The One Habit That Transforms Writers’ Block Into a Book

  

 I’ve recently been working daily on my latest horror novel, trying to get it ready for publication later this year. I’d slacked off on it for quite a while, so now it has been a race to get it ready for publishing.

But it wasn’t easy. I had to coerce myself to sit in my writing chair consistently every day and work on my manuscript, no matter what mood I was in or how much I wanted to go and do something else.

And that was the ‘secret’ to getting my book finished. Consistency. It’s not big bursts of energy and motivation that get writing done, it’s the consistency of showing up and doing the writing every day. Consistent progress over time compounds into something greater.

It’s too easy to fall into the trap of thinking that those who have success in life are the ones with lucky breaks or who work 80 hours or more a week. But the truth is that those who keep showing up every day are the ones who have success. It’s the same compounding effect that got my book manuscript written, edited and proofread. I took action on it daily, no matter what.

And this compounding effort works for anything you want to do in life, no matter how big or small, like finally getting around to cleaning your car or to starting your own business. Consistent effort will get you everywhere. 

To be more successful than others all you need is consistent, compounding effort. While I was working away on my manuscript, I also kept reading about other writers who were complaining that they just didn’t have time to write and so weren’t currently working on anything.

I also found some bad habits I knew nothing about that I had to eradicate. It seems I am an incredibly distracted person and would stop and look up things or I’d want to go and watch TV or think that I’d rather be doing my sewing or going for a walk. But I didn’t I used strenuous amounts of discipline to stay in my writing chair. And once I did, I found it easier than I thought to let these distractions go.

I also learnt that I was a lot more disciplined than I ever thought I was once I was motivated enough to get my book written. And the word ‘motivation’ has the word motive written right in there, which is the real meaning. To be motivated you need a big enough reason to do something. My motive wasn’t to finish my book but to prove to myself that I could be disciplined if I tried. And I did try and I was right (because I didn’t want to be wrong).

One big takeaway from my recent efforts is that I realised that people who we think of as super achievers, when you look at their efforts, the one thing that stands out is that they are consistent with what they do.

There’s a book I recently came across on this subject that I recommend to any of you who want to do more and achieve more. It’s called, “The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success” by Darren Hardy. 

Don’t let your big writing dreams escape any more. If what you want to do is be a super-achieving author, the time to start is now. All it takes is daily consistency to create a compounding effect.

https://amzn.to/4lqrtce 

 

How to Triple Your Productivity

A few weeks ago, I was thinking how great it would be if I could pick up a notebook and pen anytime, start writing, and enjoy it so much that I do it all the time.

It came to my mind one night when I picked up a notebook to jot down an idea I had for a short story. I’d had a shower after dinner, and a great idea came to me while I was in the bathroom. So as soon as I’d finished, I went straight to the couch, took out the notebook that I keep in a drawer next to it, and wrote out the idea so that I wouldn’t forget it.

I liked the idea so much that I wanted to start writing the story straight away, but I already had other things to do that evening.

But that got me thinking: What if, after my shower every night, I could get out a fresh notebook, start writing (I love writing by hand), with no clue as to what I was going to write before I started, and keep going for hours? And what if I enjoyed it so much that I eagerly looked forward to it every day?

In my imagination, I could simply whip out my notebook anytime I felt like it and start writing without having any idea what I was going to write about. I’d just eagerly begin, and miraculously, I’d write an inspirational article, a riveting short story, or the first few chapters of a best-selling novel. And all without a clue what I was going to write. I’d just start writing, and the words would appear out of nowhere as I wrote.

Not only would I be writing great stuff, but I’d be loving every minute of it, so that every night, I couldn’t wait to sit down and write.

It was a great daydream. 

But then I had to ask myself, why does it have to be a dream? Why can’t it be reality?

I know that many writers work this way. They sit down and just start writing. It was Dean Wesley Smith who said that all he needs to write a story/novel is a character and a setting. From there, he writes ‘short’ stories and whole novels. I use quotation marks around the word short because his stories are all thousands of words long.

It was Stephen King who said you should write stories you enjoy writing and find somewhere to sell them later. He has always placed the love of writing above everything else, even getting published. 

