12 Writing Rules To Follow!

When writing there are 12 rules you will need to keep in mind. If you do, it will be possible to have a successful writing career. You may have times when you want to break them but be careful when you do. It is OK sometimes. But it is not something you want to do all of the time.

Write every day

This is usually what everyone always says. You’re thinking I don’t have time to write every day. I have learned that you do have time. You don’t have to write for one or two hours straight. Even if it is only 10 or 15 minutes a day.

You can find little pockets of time throughout the day. Waiting in line for the doctor’s appointment you have. Waiting in line t the store. How do you do this? I talk about it in this article here.

the awesomeness of cell phones

Create a habit

By writing every day you are creating a new habit. Creating habits help you become successful. For example

• Write every day
• Edit on Monday and Wednesday’s
• Research on Saturday.

See, these are habits you can build on. I’m not trying to tell you that you have to make these your own personal habits. They are only an example. Choose your own habits you want to create. It is said that it takes 28 days to create a habit. So keep at it. If you have to only choose to work on one habit at a time

Writing should be fun, not a chore.

If you can’t find fun in writing then maybe you shouldn’t be a writer. I love to write. I find it fun and exciting. I have a passion for it. This is how a writer should feel. If they don’t how can they inspire others with their work. If you are not having fun why would you want to do it? You need to go and find what it is that you are passionate about. What it is you have fun doing.

Read a lot

The best writers are avid readers. I read all the time. This is how I learn. I’m not saying I am one of the best writers out there. But I don’t think I am the worst either. So read. Read every chance you get. Reading gives you invites and inspiration. It teaches you things you didn’t know. You see how other writers write.

Keep your writers’ notebook handy.

This is something most authors do. It is what all authors should do. Keeping a writer’s notebook helps you keep track of everything. In this notebook or app try to keep the following:

• Story ideas
• Title ideas
• Quotes
• Lists
• Anything else you want

Avoid cliches

Avoid common descriptions that describe the same thing too many times before. They call these cliches. Describe everything in a unique way. You don’t want to write like everyone else. No one wants to read the same descriptions over and over again.

If you find yourself writing a cliche then do this exercise.

Write the cliche across the top of a piece of paper. Next start brainstorming ways to describe the same thing. Try to come up with as many possible descriptions as possible. Pick the best one on the list to use.

Finish each project

We all have projects that are only half done. Even I do. Sometimes it is because I am procrastinating. Sometimes it is because I’m working on something else. At this moment I have 15 articles including this one in my half-done articles here on medium.

I do have one other that is done but waiting for publishing on February first. I scheduled it for then because of the topic of the article. I even have 2 books that are half-written. So yes I need to follow this one.

In my defense of having this many articles that need finishing. Every time I have an idea of an article I start a new story here on medium. I write the idea out and brainstorm a little bit about it. This is so I don’t lose the idea. And most of the articles I have to finish is plotted into my content schedule for this month. The point is this. If you don’t finish what you have started your depriving your readers of something that may find value in.

Ask for feedback

When you’re in doubt over your writing ask some people for feedback on it. We all suffer from doubt. Whether it is sometimes or all the time. When you ask for feedback then you can find out what is working, and what isn’t. This will help you make your writing better.

Your poetry doesn’t have to rhyme

This one is for those of us who love to write poetry. It is true that most poems rhyme. But they don’t have to rhyme. And they don’t have to. Try writing some that don’t. See how you feel about it.

Don’t fear rejections.

Everyone gets rejected sometimes in this career. Even the great Stephen King. But he doesn’t let that stop him from writing every day and publishing his books. If he can do it so can you. Think of rejection as a learning experience. Don’t let the naysayers get you down and stop you from doing what you love.

Back up your writing often

I have a book I am in the middle of typing out my 2nd draft. The first was handwritten. One day I worked hard to type out 2 or 3 thousand words. Then I had to take my daughter to a doctor’s appointment. I didn’t save my progress but left my laptop on the table.

When I got home I went to work on it some more. I found all the work I did on this day was gone. There was no way to get it back. I was so very upset over this. Whenever you get ready to take a break or every half hour at the very least, save your work. Don’t rely on the autosave to do it for you. I only lost a couple of thousand words. You could potentially lose a lot more than that. This not only waists your time but puts you back in your progress.

Don’t be afraid to break the rules

But keep in mind that the more rules you break, the harder it will be to succeed in a writing career. It can also make it harder for you to be productive. You have to know when to follow the rules and when to break them. Following the rules can also save you time.

