Finding Time to Write

Many people I know say that they find it really hard to find time to do their writing.

They say that between working, looking after their family and doing household chores, there is just no time left in the day for writing.

That's because there is no such thing as "finding" time. Saying that you'll find time to do something is the same as saying you'll do it later.  Later doesn't exist. There is no such time as "later" and you can't "find" time.

Instead you have to allocate time to write. And preferably allocate the same time every day so that you can build up a really good daily writing habit AND it will be easier to actually sit down and write if you have dedicated time to it on a consistent basis.

But how can you decide which hours of the day to dedicate to writing if you think your daily schedule is already full?

Here are three ways that really work. Try them all.

1. Do Less of What Doesn't Matter
We all have time that we spend doing things that really don't matter because they are not helping us move towards our life goals. These may be things like watching TV, gossiping, unnecessary shopping, social media, emails, web surfing, and more. If it's not moving you forward in your life to where you want to be then you don't need it.

2. Use Otherwise Wasted Time
There are plenty of opportunities to make use of what would be wasted time in a day. It could be a train/bus journey to work, lunch break, waiting for kids after school, or perhaps you could get up an hour earlier to write. When J K Rowling wrote her first Harry Potter novel, she did it while her baby daughter slept for 2 hours in the afternoon. Her second novel she wrote during her lunch breaks at work.

3. Keep an Accountability Diary
If you really want to know where your time goes keep a diary of what you do all day long. This can be a complete revelation into how you spend your time. It can also help you to stop wasting time when you have to write down how much time you spend doing everything. An accountability diary really helps to keep you responsible for every precious moment of the day.

We all have time for doing what is important. Yet we waste it on unimportant things, then wonder where all our time went.

But now is the time to turn things around and you have 3 simple ways to help you find more time to write.

Does Writing By Hand Make You More Creative?

One debate that modern writers always talk about is whether it’s better to write by hand or straight to the computer.

For speed it’s better to write straight to the computer.

Or is it?

Some argue that while typing is faster than handwriting, it slows the brain’s creative process and so it’s quicker to write with pen and paper.

But handwriting also means having to type everything up later.

Personally, I prefer to do all my first drafts by hand. When I type my work up later, I use it as a first edit, because I can type pretty fast.

I also like to hand write things first because when I only have a pad and pen to work with, there are far less electronic distractions. I can’t waste time idly surfing the net or checking emails or Facebook.
My phone isn’t set up for receiving emails and although I do have FaceBook on it, I’m not a big user and I have notifications disabled.

My pad and pen can also go anywhere with no need for internet or electricity.

I also write less critically while writing by hand. Working on a lit screen feels too clinical and so what I produce electronically is different to what I write by hand.

My writing seems to flow better too, for reasons I do not know. Maybe it’s because writing in a notebook feels more private and  personal. It’s all too easy for others to read what I write on a computer screen, but they are usually reluctant to look over my shoulder and try and read my scrawl and scribblings on paper.

And it’s not just me who prefers writing by hand.

I recently read an article about other well-known writers who also prefer handwriting their first drafts including J K Rowling and Joe Hills (Stephen King’s oldest son).

And because I earn my living from my writing, my daily word count is important so I need to hand write at between ten and twenty pages a day, more than that if possible. I also need time to type it up too.

But even though writing by hand is slower, it’s faster overall because I find it easier to sit and write with a pen (or pencil) but I’m more reluctant to sit down and write straight to the computer.

Which makes me more likely to write every day if I’m going to do it longhand because I find it far more enjoyable, so it’s easier to sit down and get to work.

Whereas, working on the computer causes me to not only procrastinate and waste time instead of sitting down to work, and because I’m more critical when I’m using a keyboard, writing takes longer.

I just enjoy writing by hand which makes me more motivated to write, my writing flows better, plus I get more done in a day.

And that’s what really counts.

So if you’re struggling to sit down at your computer and write every day, try handwriting your first drafts instead.

It works for me and it might help you too.

The Hardest Thing About Writing Is Showing Up For Work Every Day

As a writer, people often think I write all day every day.

But it's not true at all.

I usually work for between 3 and 4 hours a day, 4 days a week (sometimes 5 days, but mostly 4).

The reason for this is that it's difficult (at least for me) to be creative for a full day. Not only that but I also have other admin things to take care of every day too.

