A Real-Life Insight Into Focused Writing

For years I’ve witnessed an on-going, real-life lesson in being a focused writer. And the lesson is from my daughter.

She’s now an adult and owns her own home, and she has always loved to write.

Unlike her mother, who loves to write by hand, my daughter types all her stories straight onto her computer. Even as a child, she would sit curled up in an armchair, typing away while her Dad and I watched TV. She was always oblivious to her surroundings whenever she was writing or reading, and she’s an avid reader too.

And now as an adult, she still loves to write, and if I phone her while she’s writing, she just blows me off and says she’s too busy to talk.

Sometimes she tells me “I’m going to write tonight,” and she can’t wait to do it, and she’ll write for hours and not go to bed until the early hours of the morning.

She’s probably written more books than most people even dream of writing. She just loves to write and says it’s “fun” and “relaxing” and her focus when she’s writing is envious.

She doesn’t even publish her work. Never. She’s only interested in writing, not publishing, and as soon as she finishes writing one manuscript, she can’t wait to get started on the next. Writing is her hobby and she always looks forward to doing it.

And I SO envy her dedication to her craft and her ability to always prioritise her writing.

But mostly I envy her focus when she’s writing and her ability to block out all other thoughts while she writes.

If I had the dedication and focus on my writing like she does, I’d have written and published hundreds of books. I’d be a multi-millionaire by now.

Plus I’d be a seriously prolific writer and loving it. I just wish I could have her writing focus.

I wish we all could.

Mission Critical For Life

Start Living Life On Your Terms By Pursuing Your True Life Mission

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

Earn More Money From Your Writing By Focusing On What You CAN Control

 I love earning money from my writing. In fact, I cringe when people say they do it for love or because they love it and don't care that they don't earn much money from it. I always think that if they're not interested in earning money from writing, then why bother publishing it or submitting it at all?

But while I love to write and love (need) to earn money from it, there's no point in concentrating on earning money, because I can't control that. So instead I focus on what I can control.

So what do I have control over?

Well, I can write more. It's up to me how much time I spend writing. I could (and many people do the same) tell myself that I just don't have the time, or I'd write more if I had more time. But we all have the same amount of time every day and it's up to us what we do with it.

Marketing is another thing I can control. It's no good writing if no one reads it. So I spend my time marketing my work with blog posts, SEO, social media (just a little bit because I'm not a fan) and emails, just to name a few things.

Butt-in-chair time is another thing. You may think this is the same as writing more, but it's not because I can't write more unless my butt is in the chair more so chair time always comes first. And once I sit down I make sure I write and not waste time surfing the net.

Less time-wasting is another thing that helps me to earn more money from my writing because I can't earn more if I'm wasting time doing unimportant things. And the truth is that even though I might sometimes think I'd rather sit and watch movies all day, or go for long walks on the beach, I always feel better at the end of the day when my time has been spent productively.

It's no coincidence that the more I write and market my work, the more money I earn.

Looking at it another way, imagine that you write a book and earn money from every copy sold. Now imagine that you've written 20 books. Now you can earn 20-times the income.

So even though you can't control your writing income, you can control how much you write and how much you market your work and get it known and sold all over the world.

So if you're wasting time focusing on writing income, make the change and focus on your writing.

And I've got plenty of books that can show you how so you can start writing more today.

"It's not my brain that's writing the book, it's these hands of mine."

 ~ Madeleine L'Engle

https://ruthiswriting.com/books.html

Can't Be A People-Pleaser and A Writer

 Sometimes we're all guilty of being people-pleasers, as in always being there for others, not letting people down, and always being a happy friend who's always available.

But being like this is never a good thing. And no one respects a people-pleaser. People-pleasers don't even respect themselves.

And you can't please everyone so no matter what you do you'll always end up disappointing someone and feeling guilty about it.

The problem gets even worse when you're a writer because you'll feel guilty about not be available to others every time you lock yourself away to get some writing done.

This is why writing can feel selfish. I hate to use the term "me time" but that is what you have to do, and that is what it has to feel like, because writing has to be done during time away from other people.

And I always find that other people don't respect my writing or the time that I have to spend away from them to get it done.

When I first began writing, it bothered me a lot that others disrespected what I do or thought it selfish that I was always spending time alone to write instead of being with them.

But what I eventually had to do, and what I still do now is make my writing my mission and just go do that, because while people will let me down or smother me in obligations, my writing is always there for me.

No matter what else is going on in my life, I can always shut myself away and get my writing done and forget about everything else for a while.

And being alone to write is always relaxing.

I love my writing mission and so should you.

MISSION CRITICAL FOR LIFE

Start Living Life On Your Terms 

By Pursuing Your True Life Mission

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

Slow Progress is Still Progress

I was doing some sewing the other day. I was using my sewing machine and had it set to a really slow speed for more precise sewing, but it felt so slow, as though I wasn’t progressing at all.

But the reality was that my sewing project was progressing and as long as I kept at it I was moving forward and getting it done.

And it occurred to me that I sometimes feel the someway about my writing as though it’s all going really slowly and I’m not making good progress. 

But it’s just the same as anything I do; as long as it’s moving forward, no matter how slowly, it’s better than doing nothing at all.

With sewing, small, slow progress eventually leads to thousands of stitches sewn. 

And with writing, slow progress leads to thousands of words written.

7 Day Ebook Writing And Publishing System

How to Write and Publish an ebook and Start Getting Sales in Just One Week

http://ruthiswriting.com/books/7day.html