The Lumberjack Story And What It Has To Do With Writing

I write about writing.

I write a lot about writing.

I also write about earning money from writing.

I write a lot about earning money from writing.

And one thing I always (well...sometimes) say is that to be able to earn a living from writing takes practice.

"Copy the greats, " I say.

"Find some great writing and copy it out by hand," I say.

"Do a course on writing and earning money," I say.

"Develop a daily writing habit," I say.

Does anyone listen?

Nah. Not everyone.

So let me tell you the story of the two lumberjacks. It goes something like this:

Two lumberjacks decided to see who could cut down the most tree in the shortest time.

The first lumberjack started cutting down trees immediately, but soon tired because of his dull saw.

While he was busy, the second lumberjack sat down and sharpened his saw for 45 minutes.

He then cut down many more trees in less time and with less effort.

And what does this have to do with writing?

Everything.

You need to spend time honing your craft by spending time copying the greats, doing a writing course or two and creating a daily writing habit.

And before you know it, you'll be writing better, faster, and with less effort.

So start writing today.


(No trees were harmed during the writing of this article.)

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.

Too Many Writers Don't Spoil The Broth

I am fortunate to live in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland in Queensland, Australia.

It’s a collection of small towns and villages up in the mountains that run between the coast and the inland.

It is a Bohemian culture up here full of artists and writers and people wearing tie-tied clothing, flowing skirts, loose shirts and dreadlocks.

It’s an area of cafes and craft shops selling the work of local artists.

The cafes are full of writers, all sat working for hours every day.

Writers also can be found in the libraries and parks, all busy working on their laptop computers.

 But can there be too many writers to spoil the broth, just like there can be too many cooks?

In the 2 years that I’ve lived here, I’ve found it to be a place that’s very conducive to writing.

I’ve written more here than anywhere I’ve ever lived before.

I think this is because environment is important when you’re writing.

Even online you need to be aware of the virtual environment you’re in and decide whether it’s helping you to write or hindering you.

Choose wisely who you follow online and the places that you visit.

And don’t spend too much time online.

Instead, make sure that you’re spending most of your time writing.

And don’t be afraid of spending time with too many other writers because, as I found, too many writers don’t spoil the proverbial broth.

Instead they add more flavour.

My Writing Day

Being a writer is one thing, but knowing how to structure your writing day is another.

In the end it all comes down to what's best for you and how much time you have.

Structuring your writing day depends on many factors including how much time you have to write every day, family responsibilities (school runs, young children, meals to prepare, etc) and wether or not you already have another job.

Personally I transitioned gradually into becoming a full-time writer. I went from full time work to part time work to writing full-time.

I also changed the way I live by moving from a large house in a city suburb to a small house in a small, coastal town. Doing this gave me more time to do the things I want to do because I now spend less time cleaning and maintaining the house.

Working as a writer has also changed over the years. I used to write for magazines and clients but now I work exclusively online, writing for my websites and writing ebooks. This means spending time updating social media accounts almost daily as well as doing constant online marketing. This is not how being a writer used to be.

At the moment, as I've mentioned before, I'm currently updating all my websites to make them mobile responsive. Not an easy task but it has to be done. It's extremely repetitive and boring because I'm mainly copying and pasting web page content onto the new responsive pages. Yawn!

Normally, I work the same way every day, although this varies depending on several factors. But on average my writing week goes something like this:

I cannot sit down and write until chores are done. This is for two reasons. Firstly, it nags my crazy, monkey-like mind if I have things to do which makes it difficult for me to sit down and concentrate. And secondly because once I start work I often don't want to stop and so the chores never get done.

So my days always start out by doing the things that are necessary like, cleaning the house, doing the washing, doing the dishes, cleaning out and setting up the fire (if it's winter) or opening up the windows (if it's summer). If I need to shop, which I only do once a week because I hate (and I don't like using such a strong, negative word) shopping - any kind of shopping whether it's clothes shopping, buying appliances, gift buying or grocery shopping. Yuck! Even online shopping is my kind of hell.

