What's Your Writing Process?

Share |

We all have a writing process . . . the trick is in discovering just what it is--and more importantly, whether it's helping or harming our efforts.

Some Questions
* Do you find yourself struggling to keep on track with your writing?

* Do your writing goals jump ahead of your actual writing output?

* Are you stuck at the starting gate or bogged down in the middle?

You want a greater output but . . . how the heck does one produce lots of content and then even more?

STOP ALL THE CAREFUL PLANNING!

That careful planning, by its very nature, may be what's messing with your writing process.

It's a hard climb to get words out onto a page--especially if you are monitoring your every word or sweating over the small stuff . . . such as the beginning paragraph, typos, grammar, formatting . . .. Let me explain.

If you want to kick-start your writing, simply write--don't plan, don't correct, don't over analyze. All these "grown up" measures interfere with creativity and productivity.

Let your words pour out onto the page. Give them permission to surface before killing them off. Once they've poured out of you, let them sit awhile, then go back when you are fresh and make any needed changes . . . you know, all that boring stuff such as editing, organizing, etc, etc, etc. Yawn. Is it time for coffee yet?

Can you see now why your writing is massacred if you start to chip away at it too early? Maybe your writing process--the one that includes starting to fret or edit too early--is the grain of sand that grew so big it crushed the pearl.

Your writing process is only valuable if it allows you to accomplish your writing goals.

Make sure that your writing process propels you forward instead of slowing you down or killing your inspiration.

It's important to find a process that works for you. If what you are presently doing isn't working, change it.

With a new year ahead of us, now is the time to look at what we've been doing and to identify factors that are slowing us down or interfering with our writing.

Remember, when it comes to your writing process, there are no "right ways" and no "wrong ways." Interestingly, many established and prolific authors have found that letting go and going with the flow helps then to get more done.

Most of us can't do it all at once. Write first; edit later. Writing and editing can then "all fall in love . . . and no one gets hurt."

Write and Earn a Living Up and Running Again

Share |

Well, at long last, I have this blog up and running again. I purchased a domain name--and my blog disappeared!!

The new URL failed to redirect readers to this blog--instead I kept getting a 404 error; I tried typing in the previous blogspot URL and that returned a 404 error, as well.

Then I tried to go back to the blogspot publishing platform and received a message that the name "Write and Earn a Living" was already taken. Yes it was . . . by me!

Has anyone else experienced this problem?

It can be incredibly frustrating when you invest a couple of years into a blog, building trackbacks, readers,and PR, only to have it all disappear in the twinkling of an eye.

So, for now, I'll continue to publish using blogspot. Today, mysteriously enough, I somehow managed to access the blogspot platform, and viola! obtained access to my blog. Whew!