Thursday, 9 December 2021

The Simple Way to Make Every Day Productive

How to Have a 48 Hour Day and Get Twice as Much Done
We all want to have productive days, don’t we? But what usually happens is that we get out of bed in the morning full of enthusiasm for all the things we’re going to accomplish, but somehow the time slips away and we realise we got nothing done.

Yet there are other days when we bounce out of bed and zip through everything we have to do and end the day feeling great about how much we got done.

So what’s the difference between those two days? What is it that makes some days more productive than others?

The ‘secret’ to having a productive day is really no secret at all.

I’ve recently been re-reading my favourite book on productivity, called, “How to have a 48 Hour Day” by Don Aslett. This man is king of getting things done and his book is such an entertaining read, and so useful that I’ve read it several times.

One of the things he says you should do, and it’s something he has alway done himself, is to have 10-hour days. This means having 10 productive hours every day. Not 10 ‘busy’ hours. The time must be spent productively, whether it means working, shopping (for essentials), gardening, cleaning, writing, or anything else that needs to be done. 

The author himself often works 16 hours a day. He even talks about when he wrote a book in 4 days because it was raining and he couldn’t do the gardening that he’d planned to do. Wow! Can you imagine being such an over-achiever? And he loves every minute of it and says that hard work is the cure for all of life’s ills. He says it’s no accident that those who are high achievers are seldom ill. They don’t have time to stop for anything.

He says to aim to stay productive 10 hours a day. Commit to it and always have a list of different jobs/tasks to do so you can switch if necessary or if you’re not in the mood.

And 10 hours a day of productivity is life-changing.

I used to be one of life’s quitters and would give up on something if it got too hard or seemed too tedious. But not any more. I became a 10-hours-a day-person after reading this book the first time, and it really changed my life for the better. And the best thing about it is that it was actually easy to do. It wasn’t difficult at all. I even enjoyed it.

And the changes are instant.

Try it for yourself. Just one week of 10-hour days is transforming.

Make it your New Year’s resolution. 

Download a copy of the book and start changing your life.


Get Twice as Much Done As You Do Now - How to Have a 48 Hour Day

https://amzn.to/2YbtGyw 

Wednesday, 8 December 2021

4 Horror Writing Markets and a Free Writing Competition

 Here are a few writing markets for you just to keep the creative juices flowing and possibly earn you some much needed writing income.

One of the markets is for a children's short story, so if you haven't written for this age range before, it might make it interesting for you.

Enjoy and happy writing.

Dark Moments Flash Horror
Black Hare Press are looking fo short horror stories on the theme, Circus.
Word Count: EXACTLY 100 words.
Deadline: 31st December 2021
Payment: 4cents (US)/word via Paypal
https://www.blackharepress.com/submissions/ 

Children's Alien Scary Stories
Raven & Drake open to submissions of stories on the theme: Alien
Reader age range is 10+
Word count: up to 3,000 words
Looking for scary but fun stories with a happy ending.
Payment: Digital copies of the anthology. 
No cash payment as it's a new market, but I'm including it because it's an interesting market (10+ age range) and can open up to new possibilities because chidlren can be raging fans once they find an author they like.
https://www.ravenanddrakepublishing.co.uk/seriescalls 

A Coming of Age Horror Anthology
Nowhere Fast pays homage to the well-loved theme, Coming of Age, and then adds a horror element. 
Did you ever just wish you could have made The Goonies a little gorier? That ET was actually evil?
Make your twist on these classics.
Any work featuring the actual characters from these movies will be rejected. 
Word Count: 3000-5000 Words 
Deadline: October 28 2022
Payment: 6cents/word plus one hard copy.
https://www.clashbooks.com/clash/2021/10/29/nowhere-fast
 
