I believe that every writer in this earth must have a deadline in writing.
But mostly experienced this kind of problem.
“ How I want to setting a deadline for my writing? “
Some of the writer did not know how to setting a deadline or in other words, what is the things that we must consider when we want to set a deadline.
This is what I have learned after I read a simple article by Molly King from BookBaby blog post.
What Molly King tell us on what we must have in meeting and setting deadlines?
In a simple and informative article, Molly give us 6 tips that we can use to setting and meeting deadline when we start writing.
This is a few simple tips that are very helpful for sticking to deadline.
1) Think of your book or writing piece as a house you are building from scratch.
A house has to be built in phases, and each of those phases needs a timeline.
2) Set a start date and a finish date for each phase.
Each phase of your writing project should have a day you begin that phase and a day you complete it.
Put it on your calendar.
3) Set realistic timeframes for each phase. If you really think you can write a chapter a day, go for it.
Just make sure you really have that time each day, then block it out, and commit to it.
4) Focus on phase 1 first.
Don’t worry about phase 2 until phase 1 is complete; just focus on phase 1.
5) Make your timeline public.
Friends and family can be great motivators.
Nothing will hold you more accountable than making your deadlines public.
6) Celebrate little victories.
Save the suprise until after you complete your entire book, but make sure to take time to give yourself a little pat on the back for completing each phase.
Then move onto next leg of the journey.
What can we learned from this?
By have this 6 tips, it can help and guide us to finish our writing.
Also, it is clear that deadline is important as a guide and can be our motivation to achieve our mission in writing process.
I believe that almost everybody have dreams to write our own books ebook.
But, sometimes you do not know how to start.
“ How I can start writing my first ebook?”
This is what I’ve learned after I read an article by Chris Robley from Book Baby blog post.
What Chris Robley tell us on how to finish writing your first ebook?
In a simple article, Robley gives 3 most popular and simple tips that’s we have to consider if we plan to write our first ebook.
1) Keep it short.
You don’t have to write Infinite Jest or War and Peace your first time out.
With eReaders, novellas (20,000-50,000 words) are back en vogue.
By setting a word-count goal that is easier to achieve, you’ll be sure to put all the best stuff into your book.
2) Keep the plot simple.
George R.R. Martin may be in the middle of writing an epic 7-book fantasy series with dozens of main characters spread out across two giant continents,
but that doesn’t mean your work has to be so complex!
If you need to enlist an intern to check your plot’s continuity you may be overreaching for your first novel.
Maybe a miniature intrigue (something along the lines of a Seinfeld episode) would suffice?
Also, limit the number of characters and settings, but make them come alive.
It will help you stay focused and your first book will be all the richer for it.
3) Keep the style consistent.
You may have it in you to write the next Ulysses or As I Lay Dying, but wait until you’ve got at least one novel under your belt first.
The style and voice of your debut book should be compelling and unique, but also somewhat uniform.
Don’t skip around from tone to tone or voice to voice.
Of course you should always write the way you want to, so feel free to ignore any of this advice– but I recommend you not set overly ambitious goals for your first novel.
By keeping your book short, simple, and stylistically consistent, you’ll more fully inhabit the world you’re creating while you write, making that world all the more real for readers, too.
What can we learned from this?
Just keep our writing short, simple and consistent in style.
With this 3 simple tips, we can feel that there is no pressure to finish up writing our first ebook.
One more things.
For me, being consistent in writing is the most important things that will make our energy always focus to achieve the target.
We can remember some 7 advice from Brian Clark.
Brian Clark of Copyblogger has a simple and memorable,
“10 Steps to Becoming a Better Writer”
And some of his advise are :
1. Write More
2. Write Even More
3. Write Even More Than That
4. Write When You Don’t Want To
5. Write When You Do
6. Write Everyday
7. Keep Writing
So the point is, just keep writing. Just write and write!