And I also have a life.

Years ago I thought that working such short hours made me lazy. But it turns out that most writers only write an hour or two or three every day.

It seems that we are all plagued by the same problems:

• Lack of creative thinking for too long.
• Showing up for "work" every day.

Indeed, showing up for work every day is the hardest because before I can do any creative work at all, I need to be sitting at my desk.

I don't always write at the same desk every day, but I have to sit down at one of them.

Some days I sit in my home study, or at a table out on our big deck (with great views), or a picnic table at a park, or a table in the local library.

I've even been known, on occasion, to sit in my car, under a shady tree and write there, which sometimes happens if I'm out and it starts raining or there are no tables available at the park.

It's easy to get to work every day when you have a "day job" and a boss who'll fire you if you don't turn up.

But it's completely different when you only have yourself to tell you when it's time to work and when it's time to stop for the day.

In his book "On Writing," horror author Stephen King said that your muse doesn't show up for work until you do. And that is so true.

I'm rarely dying to sit down and write every day, but once I sit down and get to work, my muse does indeed show up and I can keep going for ages.

But that initial sitting down is usually the hardest.

And next comes the struggle of being able to keep writing for too long.

There are some writers, although not many, who can sit and write all day every day, but these kind of writers are few and far between. Isaac Asimov, the sci-fi writer, was one such author who would just sit and write all day from early morning till late evening.

Today I was listening to a podcast of writer Geoff Goins who was interviewing another writer Austin Kleon. Austin was talking about this very subject of how difficult it is for most writers to actually sit down and write every day.

He also made the point that even once we sit down to write, after just a few hours, it's hard to keep going.

Even well-known authors like Stephen King admit that they only write for 1 to 3 hours a day and then they're finished.

And like me, they find it easier to write early in the day rather than later. Although, sometimes, if I'm in the middle of a big project and I want to keep working on it, I will sit down in the evening and work for a couple more hours if I can.

So while I do love being a writer and wouldn't want to do anything else, I find it easier to work for a few hours every day than to sit and write for one full day.

There are people who tell me that they don't have time to write because they have a full time job, but even if they didn't, they wouldn't spend all that time writing. None of us do.

And it's probably a good thing too because I find that my best ideas come when I'm away from my computer. Usually when I'm doing what I call "busy-hands-empt-mind" jobs like weeding, showering, cleaning, sweeping, walking. Those jobs where you're physically busy but you've done them so many times you don't have to think about what you're doing any more.

So don't let a day job hold you back from your writing because you don't need all day to write.

You just need an hour or two a day.

This is one of my favourite "how to write a novel" books because it's a complete step-by-step workbook.

Brilliant!

Click the image above to learn more.

This book will definitely help you to sit down every day and write.

How To Get Out of Your Own Way

Over the past couple of weeks I've been slightly neglectful of posting to this blog.

One of the reasons is that I've been busy working my way though the latest book I bought (and I buy and read many).

This one has really got my attention in a big way, even though it is more than a simple read.

The book is called "How to Get Out of Your Own Way: A Step-by-Step Guide for Identifying and Achieving Your Goals."

I bought it as a paperback book from Amazon.com because it seems that this is the only place I could find to buy it. I wanted it to find out why I never seem to get as many things done as I want to (especially with my writing) and why so often I don't finish projects that I start.

I was intrigued after I listened to the audio version of it which I borrowed from my local library.

Once I began listening to it, it didn't take me long (about an hour I think it was) to really want to own my own paperback copy of it so that I could work my way through it for myself.

This is what Amazon says about the book:

"Tired of losing... and suspecting YOU are your own worst enemy? This is what you've been looking for! This book is full of expert, pragmatic advice for unraveling and breaking through self-defeating behavior. It uses a combination of interactive questionnaires and exercises to help you turn around your career, your relationships, and even your very own personality. This book shows you 27 self-sabotaging characteristics, how your family background effects your career, how to escape negative patterns of the past, how to form positive personal and business relationships, the 9 rules for defining success, and the importance of "imagineering."

It's written by Daniel G. Amen, M.D. who is a clinical neuroscientist, psychiatrist, and brain-imaging expert.

The book is set out (in it's 295 pages) in a question and answer format. It has hundreds of questions that you have to answer and then it tells you what your score means before diving into what your "self-sabotaging" habits are and how to overcome them.