And this is the ‘secret’ to being a writer. You can’t write well if you don’t enjoy what you’re writing. So, you must first enjoy writing. I mean, yes, it’s work, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun once you start.

It helps to have a daily writing goal of how many hours you work or a minimum number of words you write every day, and stick to it. The real secret is to stick to it, no matter how you feel.

I find that I can get lost in my writing once I start and forget the whole world. It’s an escape from everything.

Having set hours or words to write every day doesn’t mean you have to do it all day long. I know at least one writer who is known as being prolific, yet she only writes for two hours a day. And Stephen King only writes two thousand words a day. They say it’s not about how much you write, but that you do it consistently.

Most so-called writers are not consistent at all with their writing. Most days, they don’t write at all. They’re always looking for ways to get the writing done without actually writing, which always makes me laugh when they ask me about it. They ask things like, “How can I write five thousand words a day?” I respond, “Write five thousand words a day.” They never like that answer.

If you want to write, write. But not just once or now and again when you feel like it.

It needs to be every day, and it needs to be consistent every day. Not every day for a week or two, and then back to not writing.

As the great Mike Littman used to say, “In life and in business, you’re either consistent, or you’re non-existent.”

Above all else, you must love to write. 

Don’t wait till you're ready to start writing.

Just start.

You don’t have to be a great writer. That comes with practice. You just have to keep on writing.

As Elbert Hubbard said, “The only way to learn to write is to write and write and write and write, and write and write and write.”

And you’ll triple your productivity in no time.

Guaranteed.

Writing By Numbers and How to Make It Pay

There’s something that I’ve said many times about earning money from writing. And it’s so important I’m going to say it again.

If you want to make a living as a writer, you must write.

A favourite writer of mine, Dean Wesley Smith, put it more simply when he said that more products mean more money.

For years now, I’ve seen wanna-be writers asking, “How much money can I make from writing a book?” How much? Not much. Not with that attitude.

Writers, like artists and musicians, do what they do because they love what they do, not because they think they can become rich from doing one thing, like writing one book.

Where would J K Rowling be today if she only wrote one book? Or Stephen King? Or Arthur Conan Doyle if he only wrote one Sherlock Holmes novel?

None of these writers could have imagined how rich and famous they would become, nor did they care. They just wanted to write and, if they were lucky, their books would earn them enough money so that they could write for a living.

And why wouldn’t they want that?

If you’re a writer, writing isn’t hard. I mean, sure there are days when you don’t feel like writing, but that happens with any job. But the reason you don’t want to work isn’t because it’s hard; it’s just that you don’t feel like starting, which can happen with anything.

I’ll use this morning as an example to show you what I mean. This morning I knew I had to clean through the whole house. It’s something I do once a week, and today was the day to do it. But I didn’t feel like doing it. I woke up not knowing what day it was, and as I became fully conscious, I realised it was my designated cleaning day, so I had the whole house to clean.

I mentally protested through breakfast, but then I began the cleaning anyway. I plugged in my earbuds and listened to an audio book as I worked. It didn’t take long to become absorbed in what I was listening to, and a couple of hours later, I was finished.

After a short coffee break, I then mentally protested about planting my butt in my writing chair, but I went to my writing room anyway. After a quick look in my diary to see what I had to work on and rereading a bit of what I’d written the day before, I soon found myself deep into my writing.

You see, cleaning and writing aren’t difficult. Anyone can clean a house. It’s not rocket science, and writing is something I do all the time. It was just my motivation that was lacking. I was missing the motivation to get started.

The secret (if that’s what you want to call it) to earning money as a writer is to keep writing and producing. Because the more products you have, the more you can sell.

So, keep writing and producing.

And every day, make sure you get started, no matter what your mood.

7 Day Ebook Writing and Publishing System

How to Write and Publish an eBook and Start Getting Sales in Just One Week

https://www.cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/7day.html

The Quick and Easy Way to Do Just About Anything

If there’s something that you want to do, but you think you can’t do it, then you need to read on.

As writers we know it’s always easy to say we want to write something (a book, a short story, do freelance work, a blog) but then not do it.

