by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of  Intent-sive Nature & the  Brand Shamans network

Have you ever wished you could become an expert proofreader? The great news is you can! While some people may seem to be born editors, proofreading is an acquired skill that you can become an expert in if you work at it. Here are 8 ways to improve your proofreading skills. Follow these and you’re well on your way to becoming an expert proofreader!


Know Your Own Common Writing Mistakes

Becoming an expert proofreader starts with you! Knowing your own common mistakes in your own writing is the first step in becoming an expert-level editor. It might be forgetting “i before e except after c,” leaving out punctuation such as commas or semicolons, or overusing certain words. Being familiar with your own common mistakes makes them much easier to spot in other people’s writings. It also helps you improve on your own writing significantly.


Be Aware of Common Misspellings and Commonly Misused Spellings of Words

Most word processors have spell checkers that catch most misspellings. Of course, spell checkers don’t catch words that are correctly spelled words, but are misused by accident. That includes cases like “sea” and “see.” be aware of as many common spelling errors as you can. Even expert writers may have certain words they commonly misspell without thinking about it. Once a writer misspells or misuses a word enough times, it becomes a very difficult, if not impossible, habit to break. 


Proofreading is More Than Misspellings

Proofreaders must not only catch misspellings and misused words. You also must watch for things like incorrect sentence structure, unnecessary repetition, and awkward wording. As a proofreader, you not only want to watch for bad or awkward grammar, but the flow of the text as a whole. Writers depend on proofreaders to make sure their text reads not only correctly, but also in a clear and understandable way. If it sounds like it reads wrong, it probably should be worded differently.


When Proofreading, Be Sure to Take a Break and Return with Fresh Eyes

Especially when proofreading your own work, leaving the work for a while then returning with fresh eyes is important. During that break, your mind will have refocused. You’ll be able to spot errors that may not have been obvious before because you were too close to the work. Even if you’re proofreading someone else’s work, it’s good to leave it aside after a first pass. You never know what you may have missed when you come back for the second look.

Reading Aloud While Proofreading Helps You Read What’s Actually on the Page

It’s true that our subconscious mind has a way of making us read what we think should be written on the page. But, as a proofreader, you need to not let your subconscious trick you and read what’s actually on the page. The best way to overcome this is to read out loud and do so slowly. You will catch far more errors and awkward things this way, realizing when sentences read strangely or words are repeated too many times in a paragraph.


Having Extra Help With Proofreading is Good

Especially when proofreading your own work, having a friend or another professional gives you a fresh set of eyes to check your work. Even when you’re proofreading others’ work, after awhile you become too familiar with the work. Having an unbiased third party gives fresh perspective. Even a quick glance can afford you extra insight you wouldn’t otherwise have. Even expert proofreaders will ask for an extra set of eyes on occasion. 


Remember the Mind Works Faster Than Your Fingers as a Writer

As we writers get into the flow of writing, we sometimes don’t pay attention to how we are spelling certain words or structuring sentences. Especially when proofreading your own writing, you may not even catch some of these things. In your mind, you know what you were meaning to say. As a proofreader, you will run into passages that either are confusing or make no sense at all. In that way, proofreading others’ work can be easier, because you can catch mistakes others make much more easily than your own mistakes. So, when you’re proofreading and run into some passages that make no sense, the mind being faster than the fingers is probably why.


Never Proofread Your Work or Others’ Work Only Once

Don’t just settle for glancing over work just once, whether it’s your own or someone else’s. In fact, some professionals will proofread their work ten times or more! It’s important to read over a piece several times to make sure that it’s free of spelling and grammatical errors. It also ensures that you ensure that the text reads well. Proofreading, like any skill, takes lots of practice. If you do it enough, not only will your own work improve, but you’ll be able to help many other writers, too!

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

There are many tricks writers use to defeat writer’s block. Of course, some are better than others. There’s one tip I found that one writer actually called “the ultimate secret for overcoming writer’s block.” That secret I will share with you now: working from a template or an example similar to what you’re working on.

Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? Take a sample of something you’ve worked on before that’s similar to what you’re trying to write. It doesn’t even have to be something you’ve actually published. The example could be something you simply working on before. It could be an article you never finished, or a short story you just never felt was worth publishing. 

The idea is that the example is the same type of thing you’re working on, whether it’s an article, story, or other assignment. Heck, the example doesn’t even have to be something you’ve written. It just has to be along the same lines.

For example, say you’re trying to write a sales pitch. But, you really don’t know where to start or what points to make. Just by having a sales pitch in front of you, even if it’s something you haven’t even written, your mind will automatically process it. If you ask some famous writers, they will even admit that they’ve written pieces that were inspired by a magazine clipper or random brochure that they picked up. Giving your brain something to start with is very important.

The other way to do this is to have writing templates that you work from. If you’ve written a successful article, for example, that you can plug other ideas into, why not work from that? Of course, templates are very, very popular, and you can find templates for just about any type of writing anywhere. With things like sales pitches and articles on similar topics, templates can be very helpful. With stories, people have even done this. Just try not to keep writing the same thing over and over again!

Whatever you decide to use as a writer’s block aid, whether it’s an example or a template, the most effective way to use it is to have it in your direct line of sight as you work. Print it out if you have to, although having it open on your screen in another window is also useful. The idea is to use that visual aid to help spark your brain to create ideas surrounding that template. Of course, you may have to go back and clean it up. But, it’s always better to start with something. Find a good example or template each time you get stuck writing and watch the words flow!

by Phoenix A. Desertsong, Staff Writer, Healer & Advocate

A writer must always be in motion. A writer must always be constantly moving and reinventing on the fly. It’s important for a write to never stay still. It could even mean scribbling in a notebook or on diner napkins. As long as the thoughts are coming, they must be allowed to flow.