I am totally engrossed in this book at the moment (even though so far it's telling me that I have adult ADD and slight depression which really isn't what I wanted to know).

The good thing though, is that I'm now up to the part where I'm starting to learn the steps I need to take to make the changes in my life that I need in order to become more productive, both in my work and at home.

Every day there are so many things I want to do, but rarely do I achieve them all. The whole process just becomes one big round of frustrations for me.

But I'm hoping this book will change all that. In fact, so far, I have high hopes.

I'm actually already learning a lot about myself which, although isn't good, is fixable.

It turns out that I am the nutcase that I always suspected I was. But luckily, with this book, I have the means to change that.

So if you are having recurring problems in any area of your life, I highly recommend "How to Get Out of Your Own Way: A Step-by-Step Guide for Identifying and Achieving Your Goals."

It's a new book and so far has a 100% 5 star review rating on Amazon.

By the time I've finished working my way through it, I'll be an extremely prolific and incredibly high earning writer. Better than I've ever done before.

So here I go.

Join me if you dare (finding out the truth about ourselves isn't always pretty) and if you want to have success in all areas of your life.

It's fun. And life changing.

Click the book cover image below to find out more and to see the other amazing books by the same author.

How to Start Writing Every Day

Now I know that I’ve often talked about the need to write every day.

And it’s true. You really do need to sit down and write daily.

But what if you don’t know what to write?

Then sit down with a writing pad and pen and copy out, by hand, the kind of writing you want to do.

If you want to write fiction, find a great author and write out their work.

If you want to improve your copywriting, write out a sales page that inspires you.

If you want to write inspirational articles, find some that inspire you and copy them out.

There are three reasons to do this:

1. It will make sure you never miss a day of writing.
2. It will give you a great insight into how the great writers put their words together.
3. It will help you to start lots of ideas of your own.

So never say “I’ve got nothing to write.”

There is ALWAYS something that you can write.

Being a writer means you never stop learning.

You never stop practicing.

So get out some great writing and get to work.

How to Write More Books Without Needing Extra Time

Finding enough time to write is a problem for many writers.

It's bad enough when you have other commitments like a full time job and/or a family, because these things can't really take a back seat when it comes to your time commitments.

But what do you do when you want to write books but you don't seem to be able to find the time to do it?

This is often a major dilemma because even when you do find time to write there are other things to take care of like website updates or blog posts to write or email waiting to be answered.

Well, I found a way to get more book writing done without needing more time to do it.

What I do is I write my books first.

When I sit down to write every day, the first thing I do is my book writing for an hour or two.

After that, I'll look at doing other things like checking my emails (ALWAYS a big time suck) and writing blog posts.

That way, I still work for the same amount of hours every day, but no matter what else comes up, I know that my book writing is done for the day.

And it's amazing how much writing I can do in just an hour or two a day.

No matter what time of day I sit down to work, as long as I do my book writing first, I know that my books will get written no matter what.

It's all a matter of prioritising.

Which is usually a lot easier said than done, but not when you commit to doing it.

The Secret to Having More Time to Write AND a Higher Writing Income

Today I want to share with you a simple way I've found over the years that allows me to have more time to write and helps to increase my writing income.

And what's so simple about it, is because it means you spending less time doing something you're doing now rather than start doing something that you're not used to.

In a nut shell, it's being selective about who you're spending your time with and ditching those that are toxic to you.

You see, they say that you become the average of the 5 people that you spend most of your time with, and this doesn't only mean people in your physical presence. It can also mean those you spend time with online as well as the authors whose books you read and the TV programs and movies you watch.

Online it's important to notice who you interact with on FaceBook and Twitter and the social media sites as well as the blogs you follow and the articles you read.

What I've come to realise is that most of the things we do online are a complete waste of time and some of it can be toxic too if you spend your time responding to trolls.

A few months ago I decided to block everyone on social media who was negative and nasty. I don't mean anyone who disagreed with me about something, but those trolls who are downright derogatory and hateful. So I began blocking anyone who I considered a troll or a waste of my time because I don't want to read anything they post and I don't want them to see anything I post either.

And this has turned out to be a significant time saver.

This same principle can be applied to everyone you spend time with whether it's in person, on the phone, or online.

So I began to be more selective about who I was spending my precious time with.