I believe that every writer in this earth have their own struggle in writing and always wonder to write easily and fluently.
Luckily, you are not alone in your struggle.
This is what I have learned after I read an article by Daphne Gray
What Daphne Gray-Grant shares about habits of highly effective writers.
In an article, Daphne Gray has shared some advice to be an effective writers.
So, this is the 7 simple tips that we can learned:
1) Separate the writing and the editing processes.
When they write, they write, not worrying about the quality of their work.
Writer Cecil Castellucci says:
“The best flowers are fertilised by crap.”
Remember this and give yourself permission to write a crummy first draft.
Editing is a job for later.
That’s when you’ll have plenty of time to rearrange big chunks of text, monkey around with sentence structure, obsess over word choice and fix punctuation.
2) Focus on the interesting.
Effective writers always tell lots of stories.
If they have to communicate something “theoretical,” they illustrate it with real life examples.
They know that human beings don’t just crave food—they are also starved for stories.
3) Tap into the power of metaphor.
As metaphor expert Anne Miller likes to say,
“Metaphors lead to instant understanding.”
There are at least three metaphors in this article
(can you find them all?)
4) Do adequate research.
There is nothing more painful than trying to write when you have nothing to say.
Effective writers understand that good research is all about asking interesting questions of themselves, the books, Web sites and reports they read and this needs to be completed before any writing can begin.
5) Learn from the writing of others.
Effective writers understand that they are lifelong apprentices.
They learn by reading constantly.
This is active sit-up-and-pay-attention-to-technique dissection—similar to what a scientist would do in a lab.
You won’t want to read this closely all the time, of course.
But effective writers do some of this every week.
6) Write in small bursts.
Creative work doesn’t require oodles of time.
That first draft you need to write? It’s best done in dribs and drabs, a little bit at a time.
Instead of procrastinating, effective writers persuade themselves to write a little each day, no matter how frazzled and frantic they feel.
(Editing, on the other hand, usually needs space, time and quiet.)
7) Read their work out loud.
Language isn’t just meaning—it’s also music.
The most effective writers can often be found sitting by the computer keyboards, madly whispering to the screen, repeating their words back to themselves.
Yes, it looks kooky and co-workers may become alarmed.
But effective writers don’t care. They do it because it works.
What we can learned from this?
Every writer have their own habits and to be an effective writer, you have to practice, practice and practice until it comes to be your own habits.
As we can learned from Daphne Gray, it is important for a writer to create their own habits by using this seven tips.
For me, your writing is your baby.
So it is important for you to understand your writing and the option that you have to make sure your writing work looks great!
I believe that almost everybody struggle with this issue as a writer.
“ I want to write something but I don’t know how to start? “
What should you do if you need to write something and you can’t seem to get started.
Can you identify what is the symptoms that stopping you and can you treat them accordingly?
The truth is, sometimes you will faced this symtoms but the good news is, Josh Bernoff got seven great treatment for seven symptoms that the writers always struggle for.
7 Common problems every writer must overcome every day.
#1 – You don’t have an idea
The symptoms is when you try to write, you just have no concept of what you’re doing.
You not only don’t know where to start, you don’t know where you’re going.
Then, the treatment is trying to write without an idea is pointless — anything you produce will be vacuous.
To get an idea, talk to others, interact with creative people, read on the topic, and find something worth saying.
If this occurs, you’re not working hard enough on ideas.
Develop a discipline to find and develop ideas. Make it into a routine part of your work, and it will fuel your writing.
#2 – You don’t have enough material to work with
The symptoms is you get stuck because of lack of arguments, evidence, or points to make.
The treatment is writing without sufficient research is like running without eating first — you’re going to run out of gas.
Stop trying to write and do the research.
You can also cure this problem by allot sufficient time to the research phase of a piece, and spend the research time actually doing research, not procrastinating.
In his writing survey, people on a writing project spent an average of 45% of their time on research.
