How Not To Sound Like a Phoney When You Write

I sometimes smile at how easy some people find it to sound like a fake person when they write.

The problem is that we learn to write at school and college and university. But the problem is that our style of writing for our teachers and lecturers is not the same for any other kind of writing, especially if you’re writing online or writing books.

When you write, you need to sound authentic rather than sounding like a robot spewing out facts or sounding phony like you’re trying to hide something.

And the way to do this is to find your writing ‘voice.’

But what does that mean and how can you do it?

Your writing voice means sounding like yourself when you write. It means giving the reader a glimpse at the writer behind the words.

And you do it with practice.

That is the only way that you’ll ever find your writing voice. The more you write, the more authentic you’ll sound because you can only keep a veil up for so long before you start writing more like you speak and coming across as genuine.

Another thing to remember is, don’t write what you think others want to read. Instead write about what YOU want to tell them, rather than what you think they want to hear.

And write quickly. Don’t give yourself too much thinking time about which words to use or how to be perfect. Just write. You can pick up mistakes later on in the edit. Just write fast and authentically.

It doesn’t actually take too much practice to find your writing voice.

But you do need to practice. Just make sure you’re practicing being yourself, which, when it comes down to it, should be pretty easy.

You know yourself better than anyone.

So be that genuine person when you write.


Goodbye Writers’ Block
How to Be a Creative Genius and Have an Abundance of Ideas
Plus the Inspiration and Motivation to Write
https://www.ruthiswriting.com/books/WB.html

Have I Ever Read Anything You’ve Written?

People can be really mean, especially those closest to you like friends and family.

I come across a lot of jealousy when I tell people that I’m a writer. They either don’t want to talk about it and quickly change the subject (which is most of the time), or they ask questions like, “What do you write?” To which I usually say, “Oh lots of different things,” and they say, “Like what?"

I usually respond with, “I write words.” I mean, what am I going to say? I earn money from my writing in so many different ways that explaining to them what I do would take time.

Then they ask the really stupid question. “Have I Ever Read Anything You’ve Written?”

Please, people! Come on! How on earth could I know every single thing you’ve ever read in your life?

Often I just tell people to Google me if they want to know more.

I usually stay away from other people as much as I can because they take up too much of my valuable time.

Just as an example of how much I stay away, last week, my husband and I had to walk into town to buy a few things. Instead of walking up and down the main street where we usually run into people we know, we went via a side street, straight into the shop we needed, and came back up an alley and through a field, just to avoid having to speak to anyone.

Does that make me anti-social? Probably.

But if I were a famous writer, I’d avoid people anyway.

And that’s that best way to make it to the top is to act like it’s already happened.

If you want to be a millionaire author, act like you already are one. So instead of wasting time hanging around the proverbial water cooler and gossiping, or wasting time on anti-social media (it’s never social, IMHO), write more books instead. That’s what best-selling authors do.

Remember that people will always treat you the way you allow them to.

So get charisma and poise and don’t let others look down on you.

Stick to your writing mission no matter what.

I did it, even when others thought I was mad and told me I was wasting my time doing writing courses and locking myself indoors writing and submitting articles and short stories to magazines.

But ha-ha to them because it worked. And now they don’t want to discuss it.

I recently read a book that really helped me with all this too and made me realise more than ever that I was right, right, right, to ignore everyone and stick to my mission.



Persuasion Secrets of the World's Most Charismatic & Influential Villains
A short but extremely insightful little book that helps you to do more and to care less.
This little book can be read in less than an hour, but you’ll want to read it again and again.
http://viewbook.at/villains

How I Survived on Low Writing Income

One thing I learned quickly once I started writing for a living is that the income isn’t regular. It’s feast or famine.

When I first started out it was way more famine and not enough feast, which made it scary when it came to quitting my job.

But one of the things I did do that really helped me, was a read a book called The Millionaire Next Door, which explains how others are rich (millionaires in fact) even though they only earn a regular income.

At first I didn’t even think it was possible but after reading the book and learning about not only how they did it, but how easy it was, I realised that I would be able to manage on my writing income, even during the times of famine.

And since then I’ve heard and read about others who survived during hard financial times. I even recently heard about a woman who raised her 7 children in a one-bedroom house. Now that is extreme, but clearly, it was doable. And she clearly isn’t like spoilt people today who want big houses with lots of bedrooms even when they only have a couple of kids.

And that’s the difference that makes some people ‘The Millionaire Next Door.’ And interestingly enough, they are called “next door” because they are living ordinary lives amongst ordinary folk who have no idea their neighbours are millionaires.

So when I was worried about living on a low income I didn’t let it stop me from becoming a writer. I just knew how much I could earn and turned to minimalism to help me get by. And I found that it’s a great way to live anyway, so I haven’t even changed much.

And now my husband has retired early and we only have the money that I earn from my writing as our income, and we’re living really comfortably.

I wouldn’t change a thing and it all started because I prioritised my writing and made it my mission to earn enough money from it to live on.



Persuasion Secrets of the World's Most Charismatic & Influential Villains
A short but extremely insightful little book that helps you to do more and to care less.
This little book can be read in less than an hour, but you’ll want to read it again and again.
http://viewbook.at/villains

How I Found My Writing Mission

When I first started writing I had moderate success with freelance submissions to magazines. Well actually, it was probably more than moderate if you count how excited and happy I was to do it.

It all began when I bought a copy of Quick Cash Writing and worked my way through it, writing and submitting fiction, filler, articles, features and even letters to magazines and other publications.

My next foray into money from writing was when I bought a copy of How to Write Any Book in 28 Days or Less and I worked my way through that too and wrote my first novel, which has led me to write many more books, including co-authoring two books.

What I found throughout it all was that my first successes led to more success because it was exciting to see my work in print and I was always busy working on my next thing.

And it gave me something to look forward to every day. I was always busy with having a family, pets and a part-time job, and at the end of the day there was always my writing. Sometimes I couldn’t wait for others things to be finished so that I could get back to my writing.

I would even write in cafes on my way home from work, in the park, and in waiting rooms. I would just write whenever and wherever.

What I didn’t realise back then was that I’d found my life’s mission.

I wanted to write and I didn’t let anything stop me. And I didn’t even know back then how important having a mission in life was. But it changed everything for me.


It made me a villain.


Persuasion Secrets of the World's Most Charismatic & Influential Villains
A short but extremely insightful little book that helps you to do more and to care less.
This little book can be read in less than an hour, but you’ll want to read it again and again.
http://viewbook.at/villains