It’s too easy to become too academic & too professional and lose that sense of motion in your writing. As a craft, writing is certainly one of the most difficult to master. Creating that motion, making your words actually move people, is the most difficult aspect of writing to grasp.

Writing in motion makes people get up and do something. Too often, writing is thought of as a sedentary activity. In reality, it’s not. Like any human endeavor, finding success requires building momentum. Great writing engages minds and then inspires action.

We writers get stuck far too often spinning our wheels in the mud. Other parts of our lives must involve motion. Otherwise, as writers, we find ourselves staying in neutral all too much.

It takes years becoming the writer you’re meant to be. Eventually, you find your writing groove. You should embrace it. Use writing as a tool to reflect and teach others what you’ve learned. We shouldn’t be comparing ourselves to one another. Writing is often treated like a contest, and it really shouldn’t be.

If you put pen to paper or you spill any kind of digital ink, you’ve already thrown yourself into the wild and wacky arena of prose. Just because one writer is more skilled than another doesn’t mean that you are any less a writer than another. Some of us have to work harder than others, but it all pays off in the end.

Every writer, every person, has his or her weaknesses and strengths. Building those strengths while minimizing weaknesses is as true in writing as it is in anything else. By constantly working on this or that, you remain in motion. Always use your writing as a way to move forward.

Is your writing moving you forward? Or, is it stuck in neutral, or even in reverse? Don’t fret. Never stop trying things and stay in motion. Eventually, you’ll find something worth writing. Not only will you write something that moves you forward, but you can move others as well with your words. That’s the best result a writer can get. Let’s all work for that!

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

I feel as if it should be unnecessary to say, but writers are people, too!

A lot of people seem to feel writers lead double lives. One life is “real” and the other is some online life where we can seem infinitely more interesting. Sure, some writers use pen names and sometimes even create alter-egos online. That’s fine. Artists have been doing this for centuries. Writing is most certainly an art.

Whether writers use their real names or not, writers are real people. It’s easy sometimes to forget many writers are just looking for new ways to connect with people through the things they love. While a writer may have a pen name or even an alter ego, online life and real life are unavoidably linked.

Oftentimes, web writing and blogging are often seen as a “get rich quick” appeal. But, for most of us, that’s not it at all. For most writers, web writing is a creative outlet. It’s often a necessary stress reliever. It’s also a way to say things we may not find ourselves able to say in everyday conversation.

For those of us who aren’t social in so-called “real life,” some of us really need web writing to network. But networking in online writing is no less real or fake that in “real life.” Sure, some people on the web are genuine, and others are just looking out for themselves. That’s no different than any “real life” social gathering, though. It’s just easier to be anonymous online, and while that’s certainly a thing in itself, it doesn’t make it not “real life.”

While there are certainly major differences between interacting face-to-face and through a computer or mobile device, they are no more or less real. Even in “real life,” we have facades. Sure, online, it’s often more for safety purposes. But, so is the case in real life. There are other reasons, too, that deserve their own treatments. Really, online people are often allowed to express themselves more freely. The online writing world is so vast now that you can always find new connections.

Really, online writing and blogging allow you to socially network in ways that Facebook, Twitter, and so on can only begin to allow you to do. Blogging gives you a home base, so to speak, to build your own personal social network. You can do this in real life, too, with clubs and other social groups. The only difference online is the people you’re connecting with can be a world away.

Writers are people, too, and online writing is “real life,” too!

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

People have an instinctual need to communicate and share experiences. It may be through creating art such as painting or drawing. For many others, it involves having conversations with friends or family. But, the most effective and most broadly-reaching method of communication is writing.

Of course, much human communication turns to gossip. While gossip can be fun, it can also be dangerous. Gossip leads to the spread of often inaccurate information which can become well-dispersed myths.

Writing is a field full of myths that hold back many talented individuals who believe one or more of them is actually true. Here, we will take a look at five common writing myths that pervade the writing world. Let’s bust each of these myths once and for all!


Writing Myth #1: Writing is Easy for Some People

Perhaps the biggest writing myth out there is that writing is easy for some people. Whether you’ve been writing for thirty years or just started last week, writing is not easy. No matter your age, experience, or income, writing is hard work and at times quite brutal.

Just like with any skilled labor, though, practice and experience do make some writing tasks easier. Each writer finds different formats and topics that he or she is able to eventually write on autopilot, for the most part. Every writer is different. Find your comfort zone and practice on bettering your strengths. These are both keys to becoming a better writer.

For even the most experienced writers, writing is not easy, and good writing is definitely not easy. There is still so much to write about out there, though. So, you don’t have to be good at writing every single topic or in every single format. You just need to write what you know best and write the best way that you know how. That isn’t always easy, but it does make writing easier.


Writing Myth #2: You Need Writing Talent to Be a Good Writer

Writing talent can certainly help separate the great writers from the good writers. But, talent alone is not enough to make a great writer, or even a good writer! It is not necessary to have writing talent to be a good writer. Just like with any skill, writing can be learned, developed, and fine-tuned over time.

Just as with any other field that “requires” talent, writing is a product of practice and hard work. You can learn more about the writing craft by reading everything you can. Then, reach out for guidance and suggestions about improving your writing. These are great ways to improve and grow as a writer.

But, the number one thing you need to become a good writer is nothing more than dedication. Through dedication, you can discover your own unique writing talent. Dedication to improving your writing skill may not make you a New York Times bestselling author. It may not make you an article writer with a six-figure income. But if you’re dedicated enough, you can definitely write well enough to make a decent living. No traditional “talent” is needed to be a professional writer.


