This book is much like a little brainteaser type game to get your mind going. The nice aspect is that the author encourages users to throw worries of spelling, punctuation, and good content right out the window! What a treat! She actually says to let yourself write “junk”. Not too worry about how great or bad it is but to focus on just getting something out on the paper.

This sense of freedom is very empowering and allows for free roam of the mind’s thoughts. She encourages users to stick with the first thoughts popping into mind, not to be too critical, and to not second guess yourself. All of these elements combine to give the user a great creative boost.

If you are suffering from writers block, or possibly having a hurtle in plot or character development. Perhaps you are struggling to come up with your next idea, then give this book a shot! I promise it will get that pen going. Success often comes from several failures -so let go and have some fun!

Add some of these to your RSS reader… if you don’t have one, watch this video on setting up an RSS reader on my blog.

1. Copyblogger This site is the heavyweight champion of the world four years running (and one of the top blogs on the planet)! The brain-child of Brian Clark, his blog keeps winning because of its insightful articles.
2. Men With Pens: James Chartrand and Harry McLeod maintain the number two slot with their inspiring content and rich community discussion.
3. Write to Done: This blog nearly always delivers a home run with its excellent articles for all writers and is the product of top blogger Leo Babauta.
4. Editor Unleashed: Inspired by the former Editor-in-Chief of Writer’s Digest, Maria Schneider explores writing, social media and community on her excellent blog.
5. Freelance Writing Jobs: This site is the first stop for freelance writers seeking new work and great articles (and it remains a top winner since this contest began). Congrats Deb Ng!
6. Confident Writing: Joanna Young delivers rich and useful articles that will help you take your writing to the next level.
7. Urban Muse: Susan Johnston covers a wide range of excellent topics that all writers will enjoy.
8. WordCount: Journalist Michelle Vranizan Rafter explores the challenges freelance writers face on her excellent blog.
9. Quips & Tips for Successful Writers: A true cornucopia of ideas for writers, Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen provides endless content and freelancing tips.
10. Fuel Your Writing: This site will certainly fuel you! Michelle Krasniak Oxman and her huge team of contributors provide great content for writers.

-I don’t know who’s quote this is, but my blog was inspired by Russ’s entry “How I Formed The Writing Habit”

Twenty years ago, I wanted to write. My aunt told me that she thought it was a great idea…”when you write your first book, I will buy the first copy, and you can autograph it for me”, she said. My first fan! I thought I had plenty of material to work with until I sat down to write my book and found that it took so much time to organize my thoughts and put more than a page worth of words on paper at a session, that I so often felt uncreative and disappointed. I would say to myself, “I was hoping I had more talent than that, but it doesn’t really show up on paper”.

Sometimes it felt excruciating, and I often had what I know identify as writer’s block. So I found myself over the following years spending less and less time at the thing that I wanted so much to do. Just because I didn’t write didn’t mean that I didn’t want to. I just couldn’t find the time, and I didn’t think that I possessed the talent. I thought that when I came up with my next brilliant idea that I would find the time to sit and write it all down.

Later, I joined the military. I was in graduate school during this same time. I was forced to write papers for school. One of my instructors told me that I ought to consider writing professionally. I said “Oh, I’ve considered it before, but it didn’t work out for me.” She helped me publish my first article for a journal. I was absolutely thrilled when I got a check in the mail. I actually wasn’t even expecting it. But it gave me validation that I could write something and other people could possibly be interested in what I had to say. I was successful the second time because I did in the second attempt what I didn’t do in the first. I set aside a time that I would write and I stuck to it. This to me is one of the most important first steps to writing.

If you are serious about writing, you should set aside a designated time for it. “If you leave it catch-as-catch-can, it will become all too easy to catch nothing.”

Sometimes you have to force yourself and sometimes you even have to force the other people in your life to stick to the schedule. (That can be tricky sometimes ; ) I read once that it is actually more important to stick to the schedule than it is to write something brilliant at these writing sessions. Eventually the progress will be made. You will develop a discipline that will become one of your greatest strengths.

A person doesn’t become a concert pianist in a few weeks, but by setting aside time to practice and develop.

Find a place where you feel comfortable creating. If you need solitude, make it a quiet place. Or take a pen and paper to a place that you find inspiring. The trick is to find what works best for you, and don’t get defeated! I believe that everyone has a story worth telling.

]]> http://stlwritersconnect.com/2009/09/if-you-leave-it-catch-as-catch-can-it-will-become-all-too-easy-to-catch-nothing/feed/ 3 http://stlwritersconnect.com/2009/09/how-i-formed-the-writing-habit/ http://stlwritersconnect.com/2009/09/how-i-formed-the-writing-habit/#comments Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:55:30 +0000 Russ Henneberry http://stlwritersconnect.com/?p=55 I am a creature of habit.  Sounds cliche — but there couldn’t be a more accurate description of me.

I know that the word “habit” comes with a negative connotation.

Smoking habit, drinking habit, etc. etc.

However, I have found a way to use my habitual nature to turn myself into a productive content creating machine.

Writing is certainly a part of my content strategy — I use my writing skills in my blog posts, email marketing, and social media marketing.   Of all of the activities I conduct as a business person, writing is the most crucial.

I take the consistency of publishing good written content very seriously and have given serious thought to the process necessary to ensure that I stay on my publishing schedule.

Establishing The Habit

Recognizing how crucial my writing and publishing schedule is to my future business plans, I have set myself on a publishing schedule.

It is quite formal.

I keep a spreadsheet with the following fields:

• Topic
• Title
• Date – Draft 1
• Publish Date
• Actual Publish Date

The “topic” field in this spreadsheet is usually filled out at least a week in advance.  In other words, I have at least 7 blog post topics in my spreadsheet that have yet to be published.

Why The Topics?

Not knowing what you will write about from one day to the next is the quickest way to get frustrated with writing and quit.

Find a system for recording blog post topic ideas even when you are away from a computer.  Carry a pen and notebook if you have to… or buy an iPhone and record your ideas using Voice Memo or some other app.

Regardless of the technology… find a way to capture these ideas when you have them or they will be gone from your mind.  Guaranteed.

Beware Of…

Another thing to be aware of is that transitions in your life will break habits.  You have to be extremely careful when you are moving, starting a new job, you have a child, or your mother-in-law moves in with you — or whatever it is.

When life throws things your way… remember to stick to the plan.

Human beings as a whole are creatures of habit — learn to leverage it to keep your online and offline writing on schedule.