#3- You don’t know how to start
The symptoms is you have many possible paths forward, but can’t seem to pick one.
Then, the treatment that you do is you should have a roadmap for your piece before writing.
Make a fat outline to organize the ideas first.
Then write to the outline.
You can cure this problem for anything longer than 750 words, block out the structure before writing.
#4 – You’ve written yourself into an impasse
The symptoms is you’re in the middle of a piece but have reached a dead end with no way forward.
Then, the treatment that you should do is skip over the sketchy part and write a different part of the piece.
Then go back and rearrange pieces when you see how it fits together.
You can cure this problem by remember that you can always rearrange things or delete pieces that don’t fit.
You’re using a word processor, not a quill pen on a parchment scroll.
#5 – You put off writing until later
The symptom is you keep doing other things even though you ought to be writing.
Then, the treatment for you is you need a deadline to motivate you.
Promise the piece to someone by a given date. Then use fear to get yourself going.
Always cure this problem by write on a deadline, with a reward for hitting the deadline and a penalty for missing it.
#6 – You hate what you’re writing
The symptom is you are suffused with feelings of boredom or disgust about the topic.
Then, treatment you should do is find new ways to enliven the topic.
Talk to inspiring people, find a new spin, or just take a break.
Always cure this problem by change beats or change jobs.
#7 – Nothing can motivate you
The symptoms is you hate the thought of writing so much that deadlines make no difference.
Then, the treatment for yous is this is not a writing problem, it’s an emotional problem.
Talk to a therapist about why you’re depressed.
How to cure this problem, if something else is depressing you, take care of it.
If writing is what’s depressing you, take a long break and do something else.
Take a deep breath, it’s normal for every writer in this world
There are a lot of symptoms that can occur in your long journey to become a writer.
So, just take a deep breath and treat your problems accordingly on this guide symptoms and treatment.
Cure your main problem to make your journey in writing is easy for you.
As we can learned from Josh Bernoff, it is important to find a symptoms that apply to you and treat them accordingly.
I would love to add one more important things, the word from Will Self,
“Always carry a note-book. And I mean always. The short-term memory only retains information for three minutes, unless it is committed to paper you can lose an idea for ever “ – Will Self.
I believe that when you want to be a great writer, you already keep searching and read a lot of tips to write better.
But changing your writing skills will only happens when you understand why you do and what you do.
By this, you will be more confident to apply the writing tips since you really understand why you do and what you do.
This is what I have learned after I read an article by Josh Bernoff’s.
What Josh Bernoff’s tell us how to write better.
In an article from his blog, Bernoff’s give a few simple tips on how to write better.
This is the five steps that we can learn.
1. Write Shorter.
Readers are impatient and will give up on your blog post, email or document before you have made your point. Every extra word makes readers antsy.
Some of writers always write long because it is far easier to type than to edit. So people keep adding things.
You can fix it by editing. Delete your “warming up” text and start with the main point. Cull extraneous detail and repetition.
2. Shorten your sentences
Long sentences make readers work too hard to figure out your meaning.
Some of you always write sentences too long because new ideas keep occuring to you as you write each sentence and you think that long sentences make you sound sofisticated.
You can fix it by break sentences down into bite-size ideas. Then delete what you don’t need. Think Hemingway, not Dickens.
3. Replace jargon with clarity.
Jargon makes your reader feel stupid. Unless they are an insider, they can’t figure out your meaning.
Some of you always use jargon because you think jargon makes you sound sophisticated or you maybe hiding the fact that you don’t actually understand what you are saying.
This is what I learned from David Ogilvy,
“Never use jargon words like reconceptualize, demassification, attitudinally. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass “
You can fix it by imagine you are talking to your mom. Explain what you mean in plain English. If using a technical term would actually make things clearer and shorter, define it first.
4. Cite number effectively.
Used properly, statistics can back up your point. Some of you use numbers the wrong way because you think a number or any number will adds credibility. But they are so easy to misuse.