Writing Myth #3: Writing is Not a Skill

This writing myth absolutely baffles me: writing is not a skill? Others will even say, “sure, writing is a skill, but writing is not a useful skill.” This myth is downright wrong. It likely comes from is likely people who simply have never figured out how to put two words together in writing. Too bad for them. Don’t listen to this myth.

Even if you aren’t making a living writing words, writing is still a crucial communication skill no matter what line of work you choose. The better writer you are, the easier it is to get what you want. That’s because well-developed writing skills allow you to clearly communicate your thoughts and ideas.

Even the people who seem to want to perpetuate this writing myth could learn how to write effectively. Some people have this weird idea that you have to be a published author or a seasoned journalist to bother with writing. Every single professional field in the world can benefit from having writing skills. With strong writing skills, you can land better jobs and advance further in your career, whatever it is you decide to do.

Even in fields where you may not use writing in your everyday work, writing is important. Having strong writing skills can allow you to write proposals to new potential clients or customers.  Strong writing skills can help you get connected to the top producers and thought leaders in your field. There are just so many benefits to being dedicated to improving your writing skills.

Writing Myth #4: You Can't Make a Living as a Writer!

Making a living as a writer isn’t only possible, it can actually become a very rewarding profession. While making a living as a freelance writer can certainly be difficult, it’s really no harder than living while working any entry-level job. The difference as a writer is that you have to show up everyday and work a lot more than 9 to 5 five days a week to truly reach your potential as a writer.

You don’t even have to go to college and get an English major to be a professional writer. All you need is the ability to put two words together. Even if you weren’t an A, B, or even C student in English composition, you can always learn and make money from writing. There is so much writing work out there that you can easily earn the same as you would from an entry-level job in far fewer than 40 hours a week. You will likely spend 15-30 hours a week writing for pay, and another 15-30 building your business. Be sure you are willing to put in that level of dedication.

Because writing is such a flexible skill, you just have to know where to look for people willing to pay top dollar for writing. Earning a living as a writer is extremely rewarding, especially once you find the niche or niches at which you can write on autopilot. So, the next time someone asks you, “Can I Make a Living as a Writer?” you can tell them yes, if you can put the work, time, and dedication into it.

Writing Myth #5: There’s No One Cure for Writer’s Block

Entire books have been written on the subject of writer’s block. It is the most pervasive writing myth in the entire writing world. While there are definitely going to be days where the writing simply will not come, calling it “writer’s block” makes it worse. In fact, most of the time “writer’s block” is all in your head.

If you believe that you are suffering from “writer’s block” ask yourself if you are in one of two states:

Waiting for the perfect time, place, mood, or alignment of the stars to write

Waiting for the perfect moment to write is simply not excusable. There will never be a perfect time for anything you want to do. Just do it! Sorry, I don’t mean to yell, but if you really want to be a writer, then you will write as often as you can. You don’t even have to write well necessarily. Writing really is just like going to the gym. If you do a little everyday, you will never find yourself truly blocked as a writer.

Internal blocks that lead to writing becoming stalled

The second state is more excusable. Especially as an author, I have found myself with a great story but then I find myself stalled. This is not actually a “block,” though, as I’ve learned, but only as long as you don’t see it as such. Sometimes, an idea simply is not done forming in your mind. It’s fine to set your writing aside, let your ideas gel together, then return to it.

The trick is to never call your stalled writing a block. Once you call it a “block,” you just create a new obstacle for yourself. If you ever wish to be the most productive writer you can be, do not give into the idea of “writer’s block.” I used to do that, and I’d say by doing so, I ruined more than one potentially good book that I ended up tossing.

If you find yourself stalling in your writing, walk away and be real with yourself. Sometimes you simply need to step away and do something else. Whatever you do, always resolve to come back to it and get it done. Sure, you may need to do a bit more research on a topic or plan things out better. Other times, you just need your brain to work through ideas a bit longer.  Once you make the right adjustments, your writing will flow again, guaranteed.

Don’t let any of these writing myths hold you back with your writing! If you ever find yourself doubting your ability to write, just sit down and think of any topic. Then, start writing everything you can think of without worrying where it’s going to go. You just never know where simply writing will take you. Whether you write to advance your career, as a hobby, or as a career in itself, I wish you the very best!

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

Many aspiring writers ask more experienced writers the question, “Do I have writing talent?” That’s not the right question to ask to know if you should be a writer. Writing is a skill. Sure, some inherent talent with words is helpful. Still, writing success mostly comes down to developing a wide set of writing related skills.

Here are five writing skills you should practice so that you can be a better writer. It doesn’t matter whether you’re seasoned in writing or starting out. Anyone can improve on these particular aspects of writing.


Build Your Vocabulary

It's highly important to have a well-rounded vocabulary. You don’t have to use all the words you know on a regular basis. But, it is important to know what words are best used in different contexts. Many words have similar meanings. Also, learn how to be sensitive to the subtle differences between words.

This is why it’s good to always have a dictionary or thesaurus on hand. You can always Google a definition. Still, having a paperback of these handy reference books is actually quite helpful. You don’t want to be using the same words over and over again, but also be careful that you don’t use synonyms to be fancy.


Be Clear With Your Writing’s Message

You can write the most brilliant prose you’ve ever read. But, if your readers don’t “get it” then it doesn’t matter how much time you spent writing it. You have to be clear with your message through your writing. If you tend to be long-winded, a lot of people may not be able to follow along well. If you tend to cram too many ideas into a single long paragraph, people may lose your train of thought.

If you feel called to share your literary genius with the world, that’s great. But keep in mind that you want as many people as possible to actually understand what you are saying. That doesn’t mean you have to dumb down what you are saying. It means that you should be as straightforward as possible.

