Writing Habits–Just Write it! Series

Black board: Make writing a habit with Publishing SOLO and deborah S Nelson who teaches Writing and Publishing

The Dream to Write–the Dream to Publish

Resolutions can easily be broken–habits are for a lifetime! So, why not make writing a habit? Easier said than done, right? As a publishing coach, I speak with people often with a dream to write a book. Their dream has been hanging on for a long time in most cases. Many take courses, or hire me as a private write coach to get that dream moving. But how can you get your dream to write in motion? Obviously, you must start writing, and continue write. How can you make writing a habit?

This work is my joy. There is nothing like the exhilaration of being published for the first time. But it was not always that way for me. When working with first time authors, I have the honor and privilege of experiencing that joy and exhilaration with them. If you would like to try out my book coaching services, I offer a complimentary book coaching session, and click below to learn more about that.

COMPLIMENTARY BOOK COACHING

For many this accomplishment is a long journey, but well worth the effort. On this journey, a writer becomes an author … a published author, and friends, family, and peers see them in a whole new light. The new published author sees themselves in a whole new light as well.

Click Here for Your Free Self-Publishing Toolkit by Deborah S. Nelson from Publishing Solo

Real Benefits of Being Published

Being able to write and communicate a heart-felt message is an accomplishment and a completion of a journey. Some people are sharing fiction, or non-fiction, but communicating a passion in whatever form makes the writer a better person.  Sharing deep secrets, truths, skills, or lessons to people who need to hear them, makes a writer or a person whole, complete, fulfilled. This has a way of making a person a brighter, more enthusiastic, fulfilled, and self-confident person.

The practical and financial benefits of being a published author include buidling your business and personal brand, increasing your self and net worth, and increasing your bottom line in terms of commanding speaking fees, consulting fees, and being able to give workshops and seminars, as well as raising the price on your products and services. This is easy to do once you become a pubished author and expert in your field.

Three Tips How to Make Writing a Habit

3 tips on blackboard how to make writing a habit by deborah S. Nelson Dream to Publish. Teaches how to write and publish a book with Indie PublishingIf you want to write a book, screen play, an article, or a script, you will need to start making writing a habit. Once writing is a habit the book or script write itself. I write all the time, now. People think I am super disciplined, but that is not true. I just love to write, and when I get an inspired idea, nothing can keep me away. If I am writing 10 to 12 hours a day, from the outside, it looks like I am disciplined; but I am just super inspired.

Here are three tips for making writing a habit:

  1. PRACTICAL METHOD: Start a journal, diary, blog, or dream notebook. Write 100 words a day. This will take about 5 minutes. Some people have amazing dreams, and keeping a dream notebook is a great way to make writing a habit. You wake up with instant writing material!
    .
  2. INSPIRATIONAL APPROACH: Write a list of all the book, story, or article ideas that you have ever had! This might take a few days or weeks, but once you try this technique, you’ll quickly move into actually writing these pieces.
    .
  3. PURE DISCIPLINE: This one might work for you: Set aside a quiet, regular time and place to sit and write for half an hour each day. This is too disciplined for me, but one of my writer friends who is a best-selling author with a regular full-time job, wrote 14 books in a period of 10 years by writing for half an hour before going to work each morning.

Whatever method you try to make writing a habit, decide today to “Just Write it,” and start your journey today for becoming a passionate and joyful published author.


Join Publishing SOLO: Get Your Free Self-Publishing Toolkit! by Deborah S Nelson with Publishing SOLO. Learn to write and publish a bookJoin Publishing SOLO
for Support, Structure & Accountability

.
For All Your Publishing Dreams


Just Write it! Five Tips Tell All. How to Get Away with Writing Like You Talk.

Smart phon says: Do You Write Like You Talk?Should You Write Like You Talk?

Do you write like you talk? With video, social media, WIFI, TV, VOIP, texting, emoticons, and the third hand (smart phones); communications options and preferences are nearly unlimited.

For example, I do not like to text (fingers are clumsy). I love to talk; my daughter prefers Skype but I have WhatsApp. She refuses (can you blame her?) to download one more program and prefers texting to talking. We have settled on chatting through Skype. Amazingly, I can leave a video message on Skype or an audio message on Whats App. Communication systems are taking our languages for a ride—and each is undergoing a transformation.