Conclusion

As I mentioned earlier these rules make it easier for career success. You will want to keep them in mind. I suggest that you write them down on a large piece of paper or whiteboard. Then keep it on the wall near your desk so you can see it every day. This can help you to remember them.

Go forth and write!

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8 Resources That Will Help You With Your Writing!

Photo by Dan Dimmock on Unsplash

Pinterest

Pinterest is one of my go to’s for writing ideas. I can find ideas about any topic I am interested in. You are even able to advertise your blog articles on Pinterest. I have not figured out how to do that yet exactly, but I am still using it for writing ideas. In fact a lot of the time I use Pinterest more often than ask the public and blog ideas generator.

I create a board for each topic that I collect ideas from. I also search those topics for pins that are not even on my boards. Once I find a topic I find interesting, I will search for more pins about that topic. I read all that I can about the topic that I choose and take notes on what I want to add to my article at that time.

The Hemmingway Editor

The Hemmingway editor has become one of my favorite programs.

Since using this program I have learned how to write better. My first drafts are no longer as bad as they once were. I am more focused on the editing of my writing. This is not my only editing tool but it is the second round of editing that I do. I use it for every article I ever right anymore.

If you haven’t invested in this program I highly recommend that you make the investment. Your editing will be all the much better with it. It is inexpensive to invest in. I only paid about $20 dollars for the program. So it is worth the investment. Especially if you can’t afford to hire a professional editor to do your editing for you.

Grammarly

I have installed this program on my laptop and on my phone. I use it all the time. This is the first editing app that I discovered and use. I use Grammarly for my first and third round of editing. I only use the free version, not the paid version.

My entire editing consists If at least four rounds of revision.

• Round 1- fix spelling and punctuation mistakes that show up.
• Round 2- run my writing through the Hemingway editor. This is to fix sentences and grammar mistakes.
• Round 3- run my writing through Grammarly again fixing any missed mistakes.
• Round 4- line by line editing. Fixing capitalization issues and incomplete sentences.

Scrivener

This is one program I haven’t used. I have heard it is a must-have for writing novels and nonfiction books. Most use it for writing fiction novels only. But Joanna Penn none fiction, and novelist uses it for both.

The reason I don’t use it is that the price of this software is around $40. This is double the price of AI Writer. I would love to try Scrivener because it comes so highly recommended. It seems like a fun program to try. Unfortunately, though, it is outside my budget right now.

AI Writer

This app is great for writing blog posts and short stories. It helps to focus on your writing without distractions. It works in regular mode and night mode. It also allows you to focus on 1 line or 1 paragraph at a time. It keeps a word count as MS Word does.

I was able to get the app on my phone free. It works well and is pretty cool. I am having fun with it. If I save my work on my dropbox account I can access the work I do on my phone right onto my laptop. I had to download dropbox from the app store on my laptop to do this. But it was worth it. Considering it was free to do so.

The program on my laptop was a 14-day free trial then you can buy it for $20. But I couldn’t get the laptop version to open. I completely uninstalled it and reinstalled it onto my laptop the next day. This time it is working for me.

Canva

If you’re creative enough and want to create your own book covers this is a great website. This is how I create all my book covers. They have photos you can buy from them or you can upload your own. Most of the photos and graphics they offer are around 1 or 2 dollars each.

If your budget doesn’t allow for that you can download free ones from the internet and then upload them to canva. Canva isn’t for book covers there are all kinds of projects you can create on the site. There is even an app that you can download and create on your phone.

Pixabay and unsplash

These are two places where you can find free to use photos on the web. Anytime you need a photo search thousands of free photos on these sites.

They are great for creating covers for books, web pages, blog articles. They are great for creating anything else that you need a photo for. These sites are great for using with your canva projects.

Amazons KDP site

If you have written a book but don’t want to waste time dealing with hundreds of rejections. You can come to Amazon’s KDP site. It won’t cost you one hot dime to publish your book.

There are many different vanity publishers out there who charge you to publish your book. Don’t fall for them. Especially when Amazon won’t charge you anything to publish it. I have used them 3 times so far. I have 3 books published now.

You will still have to market your own books but you can also do this for free. There are free marketing strategies and paid marketing strategies. So instead of going to a vanity publisher use that money and use it for paid marketing strategies on Amazon KDP.

Conclusion:

Here I talked about 8 resources to help you with your writing. Most of them free to use. Even the ones that cost money are still under $50. These resources are invaluable for every writer. Whether your a novelist or nonfiction writer. Or even a blogger, you will need most of these resources to help you.

