Don't Buy a Writing Product. Invest In It.

Last week I received a copy of Writing Magazine in the Mail.

I used to subscribe to this magazine years ago but then stopped. But recently I decided to subscribe again and I found it when I checked my mailbox a few days ago, and it also included a copy of the 2020 writing competitions guide, which contains over 670 writing competitions from now until the end of next year.

So the day it arrived I sat and read it from cover to cover, which, as it happened, took all day.

But while going through it I was highlighting things that I wanted to go back to use, including 9 free-to-enter writing competitions for this month, 2 article ideas I can write about, 6 freelance writing markets I want to submit to, plus I learned a lot from the writing articles in it too.

So I didn't just buy the magazine, I invested in it because the magazine cost me roughly $10, but with the things I'm going to submit to, it means I could earn several hundred dollars (or more).

And I'd already decided to invest in the magazine and not just buy it before I subscribed. This is something that I do with every writing product I buy whether it's software, books, magazines or websites that I subscribe to. Once I receive my products, I make sure that they earn me far more than I paid for them. Even if I try something and find out that it's not really what I want to do, I at least make sure that I try it once and earn money from it.

Some of the other writing products that I've invested in over the years include

Quick Cash Writing,

Write Any Book in 28 Days or Less

10 Day Ebook Writing System.

So if you're thinking of purchasing a new writing product, or you already have one that you haven't used yet, get it and make it work for you. Do the work.

Don't just passively read it once and say it didn't work. Do the work.

If it's just a simple information book/product, don't just read it once, read it at least 10 times and make notes so that you're not just reading it, you're absorbing all the information in it so that you can use it later.

Turn all the writing books and products that you've ever bought, and those that you will buy in the future into an investment instead of just an ordinary purchase.


Find more books about making money from writing at https://ruthiswriting.com/make-money.html.

Should You Or Could You Be a Writer?

We’ve all heard of the expression “Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda.” It’s what we say to people who have lame excuses for not doing something.

And this is also appropriate for you if you’re not writing.

Shoulda - This is when you’ve wasted time when you shoulda been writing. It can be when you let yourself get distracted by other things instead of getting your writing done. Or when you wasted time by prioritising other things/people.

Coulda - You coulda got your writing done but you didn’t think you were good enough or motivated enough or dedicated enough. Sound familiar?

Woulda - Well, you woulda done your writing if only other things hadn’t happened or something else hadn’t come up, or if you had the time, or if you weren’t so busy…

All these things are weak excuses. They’re not reasons why you aren’t writing every day, they’re just a bunch of Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda.

What it all comes down to is whether or not you really want to be a writer.

And if you do, then the time to start writing is now.

Dream Life Mastery
How to Achieve Exceptional Wealth
A Step-by-Step, Done-For-You System
https://ruthiswriting.com/links/dreamlifemastery.html

3 Steps to Living Your Dream Life as a Writer

It’s so easy to dream about becoming a successful writer. You imagine yourself gliding into your home office, dashing off another bestseller, and still have time to go out for dinner in the evening.

Wouldn’t it be great if it really happened that way?

The reality, of course, is really different and there are so many things that can stop your writing dream coming true and here are just 3 of them.

1. Time To Write. No matter what you do, you never seem to be able to find the time to actually sit down and write. You may even begin every day with good intentions, yet time eludes you and before you know it, the day’s over and you haven’t written a thing.

2. Others Not Supportive. If there’s one thing that I learned early on, it’s that others won’t support you when you want to be a writer. And the closer you are to them the more resentful they seem. My family and friends are the worst and none of them will even discuss my writing, even though I’ve been earning my income from writing for years.

3. Guilt. It’s all too easy to feel guilty about wanting to write because you always feel that you should be doing other things. It’s probably because writing seems selfish because it’s something that you need to do alone, without anyone even speaking to you. And it doesn’t help when others are unsupportive because it can make you feel like you have to write in secret.

  But you really shouldn’t let any of these things stop you because we all have time to write if we prioritise it instead of trying to fit it into our spare time.

We can also ignore everyone who doesn’t support what we want to do. In fact, I’d even go as far as saying to spend less time with them and more time writing.

And stop feeling guilty about writing because it IS important to you. Knitters don’t feel guilty about knitting, gardeners don’t feel guilty about spending time gardening, and artists don’t feel guilty about wanting to paint or draw. So why should you feel guilty about wanting to write?

The time to turn your life around and live your dream life of being a writer is now.

https://ruthiswriting.com/articles/2019/dream-life.html

Getting More Writing Time Than I Wanted...OR...Be Careful What You Wish For

A couple of weeks ago I announced that I'd been not doing much writing lately... well none really, but that I was finally getting back into writing regularly.

And I kept telling myself that I needed to get more time with my backside firmly planted in my writing chair and that until I spent enough time writing, I wasn't going to get much done.

So I kept doing that visualization thing where you picture yourself in your mind doing what you wish you were doing.

And guess what?

It worked. Just not in the way that I wanted it to. Not at all.

You see, last month I was suffering from some kind of flu virus and I ended up with the worst cough I've ever had. It went on for over 2 weeks and I was coughing really hard, day and night. In fact, I was coughing and coughing until I choked.

And it really started to hurt my back and my sides which gave me trouble sleeping too, once my cough subsided so that I could sleep. But eventually the pain went away, except for my left side where it continued to hurt and I started to think I'd pulled a muscle or something.

And then last week we had a spell of really warm weather, so my husband and I decided to open the PVC blinds on our verandah. He clicked the spring on the right that was holding down each blind and I clicked the one of the left and then we lifted them one by one. Until we got to the third one...

I bent down to click in the spring and SNAP! I felt a searing pain in my left side and felt something grinding inside.

It was awful and it rendered me hardly able to move. I spent the rest of the day laid up in bed, taking copious amounts of pain killers. The next day it was no better so I went to the doctor and guess what? I'd cracked a rib.

So now it's been nearly a week and I'm still laid up in bed, but at least the pain isn't as bad as it was. At first it hurt all the time no matter what I did. But now it stops hurting if I sit still. And I've gotten used to the painkillers so they don't knock me out and make me sleep all day anymore, like they did for the first few days that I took them.

So you see what happened? I wished for more time to write and now I've got all day every day. Only it's not what I wanted at all. In fact, I have even more waking hours in every day now because I'm lacking exercise so I'm not tired at night so I'm up late all the time. Well, I say up, but I'm actually in bed the whole time.

So the lesson from this is, be careful what you wish for.

On the upside, it gives me plenty of time to pursue my Laptop Lifestyle.