I unsubscribed from quite a few emails, purged my RSS reader of feeds, stopped reading books that were a waste of time and instead started looking for a few inspirational and informational books and blogs. And it's surprising how few I actually found. Most of the sites online either aren't informative or they contradict what they say all the time so I'm uneasy that they're always telling the truth.

Next I stopped watching certain programs on TV because they just weren't of any real value to me. They were just my excuse to slump on the couch and do nothing.

I also stopped spending time with people I didn't really want to be with. I think we all have people in our lives that we spend time with just because we think we "should" or because we've been associating with them for so long that it's hard to stop.

I stopped by cutting conversations short either in person and especially on the phone. If the conversation started to get gossipy or what the other person was saying was of no interest to me, instead of feigning interest, I just excused myself and left.

Anyway, the upshot of it all was that reading became more fun, I was following less people on social media, I didn't have to spend time with people I didn't want to be with,  watched a lot less TV, and so I gained a whole lot more time.

And then I used that time to write more and my writing income increased because I was working more and being inspired by my new associations. I also found I had more time for other things that I wanted to do like walk my dogs and work in the garden.

So if you have people in your life who are wasting your time, either online or offline, purge your relationships and spend time only with those you want to be with and free up more time for the things you want to do.

It's really amazing how those small pockets of time we waste add up to hours and hours.

And you're new found time can be used for doing  more writing and increasing your writing income too because not only will you feel freer, but you'll also feel more in control and more inspired.

How to Focus Like a Zen Monk

Being a writer is often hard because self discipline is a problem.

It's easy to say you'll sit down and write every day, but it's quite another thing to do it.

And I'm no different than anybody else because I struggle with staying focused all the time too.

Thankfully, though I found a way around it and it works for me every time.

I used to sit down at my writing desk and begin my day with wasting a couple of hours checking email and clicking on links and reading articles.

But now I've found a way to actually sit down and get straight to work.

The thing I started doing every day to get more work done was to use a timer.

I use the timer on my iPhone, but any timer will do.

When I sit down to write I set it for 35 minutes and then I open my diary, see what I have planned for the day and get straight to work.

And because I'm working against the clock I have to keep going and do as much as I can in the short time that I've got.

The reason for using such a small amount of time to work is because it's a psychological trick on the mind because I try to do as much as I can because I know I don't have much time to do it so I stay focused. If I had too much time, I'd just start wasting it.

When the timer sounds, I tap to stop it and then I have a 5 minute break away from the computer. Sometimes I get a drink or go to the toilet or hang out a load of washing or I give the dog a 5 minute pat.

Then I sit down again, set the timer, for another 35 minutes, and get back to work.

I repeat this about 6 to 8 times and then I'm finished working for the day.

Even while I'm writing this blog post, the timer is counting down.

I learned this trick from one of the great, late copywriters, Eugene Schwartz. He liked to work this way and said using a timer was an old Zen trick.

You just set the timer and then tell yourself you have no other obligations during that 35 minutes and you cannot do anything except the work you're supposed to be doing. No checking emails or FaceBook or getting up to get a drink.

Nothing. Nada. Zip.

You either have to begin working or sit and do nothing.

And if you repeat the 35 minute cycle at least 6 times a day, you'll get thousands of words written without trying too hard and without feeling like you should be doing other things.

Once the timer starts you forget about the car payment that's due, or the shopping that needs doing or that you haven't checked your FaceBook page in a while. Once that timer starts, your only obligation is to start writing and keep going, no matter what.

Working this way sounds so easy to do and so it sounds like it won't work or that it won't make any difference to how much writing you do every day.

But it does make a huge difference, and on the odd few days that I don't use a timer, I get far less work done AND I work for much longer every day too.

If you haven't tried this old Zen trick of working with a timer, give it a try and see how you go.

And if you want to write more but don't know what to do or where to start, use The 7 Day Ebook System.

You can download it and start working through it today, and by this time next week, not only will you have written and published an ebook, but you'll already have made sales too, because this system is guaranteed to work.

Productivity Deals For Writers to Help You Kick Start 2016 The Write Way

I just wanted to let you know about some amazing deals and offers that will help you to really kick start your productivity in 2016. But be quick because some are time limited offers with just a few days left.

Don't let another year drift by. Create an amazing writing and publishing business for yourself. Make it so great that the results will blow your own mind.

