How and Where to Get More Writing Ideas Than You Know What to Do With

 “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”

 ~ Steven King

I've quoted the famous horror writer, Steven King, because he is absolutely right about being a successful writer.

They say that to be successful, you don't have to be a better writer than anyone else, you just have to outwork them. Talent won't make you rich, but talent plus hard work will.

I've heard more than enough people ask about how to find things to write about. It's as though they have no writing ideas at all.

The 'secret' to having writing ideas is to write. It's that simple.

Got nothing to write?

Find a paragraph of writing and copy it out. Then copy out another one, and another one. Keep going and the ideas will start to flow.

I also find that the faster I write, the faster the ideas flow. They say that productive writers always have plenty of ideas, and I know I do. 

The more I write the more ideas I get. And the ideas don't stop coming when I'm not writing. I can be standing at the sink washing dishes and the ideas just keep coming, so I stop and take a few notes and before I know it I've written pages of ideas. To anyone else, my notes look like illegible scrawl with words circled and arrows pointing every which way. But to me it's gold.

And as to the infamous writer's block, I don't have time for it. I'm far too busy writing.

If you have trouble with writing ideas, start writing. Write anything. Write about what you did yesterday, or what you had for breakfast, or something you watched on TV. It doesn't matter what you write, it just matters that you do.

Some people believe that writer's block is the hardest thing to overcome. But I think starting is the hardest.

Once you conquer that, the only problem you'll have is what to do with so many ideas.

Books to help you make money from your writing

https://ruthiswriting.com/make-money.html

Don’t Think. Just Write

 Years ago, I knew I wanted to write, so I did. I wrote, submitted my work to magazines and earned money.

Next, I wanted to have my own website, so I did a web design course and set up my first site.

I also wanted to write a book and get it published so I wrote it and published it while stumbling through the whole process and learning as I went along.

It was during this time that I came across an online “Guru” called Mike Littman and his mantra was “You don’t have to get it right. You just have to get it going.”

I loved that, so it’s what I always did. It’s also how I always write. I just keep going and write in the ‘flow’. No editing. Just writing.

Sometimes as I write I think I’m going wrong, but I don’t stop. I just keep writing.

And in the end it’s usually OK and I can fix things in the edit.

What’s always worked for me is not to overthink things. I simply get things started and make changes as I go along.

I never overthink my writing either.

I create an outline and write from there.

If you want to achieve more, don’t get it right, just get it going.

You won’t regret it.

Books to help you make money from your writing

https://ruthiswriting.com/make-money.html

List of Writing Markets and Free Writing Competitions

Today I have for you a list of lists of writing markets and a list of lists of no-fee, free-to-enter writing competitions.

While you may think there is less chance of winning a competition than having your work accepted by a writing market, it's not necessarily so. 

Also, I always find that entering a writing competition and not winning is still great writing practice and it gives me a whole archive of short pieces of writing that can be submitted for another competition or a writing market.

In my writing world, no piece of writing is ever wasted.

Browse through the following list of lists and enjoy your writing.

WRITING MARKETS:

4 Paying Fiction Podcast Markets for Writers

https://writersweekly.com/marketing-secrets/4-paying-fiction-podcast-markets-for-writers-by-chris-saunders

Write Jobs

List of writing markets and free writing competitions

http://www.writejobs.info

The Market List

A huge list of writing markets with a category list in the sidebar

https://marketlist.com/writers_markets

101 Calls for Submissions in September 2021 - Paying markets

https://publishedtodeath.blogspot.com/2021/08/83-calls-for-submissions-in-september.html

WRITING COMPETITIONS:

50+ Writing Contests in 2021 with Awesome Cash Prizes

https://smartblogger.com/writing-contests/

40 Free Writing Contests: Legitimate Competitions With Cash Prizes

https://thewritelife.com/writing-contests/

2021 Free International Writing Entry Contests

https://owlcation.com/humanities/Free-International-Fiction-and-Non-Fiction-Entry-Contests

A List of Writing Competitions in 2021 and Beyond

The free-to-enter competitions are highlighted.

https://dystopianstories.com/writing-competitions-contests/

Sit at Home, Write, and Get Paid

I don't know about you, but when I first started writing, I thought the only way to make money was from freelance writing or writing a book and getting it published.

And I used to think to myself, "I wish I could just stay home, write whatever I want, and get paid."

So I started researching it online (everything is Googleable) and found out that it was indeed possible.

I learned about niche websites, which are different to online stores. They're information sites based on a single niche (subject). These days many of these sites are called blogs.

I found out that it was possible to create a niche website from scratch (or from a template), write content, find related products to sell for commission, earn money from advertisements, do online marketing - and all for free.

Without needing any more prompting, I set up my first site, then another, and then another. I felt like I was addicted, and I thought to myself, it doesn't get any better than this.

Over the years I've had several niche sites, because not only did I earn money, but it was fascinating to do. And as the online world changed, it got even easier.

And now you can do it too. Work from home doing what you love (writing) and earn money. It all starts with my new ebook, 'Build a Lucrative Niche Website in a Month.'

For the rest of this month (only a few days away), it's only 99 cents, so download your copy today and by this time next month you'll have your own site set up and earning money.

https://ruthiswriting.com/books/MCWS2.html