Never Even Consider Copying Someone Else

Do you know what’s the most important thing about being creative?

Being authentic.

Being yourself and writing in your own voice.

There is no other way.

Years ago, someone tried hard to be me. He even bought my website for writers (Writeaholics.net) and published all my old articles on it.

Naturally, it was a huge failure.

Why?

Because he’s not me. The articles on that website were written in my voice so there was no way he could mimic that in the future. So, he didn’t even try.

And because he wasn’t me, he also couldn’t earn money from that website like I did. For one thing, I had a huge number of subscribers who I kept in touch with every week. But I don’t think he knew that. So, while he was failing to earn money from my old website, I began a new site, carried on making money from it in my usual way, and kept on emailing my subscribers.

There was no way that he could earn money from that website because he wasn’t me, so he couldn’t write like me, and he also wasn’t aware of how I was earning money online. How could he?

No one can work the same way someone else does. It’s impossible.

But if there is someone whose books and work ethic you admire, then there’s nothing wrong with letting what they do spark ideas of your own.

Just so long as they are your ideas, and you stay true to yourself.

And if you want to find out more about the guy who bought my website and tried to be me (he even published my old “about” page with my photos and all my information about myself until I told him to take it down), you can read the article that I wrote about it at the time by clicking the link below.

 

Writeaholics.net: Why I Don’t Trust This Website

People Forms Habits, Habits Form Futures

    That title is not my own. I ‘borrowed’ it from motivational guru, Mike Litman who said it years ago. And it’s still true.

The reason that we create habits is to make our lives easier. When something we do becomes habitual, we no longer have to think about it. Take walking for example. When you were a baby, learning to walk took a lot of mental and physical effort. But as soon as it became a habit, you could do it without thinking, and you still do.

It’s the same when we learn to drive. At first it seems hard to have to cope with thinking about so many different things at once while trying to be safe on the roads. But once you get your license and start driving more, it becomes a habit and you can get behind the wheel and drive without even thinking about it.

We acquire many habits during our lifetime like daily showering, brushing our teeth, and even walking the dog. These are things that we do without even thinking about them.

I find it’s the same with household chores. I do them several times a week and always at the same time, and I do them without even thinking. People often ask me how I can be bothered, but I tell them that, first, I don't have a lot of furniture (I’m quite the minimalist) and second, I’ve been doing chores for so long that it never bothers me. I’m so used to doing them without thinking that I call it ‘busy hands empty mind’ time so I usually listen to audios while I work because I don’t have to think about what I’m doing.

But you’re probably wondering what this has to do with writing.

Well, you can use habitual routines to get your writing done every day.

If you don’t usually sit and write every day, then doing so takes a lot of thought because you have to remember to do it and you probably have to stop doing other things.

But once you make yourself sit in your writing chair at the same time every day, it quickly becomes a habit, and before you know it, you’re sitting down without even thinking about it.

Most mornings, I do my usual morning routine and do whatever chores I usually do each day and then I go straight to my writing chair. 

When I first started writing professionally, sitting down to write every day was a chore in itself at first, but once it became a habit, it was easy, and now I look forward to it. I like to get other things done first every day so that I can sit down and write, knowing that other things have already been taken care of.

It’s a writing habit that I’ll take with me long into the future because people form habits and habits form futures.

Stop Procrastinating

And Take Back Control Of Your Life

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

Don't Let Your Books Be Stolen to Train AI

We all know that many thousands of books have already been stolen to train AI software. Not just literary classics and best sellers, but self-published books too. It seems no books are exempt from being plagiarised by AI software companies. I did a check and found they're using my books too. 

But what can you do? And more importantly, how can you find out if your books have been stolen?

To help, here’s a link to check if your books have been used in this way. Just search for your author name.

Here's another link for an easy way to complain, and hopefully to get it stopped. Complain loud and long if your books have been used in this way.

No doubt AI is going to be the scourge of authors and writers until laws are put in place to stop our work from being stolen to train AI bots. The best way to help is to buy more books to help real authors and writers.

I’ve seen a few things online lately that are said to be written by AI. I can believe it because what I’ve seen so far is awful, especially fiction written by bots. It seems soulless. I know that AI software can help with some aspects of writing, but it cannot do the writing for us, or at least it can’t do it well.

And, if you want to know more about what’s happening and what you can do about stolen books, there’s an article from The Society of Authors that’s helpful.

Stay safe and keep writing.

https://cheritonhousepublishing.com

When is a Problem Not a Problem?

How many times have you heard someone say that they want to be a writer, but they just don’t have the time?

If you’re like me (and every other professional writer) the answer is always because they have a job or a family, or they don’t know what to write, yet they swear they have a novel inside them just bursting to be written. But things are always in their way.

All these these are excuses. They are not insurmountable problems. A problem is something to be fixed. If you don’t want to fix it, it’s not a problem.

When I first began writing, I did a writing course, a web design course, a copywriting course, I learned how to self-publish, I read many books about writing and working online, and I talked to others who were already doing what I wanted to do. And I did it all while having a job and a family to look after.

I tell others this and they’ll say, “Yeah, but you’re so energetic and have much more time than me.”

Well, I hate to disappoint them, but I have 24 hours a day just like them.

If you think that you’re not writing because something about your life is holding you back, then you don’t have a problem because you don’t want to fix it.

Just look at Stephen Hawking. He spent most of his life in a wheelchair unable to move, but he didn’t let it stop him from writing. And problems don’t come any bigger than that.

My advice to anyone who thinks they have problems that hold them back from writing, is to start writing.

It really is that simple. 

No problem at all.