Know When to Put a Piece of Writing Aside to Look at It With Fresh Eyes Later

Sometimes it is best to write something and set it aside. Don’t put it right out into the world right away. It may be fine to let a trusted writer friend look a first draft over. But it’s often the case that putting aside your first draft is the best thing for your writing. Coming back to it the next day can allow you to see a piece with fresh eyes.

Trying to write a piece and edit it in a single sitting can be a daunting task. Put it aside and return to it later. Then, see if anything needs revising, replacing, or rearranging. This delayed editing can make your piece clearer and stronger. Fresh eyes often help you see places where you said things in more words than necessary. They also can tell where you may need to expand upon or make clearer.


Become an Expert in Spelling, Grammar, and Word Usage

There are many writers who tend to write a first draft then lean on someone to edit their work before they submit it. But, it really does help to know learn to proof your work on your own. Eliminating obvious spelling and grammatical errors is very helpful. You can also catch word usage problems yourself that grammar checkers may not find. Then, you can lean on any editor you have to catch more developmental things in your writing rather than the more basic mechanical things.

Most editors prefer having writers who are already pretty good at writing mechanics. This is crucial if you plan on submitting your writing to publications or plan to have it published. That doesn’t mean you have to be one hundred percent perfect all the time. But, keeping typos and errors to a minimum is a must to become a better writer, especially a professional writer.


Don’t Let Disappointment or Rejection Hold You Back from Writing

Most successful writers will tell you that their favorite writing pieces are those that have are rejected the most. Unfortunately, rejection is part of any business. Rejection is especially brutal at times in the writing business. It's not uncommon for dozens or even hundreds of publishers and editorial publications to turn the same piece down.

To be a successful writer, learn not to take these rejections personally. Just move on to another outlet or the next writing project. You can always return to those pieces later to see if they need revision or just a new audience.

Most of the best writers out there now did not begin as highly-touted writing talents. In fact, many of them faced a major uphill climb to enjoy any professional success at all. The key is being relentless in developing writing skills. Don't be afraid to submit early and often. Then, don't stop writing. These are the keys of success in writing.

Talent is something that can be developed, no matter where you start out. Forget about what people think about your writing “talent.” Develop your writing skills and prove the naysayers wrong.

by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer

Writing great dialogue takes a lot of practice. Many authors spend years perfecting their dialogue so it both sounds authentic and moves the story along. Here are 3 dialogue writing tips that will ensure you can write natural, dazzling dialogue.

1. It Must Move the Story Forward

Unlike normal speech, the dialogue in fiction must move the story forward. It must be part of the plot.
Here's an example of what good dialogue shouldn’t be:

“Hi, Bob.”

“Hi, Jill. How are you?”

“Oh, I’m okay. How are you?” Bob said.

“I’ve been better. My boss just laid me off,” Jill said.

In the above example, the two characters are chitchatting. While you will find this in normal conversation, it is not advisable to write it in fiction. You risk boring your reader with needless banter. Instead, get write to the point. Keep your reader gripped and entertained.

Here's an example of what good dialogue should be:

“Oh my god, Jill, I just heard the news. What are you going to do?” Bob asked as he ran up to Jill.

“Apply at the Moon. I hear they’re hiring,” Jill said as she turned to view Bob.

“Yeah, but the Moon? You know what kind of publication that is.”

“I know, but I need income,” Jill said.

“I don’t like it. Three of their last new hires have disappeared while on assignment,” Bob said.

2. Sentence Fragments Are Okay in Dialogue

Very rarely will you ever hear people speak entirely in complete sentences. It’s usually a combination of sentences and fragments. The best way to examine this is to go to a restaurant or café. Sit and listen to how people talk. Write down what they say. Look at the ebb and flow of the conversation.

Here's an example of a complete sentence conversation:

“Joe, what are you going to do today?” Jason asked.

“I’m going to go to the store. Then I think I’ll go to the gym. After that, I might just take a nap.”

“That sounds nice. I might take a nap too or head to the gym,” Jason said.

Here's an example of the same conversation in sentence fragments:

“Joe, what’s your plans for the day?” Jason asked.

“I think I’ll head to the gym, the store. Might take a nap.”

“Yeah. Sounds like a plan. Especially that nap. Just worked 12 hours.”

That second dialogue example sounds much more natural. If your characters are the type to speak in a more relaxed way, this is the perfect way to write their dialogue.

3. Dialogue Can Add Description

Do not be afraid to add description to your dialogue. It serves a two-fold purpose. It lets the reader know what your characters are doing while they're talking. Also, description provides dialogue beats (breaks and pauses in the dialogue without using “He said”, “She said.”

Here's an example of the above dialogue with description:

Jason opened the refrigerator and pulled the pack of baloney. He grabbed the bread off the counter before sitting out at the kitchen table. “Joe, what’s your plans for the day?”

“I think I’ll head to the gym, the store. Might take a nap,” Jason said as he made himself a sandwich.
“Yeah. Sounds like a plan." Jason grabbed the baloney and bread from his brother. "Especially that nap. Just worked 12 hours. Midnight shift is killing me.” He pulled out two slices each of bread and baloney.

Now when you sit down to write your next story, keep these 3 dialogue writing tips in mind. Your readers will be happy you did. Readers definitely appreciate the natural dialogue and they will want to read more of your stories.

Author Bio:

Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia.  She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Piper Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design.

She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know.

She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing.

Other books by Stacey

• AVIA II
• AVIA Memories

by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer

Even though I’m a writer, I don’t have a constant and endless supply of ideas. Every once in awhile I’ll find myself idea-less and in need of writing something. Most writers will call it writer's block.