From Brian Tracy:

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A system for developing the clarity you need to master a mindset of achievement and discipline for complete life fulfilment.

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How To Write A Book And Become A Published Author

FREE 35-Minute Webinar — Bestselling Author Tells All.

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FREE 3-Part Video Training Series & PDF...

"Proven Sales Methods to Increase Your Sales and Income "

From Zazzle:

New Year, New You - Up to 50% Off Sale - Use code: ZNEWYEAR2016 Starts: 01/05/2016 Expires: 01/08/2016 11:59 PM
A huge range of personalised products including notebooks.

From the Writers' Store:

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Want to Do More Writing? Get Lost!

I find that one of the hardest things about working from home is distractions.

So far today, it’s only 1pm but I’ve already had 3 phone calls, one visitor, several frantic emails to answer plus I have to call someone later who insists on speaking with me.

See?

Distractions.

This is why it’s good to get lost if I want to write.

But I don’t get literally lost.

I’m just lost from other people.

I go out to a park or to the library and ignore everyone.

Sometimes I go and sit at the back of my garden because it’s far enough away so that no one can be bothered to disturb me (I have quite a big garden).

I don’t have an internet connection on my computer when I’m ‘lost’ and I don’t answer my phone.

I write without looking up and I have my earbuds in and I listen to audios so that no one will stop to speak to me.

The audios are not only entrainment audios that help me stay focused and creative, but also help to block out all other sounds so I can get ‘lost’ in my own little world for a few hours, get amazingly creative and astound myself with how much writing I can get done when I’m left in peace to do it.

So if you want to get more writing done, first of all you need to get lost.

Looking for some brain entrainment audios to help you focus too? 

Download a free demo from Brain Salon. http://writeaholics.net/links/brainsalondemo.html.  

It’s the audios I use all the time.

Using The Write Tools For the Job

Writing fast is important, but so is writing well.

I don’t feel creative writing straight to the computer.

I’m much more comfortable sitting and writing with a pad and pen.

And it’s not just any old pen. It has to be a fountain pen because I find it so much easier to write with. The ink flows easily onto the page with no pressure required.

Of course the only problem is that I then have to sit and type up my work.

That’s usually not a big deal because I can type fast.

But my chair needs to be at the right height so that my arms are comfortable.

Working this way may be slower than writing straight to the computer but it works for me because it keeps me writing.

Writing straight to the keyboard makes me not want to write and the creative process in my brain is slower.

So I write the way I want to because that makes me want to write.

Write the way you want to and find the product you need to help you achieve your writing and publishing dreams at http://cheritonhousepublishing.com

Gain An Extra Month Of Writing in 2016

Now is the time of year when we all start looking ahead to the New Year and start planning all the things we'll be doing during those 12 shiny, new months.

But why have 12 months when you can have 13?

Do you know how much more writing you could do if you had an extra month? A lot. In November every year, thousands of writers complete a whole novel manuscript during the 30 days of  NaNoWriMo.

But how can you gain an extra month in a year? That's not possible is it?

It is if you start now.

Don't wait until January to start working your yearly writing plan.

Start now in December, and by January you'll be a month ahead.

Of course, this will only work if you're serious about your writing.

If you aren't, you'll wait till January (as usual), begin with good intentions, and then repeat the year before with all its lack of focus, never-ending stream of excuses, and no writing done.

Don't waste another minute (or another month).

Start your New Years writing plan today.

How To Earn A High Income Writing Ebooks

If you want to earn a high income writing ebooks, then you have to know how to do it consistently.

Being an ebook writer and publisher is a real work from home or work from anywhere career.

Ebooks are a great way to earn passive income because they are fast to write, effortless to format and quick to publish.

You can write a short report or small ebook in just one 2 hour sitting, if you have a system for writing.

Ebooks are also effortless to format because you only have to do it once, if you have your ebook writing and publishing process set up correctly.

I use Pages on my Mac Book Pro and I've set up styles for my articles and ebooks. That means that I set them up once, saved them as templates, and now I only have to click on the template I want to use (article or ebook) and the formatting is already taken care of.

Ebooks are also quick to publish because all you need to do is upload them in just one click.

But if you want to earn all your income from your ebooks then you also need to look at the math.

Most writers and authors want to earn a six-figure income from their ebooks, which is a minimum of $100K a year. This equate to $400 a day, 5 days a week (so you get the weekends off).

