Get Your Novel Written

Is there a novel you’ve been meaning to write but just haven’t gotten around to it?

Or have you started writing a novel a really long time ago but just haven’t finished?

Well here is an easy way to get that novel written.

The first thing you need to do is plan what you’re going to write. I find that writing is much more fun when I have a plan to work from. That way all the hard thinking work is done so all I need to do is write.

The first part of your plan needs to be an outline which includes the main plot, two to three subplots, main characters and supporting characters. And also a few hooks to keep your readers reading. Hooks are things that are hinted at but won’t be revealed until later in the story.

You also need to decide how many chapters you’re going to write and how long each one will be. It’s important to know these things so that you can stick to your word count.

Next, you need to decide how much you can realistically expect to write every day. Don’t over estimate this otherwise you’ll feel disappointed every time you don’t reach your daily word count. On the other hand, if you set your expectations low, every time you achieve it or do much more, it will make you feel motivated to keep going.

Then you need to do the writing. Just make sure you meet your word count every day. Tell yourself you can’t go to bed until your word count is met.

And then do just do it. Show up every day and get your novel written.

But don’t do it instead of the other writing you should be doing.

You can still earn income from your other freelance writing and affiliate marketing while writing your books at the same time.

And every day you’ll feel like a winner AND you’ll be earning money from your writing.

It’s a win-win.

Free Grammar Checker Browser Extension

No doubt you've heard of the free grammar checker called Grammarly.

But do you know it's free to use

And...

It comes with a free browser extension for Chrome, Safari, and Firefox?

Grammarly is now being used by Millions of writers worldwide and it's also licensed by more than 600 leading universities and corporations.

And professionals use Grammarly to provide  help and instant feedback on the accuracy, impact, and credibility of their English writing in a variety of fields, such as law, healthcare, marketing, engineering, and journalism.

Not to mention writers like you and me who benefit through Grammarly's ability to instantly fix over 400 types of errors, most of which Microsoft Word can't find.

Grammarly makes sure everything you type is easy to read, effective, and mistake-free.

The software can correct over 400 types of grammatical mistakes while also catching contextual spelling errors and poor vocabulary usage.

And you can use it to find the perfect word every time with context-optimised synonym suggestions, unlike cheap article "spinners" that have no idea of the context in which you're trying to use your words. See my bad experience of this when someone "spun" my articles at The Malicious Reaction of a Resentful Copyright Infringer.

Grammarly’s algorithms flag potential issues in your text and suggest context-specific corrections for grammar, spelling, and vocabulary.

And it even explains the reasoning behind each correction, so you can make an informed decision about how and whether to correct an issue.

You can download the free browser app by going to the Grammarly website and clicking the link.

Or scroll down to the bottom of the page and you'll see the link for "native apps" which will take you to the download page for the free Grammarly text editor that you can use for every document you write.

You can drag and drop a document into the Grammarly text window or copy and paste it there. Or alternately, you can type straight into the text window and let Grammarly find problems as you type. When you've finished you can export your finished document to anywhere on your computer.

It really is that simple to use.

And did I tell you it's free?

And the browser app works with almost anything you're writing whether you’re using Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and almost everywhere else you write on the web.

It's spotted so many errors in my writing already that I daren't NOT use it any more (how grammatically incorrect was that sentence?).

I definitely don't want to use it in public either because everyone will see how many errors I make in my writing.

And I'm supposed to be a professional.   :(

Set Up an Impressive Author Website

You may already have a website or blog or you may not.

Most writers have.

But are you happy with yours?

Do you wish it was impressive, easy to use and simple to update?

The most popular sites are Word Press sites, and I don't know about you, but I find them a bit difficult to set up and navigate. That's why most of my websites are basic HTML.

But this week I received an email from Studio Press who have a special offer for anyone who has a Word Press website, or wants to have one, but doesn't want all the hassle of setting it up and getting it running.

Studio Press use their own mighty Genesis framework to host and run Word Press sites which makes all their sites easy to use and extremely secure.

To get started all you need to do is register a domain name (which you can do with many different companies including one I use, Hostgator) and then buy a plan with Studio Press for as little as $24 a month.

You can have a personal blog, a simple affiliate website or choose to have a membership site where you can sell all your books too.

Their plans come with 21 themes you can choose from, including their impressive Author Pro theme (see image above), plenty of extra plugins you can use on your site that can all be installed with one click. You even get SEO functionality to help choose all the right keywords for your content.

Best of all they do all the work for you. You choose a plan (only 2 to choose from), give them  your domain name and they do the rest and get your site set up and running for you.

Or if you already have a Word Press site, they will migrate it for you over to Studio Press. AND...until the 14th July (just a few days away) they will migrate your site for free, which is usually a $99 service.

Just sign up for an account, choose your plan and they will send you a migration coupon that you can use whenever you're ready to move your site over to them. So you don't need to rush to do it straight away.

Naturally, I'm an affiliate of Studio Press and I do earn a small commission when I recommend customers to them.

But I do recommend them because they provide such a reliable service and do all the work for you of getting your site set up and running so that you can just keep on writing.

And there is no lock-in contract. You can pay for your site monthly or annually (which gets you a discount) and if you're not happy, there is a 30-day money-back guarantee.

So if you've been thinking about having your own blog or website for a while, but don't know how to set it up or think Word Press is too complicated to use, or you want to much more (with less work) with your current Word Press site, take a quick look at Studio Press and see how easy their system is to use.

They really do take all the hard work out of setting up a website by doing all the work for you.

And until 5pm on the 14th July, they'll migrate your already existing Word Press site for free. So all you need to do is sign up and Studio Press will do the rest.