Texting and emoticons have created a new language of its own,  so when writing professionally, does that make it okay to write like you talk?


Click Here for Your Free Self-Publishing Toolkit by Deborah S. Nelson from Publishing Solo

Write Like You Talk

As a writing and publishing coach, I nearly always encourage my clients to write like they talk. On a basic level, writing for publishing is a three-part process. Writing, editing, and proofreading. Ideally, the editor and proofreader are hired, since editing, and proofreading need a different skill set, as well as a fresh pairs of eyes.

The most important aspect of writing is having something to say and saying it passionately. This means the story takes priority over spelling, grammar, formatting, and all that “nonsense” we learned in college or high school English. That is not what real writing is about. That is the craft of writing, but the art of writing is telling your story. I have created a video for my students to understand this concept. Read my article about the art and craft of writing entitled,  Are You Writing from Your Heart?

Many new writers are intimidated by the thought of writing perfectly—or some concept of what they were taught that perfect writing is. The problem with this is that the craft of writing can stifle the art of writing. So when I help writers make the journey from writer to published author, the first step is finding their art; and I always tell them to Write like you talk, just to get the story flowing! The craft comes later, and can actually be done by a hired hand.

I Stand Corrected

Should you write like you talk? There is always the exception to the rule. Here comes Oscar (name changed); a former client who recently returned as a private client. He is highly creative and shoots out thoughts like lightning bolts in a sky clouded by his multiple streams of consciousness. Therefore, his writing requires a fair amount of editing to make his meaning clear to the reader. Today, in our session, I nearly said it: “Oscar, just write like you talk!” But I bit my tongue; as Oscar is the exception to the rule.

Oscar is a highly intelligent CEO with limited time; therefore, editing is required in order for him to meet writing deadlines. This is not a bad thing. Busy people with a story to tell with no time to tell it, hire ghost writers. They may speak their story into a recording device, which is translated into words and rewritten by an expert writer. Many great books have been “written” and published this way.

For the next phase in teaching Oscar to write, we will work on the aspect of his writing as a tool for communicating important and profound ideas. This means eliminating his stream of consciousness writing, which will need a focused mindset; along with some rules to translate flow of talking into basic writing protocol. Here are some basic rules to make your writing easy to reach out to the general reader. Do not use contractions such as don’t, won’t, isn’t, didn’t, doesn’t, etc. These are OK to use when talking, and when quoting someone, you may use them.

.

Publishing a Book Yourself STEP 1Do not use contractions such as don’t, won’t, isn’t, didn’t, doesn’t, etc. These are OK to use when talking, and when quoting someone, you may use them.

.
AlwayNumber 2 - Write Like You Talks use complete sentences. A complete sentence includes a verb and a noun or pronoun with a period at the end.
.

Number 3; Write Like You TalkAvoid slang. Do not use words such as “freaked out,” “hot chick” “freakin”; local dialects, such as “ended up,” aint, or y’all; or cuss words unless quoting someone. Use these in quotes only if needed to create a character or personality; as these do not come across as good writing.

Number 4: Write Like You TalkThe uses of em dashes—and dot, dot, dot … are mental shortcuts and make the reader feel dizzy. Observe how this next sentence makes you feel. Think the thought through and clearly communicate what you want to say using a complete thought–not broken up by dashes—a shortcut which does not clearly communicate what you mean. Write in clear, cohesive sentences.

Number 5: Write Like You TalkEliminate the word “it” whenever you can. Sometimes you will find it difficult to write without the word “it” but when you can drop this word in most cases, your writing will improve at least 50% on the spot! “It” is an overused pronoun, and is handy when talking, but when writing can be confusing. Most of the time, although the writer knows what “it” means, the reader will not easily follow what “it” is.

If following these rules seems to shut your writing down, then break the rules; and simply write like you talk! Then, after you write your piece, go through and quickly clean it up by using these basic guidelines.


Join Publishing SOLO: Get Your Free Self-Publishing Toolkit! by Deborah S Nelson with Publishing SOLO. Learn to write and publish a bookJoin Publishing SOLO
for Support, Structure & Accountability


For all Your Writing & Publishing Dreams