I don’t actually believe in writer's block. There’s always something to write about. There’s always an idea somewhere. It’s just a matter of finding it and pulling together enough thoughts to make it happen. Here are six idea tips and tricks for finding something to write.


Read the News for Writing Ideas

The first thing I do every morning and read the news. The news can be a plethora of potential ideas and plots. This morning there’s an article about the Yemeni president refusing to leave. Europe is on alert for an Icelandic volcano ash cloud. There’s something about Newt Gingrich’s Tiffany’s account. Lightening struck two Indianapolis homes. Purdue is thinking about raising fees for foreign students. There was a tornado in Missouri.

The trick is to think about all those headlines and to think about what you know. If you know something about Yemen and the president, that might make a plot for a short story or novel or political commentary if you’ve read enough previous articles. The same can be done for all the rest.


Think About Things That Make You React: Angry, Sad, or Happy

The second thing to do is to sit back and think about what makes you angry, sad, or happy. Just pick an extreme emotion and an event that would trigger that emotion. The only thing I caution on is writing about recent family strife or death. A good first draft can be gotten immediately, but a polished draft doesn’t happen until six months or a year later. Raw emotions take time to heal, and the mind needs time to objectively process the events.

Sit and Observe at a Favorite Spot

The third idea would be to go to once of your favorite places; coffee shop, bookstore, store, park, or parking lot and sit and write everything you see and hear. This is an indirect way to find an idea. Still, it's a very good way to set a future scene.


Write About Something That You Want to Know More About

The fourth idea is to think about something you would like to know more about and start researching it. I like history especially ancient history and the Roman Empire. I also like the Victorian era. I few years ago I started purchasing all the books on ancient civilians and Rome I could find. I’m currently in the process of writing a historical novel from the books I’ve read.


Purchase Writing Idea Books

The fifth idea involves purchasing writing idea books. I own several of these as well. My most recent purchase was “The Writer’s Idea Book” by Jack Heffron. I like it. I haven’t used it extensively but I like some of the ideas in it. Some of them I’ve heard before. The book goes through brainstorming, clustering, cutting pages into sections and literally tossing them on the floor and rearranging them. I’m not a fan of the latter because it makes a mess. But, I am a fan of brainstorming as a last resort.


Just Write Whatever Comes

The last idea involves just writing through it. If you have a topic, but nothing concrete sometimes the best solution is to just write it out. I have started off many a paper and a story with the words “I cannot think of anything to write,” then I go from there. A lot of times the topic forms within the page, and I can take out that initial line and edit the work into something concrete.

Author Bio:

Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia.  She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design.

She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know.

She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing.

Other books by Stacey

• AVIA II
• AVIA Memories

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

There are many schools of thought when it comes to the best article length for SEO. The good news is that there isn’t a perfect article length that ranks best for SEO. Both short articles and long articles can perform well in SEO. The best length for an article really depends on the topic itself and how in depth you’re looking to write about it.

Are Short Articles Good for SEO?

A common piece of advice is that articles between 200 and 500 words are best for SEO. While that may not be completely true, many content marketers argue that this is a good length for readers. There’s this common belief that many internet readers won’t read more than 500 words at a time. Another common thought is that short articles are best because otherwise readers will just skim or think that your content is too wordy.

What is true is that many internet readers are looking for quick answers to their questions. They’re not sitting down to read a book, after all. Sometimes, if a topic can be split into several articles, it’s probably a good idea, as long as each article answers a reader’s question.

One suggestion is to create a short series of articles with a keyword phrase as part of the title. Then, break it into several different articles that are accessible from one another. That way, you can list them so readers can pick and choose the specific topic they’re looking for. The advantage of this for you is that if someone is truly interested in everything you’ve written on the topic, they’ll read the entire short series.

Can Long Articles be Good for SEO?

While short articles, and series of short articles, are a good idea, long articles can be good for SEO, too. Just as there are those that preach that short articles are best for SEO, there are others that preach that long articles are even better for SEO. The argument for long articles is that search engines consider longer articles to be more valuable resources. So, they tend to rank better.

But, just as is true for those that say shorter articles are better for SEO, this isn’t the complete truth. If a topic deserves an article that’s 1000 words or even 2000 words or more, then it’s probably worth doing. If your article is really long, one really good idea is to use subheadings that separate your longer article into shorter chunks. You may even consider a short table of contents at the beginning of your article that links to the different sections of the article. That way, readers who may otherwise just skim will click on that specific section.


The Best Articles for SEO Are Targeted and Relevant

If you’re looking to write the best articles for SEO, just be sure to stay on topic. It’s fine to write about multiple ideas in an article. But, for the web, it can be best to split it into multiple articles, or use the subheader tactic mentioned above.

Basically, see what articles that keep visitors on your own sites. Watch for the lengths of those articles. If your audience likes shorter articles, write shorter articles and break up longer ones. If they favor longer articles, see if you can combine some shorter pieces into longer ones, and create more long-form articles. If it’s somewhere in between, just keep up what you’re doing already! Essentially, the best article length for your content is whatever your audience likes best.

What do you find is the best article length for your own web writing?


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by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

Sometimes, I don't consider myself a very good writer. At times, I won't publish an article for even a month or two. Honestly, even though the common advice is to write every day, sometimes you do just need a break. If you feel like your writing is getting stale or is losing direction, it's actually a good idea to go and do something else completely different for a while.

There are times you need a break from writing in order to get yourself refocused. While your writing muscles do need the exercise, it doesn't make any sense to burn yourself out when you're not really producing anything worthy. So, if you're asking yourself should I take a break from writing then the answer is most likely you should. The question then becomes for how long?