So if you write and publish a $20 ebook, then you need to sell 20 copies a day to earn $400.

And if you sell your ebook on Kindle and only earn $2 in royalties for each copy sold, you'd need 200 daily sales.

Now while that may seem like a lot of ebook sales, it's not all bad.

You see, it's easier to sell less copies per day of more books, than more copies per day of just one ebook.

So achieving 20 or 200 sales a day IS difficult if you only have one ebook written and published.

But what if you were selling 20 ebooks? That would mean you only have to sell one copy of each ebook per day (at $20 each) to earn $400. That's just one copy.

And if you were only earning $2 then you'd only need to sell 10 copies of each per day.

And if you're a focused and prolific writer, there's now reason why you couldn't write and publish 50 ebooks a year, if you can write and publish one ebook a week. Or you could still write and publish as many as 25 ebooks a year, if you write and publish one every 2 weeks.

That would mean that in just 1 year you'd have 50 ebooks selling all over the world. So that would mean, that you'd still only need 20 daily sales (at $20 each) to earn $400 a day, so you don't even need to sell one copy of every ebook a day. Just one copy of less than half of your ebooks.

And if  you were selling them and only receiving $2 in royalties, you only need 4 daily sales of each ebook to earn $400.

So if writing and selling ebooks is something you've always wanted to do, this would be the week to start writing your first-of-many manuscripts.

All you need is a good 7 day ebook writing and publishing system.

This will quickly build into a great daily writing habit, and your new process plus the focus and determination to make it work will give you the writing career you've always dreamed of.


Just choose a way that works for you and get started.

Why This is THE Most Important Time of Year For Writers

It's now November.

Boy has this year flown.

As far as writing goes I haven't achieved everything I hoped this year, but I came pretty darn close.

And since it's now less than 2 months to the end of the year, this is the most important time to plan what I'll be doing next year.

Starting my plan early will give me plenty of time to think things through.

It also is a brilliant time to look at everything I want to finish by the end of this year too.

If you never map out a writing and publishing plan for the following year, I can highly recommend doing so.

I find that I work much more efficiently if I have a plan and a timeline for everything I need to do. It frees up my thinking time so that I can concentrate more on my writing.

I don't have a set plan for  2016 yet, but I do know at least one thing that I'll be doing for the rest of 2015 and that's promoting my book, How to Quit Smoking - Without Giving Up Cigarettes, because thanks to New Years resolutions, this book is always an end of year best seller.

And it's available as a paperback book, as well as a Kindle and PDF, so it also makes a great Christmas gift too.

Another good reason to start promoting it early.

What will you be doing next year?

No Time To Write? Liar!

"I have so much going on in my life right now that I don't have time to even think about writing."

That's what someone said to me recently. Can you believe that?

It's a ridiculous statement.

And a lie.

We all have time to write.

And there's nothing more annoying to those of us who are writing and making a living out of it, than to hear someone who never writes at all claiming that they would write, but they just don't have the time.

Every successful writer began as a busy person who made a habit of prioritising their writing instead of putting it off with excuse after excuse.

An excuse isn't a reason for not writing, it's a way of trying to say that it's not your fault that you're not writing.

But it is your fault.

Just take a look at this article by successful and prolific writer, Emma Darwin, who explains quite succinctly how to get some writing done every day AND get your novel written, even if you believe you don't have time.

http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/2015/01/ring-fencing-writing-time.html

Or how about the article called "Just Write the Damned Book Already" by Joseph Finder who also gets annoyed with people who claim they don't have time to write and counters it with "And if only I had the time to run for President, I’d be in the White House."

http://www.josephfinder.com/writers/tips/just-write-the-damned-book-already/

Or if you want to be truly inspired by seeing just how much another author does write every day, take a look at Dean Wesley Smith's blog post series called "Writing in Public" where he publicly details how many words he writes every day.

http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/category/challenge-2/page/4/

And he doesn't just tell you how much he writes, but tells you what he does all day so you can see his day unfolding from start to finish.  His blog posts can really give you motivation.

So if you tell people that you don't have time to write, stop talking, apply backside to chair and get writing.

You'll be surprised at just how much you can write in a short time.

I can do half a page of writing in just 5 minutes which means by doing that every day, I could write a novel in a year.

How about you?