7 Tips If You Want To Be A Writer.

If you want to be a writer then welcome to the club. The club of writers. We are many. But there is always room for more. This world needs the written word. You don’t have to write the best selling book on day one of your writing career.

You may not be up to that yet. But everyone needs a place to start. Every famous writer started from the beginning. When you are at the beginning of your writing you may feel insecure. A lot of writers call this the imposter syndrome. Even well-known writers feel this at one time or another in their writing career.

But that’s OK. This is understandable. If you wish to be a writer this article will give you a few tips to help you on your way to following your dream.

•  Keep a Writing Journal.

Most writers will tell you to keep a writing journal. Whether you keep it in a notebook with a pen, or electronically on your phone. Keeping a journal is very important to have a writing career. It is a good place for you to keep ideas, quotes, snippets of conversation. You can even write a short description of a scene or character. By keeping a journal it will help you to keep track of ideas. It is a very valuable writer’s tool.

I keep my journal of sorts on my phone and computer. I have different aps that I use to keep different things on. I use note pads on my phone. I use Evernote so that I can use my notes not only on my phone but also on my laptop. I use MS Word on my phone and on my laptop.

This week I discovered a new writing program that I have been using on my phone. I even downloaded a free trial on my laptop. This program? IA Writer. It comes with a 14-day free trial and then only costs $20 for the program. The ap for your phone is free. It has a day mode and a night mode. It even allows you to focus on one paragraph or one sentence at a time. It highlights the sentence that you’re writing while the rest fades out a little. I am finding this program pretty interesting to use.

Unlike scrivener where you are focusing on a book or novel. This program focuses on shorter pieces of work like a blog article. If you want to check it out I would suggest that you do so.

• Read a lot

If you want to be a great writer you need to spend time reading. Reading is very important. It helps you to learn how other writers spin their craft. It shows you how to write dialogue and how to describe scenes. Reading can even give you ideas to write about. Sometimes we all need an idea to write about.

When you read you will want to read the type of books and articles that you want to write about. Do you want to write poems? Read a lot of poetry. Read books on how to write poetry. Do you want to write fantasy? Read a lot of fantasy books to get an idea of how they are written and what ideas the authors come up with. This will help you to write your own fantasy stories and novels.

• Write something every day

Many writers will tell you that you need to write every day. This is true you should write every day. Most people will counter with: I don’t have time to write every day. So this is what I ask. Do you have 5 minutes here and there through the day that you may have free? Your in the doctor’s office waiting for your appointment. Your waiting in line at the grocery store. You carry your phone everywhere you go. This gives you the opportunity to get a few minutes of writing in while your waiting.

By utilizing these little pockets of time you can get much more writing in than you expected. Not everyone can spend hours a day writing. There are families to raise. There are Jobs to go to. Even I can’t always find long spans of time to write. I have a job that I have to go to every day. So I use my phone and write in these pockets of time. Breaks and lunches. I get up 2 or 3 hours early to go into work and sit in the break room or the subway there. So I can do some writing and marketing before work.

• Set small achievable writing goals

When you begin writing you want to set some goals. But the goals you set should be small goals to start out with. You don’t want to have too big of goals. When your goals are too big in the beginning you are setting yourself up for failure. That is not what you want. You want to succeed in your writing career.

The only way to do this is to set small achievable goals to start with. When you set small goals they are easier to do than it would be to set a large goal in the beginning. It’s like learning to ride a bike. When starting out you are using training wheels to help you balance. When you get a little better then you can take the training wheels off. Then you begin practicing riding your bike without the help of those extra wheels.

Writing is the same way. You start out setting a small goal. Then you work at accomplishing that goal. Then you set a bigger goal. Then working to do that one too. You keep doing this as you work on your writing career. Always making the new goal a little bigger each time.

• First drafts are always crap

Don’t worry too much about making your first draft perfect. There is no perfect first draft. That is why it is the first draft is called the first draft. All first drafts are crap and need more work. In fact usually, in writing, you may go through many different drafts as you edit and polish your work.

You don’t publish the first draft. First drafts are for your eyes only. They are not meant for anyone else to see them but you. So don’t be afraid to make it as crazy or as long as you want. The time for editing that first draft will come later.

• Try writing in different types of writing mediums.

When you start out writing try writing different types. Write poetry and fiction try writing some nonfiction. Write some large pieces and some small pieces too. Don’t stick with one type of a writing medium or one length. You want to explore the different types until you find the one that speaks to you.