How Long is Too Long to Stay Away from Writing?

The answer really depends on how you feel. If you really are not feeling like writing anymore, then there's probably a good reason for it. If writing is how you make a living, however, then you obviously don't want to stay away from it too long. But, breaks are important to take.

The idea is to not let yourself go forever without writing. If you find that you're staying away from writing for days or weeks at a time, then you probably need the break. But when you find yourself not writing anything after months, even little notes in your journal, that's when you probably should reconsider if you're really even that interested in writing at all anymore.

I've actually been at that point in my life several times. There actually have been times where I haven't even written a single word for maybe even a month at a time, maybe even more. Why did this happen?

I can tell you straight up the main reason that I have gone long stretches without writing. It’s feeling forced to write things that I didn't feel like writing. For example, college papers were often a major struggle for me, as I just couldn’t get involved with the subject material. The other major thing is articles that weren't really paying a lot of money, but I needed the cash. So, when the writing started feeling forced like slave labor, it really was just no fun anymore. I didn't want to do it anymore.

Should Writing Feel More Like Work or Feel More Like Fun?

With anything that you do, it’s probably not going to be fun all the time. But should it be? Sometimes, if you get a lucrative opportunity you're going to take it, even if it's not for that much money. You may just need the cash. But, if you find yourself getting to the point where you hate writing, then obviously you need to take a step back and really reconsider your goals.

It's funny because for so much of my life I actually didn't really write with much of a goal in mind. But I will tell you this right now. If your only goal with writing is simply to make money, then you're probably really needing to find a deeper meaning and purpose to what you want to write.

For example, I really wanted to be a novelist for a long time. At other points in my life, I wanted to be a sports writer. So, at some point, there were actually times where I felt it was important to practice and polish my writing skills so that I could get a job later with writing. The practice alone was a good goal and it kept me focused. But as I became less interested in those jobs, my writing really lost focus for awhile. That’s why I turned to poetry and journal writing, and eventually articles.

Sometimes, you just have to find a different kind of writing to get going again. If it’s getting to feel too much like work, find something else that’s more fun. Sometimes you’re going to have to take assignments that feel like work, so be sure to balance it out with writing something fun. That way, you never have to take too long a break.


When Should Writing be More than Just a Job?

Even when you do something you enjoy, the sad truth is that you may end up feeling burnt out at one point or another. That's only natural. You may be overwhelmed with how much writing you're trying to do at once. If that’s what it is, you should probably scale back. Also, you might find that you don't have a good enough goal and motivation to keep yourself with the proper energy and focus that you need to write.

So, when should writing be more than a job? For a long time, writing for me was simply a hobby. It was something to take my mind off of other things. When I did try to turn writing into my regular job, it honestly didn't really feel that great. While I was making some money doing it, I started feeling like my skills were not being properly compensated. I kept asking myself: why am I even doing this anymore?

When you're writing purely for yourself, sometimes you find yourself saying: “Oh, well, I'll just write some more tomorrow.” Then, tomorrow becomes next week, and next week becomes next month. So what I suggest, if you're going to take a break from writing, is to switch gears. Take a break from writing, per se, as far as trying to write complete articles and the like. What you should keep doing instead, however, is to keep your mind coming up with ideas.

Take notes, whether that's in your phone, or a diary, or a little notebook. If you really are serious about writing, you need to keep putting things down. What I’ve found is that if you go too long, even a week, without just putting your thoughts down, it becomes very very difficult to get the momentum again. When you try to write again, you may find your writing is very sloppy for a while. But as long as you keep the ideas flowing one way or another, even if you just have to doodle in the margins of something, that's important.

Just need to keep the free flow of ideas going. If you’re continuously generating ideas, you'll find the other parts of your life improve, as well. If you sit there and let your mind stagnate, you're going to end up being pretty miserable. Even if you find that you’re not really writing for awhile, you can always use ideas.

Taking a Break from Writing Doesn’t Mean You Should Take a Break from Ideas

Even if you’re not writing, don’t ever take a break from ideas. If you continue to take down ideas, even when you're not actively writing something, you may find that you're able to start writing again all of a sudden. I know that I found this to be the case when I write poetry sometimes. If I haven't written for a while, it's great to try to force myself to rhyme a few phrases or even just keep track of syllables in a simple pattern. That way, I can sort of create a little framework to write around. Even if I only write 4 or 8 lines, I find that I've at least produced something. Producing something, even if it's only a little bit and even if it's not good, at least makes me force myself to put words together.

Trying to then force yourself to write a thousand word article is not always the best way to get going again. The trick that I found with writing  is to not burn yourself out. Simply keep your thoughts flowing and note them somehow. The ideas don’t even have to be good. After all, to get good ideas, you have to have a lot of bad ones, too.

I can tell you right now that when I'm not doing very well with writing I'll still open up a whole bunch of documents and stick ideas in each one. Sure, probably 9 out of 10 of them never go anywhere. But, that's okay. Eventually I will find some way to connect those thoughts, even if they don't become articles on their own.

I've even found Speech-to-Text, even the simple kind that's on a lot of Google and Apple phones, is very helpful in getting your ideas out. Even when you don't actually feel like writing, using Speech-to-Text is different. That’s because when you talk, you're using a different part of your brain. You actually want to exercise this part of your brain, as well. By vocalizing your thoughts, all you're doing is expanding how you can express yourself. Heck, if you’d rather express yourself through art or other creative activities, that's good, too. The idea is to not let your mind stagnate. If you're not going to write, find some other way to express yourself.