Why is that? Why is it that we say we want to do something, or want to start something but then we don’t do it. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Nothing. We do absolutely nothing. 

And we’re all guilty of this.

I’ve been studying this for a lot of years now, especially about why we procrastinate, why we resist doing things we know we should be doing, and why we resist doing things we WANT to do.

The answer is because we don’t know how to do it, or where to start. So as usual, we revert to doing the easiest thing that we know how to do, which is to watch TV instead or get our phones out and scroll through a load of time-wasting nonsense.

Sound familiar?

If you want to get on in life and do all the things you want to do (or you want to stop doing the things you know you shouldn’t be doing), then what you need, is to not only know what you want to do, but HOW you’re going to do it.

And this involves making a list (I love lists and use them for so many things). Your list needs to contain every step of what you need to do. You see, it’s not enough to know that you want to do something, you also need to know how to do it. And most importantly, where to start. And writing a list of all the steps you need to take, is usually the best (and easiest) way to start. If nothing else it gets you thinking about what you need to do and once you have your list of steps you can put them in the right order.

Once you have your list, it’s easy to working on the first step and keep referring to your list to make sure you’re completing all the steps.

A list like this can help you achieve just about anything you want to do.

Want to lose weight? That’s great but how are you going to do it? What will you be eating? What will you avoid eating? What sort of exercise are you going to do? When are you going to do it?

Want to quit smoking? How? Are you going to cut down how much you smoke? Are you going to do a quit-smoking course? Go do hypnotherapy?

Want to save for a new car? How? Are you going to re-budget your money? What are you going to stop wasting money on? Are you going to earn more money to help save?

Want to spend less money and save more? How? Are you going to draw up a list of what you spend your money on? Open a savings account? Have a no-spend month?

Want to be more assertive? How? Are you going to take a course? Buy a book? Practice?

Want to have more time? How? Going to keep a time management diary? Going to get a book on how to do it? What are the unnecessary things that you do every day?

Want to write more? How? Going to carve out more time to write? Going to do a specific daily word count? Going to have a set writing routine? Want to change to writing in a different, and more enjoyable, genre?

Want to write a book? How? Are you going to write it into the dark? Are you going to use an outline? How are you going to write an outline? How detailed do you need to make your outline? How many words/hours a day are you going to write? What do you need to do first? How are you going to create a cover? How are you going to publish it?

These are just a quick off-the-top-of-my-head examples of how writing out a list of what you need to do can help with anything you want to do to improve your life.

But it doesn’t stop at just writing a list. You need to be proactive. Don’t want till situations crop up. Even if you only take baby steps to start with like cut out one of your usual cigarettes every day, eat one less snack, save one more dollar. It doesn’t matter how little you do, but it does matter that you do something. As long as your heading in the right direction, you’re moving closer to your goal.

And it all starts with knowing what you want, and, more importantly, knowing why you want it.

It’s important to know how a change will help you, and then you can work out how to achieve it.

And it all starts with a list.

Mission Critical For Life: Start Living Life On Your Terms By Pursuing Your True Life Mission
Ten simple steps to living the life of your dreams
https://www.cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/MCFL.html

Unlocking Productivity: The 6-Step Ivy Lee Method

"Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on."

      ~ Louis L’Amour

There’s no question about it. If you want to have success as a writer, you have to keep writing.

That sounds simple enough, but it’s not the whole issue. For instance, you have to know what you’re going to write, and have a system of working so that you can get straight down to work as soon as you sit down.

Productivity is always a hot topic, especially for writers.

One of the best known productivity hacks was Ivy Lee’s Success 6 method of getting more done.

The story goes that in 1918, Charles Schwab was one of the richest men in the world. He was the president of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation which was one of the largest ship builders and the second-largest steel producers in America at the time. Schwab was known as a master hustler who was constantly looking for ways to have an edge over his competition.

In 1918 he was looking for a way to increase efficiency of his team and find better ways to get things done. To this end, he arranged a meeting with Ivy Lee who was a respected productivity consultant.

Ivy Lee told Charles Schwab that all he was going to do was talk for 15 minutes to each executive of the company and give them simple instructions. Charles Schwab asked how much this was going to cost him. Ivy Lee said it would cost nothing in the beginning but that if his method worked, then Schwab could pay him whatever he thought it was worth.

