading.

But if you're a good writer, that won't be hard.

----------------------------

See all my ebooks for writers at

http://cheritonhousepublishing.com

or

http://author.to/RuthBarringham

You Might Get a Kick Out of This - Or Learn Something

I recently was talking to a group of people and explaining how I make money from writing.

I told them about my blog and a couple of my websites, my books and my ebooks.

They were full of questions about how much money I make and how much money it's possible to make, what brings me the most income, etc.

I was a bit put off that the questions were all about money and not about writing.

Not once was I asked about what I wrote or how I write.

Then one person said something that made me realise that I was wasting my time and that he was wasting his life.

What he said was, "What's the point of earning a lot of money anyway when you have to pay nearly half of it to the government?"

He was right about high tax percentages. The more you earn here in good ol' Australia, the more you pay in taxes and it does indeed increase up to nearly 50%.

But this question (and all the others) were being asked by people who were not making ANY money at all. That's why they wanted to know how to make money as a writer.

And yet, despite their only income coming from welfare payments, they were worried that if they earned around $200K or more, they'd have to start paying high taxes.

Seriously? That was the big issue for them?

I told them that until they were earning those high amounts of income that they didn't have anything to worry about.

Then it turned into a tirade about what a rip off taxes were (yep, those taxes that they NEVER paid and that provided their welfare money) and how could I possibly even WANT to earn a high income if I had to give half of it to the government...and on...and on... it went.

Sheesh!

They'd asked me to come and talk to them but they weren't really interest in writing at all. They just wanted easy money - and tax-free at that.

They were so concerned about how much they'd lose.

It was at that point that I made an excuse and left.

So what should you do if you live in a country with high taxes and you want to earn your living as a writer?

That's easy.

Just write.

If, like the people I was speaking to, you're focused on money (or the lack of it) and not focused on writing, you'll never get anywhere.

And as I walked home that day I thought to myself, "They should be so lucky to EVER earn so much money."

But they never will.

They're not writers at all.

Are you?

This One Thing Can Make You Or Break You

There's no doubt about it. Being a writer and working online is one of the best things I've ever done.

I've had many jobs in the past but this one suits my talents and lifestyle better than any other.

Plus, if done correctly, can be extremely profitable.

But, as I've found out the hard way, there's one thing that can literally make or break just about any situation.

It doesn't matter if it's in your job, your personal life or even if it's something you own. This one thing is of extreme importance.

And that thing is Consistency.

If you don't keep writing, marketing and keeping up with industry and technology changes, you'll fail.

In your personal life, if you're not consistent with things, it can alter your relationships and lifestyle.

For instance, if you don't consistently clean your house, it will get beyond filthy.

If you're not consistent with your children's rules and boundaries, their behaviour can get out of hand.

If you're not consistent with having your car serviced, it will break down.

If you're not consistent with careful driving, you'll crash.

And it's the same with your business.

If you're not consistent with your writing, you won't make money.

If you're not consistent with marketing, your sales will drop.

As the motivational coach, Mike Littman, put it, "You're either consistent or you're non-existent."

So don't let lack of consistency make you a non-existent writer.

Keep writing, publishing and marketing.

Choose consistency.

Try writing consistently every day on your own Laptop Lifestyle