How Long Your Break is From Writing is Up to You

So, how long should you take a break from writing it all is up to you. However long feels right to you is how long you should take. But, whatever you do don't keep the ideas from flowing. That's the most important part that is why I love writing so much. It’s a way for me to get my ideas out of my head so that they're not zooming around at a million miles an hour.

At times, I feel extremely unorganized, and that's when I feel like I need to take a break and refocus. If you can't focus with your writing, you're going to find yourself writing a lot of crap or things that you just can't do anything with. In fact, you end up confusing yourself. So, only write when you feel like you can have a clear path to what you're doing.

But even if you're not feeling clear, make sure you get the ideas down. The more ideas you get down, the more you have to come back to later. The worst thing you can ever do as a writer is to come in with a blank page with no direction. Make sure that you always come back to writing with some sort of direction. Even if you end up changing direction midstream, that's okay.

The idea is to make sure that you stay focused as a writer. Once you lose that focus, go do something else for a while. If you don't want to come back to writing maybe you never will. But that's okay. You can't worry about that. If you're meant to be a writer, you will come back to it. Even when I’ve felt like I was done with writing forever, I obviously still came back. That's what I've always found.

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by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

Some of the best advice I've ever read on outlining came from the book “How to Write a Book for Beginners" by Ryan Stephens. This advice had to do outlining a nonfiction book, but it’s applicable to any kind of nonfiction writing.

Ryan asked his friend about how he outlines his books. He told him it's as simple as this: answer two types of questions. There are the questions people actually ask and the questions they should be asking. In the case of a nonfiction book, you want your chapter titles to be the questions people ask. Then, the subheadings are made from the questions you find people should be asking.

The best part about this advice is that it works for article writing, too. As someone who used to be rather allergic to traditional outlining, I find this simple approach refreshing. But while it looks simple on the surface, how easy is it to know what questions to ask?

What Questions Do People Actually Ask?

Fortunately, good old Google Autocomplete can give us a treasure trove of what people actually search around a given word or phrase. This is a helpful place to begin your research. Or is it?

The funny thing that came to my head as I set to writing on this topic is this: what if the best questions people want to ask aren't even being typed into Google? This is a good thought that I don't think I've ever thought before. It's funny how when you start asking yourself questions how you come up with more questions.

This is how I knew that Ryan's friend was really onto something when he said you should outline using questions. For so long I've often used dry subheaders and even really dry titles just to get the keywords in there. Before reading that Ryan Stephens book I didn't even really consider writing nonfiction books. But the idea dawned on me that I should seriously look into it.

But did I Google it? Nope. I searched Amazon for free Kindle books on writing. That's right. People still look for answers in books. Who would've thought? Believe it or not, though, there isn't a book readily available for every topic. Even if people write a hundred thousand articles on a topic, it doesn't mean there's a good book on it. So, why does it matter if you can't find a book on Amazon for a question you have? To me, it screams opportunity. As a writer, this smells like fresh blood does to a shark.

So, now we've established that people search Amazon sometimes before they even think about Google. That's not a tip you see everyday. But there are a lot of places to look for answers to your questions. You can't possibly check them all.


So, How Do I Find the Right Questions to Ask?

The best way I've been finding questions to ask is not doing keyword research. I certainly still do some initial keyword research, because you can find some good opportunities to target your content that way. But when you set yourself to answer a question, you should never limit yourself. The best way to know what questions to ask is to ask yourself what questions you would ask.

If you have a topic or question in mind, write it down. Then, ask yourself the questions you would ask in order to be satisfied that your question has been sufficiently answered. But, how do you know I'm asking the right questions when outlining my article or book?

I'm loath to say it, but I'll say it anyway because it will help illustrate a point. There's no such thing as a stupid question. Some will rebut that with: until you ask it. Others will follow up with: only if you don't ask it. I'm inclined to agree with the latter rebuttal.

So, What’s the Best Way to Find the Questions People Actually Ask?

It turns out we are not all brilliant masterminds who have billions of unique thoughts everyday. But I do have good news. The genius is in making the connections between thoughts and ideas. Anyone can do this if you work at it. So, yeah, if you're thinking something, it's highly likely someone else has thought the same thing. But, if you're acting on it, then you're doing something creative. That's important.

As someone who usually skips outlining entirely, why do I suddenly seem keen on taking a step back and really ask some hard questions? Because by asking questions, I find myself asking even more of them. Eventually, I'll recognize which ones seem the most important to answer. Then, I set to work.

What people actually ask is what you'd probably be asking yourself anyway. Yes, seeing what people actually ask is important through some research, too. But when you are trying to write something, you turn the idea faucet on and let it flow for a bit. Then, when you’ve come to a point where you need to turn to answers, this is when you know you have a whole bunch of good questions.

So, how do people even look for answers in the first place?

Should I Google It?

Or, in place of Google, insert your favorite search engine. Keep in mind people use Amazon and YouTube to look for answers, too. Google can be a great tool, but that is all that it is. Finding the answer your seeking may in fact be a click away. But it may not be. And even if there are results, will they satisfy you?

In my experience, if it's not a simple question, most of the time you'll find irrelevant results or feel underwhelmed. Don't blame Google. No one has answered it well enough yet anywhere the Google spiders can find. For writers, this is fresh blood!

But not everyone asks Google their burning questions. And  not too many people actually type into Google “should I Google it?” when they’re figuring out how best to find answers. Choosing to use Google is an internal decision. There are so many other search engines out there and while Google is the most-used, not every good question people ask will be easily revealed to you that way.

Should I Look for Answers in a Book?

Turning to books to seek an answer to your question may seem quaint to some people. Actually, if you are even considering this, though,I applaud you. There’s solid reasoning to this decision making process.