 

Mission Critical For Life

Discover the 10 timeless life-changing lessons in this one little book and follow your own writing mission.

The Controversial Decent of NaNoWriMo

 

I’ve always loved the idea of National Novel Writing Month, which occurs in November every year. During this month, millions of writers worldwide write a fifty-thousand-word novel and upload it to NaNoWriMo to earn a certificate of achievement. In its early days, I signed up for two years running to write a novel. 

I finished my first novel (Playing For Real) in the 30-day window, but sadly, the second one I only half finished and cheated by copying and pasting it all back in so that I reached the required 50K word count. But I did finish it after that.

So it’s sad that after more than 20 years, NaNoWriMo is closing down and that the whole thing is shrouded in controversy. 

They began in 1999 and in 2006 became a non-profit. The closure is said to be for  “financial” reasons, according to the interim executive director, Kilby Blades.

In November 2023 complaints from members were made that a NaNo forum moderator was grooming children on a different website. The moderator was eventually removed a few weeks later for what was said to be an unrelated code of conduct violation. But the whole thing left a bad taste with many writers who questioned NaNo’s capability of keeping children safe on their site.

Then in 2024, when that year’s November novel writing month was announced, NaNo said that they would accept entries from novels written using AI. They were immediately criticised for it but they didn’t back down and stated that “condemnation of Artificial Intelligence has classist and ableist undertones.”

At the time, fantasy writer, C L Polk responded that “NaNo is basically asserting that disabled people don’t have what it takes to create art when they trot out the lie that scorning AI is ableist.”

The AI controversy received wide press coverage with NaNo standing their ground. Two authors stepped down from the NaNo board while many other writers spoke out against using bots in novel writing.

NaNo’s continual endorsement of AI in writing led to one of the world’s biggest backlashes against a non-profit.

Writers swiftly began to distance themselves from NaNo en-mass. Author Daniel José Older released a statement on his website stating that NaNo’s “position on AI is vile, craven, and unconscionable.”

Writers took to social media in droves, expressing their disgust at NaNo for endorsing AI software that is well-known for plagiarising authors’ work for training purposes, and that AI also spreads misinformation.

Many writers then began closing their accounts with NaNo to the point that the non-profit could no longer sustain itself and announced that it would close its website once all writers have had a chance to remove their work. To date, NaNo has not announced exactly when the closure will be.

The whole thing is sad because millions of writers have been able to get their novels written every November thanks to NaNoWriMo.

But that doesn’t have to stop. Any month can be the month that you get your book written. Just begin at midnight on the first of the month, and complete your first draft by midnight on the 30th.

And if you need help getting started, download The One Month Author and write your novel in a month, writing for just one hour a day.

https://www.cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/MCWS4.html 

The 2 Hour eBook Writing Challenge

 There’s a buzzword that writers like to talk about when it comes to writing and that word is procrastination.

    Oh yes, writers love to go on and on about procrastination and how it holds them back and how much they have to fight it every day.

    But it’s not procrastination.

    It’s laziness.

    Writing is a scary thing to think about doing because it’s something that can’t be done fast and that’s why many don’t want to start, because they know it will take ages to get a significant amount of writing done.

    Or will it…?

    What if you knew that getting a large amount of writing done wouldn’t take that long at all?

    Then how about taking a 2 hour writing challenge?

What does it involve?

    It involves sitting down and writing in a distraction-less 2 hour window of time.

    You may be wondering how writing for 2 hours will prove anything, but don’t doubt it till you’ve tried it.

    It’s actually possible to write a short report or ebook in 2 hours and many writers have done it.

    So how about you? How much can you write?

    You really should try it because not only will you be able to get a surprising amount of writing done, it also gives you a small thrill just to complete it.

    Sitting and writing solidly for just 2 hours also gives you a great feeling of accomplishment which motivates you to do it again.

    Just try it to see if I’m right.

    And even if I’m wrong and you don’t feel motivated to do it again, at least you will have achieved 2 hours of uninterrupted writing.

So what exactly should you do?

    First you need a 2 hour window of uninterrupted time. It doesn’t have to be a quiet place (a busy coffee shop is fine), it just has to be 2 hours where no one needs your attention.

    Turn off your phone and get rid of any other distractions like your internet browser.

    Before you begin make sure you’re able to focus. Don’t let your mind wander to thoughts about chores that need doing or bills that need paying. Set a timer so that you don’t get distracted by watching the clock.

    I use audios to help me focus when I’m writing. They help cut out the background noise as well as help me to concentrate. Make sure you know exactly what you’re going to be writing about.

    This is where a detailed outline is a must.

    If you know your topic, make a list of 10 main points you want to cover. Break each main point into 3 sub-points and have an opening and closing statement ready.

    Then get to work. Start writing and don’t stop till the 2 hours is up.

    No excuses. No toilet breaks. Just write.

    At the end of the 2 hours you’ll probably be impressed with how much you’ve written.

    After this you can arrange a 2 hour writing session every day so that no matter what else is on your agenda, you’ll get plenty of writing done.

    And even if you can’t manage it every day, do it often.

    Giving yourself 2 hour writing challenges will quickly help you to build a strong writing habit.

    You’ll also achieve much more because you’ll be writing consistently and consistency breeds success.

    And ultimately it will enable you to earn more money from your writing, especially when you can write short reports or ebooks in 2 hours.

    This is an old article that I wrote and published it on my website in 2014. I've republished it here because the information is still relevant and it can still help you to write more and earn more. You can see the article in all its original glory at https://ruthiswriting.com/articles/2014/2-hour-challenge.html