When I write I write a lot of nonfiction. But that is not all. I occasionally write short stories of fiction. Sometimes I will even write out a poem that I become inspired to write. I even will write in a personal essay journal on my phone sometimes. The point is I write a little of everything.

In doing this, I have learned that I am no good at writing full-length fiction novels. But I don’t do to bad at writing short stories. Although most of my writing is nonfiction books and articles.

• Stop calling yourself an aspiring writer

If you want to be a writer then call yourself a writer. You shouldn’t call yourself an aspiring writer. Not if you are serious about it anyways. If you go to school to become a doctor you don’t call yourself an aspiring doctor. No. You call yourself a doctor. You practice being a doctor. You are paid to be a doctor. You are a doctor.

The same is when you want to be a writer. You practice writing. You write whenever you have the opportunity to write. Then you are a writer. Not an aspiring writer. So stop calling yourself one.

Conclusion:

When starting out as a writer it is good to have a place to start. You should always start from the beginning. Don’t be afraid to write. don’t let fear get in your way of being a writer. If you follow these tips that I have offered in this article you will do fine.

Everyone has to start somewhere. I did. Steven King did. And every other writer on this planet has. So do you. So where do you start? Start with these tips and watch your career soar. It may take time for it to get anywhere. But eventually, your writing will take off to greater heights.

Go Forth And Write!

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All you have to do is to click here!

 

How You Can Use Blogging To Write A Book

Writing a book doesn’t have to take years to write. You can write one in a few short weeks. In fact, you could have one written in as little as the next 1–4 weeks time.

I am not talking about during November when you’re writing for NANOWRIMO. you don’t have to have as much as 50,000 words written to do it either. It can be as small as 25,000–30,000 words and still be a great book (this averages out to 80–100 pages for your book).

How can you do this, you ask?

If you have been blogging for a long time you might already have 90% of a book written already. You can use some of your blog articles to create a book.

Do you blog in a particular niche? Have you written many different articles about a particular topic in that niche?

If you answered yes to these questions you may have 90% of your book done. For instance, your niche is about raising children. Then over time, you have written 30–40 articles about children with ADHD.

You can take those articles and write your book using those articles as chapters or sections. Then write some text tying them together in a cohesive order. Write your introduction and back matter.

Once this is done you edit your book, create a cover, format it, and publish it. The only thing you need to do after that is market the book and sell it. That doesn’t sound too hard, does it?

But what if you don’t have that many articles about one topic in your niche yet? Not a problem. It may take a little longer to write it. But it’s still possible to do it. All you need to do is write one or two articles per day for the next 30 days.

By the end of those 30 days, you will have enough content for your book. The content must add value to your reader to make a great book. If your not an expert on the topic you still can be by the end of your writing each blog article. To become one, you will have to do a lot of research for the articles.

This will work for you no matter if you are a fiction writer or a nonfiction writer. If you are a fiction writer you can still write a chapter each day. Or you can even write one short story at a time and turn it into an anthology. You have to be careful to write at least 25,000 to 30,000 words like mentioned up above.

When you publish each article on your blog keep track of all the comments from your readers. You can use these comments in your book as examples from real people.

Or you can use the comments as testimonials and reviews. These can help to sell more copies of your book. Books that have reviews tend to sell better than books without.

When you write content as a blog article first, you have another way to make money with your content. You’re also motivating yourself to complete a book in a short time.

Some of the different ways to monetize your content:

• Each individual chapter or section can be its own blog post on your blog.
• An ebook sold on amazon
• A paperback book sold on Amazon.
• An audiobook.
• You can also translate them into different languages.

Final thoughts:

As a blogger it is very important to create many income streams . Especially if you want to quit your job to be a full-time blogger. It’s also important when trying to build a coaching business. It shows you as an expert in your niche.

Where you can learn more about blogging a book:

• “How to blog a book” by Nina Amir This book is available at Amazon and other sites.
• https://howtoblogabook.comalso by Nina Amir
• Dan Janal Founder, Write Your Book in a Flash

Note: These links are not affiliated links. I do not make any money when you go to them.

Hi,

Are you ready to begin email marketing but not exactly how to go about it? Well, you can join me in my free 7-day Email Marketing course.

I will take you through the steps of picking your niche and building your list. I will also talk about creating email campaigns and marketing to your list.

I will also talk about what types of emails you can send and when to send them.

So if your ready to take your business to the next level come and join me in my 7-day email marketing class.

All you have to do is to click here!