What Was The Method?

Ivy Lee then met with each of the company executives and told them a simple daily routine that they had to follow.

He told them, that at the end of each day they were to write down the 6 most important things they needed to accomplish the next day. But only 6 and no more. Once they had their list they were to number them in order of importance. He said, tomorrow, do the first thing, number one on the list, then work through the list in order. At the end of each day, move any unfinished tasks to a new list of 6 for the next day, and repeat this every working day.

After three months, Charles Schwab gave Ivy Lee a cheque for $25,000, which was a lot of money in 1918.

Why Did This Method Work?

Ivy Lee’s method of prioritising was simple yet effective, and made it easy with a short list of only 6 priorities each day.

Warren Buffett had a similar method which he called his 5/25 Rule for achieving success in life. His rule was to list 25 life priorities. They could be anything you want to achieve in life, including career, personal growth, relationships, health, or financial prosperity or anything else you want to do.

You then go through your list and pick out THE 5 most important things you want to achieve first, and concentrate only on them and forget about the other 20 completely until you had fulfilled your first 5.

Both these productivity methods remove the friction of starting. It lets you know what you have to do first, which means you can get straight down to work by minimises what you need to concentrate on.

Fewer priorities leads to doing better work because it enables you to focus, knowing that everything important will get done.

And doing the most important thing first every day is all you need towards consistency and focus.

What are your six important things to do today?

Putting an End to My Lack of Writing

"Suffer the pain of discipline or suffer the pain of regret."

    ~ Success Minded

2024, as I’ve already talked about, has been a bad year for me. So many bad things happened that I had to deal with which resulted in me getting little writing done.

The result of it all is that I still feel bad about not writing. But I am determined to make the next 12 months my best in writing.

Part of what went wrong last year (and there were SO many things) was that my husband and I were forced to move. We desperately looked for a new place to buy but found nowhere suitable.

But, I feel, or rather, I am determined, that the bad things are over. 

Although we didn’t find a property to buy, we have landed a one year lease in a nice 3-bed rental property in a quiet area and within walking distance of the local shopping centre, so all is pretty good at the moment. And renting means we don’t have to do anything to the house (in Australia, rental properties are not allowed to be changed in anyway whatsoever without the landlords permission) which means I’ll have more time to write.

We have also been moving some of our furniture around, including my writing bureau which was in the dining area next to the breakfast bar. I don’t know why I put in the middle of the house, but it was probably because that’s where it was in our previous unit for the past year. Anyway, I wasn’t happy with it there so we moved it into the spare bedroom. We sleep in one bedroom, my husband has the second bedroom as his study, and the third room is where our daughter sleeps when she comes over to stay now and again. So I thought, why waste that room most of the time? So far I’m loving having my own space again (except when said daughter comes to stay again, but that’s never for longer than a night or two).

I also have a plan (which I’ve already started) to write for at least 2 hours a day. 2 hours isn’t too much, and when I get back into the swing of writing every day, I’ll be able to increase it. But, even at 2 hours a day, that’s a lot of writing. The 2 hours is only for writing new words, not doing other writing related work. And if I write at 1,000 words an hour, which is my usual writing speed, even if I only manage 5 days a week, that’s 10 thousand words a week or 520 thousand words a year, which is pretty prolific for such a short amount of time each week.

And I’m determined to stick to my writing plan, especially now that I have my own writing place again. I’d forgotten how much I missed it.

The problem with not writing when other things get in the way, is that it’s important to find out what exactly the problem is and then it can be fixed. A writing schedule (plan) of how much you can reasonably achieve every day is also important.

Now that I’ve sorted out what was stopping me, I’m already writing more and it feels good to be back in my writing chair. And it doesn’t even matter what happens with my writing, whether it gets published, is appreciated, or earns a lot of money. I just want to write, so that is what I’m doing.

How to Write More in 15 Minutes Than in The Last 15 Days
https://ruthiswriting.com/articles/2025/15-minutes.html

The Vital Importance of Knowing the Difference Between Goals and Rewards

 

Until recently, I was like most people and thought that a goal was an end result. I used to say things like “My goal is to publish six books this year,” or “I’ve made it my goal to go for more walks.” But it turns out that I didn’t understand what a goal actually is.