Anyway, whatever jobs need to be done, I always do them first. Some days there is very little to do so I get to work early. But whether or not there's a lot to do or only a little, I still sit down to work somewhere between the hours of 7am and 10am.

I then work through until around 2 or 3 pm, with a break for coffee and sometimes (but not always) a break for lunch. Some days I don't eat lunch until after I've finished work. And on days when I start work at 7am, I'm done by lunch time.

Usually I can get straight to work without giving much thought about what to do because at the end of each working day I write in my diary the things I have to do the next day, which includes anything I didn't get done that day. I also list them in the order they need to be completed. I usually list the small things to be done first, just so that I feel like I'm accomplishing things as I work.

I check my emails before I start work and also look through my RSS feeds. I only allow myself 30 minutes maximum to do these two tasks. Sometimes, I leave these things till coffee-break just so that I can get straight to work when I sit down, without being distracted by getting sucked into clicking on interesting links in emails or browsing articles in my RSS feeds.

I have a Mac computer and I use an app called RSS Menu, created by Jesus De Meyer, which sits in my menu bar and announces audibly whenever I get a new article in one of my feeds. It doesn't have to be audible but I've set it up that way.

I also have a little app called Mindful Mynah which chimes every 25 minutes to bring me back to mindfulness. I also have my computer clock set to audibly tell me the time every 30 minutes. All these things keep me on track.

And they're not the only things I listen to while I work. I also listen to MP3 audios.

One of my favourite ones is Brain Salon which has the "Razor Sharp Focus" track and "Creative Spark" track. I've set them up one after the other so that I get a whole hour of great brain entrainment while I write. You can download a free sample at the website.

I also listen to music, particularly (and almost only) The Celtic Collection by Adrian Von Ziegler which I downloaded from CD Baby. His music is very haunting and perfect to listen to while I write. I can really zone out while listening to his music.

I'm thinking of buying another couple of his albums. And by the way, that link to his CD Baby page is NOT an affiliate link. I'm just a fan of his music. You can click on the link and listen to a preview of all his tracks on his albums.

Listening to audios as I work is a must. It not only helps me to stay focused and keep writing but it also blocks out other noises.

But not all my working days are the same.

Sometimes, if I'm busy working on a huge project, I'll just keep going all day and won't stop. Sometimes I even forget to drink and have headache by the end of the day, and I don't use the toilet until my bladder's so full I can't sit still. I really have to watch these bad habits sometimes.

Also, if I'm in a huge window of inspiration then I'll just keep working and won't stop at my usual times, because these are golden opportunities and they don't happen every day.

Some days I don't feel nearly as inspired as others, and on those days I'll do more technical work or do research or something else first. But sooner or later I'll get back into my usual state of inspiration and then I can get back to writing. It's just that some days it's a little bit harder to get going. But just starting is a wonderful thing because once I sit down and start working, I keep going and get better.

And that is how I work just about every day.

But like I say, some days are different, depending on what else I have to do.

And it's different for everyone. No one person works the same.

But one thing is for sure, it takes a lot of self discipline to actually sit down and write every day.

It's different when you're at work and you have a boss to answer to and you have jobs that are your responsibility and you have to get them done by the end of the day or else you'll get fired.

At home, there is no boss or anyone to force you to get things done "or else!" So instead you have to rely on yourself to sit down and get to work every day, which is so different in so many ways.

It's such a solitary way to work, but I love it and I wouldn't want to have to go back to a 9 - 5 job ever again.

Working from home as a writer gives me the freedom that most people only dream about.

:)

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Why Writers Are Lazy

Are writers lazy?

No.

But you'd be forgiven for thinking that they are.

Why?

Because being a writer means sitting down for a while, writing, and then finishing for the day.

From the outside it looks like doing nothing.

