The Just Write it! Series

Written by on · Leave a Comment
Just Write it! Series

Stereotypical Writer Burning Midnight Oil!

Enjoy a Happy Writing New Year with the Just Write it! Series

To borrow from the Nike People, this New Year has inspired me to Just Write it! And that is exactly what I am doing. I have promised myself and my subscribers to share my writing secrets! The reality is, I have not made it a priority to write a weekly blog! So the Just Write it! Series is my New Year’s Resolution. If your New Year’s resolution is to write or to write more, the Just Write It! Series is especially for you.

Self-Publishing

I have designed the Just Write it! Series to help new (and not-so-new) writers break through false impressions, procrastination, writer’s block, life’s distractions, personal insecurities, and perfectionism. I have faced these obstacles and still managed to write and publish 14 books in the past 6 years! In my role as writing and publishing coach I have also guided new writers to publish some 92 books during that time. I share my tricks, secrets, and fresh approaches for you to become a successful writer and published author in the Just Write it! Series. Feel free to make comments or questions below for further help and support.

How to Write between the Cracks of Life

Newer writers often envision a false impression of what a real writer looks like and acts like. We have all seen the stereotypical reporter on television and movies, which has influenced us with a certain idea about how to write. Maybe you imagine that a real writer sits down at a typewriter (now a laptop) and writes for 12 hours straight (or even all night). In my experience, this is the exception and not the rule. What you are most likely seeing is a reporter, who has done weeks or months of research and needs to finish the article the night before the deadline. People who work for periodicals, television, or online magazines are always up against deadlines and must write articles last-minute. These are writers whose day job is writing–but bear in mind not all writers write for a living.

True enough, many times I was super-inspired to write and resultingly spent multiple 12-hour days doing so. Luckily, I was on a writing sabbatical which supported that particular writing madness. But for the most part writing occurs between the cracks of life, my writing included. A friend of mine who was a best-selling author for one of her 14 published books, wrote as she describes it, “between the cracks of life.” For her, this meant an hour before work, half an hour a few days a week at lunch, and maybe several hours on the weekend, 3 or 4 pages at a time. Once you capture a vision of the book or article you are writing, and put together a rough outline (or not); writing 1-3 pages at a time is a very easy task.

Just Write it

Writing Day &  Night is the Exception & Not the Rule

Create Your Own Style

As a writer, adopt your own style. Do not let a writer stereotype keep you from writing because your writing work style does not fit into that writing fantasy. If you truly love to write, you will find your own style, that matches your personal idiosyncracies, scheduling, and work demands. Next week, we’ll be talking about how to overcome procrastination in writing.

self-publishing toolkit only at Publishing SOLOJoin Publishing SOLO
for Support, Structure & Accountability

For All Your Writing & Publishing Dreams

 

Do You Write from Your Heart or from Your Head? What Inspires You Most?

Written by on · Leave a Comment

Writing with Your Heart or Head?Writing from Your Heart or Head, Which is Better?

By Deborah S. Nelson, Author-book Coach-Speaker

When teaching, I speak of two writing methods–The Art of Writing, which is writing from your heart; and The Craft of Writing, which is writing from your head.

To be a good writer, you only need one method–writing from your heart. I urge clients, writers, and students to spill their passion. First pour your heart out. Once you tell you story on paper (or computer) it is easy to clean it up. We can hire editors, copy editors, and proofreaders to smooth the rough edges. Most importantly, tell your story authentically with passion.

Most of my clients and students are afraid their writing might be “bad writing.” This fear is a culturally shared fear dating back hundreds of years when publishing houses held the key to the printing press. They defined what was “good” writing and “bad” writing, often based on self-perpetuating factors. Today we enjoy print on demand which allows us to print just one book affordably. We can publish our own works now. We need not be scholars, or celebrities, or part of the elite to be published. Democracy has come to publishing. We do not need anyone’s permission write and to publish.

writing from your heart is the best direction. Warning Sign says watch writing with your ego.

Is My Writing Good or Bad Writing?

No system to filter good writing from bad writing is yet in place on this new playing field of self-publishing. The system inside traditional publishing houses is based as much on the book’s monetization potential as writing quality. I have seen this in action. Yet, we are all likely to agree a difference between good and bad writing is a reality.

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

After working in both traditional publishing and self-publishing, I realize the real distinction between good writing and bad writing boils down to writing from your heart. Too often writers are writing for the attention of being published. They are like people who talk to hear themselves talk.  Similarly these writers crave seeing their name in print. When you write self-consciously like this, it is not writing from your heart, this is writing from your ego.

Writing from Ego Likely to Create “Bad Writing”

To coax the best writing from your heart, drop the idea of appearances. Transcend them memory of your high school or college English teacher. You are telling a story, or teaching something to your readers to help them. You are entertaining, teaching, or providing valuable information. Feeling the connection between what you share and who share you it with, will automatically create good writing. Writing from your heart will cover up a multitude of writing sins when you engage readers with your passion. Next time you write, forget about grammar, spelling, vocabulary. Let it rip! Writing from your heart breaks the spell of writer’s block, and eliminates the quest for writing discipline.

Publishing SOLO Print on Demand Tool kit for self-publishing a book yourselfJoin Publishing SOLO
for Support, Structure & Accountability

For All Your Writing & Publishing Dreams