The late, great Buddhist teacher, Thich Nhat Hahn, understood goals perfectly when he said that when washing the dishes, you should wash the dishes to wash the dishes, not to have clean dishes.

At first that looks confusing because you have to wash the dishes in order to have clean dishes. So what was he talking about?

He made that statement when he was talking about mindfulness and the importance of keeping your mind in the present moment. He was saying that to have clean dishes, your goal must be to wash the dishes, to think only of each dish as you clean it. As he put it (and I paraphrase), clean each teapot and cup with as much care and attention as if you are washing the baby Jesus himself. Your reward for such diligence, is clean dishes. But if all you think about is wanting to get the cleaning over and done with then the dishes may to be done properly.

The goal is to clean each dish. The reward is clean dishes.

But, you may be wondering, what does this have to do with writing?

Well, goals and rewards work the same way in any situation, even with writing.

What you need to do is figure out what it is you want to achieve with your writing. It can be a short or long-term achievement. It might be to write and publish a book every two months, or even to earn $30k a year as a freelance writer, or become a ghost writer, or a high-earning blogger, or a short story writer.

Whatever it is, first you have need to know what it is you want (reward), and then you have to plan exactly what you need to do to achieve it (goal).

So say you want to write and publish a book every two months. You have to know how many words you can write in an hour and how long it takes to edit proof and publish a book. Once you’ve figured it out then you know how many hours a day you need to work. And if you work your plan you’ll reach your goal which is to have a strong daily work ethic.

Your goal is the plan you made for daily/weekly writing. The reward is having a book written and published every two months.

So just like washing the dishes to wash the dishes, not to have clean dishes, your goal is to write the books to write the books, not to have the books written.

And the reward will come if you stick to your goal.

The 12 Month Writing Challenge
Write and Publish 12 Books in a Year
https://www.cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/12MTH.html

Why You’re Not Writing and How to Fix it

 

I recently admitted to you all (to my subscribers) that I haven’t been doing much writing lately.

I’ve had a lot going on in my life for the past several months, and most of it was not good and was either emotionally or physically demanding. But it was still no excuse for not writing. Sometimes a week or more would go by without me writing a word. And it bothered me. I wanted to write, so why wasn’t I writing? I didn’t understand it.

Then one day I was reading a book by Kristine Kathryn Rusch called, How Writers Fail: Analysis and Solutions.[This book can only be bought as part of a series https://amzn.to/426rfQ9] It was fascinating (and I read it several times), and one thing in particular struck me.

Kristine is married to author, Dean Wesley Smith, and she said that he cannot write without a deadline, even if it’s just a self-imposed deadline. And I realised that was my problem too. I had no deadlines.

I was overwhelmingly busy with so many other things going on, including selling our apartment, packing up everything we own, looking for another property to buy and finding nothing suitable so having to quickly rent a house and unpack everything we own. So I’d jettisoned my writing because other things seemed more important, like being days away from being homeless. But I still should have sat down every day, at least for an hour, and written. But instead I did nothing. No writing.

The problem with being human is that when faced with a choice, we default to the easiest thing to do, with is usually watching TV or playing a computer game, while telling ourselves that we deserve a rest.

When you have a job to go to every day it gives you a deadline to work to. It always gives you deadlines at home too because your time is limited.

But it’s too easy to put things off if there are no deadlines looming. When I put off my writing, it felt like there was little consequence because no one knew I hadn't done it and I still got plenty of other things done.

We always put off doing things we know we have to do if there isn’t a deadline, even things like washing the car, exercise, cooking, and even going for days out. It’s always easier to do nothing. Yet we always feel better if we do what we’re supposed to do.

It’s also a matter of priorities, the things you deem important enough that you’ll do them no matter what.

Some people aren’t even aware of their own priorities. It see parents at the park staring at their phones instead of interacting with their kids. Dogs not walked, dirty homes, unmade beds. All of it leads to depression.