You can fix it. When you citing a statistic, include the context and compared to something. Example, “It is estimated that” might as well say “I made this number up”.
Here is a proper way to use a statistic : “Forrester Research estimates that by 2017, 2.4 billion people will own smartphone, or around one third of the world’s population”.
5. Use “I”, “we”, and “you”
Taken together, these pronouns create a relationship between the writer (“I”), his organization (“we”), and the reader (“you”).
Some of writers don’t use these pronouns because it is scary to talk directly to reader. It sounds informal.
You can fix it by imagine the reader. Then rewrite using the word “you”.
What Can We Learned From This?
To be a great writer, it is not easy. Even the great writers of our time have tried and failed and failed some more. The most important things to be a great writer is keep learning and search for knowledge.
As we can learned from Josh Bernoff, this is the most important 5 tips that you can apply to improve your writing skills to make it easy.
As we can learned from William Zinsser,
“ If writing seems hard, it is because it is hard. Its one of the hardest things people do “.
The truth is, creating high quality content does take some time.
But the good news is, Marie Forleo got eight great strategies to help you create high quality content even faster.
#1 – Change your internal mind first.
Flip your script.
If you want to change anything in your life, you first have to take look at your internal script.
For example,
1) What are you saying to yourself?
2) What is the story you are telling yourself about the thing you want to change?
For example, if you are telling yourself,
“I’m a really slow writer and it takes me forever to write my blogpost.”
Guess what?
You will be a really slow writer and it will take you forever to write your blogpost.
You subconscious mind is a very powerful little biatch. You want it to listen to you, not the other way around.
So, before you do anything else, flip your internal script first.
#2 – Always focus on your end result.
Begin with the end in mind.
You want to think about your end result.
What is the thing that you want your reader to walk away with?
What action, if any, do you want them to take?
Then you have to reverse-engineer your content to get them there.
Need example?
As Marie Forleo was creating the answer to this very question, she asked herself,
“What do I want you to walk away with after this video?”
(She is using video to share her content)
And what’s her answer?
A highly actionable list of things that will help you to write faster and a video that you’d want to share with your friends.
#3 – Keep a running topic list of all your ideas.
Keep a topic list.
This is the truth.
You waste a ton of time trying to figure out what you should write about in the first place.
Here’s the fix.
Keep a running topic list of all your ideas.
For example, if you get inspired by magazine articles or interviews or anything you watched on TV, write it down.
Or something really good that really works for Marie Forleo is questions that people ask you all the time, great fodder for content.
So you can use your notebook or use Google Docs or you can use Evernote which is amazing.
Or you can even use your iPhone and get little Miss Siri to help you out.
#4 – Short content does work. As long as it is useful.
Make it short and sweet.
High quality content does not mean long content.
Sometimes the best way to serve your audience is to make it short and sweet.
Remember, nobody is not going to read your content because it is too short.
So try just sharing at least one tip or one idea.
#5 – Spend 1 hour planning out your content.
Plan it out.
Create an editorial calendar for your content.
You want to spend about 1 to 2 hours planning out your content for the next three to six months.
This takes the decision out of what you are going to write about each week and it just plans everything out for you so when its time to write, you just go to your plan, you follow your plan and you are done.
And as you are writing your content, you don’t have to wonder,
“Should I include this whole section here, or should I save it for another post?”
You can just go to your editorial calendar and you will say,
“Oh! This idea going to be great for July 5th.”
What is the best tips for you to take action now?
I have lots of respect on Marie Forleo.
Not only because she is a successful enterpreneur. But she knows well on how to write better, faster and smarter.
The one thing that I love to practice now is,
“Short content does work. As long as it is useful.”
You don’t need to write long content. It will burn you out most of the time.
You can start today by sharing 1 simple content at a time.
It is important to keep you writing momentum going.
Believe me, once you write 1 short content, it will fuel you up to write more and more content.