But a writer's brain is always active. Probably more active than most people's.

There are also those who give writers a bad name.

These are people who say they're writers, but they never write. They aren't writers at all but they tell others that they are.

And because non-writers don't understand what it takes to be a successful writer, they think that all writers are lazy.

Being a successful writer means to write every day.

Many writers hold down full time jobs while they write in their spare time, while others work full time at their writing.

I find that I spend every day writing and marketing.

I'm either writing my own books or writing articles to market the ones I already have or to sell affiliate products.

And marketing comes in many shapes and forms including article marketing, guest blogging, social media, forums, commenting and more.

And while it is work, it's pleasurable at the same time. It's something I love to do.

I'd hate to have to go out to work every day.

Instead I sit and home and write.

It's taken me years to build up a good daily writing habit.

But it's something that has made me as successful as I am.

And how do I define successful?

I earn all my income from my writing.

Which is what I was aiming for all along.

Now, if only someone would make a movie out of one of my fiction books...

increase Your Creativity In Just a Few Minutes a Day

Sometimes if can seem difficult to be creative all the time and to constantly be coming up with new ideas of what to work on next.

But I’ve discovered a way to boost my creativity on a daily basis and it’s so easy I wish I’d started doing it years ago.

As a writer I read a lot, and recently I’ve been reading about meditation and all the amazing studies about how it’s benefiting so many people.

So I downloaded a free app called Insight Timer onto my iPhone and set it for 10 minutes.

Now, every morning, before I begin work for the day, I start the timer and sit for 10 minutes with my eyes closed and try to think of nothing but my breathing.

At first it felt like 10 minutes of wasted time, but the changes can’t be ignored.




The 10 minutes seems like only 2 minutes and once the little mindfulness bell rings to end my session, I feel calmer and ready for the day.

My thinking ability has been improved and it now takes me less time to think of things.

I now get far more ideas much faster than before so that instead of writers’ block, I have idea overload.

And at the same time I feel like I have more clarity of thought so that not only do I get great ideas of what to write about, but I also know how to use it.

Not only does this make it easier for me to work, but my ideas are implemented with better strategies and this has positively affected my income through more sales.

It’s hard to explain the benefits of my 10 minute daily meditations, which seem so simple when I do them yet their reach is greater than I could ever have imagined.

It’s something that you really need to experience for yourself to fully understand it.

So give it a go, just for a couple of weeks to see the difference it makes.

It’s like a detox for the mind.

Trying it for yourself can’t hurt, but it will really help.

---

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The program uses special ‘brainwave’ sounds to meditate for you. That means you don’t have to actively try to quieten your mind, stop fidgeting, or focus only on the meditation. And you don’t have to reschedule your day. Each session lasts just 12 minutes, and you only need to meditate a few times a week to reap the rewards. 

The Quiet Way to Greater Creativity

If you've been following me for some time, you'll know that I love using relaxing audios and brain entrainment audios to help me unwind, re-focus and calm my crazy monkey mind.

I find them so helpful and they've certainly had a profound effect on the way I live and the way I work.

My favourite audios to use are Brain Evolution System and Brain Salon. Both of which you can download a demo of for free if you're curious.

Those who are regular meditators usually have a place in their house reserved for meditating.

It's usually a quiet corner with a comfortable cushion to sit on plus maybe some incense or scented candles. And they often use audio to enhance their meditation session plus to help block out other noises.

They sit in their corner for 30 or 60 minutes at a time and quiet their mind.

I don't have a corner for meditating, but I'm thinking of having one.

But I do use audio to help me relax and quietly meditate and it's shortly after these times that I have many aha! moments about my writing and online businesses and I become far more productive.

That's why I love to take time out to think about nothing for a while. It really helps to reboot my hectic mind which is always full of 'chatter.'

And even if you're not interested in buying audios or downloading free demos, you really should think about spending a bit of quiet time every day to help stop the constant thoughts going on in your mind every minute, and to make more room for creativity.