Many studies show that productive people are happy people. They have a sense of achievement and have everything they want because they get things done. And it works the other way around too. Not only are productive people happy, but happy people are said to be 13% more productive. But productivity shouldn’t be confused with being busy. People who are busy all day, are said to be miserable. There is also a correlation between happiness and having a job. According to the World Happiness Report (WHR), having a job is a major step towards happiness.

So your writing has to be a priority or it won’t get done, and you’ll be unhappy. To get it done you need a schedule and deadlines.

I organise my days for everything I want to get done that day, and I do it whether I want to or not. If I didn’t, I’d be miserable, just like I have been these last few months when I wasn’t writing.

I have a publishing schedule for everything I write, including blog posts and books. Freelance work always comes with deadlines so that always gets done on time. I already know that I have to finish my latest book by the end of this month. I also have other writing projects to do, as well as all my chores and obligations in my personal life.

And deadlines, like having to finish my book in three weeks, keeps me on track every day.

I definitely need deadlines, as I proved to myself recently.

And having a schedule and deadlines means I know what I’ll be working on every day, meaning I can get straight down to work with no time to procrastinate.

Now that’s what I call a win-win.

Cheriton House Publishing
https://www.cheritonhousepublishing.com
Books on writing and self-help

The Simple Little Tip To Writing More and Writing Better

If you want to earn money from writing, you need to write fast because you’re paid for what you do. You’ll earn the same amount of money for an article regardless of whether it took you 2 hours or 2 days to write it. So the faster you write, the more money you’ll earn.

Never make the mistake of thinking that writing fast means writing badly. In fact the opposite is true. The faster you write, the better you’ll write.

No doubt you’ve heard of the writing acronym, WAYS, Write As You Speak.

When you do this, it makes writing faster to do, and easier for the reader to understand. We’re always better understood when we’re explaining something in spoken words rather than writing it out in long convoluted words, which is why using WAYS works.

Readers aren’t looking for technical articles full of big words. They want fast information and an entertaining read.

In my book, How To Write An Article In 15 Minutes or Less, I show you how to quickly write short 300-500 word articles in 15 minutes or less, including research and proofing. It really can be done that fast.

Of course, speed comes with practice so the more articles you write, the faster and better you’ll get, plus you’ll be producing so much more work.

Short articles are always popular, but longer articles often earn more, especially if you’re paid by the word count.

To write an article quickly it’s good to have a simple outline containing an introduction, 3 points to cover and a conclusion. To expand it, each of the 3 points can have 3 sub-topics.

It can also be faster to turn each point or sub-topic into a question so that when you write your article you’re simply answering questions which is easier than justifying a statement. For instance if you were writing about a daily routine and you say, “I brush my teeth every morning.” You’d change that to, “Why do I brush my teeth every morning?” or “How do I brush my teeth?”

But no matter how you write your articles, it needs to be easy and enjoyable because if you don’t enjoy it, it won’t be sustainable. You won’t keep doing something you don’t enjoy.

Writing fast is enjoyable. It’s much more fun than writing slowly and trying to edit as you write and second guessing yourself all the time. Writing fast means there’s no time for any of that, and you’ll get a lot more writing done.

One of the most prolific authors was, Isaac Asimov, who wrote over 400 novels plus hundreds of scientific papers.

When asked about his amazing output he said, “I guess I’m prolific because I have a simple and straightforward style.”

This was a man who wrote fast, and he wrote for hours every day. And as he said, he kept his writing simple and straightforward which means he used WAYS, and you should too.

Handwriting or Keyboard?

There is always the age-old question of whether it’s better to write by hand or type everything straight on the keyboard.

There is no one-answer-fits-all to this because it all depends on what you’re most comfortable with.

Personally, I prefer to write by hand, and I always do, which means I have to type it all up later.

This may seem like a slow way to work, but for me it’s actually faster.

I’m far more creative when I write by hand so when I sit down with my notebook and pen I can write for hours and the ideas flow.

But when I try to write at the keyboard, the ideas don’t come as easily and my writing doesn’t flow as well. Even having a detailed outline doesn’t help. I end up using any excuse to get up and walk away for a while, but it’s no better when I sit back down again.