The Easy Way to Deal With Email and Keep Your Inbox Empty

It's surprising (to me, anyway) how many people suffer from over-stuffed inboxes and don't know what to do about it.

So I thought it's about time I shared with you what you can do. So here is an easy solution.

First of all, open your inbox and view the messages as "from" instead of "date" which is the default way messages are displayed in your inbox. This will group together all the messages from each sender.

Then go through them all and delete all the messages you don't need. This is easy because you can simply highlight all the messages from each sender and deleted them all at once.

Next go through the messages you chose not to delete and do one of the following four things with each one:

• Deal with it
• File it
• Pass it on
• Trash

Deal with it: If you have an email that requires a response from you, deal with it. It will probably only take you a couple of minutes.

File it: You probably have several different email folders where you store messages. I have a different one for each hosting company, friends, companies I deal with, etc. So if it's a message you want to keep, move it to the appropriate email folder or a folder on your hard drive.

Pass it on: If it's an email that someone else needs to deal with, forward it on to them and then move the email to trash. For example, I pass on emails that my book keeper or accountant needs to deal with.

Trash: This is where you place all the emails you don't need. Even if at first you thought you needed to keep it and if, on reflection, you don't need it, then move it to the trash folder.

One caveat I will mention is that once you've dealt with everything in your inbox, keep the emails you sent to trash for at least a month or two before you empty your trash folder, just in case you've trashed something by mistake.

And then every day when you check your emails, make the four choices immediately of how to deal with them.

I have my email set for manual checking and I don't check emails on my phone. That way I'm not distracted my unexpected emails popping up all the time. I dedicate certain times of the day for checking email and deal with them at that time.

I currently only have 4 email in my inbox and they're only there because the time to deal with them hasn't arrived yet, but it will soon and then I can delete them for good.

And my inbox will be empty once more.

Happy sigh...

How's That For Fast Writing?

So often I've talked (wrote?) about how important it is to write quickly.

I'm not saying that you have to write as fast as you can, but if you write daily, your writing speed will increase with practice without you even knowing it.

And when you get quicker at writing, you'll also find you can write more in less time, or write more than ever in the usual time that you write every day.

And how much my writing speed has increased was brought home to me recently.

The other day I was pottering around doing a few chores before I sat down to write.

One of the things I did was to set up my bread machine to make some dough because I wanted to make bread rolls for dinner to go with the soup that I'd made.

The bread machine takes one hour and 30 minutes to mix the dough, warm it, let it prove (rise) and knock it back ready for me to take it out and shape it into bread rolls. And all I have to do first is put in the ingredients (gotta love bread making machines).

I'd put the bread machine out on the deck because it was a hot day and I didn't want it to heat up the kitchen.

It was right beside the outside table where I sat down to write. So as soon as I sat down I looked at the timer on the bread machine to see how much longer it had left. 35 minutes.

Just before I sat down I'd had a cup of coffee while I outlined a marketing article and a blog post.

So I took out my scribbled outlines and set to work writing the marketing article,  proof read it and submitted it to EzineArticles.com.

Then I wrote the blog post, proof read it and published it to this blog.

Just before I finished I looked down at the bread machine timer. 4 minutes remaining.

How good was that?

So I quickly added a category to the blog post, previewed it and hit 'publish' just as the beeper sounded on the timer.

I thought to myself "That was pretty amazing."

I'd written and uploaded 2 articles in exactly 35 minutes.

And that's what I mean about writing daily improving your writing speed.

I've always said that it's possible to write an article in 15 minutes.

And you can write and publish two of them in just 35 minutes.

I just proved it can be done.

How Much Writing Is Too Much?

How much writing do you do every day? Have you ever thought of what your daily writing output is?

I recently received an email from a subscriber telling me that they had downloaded my 12 Month Writing Challenge but felt that the first month of sending out 30 submissions in 30 days was "beyond" them.

And that got me to wondering how much do writers write every day?

I know that horror author Stephen King only writes for one and a half hours a day. Science fiction writer Isaac Asimov averaged one huge novel a month during his writing life. And novelist Dean Wesley Smith writes over 100,000 words every single month - and blogs about it daily.

So is submitting 30 pieces of work in 30 days too much to achieve?

I don't think so.

Magazines usually only want to see an article outline to begin with although if it's fiction, they want to see the whole story.