But now the makers of the audios I use, have asked me to help market their latest product as well which is called Meditation Program, and although I haven't tried it myself, I have no doubt about the quality and effectiveness of it if their current products are anything to go by.

And it comes with a 100% refund guarantee if you're not complete satisfied with it.

So, (without further ado, as the saying goes), this is what they wanted me to share with you and it's in their exact words:


Is this what you currently know about meditation?

"Meditation is BORING!"

If you think meditation is boring ... YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

Most people I know who try meditation soon give up. Bored senseless.

Who can blame them?

There are, of course, people who do NOT find endless hours of meditation boring.

A Zen Monk, for example, can reach powerful depths of bliss, insights, healing and spiritual connectedness through meditation.

Issue is, for most of us, it can take months, years -- even a WHOLE LIFETIME of DAILY meditation -- to get close to those depths.

There is a secret shortcut for meditating deeper than a Zen Monk.

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Hale Carlton knows the secret and wants to share it with you TODAY.

He'll show you how to reach depths of calm brainwave bliss WITHOUT having to commit years of your life to hours of daily meditation.

Who is Hale Carlton?

He is co-creator of the amazing "Meditation Program" -- one of THE most successful and top selling programs at Self Development Network.

By the way -- he also created "Sleep Programming" and is the brains power behind "Binaural Beats" and "Subliminal CD's".

He knows a thing or two about brainwaves and meditation.

It's time to find out HOW Hale Carlton -- the 'quiet achiever' of the super easy and mega effective “Meditation Program” -- can have you meditating DEEPER than a Zen Monk.

But it won't take years, months, weeks or even days from now.

How about in just a FEW MINUTES!

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Let Hale Carlton explain how his "Meditation Program" can change your life -- in only minutes!

Meditation Program - not years, months, weeks or days. MINUTES!

'til next time,

How to Transform Your Life Instantly

Are you not getting the results you want in your life?

Well, you're not alone.

There are thousands (probably millions) of other people all over the planet working away at being busy all day yet always unhappy because they're not getting what they want out of their life or their business.

Yet at the same time, there are millions of people all over the world being busy all day and happily reaping the rewards from their efforts.

So how to they do it? What are they doing differently?

How to Change Your Life in Just One Minute

If you want to make lasting changes to your life it's better to do it quickly rather than prolong the change or say you'll do it "one day" (because there is no such thing as 'one day.' It doesn't exist. It's just something we tell ourselves to make us feel better).

And if you want to change your life quickly, do it in just one minute.

Is it actually possible to change your life in a minute?

It is if you're determined.

The change you want to make needs to be something you "must" do, rather than something you merely "want" to do because we never get around to doing all the things we want to do, but we always find time for the things we must do.

And make the change fast. Don't give yourself time to second-guess yourself or to let doubt creep in.

You also need to follow these 3 simple steps:

How to Be Better Than the Rest in Just 30 Minutes a Day

There are all different kinds of writers.

But mostly, there are only 2 kinds.

Writers and wanna-be writers.

The real writers write every day.

The wanna-bes don't.

And somehow there seems to be far more wanna-bes than actual writers.

But this is good news for you.

If You Don't Make Your Processes Easy, You Won't Do Anything

I've just finished reading a book on Essentialism and it was quite an inspirational book that changed the way I look at life and work.

One of the things it talked about was the fact that, if you want to do something, you need to make the processes easy or you won't do it, or if you start, you won't finish it.

And I thought that this was so true.

This idea not only applies to many things in life but also to writing for a living.

And I'll explain.

My Writing Failures of 2014 and Writing Plans for 2015

Because the New Year is fast approaching (Holy crap! November already?), I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I've achieved and what I've failed to implement this year with my writing, and what I plan to do next year.

And what I also thought was that I don't need to wait till next year to implement my plans/goals for 2015, I can start them straight away.