So while handwriting is slower than typing, it’s faster for me because it keeps me in the writing flow. I’m also a fast typist when I’m copying something that I’ve already handwritten.

I use the free grammar and spelling apps, Grammarly and Hemmingway to go over my work and check for typos, and ‘passive voice’ amongst other things.

Auto-correct also helps me to keep up with typing errors, although it doesn’t get everything right.

Once, when I bought a new computer, auto-correct kept changing my husband’s name, Dean, to Dead. It took me a few weeks to convince it that my husband wasn’t Dead. Shortly afterwards I was writing an article for someone about Ocean Dead Zones. But when I finished it I realized that auto-correct had changed it all to Ocean Dean Zones. This is why it’s important to check every word of your articles because even when you spell things correctly, it can be sabotaged.

Handwriting works for me because it helps me to stay in the zone and keep writing, and sticking with writing is THE most important thing. It’s so easy to get distracted and forget where you were up to, which is what happens when you’re not loving what you do.

So write your preferred way (handwriting or typing) and keep going. Once you start writing, don’t stop.

Using an outline is essential so that you can stay on topic, and when you finish writing for the day, it’s easy to pick up where you left off because all your outlines are ready and waiting to go.

When you’re writing, if you misspell something, leave it, you’ll pick it up in the edit. And if you can’t think of a word, leave a blank space and keep going. Once you start writing you must keep going.

And don’t worry if you think you’re going wrong, just keep writing.

I find that no matter how many errors I think I’m making, or if I think I’m not saying something the right way, I can easily pick up mistakes later and there’s never any need for much editing because I was always on track thanks to writing fast and staying in the writing zone.

And one last thing to remember is to always keep your reader in mind because as they read your articles, they’ll be asking themselves So what? Who cares? What’s in it for me? So make sure your articles always answer this.

But before you can do any of this, you’ll first have to know what to write about.

This is a short extact from The Monthly Challenge Writing Series:
Book 3 - Fast & Profitable Article Writing

Grab a copy now at:
https://www.cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/MCWS3.html 

The Pure Magic of Having a Writing Place and How I Use It

Relaxing in the living room 

A few months ago I got rid of my writing desk. It was old and small and I figured that I often write in different places, so I probably didn’t need a desk anyway. But was I right?

Well, it’s true that I didn’t always use my desk to write, but it turned out I still needed a space that was mine to use just for writing.

What I discovered is that when I’m in my writing place, my desk, my brain automatically switches into writing mode.

The same brain switch happens if I go out to write, either at the park or the local library, but at home, that automatic brain switch didn’t always happen unless I was already in writing mode.

So if I sat on the couch to write, I felt like watching TV instead. If I sat at the dining table, I wanted to eat or drink coffee and read a book. And sitting at the breakfast bar felt like I should be cooking or looking through recipe books.

I realised that working as a creative person is a fickle thing and sometimes my brain, or more correctly my muse, doesn’t turn up for work until I do, so when I sat at my desk my muse would arrive because it knew where I was.

And I only EVER use my writing place for writing. I never play computer games or surf online or check emails, because if I did, it would interfere with my ability to write, and distract my muse from showing up.

But I didn’t want to have another desk, partly because I’d already filled the window nook where it used to be, with a window seat. I also wanted something that was a piece of furniture for the home rather than something that looked like it belonged in an office.

So in the end I opted for a writing bureau and I found a really good one of FaceBook Market Place. It has some beautiful carvings all over it and when opened, it’s really sturdy to write on.

And when I’m finished writing, I can close it up and walk away so that I know I’m finished for the day. Unless of course, I feel like writing at night, in which case it’s a cosy place to sit and carry on.

So it turns out that not only is it important for me to have a place to write, but not to desecrate it by doing non-writing activities there, so that as soon as I sit down, my mind can switch to writing mode immediately and I can get straight down to work, which makes it even more enjoyable (and easy) to write.

My New Writing Bureau

Overcoming Procrastination: Strategies for Achieving Your Goals

Image courtesy of Stephanie Ghesquier

The following is an extract from my book: 

Stop Procrastinating And Take Back Control of Your Life

Why Do We Procrastinate?

No one really knows why we procrastinate, not even ourselves, yet we all do it all the time.