Counting Bodies Like Sheep
Short stories wanted for extreme horror anthology.
Fast-paced gory stories with the perfect blend of Extreme Horror + Splatterpunk + Dar Humor elements.
Word count: up to 3,000 max
Payment: 3cents/word plus one paperback copy.
Deadline: Sumissions open on 1st January 2022
Close 1st March 2022
http://theevilcookie.com/open-calls/ 

Free Short Story Competition
Curiosity Killed the Cat
Short story about a new discovery, invention, or insight that seems wonderful and glamorous on the outside, but which is truly insidious beneath the surface, or which goes terribly awry. Think 'Frankenstein.'
Word Count:1800-2200 words
Deadline: January 4th, 2022
Prize: $50 first place 
https://www.rainfictionpod.com/contests/writing-contest-3curiosity-killed-the-cat


Tuesday, 7 December 2021

Write 50,000 Words a Month, Every Month

The Monthly Challenge Writing Series
It’s now December (Yikes! Already?). Last month was November and as all writers know, it was also NaNoWriMo, a month when thousands all over the world take up the challenge to write a 50,000-word novel in a month.

And of those thousands, some make it and some don’t. But of those who make it, it does prove that it’s possible to write 50,000 words a month.

But what if you could write 50,000 words every month? I don’t mean that you should write a novel every 30 days, but what if the 50,000 words a month meant all your writing including articles, blog posts, emails, freelance submissions and all the other writing you do every month, including book writing?

Can you imagine how great it would be and how much money you could earn from your writing if you could write fifty thousands words a month, every month?

And while that may seem like a daunting amount, when you break it down, it’s only 1,667 words a day, which is only one article or short story.

Keeping up a writing schedule like this can have a huge increase in your income. 

And if you’re thinking that writing this much every month is too much, let me tell you that the really successful writers produce much more than this every month, usually double or triple this amount. Writing over 100k words every month might sound like a lot of work, but these writers don’t find it hard at all. In fact they love what they do which is probably why they’re so prolific.

So if you love to write, take the 50K a month challenge and see the difference it makes. 

Start with The Monthly Challenge Writing Series - 4 ebooks that guide you through 4 months of writing and earning money.

Are you up for the challenge?

Book 1 - Quick Cash Freelance Writing
https://ruthiswriting.com/books/MCWS1.html

Book 2 - Build a Lucrative Niche Website - In A Month
https://ruthiswriting.com/books/MCWS2.html

Book 3 - Fast & Profitable Article Writing
https://ruthiswriting.com/books/MCWS3.html

Book 4 - The One Month Author: How to Write a Book Faster & Better


Thursday, 25 November 2021

Why Willpower Won’t Help You Write

Willpower: Use it to write more?
We’ve all heard of the word Willpower and we’re told that if you can’t achieve something, or can’t get enough writing done, it’s because you don’t have enough willpower.

But what is willpower?

Many believe that it’s some kind of separate entity. It’s something you can invoke to help you. All you have to do is believe in it enough and it will magically appear and you can latch onto it and become a writing marvel.

Some people believe that having will power is not to help you to do something, but it’s a way to help you restrain from doing bad habits like over-eating, gambling, smoking, and excessive alcohol consumption, rather than helping you engage in new habits.

If you want to write more and write better what you need is determination, not willpower. This is what drives people to do what needs to be done, despite emotional and physical opposition.

Determination gives you a can-do attitude to stick with something and see it through to the end.
And you already have determination within you. It’s not an outside thing, separate from yourself. It’s already yours. You just have to use it.

And to be honest, if you love to write, then you really don’t need much determination. You only need to be in the right determined mindset to sit down and start writing, because as we all know, starting is the hardest thing.

But once you sit down and start writing, the rest is easy.

So don’t think you need willpower to write.

Just have the determination to sit in your writing chair for an hour or two every day.

The writer in you will take it from there.


The One Month Author
How to Write a Book Faster & Better

https://ruthiswriting.com/books/MCWS4.html

Download a copy for only 99c till the end of November 2021.


The One Month Author: How to Write a Book Faster & Better