But even if you had to write the article first, is writing one article a day too much to do?

Are you actually writing less than that?

If you're not writing enough (meaning you know you're capable of much more than you're doing) or you're not writing at all, then maybe it's time you upped your writing output.

And if you're writing every day but not earning as much money from your writing as you'd like to, then you need to start writing more too.

If you're a writer, then there really is no excuse not to be writing.

And if you're not sure what to write or where to start, then perhaps you need to do The 12 Month Writing Challenge too.

:)

5 Rituals and Routines That Changed My Writing Life

I recently read an online article called "5 Rituals and Routines That Changed My Writing Life" and it was fascinating and thought-provoking, so I thought I'd share it with you.

The reason why this article was inspiring for me is because I've spent the last couple of weeks working on a new responsive layout for my Cheriton House Publishing website. And because I'm not really up to date with webpage design (it's incredibly complicated these days) the whole process is taking me a lot longer than I thought. It's also been holding me back from getting my writing done.

I keep telling myself that this is only a temporary set back and once the website is finished, I can get back to my usual writing.

And I think that's why this article struck a cord with me, because I've been letting my writing slide quite a bit lately and that doesn't make me happy at all. But this article prompted me to start writing again every day AND gave me a way to do it.

One of the first things it said is that it's no good wanting to make money from your writing and then deciding that you can only write when you "feel inspired" (or in my case, have the time to write). That will just keep you doing nothing and being broke.

Instead it said "Finding success as a writer requires you to be intentional about your writing. To do things with purpose."

What this means is that you need to get serious about being a writer and use rituals and routines that get you writing every day and taking your writing seriously instead of treating it like a hobby.

And that entails acting "as if" which means acting as though you already have a best selling book.

What would you do every day if you were already a best selling author? Would you spend your time on social media or playing computer games all day, or would you be busy promoting your book?

See the difference in those two mindsets?

My two best takes from this article were:

Write before you do anything else every day

and

Write 5 days a week.

So even if I only sit and write for an hour and then get on with other things, no matter what else I do, my writing is done.

And if I do this every day (5 days a week) then that's a lot of writing. Although I usually only write for 4 days a week and have a long weekend. But even 4 days of writing can create a huge output.

So that is what I'm going to do from now on.

No matter what other projects I have to do (book cover design, webpage design, formatting, editing, etc) I won't do it until I've done my writing. Even if it means only spending an hour or two writing every morning.

How about you?

What are you going to do to write more every day?

--------------

Writing Rituals

Write faster and make
more money by learning the productivity skills
of professional writers.
How much of your "writing time"
is lost to writer's block and procrastination?

How many hours do you lose simply
because you are not staying tightly
focused on your writing?

And how much more would you earn if
your writing productivity increased by
25%, 50% or even 100%?

Is It Just Me Or Is This A Great Blogging Opportunity Missed?

I - Yi - Yi!

Sometimes I feel like I want to tear my hair out in frustration.

And this was one of those times.

It began when someone emailed me to say that they were really inspired to start blogging after attending one of my recent talks.

So you'd think that's great, wouldn't you?

But then they went on to say that they were about to embark on a year-long, low-budget trip around Australia and wanted to start a blog about it AFTER they get back.

AFTER?

AFTER...????

"No, no, no," I told them. "You need to set up a blog now and write in it as you go."

But no. They wanted to write a private journal as they travelled and blog about it in a year or two.

I tried to tell them that if they're going to write about their trip as they travel, they might as well write it on their blog and and make money at the same time.

Low-budget travelling is a popular subject so they'd probably get thousands of subscribers.

But sadly (heavy sigh...)  my protests fell on deaf ears so it is a great blogging opportunity missed.

I thought about it afterwards, wondering why the hesitation? why say no to all that potential income and blogging experience?

Then it came to me...

Fear.

Fear of starting.

I see this so often.

People tell me they want to write a book SOME DAY.

Want to start a blog SOME DAY.

Want to work from home making money online SOME DAY.

But because they haven't tried it before, they're scared to start.

Everything looks hard until you try it.

And you can only learn about blogging as you go along, not matter how much you try and learn first.

As the saying goes, no matter how much you learn about Egypt, you won't know Egypt unless you go to Egypt.

So if you've been putting off starting something, remember, you don't have to get it right, you just have to get it going.

So get it going.

Go to Egypt.

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