Strangely enough, it’s not just the unpleasant things that we procrastinate about, but also the things we say we enjoy doing.

How often have you said you’re going to do something like go for a day out, or go to the cinema, or spend time doing something else you enjoy, only to change your mind at the last minute and binge watch TV instead?

And we do the same with important things we need to do.

As a writer, I often find myself reluctant to sit down and write even though writing is something I enjoy doing. Some days I’ll even think a pile of ironing looks more interesting than the writing I have to do.

No matter what it is, we all procrastinate in our own way for reasons we don’t understand, and probably never will.

According to studies that have been done on this subject, there are three reasons why we procrastinate.

1. Fear. We fear criticism, failure, and starting something. It’s easy to understand being afraid of criticism and failure, yet it’s starting that most of us fear.

2. Laziness. Doing something new is hard. It takes us out of our comfort zone. Not doing something is so much easier than doing something.

3. Lack of Interest. We don’t know how to do something until we start, so have no interest in starting something new, nor in learning the process of doing it. We just can’t be bothered to even think about it.

What is Procrastination?

To procrastinate means to put off, delay, or postpone doing something.

It comes from the16th Century Latin word, “procrastinat” which means “deferred till morning.”

This comes from the verb “procrastinare” with ‘pro’ meaning ‘forward’ and ‘crastinus’ meaning ‘belonging to tomorrow (from ‘cras’ tomorrow).

The word “procrastinate” is similar to the word “prevaricate” meaning to speak or act in an evasive way, in much the way politicians do when speaking with journalists.

In Latin, prevaricate means to ‘walk crookedly’ or ‘deviate.’

If someone prevaricates, they often also procrastinate, which gives rise to confusion with the two words.

Overcome Procrastination

What we’re going to be looking at in this book is how you can stop procrastinating and get back control of your life; not just now, but for the rest of your life.

Procrastination excels at one thing; making you feel bad. It’s a power struggle that goes on in your mind and if you let procrastination win, not only will you suffer mentally and emotionally, but it will also ruin your life.

This is why it’s imperative to stop wasting time and start living up to your full potential. This will not only have a positive impact on your physical and mental health, but it will help improve the life of those around you. It’s win-win all the way and in everything you do.

So how do you begin?

You start by not procrastinating. Quit stalling on things you need to do. It sounds simple and it is because all you need to do is take the first step, and all the others will follow on naturally.

You see, procrastination is all in your mind. There’s nothing physically holding you back from anything. It’s just all in your mind. Every time you’re not doing what you should be doing, it’s because you don’t want to start.

Starting something is always the hardest, yet surprisingly simple, part of doing anything. Once you take that first step and start, it’s easier to keep going. Yet every day you have to overcome the resistance to starting.

Starting any project soon leads to feeling motivated to keep going, because once we’ve invested our time in something, even if it’s only a few minutes, we don’t want to stop and waste our investment.

The motivation you feel to keep going once you start leads to enjoying the process, which leads to achievement, money, satisfaction, education, no more stress over inaction, a better life, and accomplishment.

Once you’ve finished what you needed to do, it also leads to looking at others who’ve done it (or do it) too and see how they do it for more and better ideas so that you can improve and do more.

Starting something that you’ve been putting off, guarantees a feeling of achievement, even if you only commit to doing something for 30 minutes a day, it’s still better than doing nothing at all.

A lot of people think that to do something you don’t want to do (or can’t be bothered to do) takes strong willpower or brute force, or a forced routine. But it takes none of that.

What you need is a commitment to change, a new mindset that you’re going to start doing whatever needs to be done. No excuses. You’ll do it no matter what. But you must WANT to change.

You just need to make a small start, even if it’s a huge project, just doing one little thing makes all the difference. 

Next you need to keep going, no matter what else comes up to try and distract you. 

Finally, you must finish what you start.

Start something. Even if you only commit to doing it for 2 minutes, do it. (Put down your phone)

Keep going. Don’t give up after the first blush. Keep starting again every day.

Finish it. See it through to the end. Finish your task. If something comes up, see to it, then get back to your task and finish it. This is mindset and commitment.

https://www.cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/sp.html