Why not?

I know of one blogger who begins his New Year resolutions on his birthday every year because he considers this to be the start of a new year in his life instead of January 1st, which makes perfect sense.

But we really don't need to wait for any particular date to start making better changes and implementing our goals for the next 12 months.

And here is what I was thinking.

2 Free Subliminal MP3 Albums From Inspire3

This is a promotional offer from Inspire3 that I've mentioned before, and I want to remind you again so that you don't miss out.

Inspire3, who have hundreds of MP3 subliminal audios available, including their impressive BrainSalon and Brain Evolution System (both of which I have myself and always highly recommend) have launched their new site called Subliminal Guru.

And to celebrate, they are currently giving away 2 free MP3 subliminal albums. These are not just a few minutes of audio, but almost 5 hours of free listening.

An Interview on Content, Creativity and Writing Consistently

This week I read an online Q & A interview with best selling author, Ann Handley.

Ann is the author of "Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content" which recently reached number 4 on the New York Times Best Seller list.

In her interview Ann talks covers many topics including how writing habits “practiced once a week aren’t habits at all. They’re obligations.”

She also discusses that there is no one way to write, just as their is no one way to parent a child. But she does believe that the following is a guaranteed formula for writing creative and engaging content:

You Can’t Save a Damsel Who Enjoys Distress

On a podcast I was listening to recently, I heard the expression, “You can’t save a damsel who enjoys distress.”

The podcast was about business and how not to waste time with people who won’t take advice and will never invest in their own business. These are people who are failing and seem to prefer it to trying something new.

It reminded me of a comment someone made last week about my new 15 minute article writing system.

Keep Your Eye On Your Goals and Stay Inspired

Lately I've been re-reading two of my Kindle books, 6 FIGURES A YEAR WRITING KINDLE BOOKS: The 100 Book Challenge and 1500 Words Per Hour: How To Write Faster, Better And More Easily Using The Simple And Powerful Speed Write System For Writing Mastery.

These two books are a great inspiration for writing faster which is what I need to keep doing if I want to earn more money. I find that the faster I write, the more I publish and the better my writing is. If I'm writing against the clock (like when I write in pomodoros) it keeps me focused and stops me from doubting what I'm doing or stopping to think to often. So I find that my writing simply flows.

And writing as fast is possible and can product great results. You only have to look at what my friend and colleague, Yuwanda Black, achieved when she had a goal of writing 50 ebooks in one year. And she did it. But she did have to put in a lot of hours to do it and said she virtually had no life for the whole 12 months.

Getting All the Little Jobs Done Relieves Stress

Don't you just hate all those little jobs that need doing, piling up and never getting done?

And without even knowing it, these little jobs that are left undone, can build up stress.

We think it's not bothering us, but they're all there in our subconscious, niggling away.

So this week I decided to get all those little jobs out of the way.

And guess what?

It feels great. Really great.

My Week of Non-Stop Writing

This has been a busy week for me. I've been writing non-stop.

Well, it's not just been writing but researching and gathering material.

I'm currently working on my next ebook for writers and I've decided to add two bonus products as well.

By the time I'm finished, this will be one massive offer with everything you need to start writing and making money.

How I Get Ideas For Writing Even When I Think I Have None

One of the hardest things I find, as a writer, is running out of ideas.

Yes I want to write ebooks. Yes I want to write articles. Yes I want to write blog posts. Yes I want to write emails, sales pages, auto-responders and more. But if I don't have any ideas then I'm stuck.

Thankfully I have a way of finding ideas, even when I don't think I have any at all and then next thing I know, I'm raring to go.

And this is how I do it.

A Blatant Sales Pitch and a Freebie

Today I have an unashamed blatant sales pitch to put to you.

There are two sales that I wanted to tell you about and both could be of great benefit to you as a writer. There is also a free offer of an MP3 Download and free ebook.