By no means is the Google searcher is being lazy or anything. But there are some questions that would seem to require some digging. You can do this through Google, too, of course, but hitting the books means you want more than online articles can give you - no matter how good they are..

And, I hate to break it to you. What you read online is not always accurate. I also hate to break it to you that what you read in a book isn't always accurate. However, books seem to be much more trusted. Why is that?

Yes, it's true that books tend to be more robustly researched, edited, and scrutinized. But, online articles can be too. And since pretty much anyone can self publish not only e-books, but print books too, there isn't too much difference between what you find online or in books, right?

Actually, here's the key difference. Books are longer. Even short ebooks are longer than most articles published on the web. Books require more effort on the part of the writer, and a lot more research. If you’re turning to books to answer your questions, you're no longer just a searcher, but a researcher. Likely, you’ll have visit your local library or buy books to seek answers. If anyone goes to that much effort, it must be important..

This is where we must bridge the gap to what people should be asking.

What Questions SHOULD We Be Asking?

Many questions people are probably only asking internally, but not actually searching. Others have questions that may require more research than many people actually want to do. So, because we writers are wonderful human beings, we go do the hard work so others may benefit.

Or we're self absorbed jerks who want to get paid the big bucks for becoming the top expert on subject X. Either way, same result.

The questions that require digging, the ones not answered well or at all through the results of a Google search, are the ones we should be asking. Those are the ones we should be writing about and answering. Yes, it can be hard work, but the end result is going to be something pretty cool that probably hasn’t been done before.

How Does Listing a Bunch of Questions Help You Outline an Article?

It's quite ironic that when I first began writing this very article that I neglected to even outline it. But as I went along, I realized that I had something pretty profound here. At first, I began to ramble and lose focus. Fortunately, I righted the ship. I started taking a step back and just asking the questions before I just took off being the rambling fool I often am.

Or am I?

Turning the more common questions into chapter titles helps you get into the mindset of your audience. If you’re writing an article, this is how people are going to discover it in search. If you’re writing a book, people will find these in your table of contents, if you choose to make that part of a free book preview (which you should). You also show your audience (and potential publishers) that you have your finger on the pulse of your audience for a certain given topic.

People also like it when you’re asking questions that echo the ones they themselves have been asking. You position yourself as an authority by asking the right questions.

While turning your article or book into an FAQ of sorts isn’t a terrible way to go, you want to get down to creating something more. That’s where the subheaders come in. They’re quite useful in keeping your audience’s attention and allow skimmers to  get some value from your work without reading closely. By turning your subheadings into questions, you force yourself to really answer them.

While asking these questions are really helpful in outlining and focusing yourself on the questions you need to answer, they’re good to keep in the final version as well. Many people, myself included, have long had many subheadings that read as statements or more like commands. While there isn’t anything wrong with this, asking questions instead adds a new dimension to your writing. Not only do people appreciate that you’re asking good questions, but you make your readers ask more questions of themselves.

By asking the right questions that people really ask and those that we should be asking, your writing will be a lot more focused and you’ll find yourself driven towards writing good answers more quickly and more often. The questions people ask and the questions they should be asking can serve as the backbone to any piece of nonfiction writing that you’re doing. Once I started writing this way, I can say I write more quickly and more effectively than ever before.

Plus, I started asking a lot more questions. Is that ever a bad thing?


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by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

If you’re a first-time writer, you may be reading a lot of different writing advice about how to get started. There’s plenty of writing advice out there, some good and some bad. Here, we’ll ask some questions about common advice that’s given to first-time writers. But, we’ll expand on these ideas a bit more and give you some actionable advice for your writing. Even if you’re not a first-time writer, these are questions you probably still should be asking yourself.

Before we get started, keep this in mind: You can be the most talented and skilled writer there is, but neither talent nor skill is a guarantee for writing success.  What you’ll find is that passion is the most important thing when it comes to writing. We’ll get to why this is later.

Now, here are six key questions first-time writers should ask, or any writers, really.

Question #1: Why Must Writers Must First Be Readers?

A writer must be a reader, first and foremost. Whether you are a writer of nonfiction, novels, songs, poems, or even technical manuals, writers must read. While we each develop our favoritism for certain genres or topics, we must each always look to broaden our knowledge.

Why is diversifying your knowledge so important? True genius lies in making connections that others simply haven’t made yet. By diversifying your reading material and spheres of knowledge, you expand your mind and allow it to make connections with seemingly unrelated ideas.

If you limit yourself to a single genre or a handful of topics, you will limit your ability to discover new ideas. Also, by opening yourself to other genres and topics, even if on a whim, you expand your ability to learn. In a world that becomes seemingly more specialized everyday, the writer must learn to do the opposite.

First-time writers often struggle finding their writing niche, and that’s OK. Even experienced writers feel the need to branch out and find something new to write from time to time. The best way to find new ideas to write about? It’s reading.


Question #2: How Should You Choose a Topic to Write About?

You’re probably sick of hearing the same old advice of “write what you know.” First-time writers hear that a lot. As with a lot of common advice, though, there is a lot of truth to it. However, there’s more to choosing a topic than that. You might know a lot of things. Of course, there are always going to be more things that you don’t know than you do.

Yes, to be a successful writer you have to know what you’re writing about. But just because you know a lot about something doesn’t mean that’s the topic you should choose. Whatever you write about, it should either be something you love or something you hate. The truth is that you need to write about something that you’re passionate about, because that will show in your writing and make it better!

Can I Write Something I Don’t Know? This is when the common  “write what you know” advice seems limiting. If you’re interested in some topic that you don’t really know a lot about, then, by all means learn about it. As you research this topic, if you find you’re actually rather passionate about it, then keep learning about it! You can eventually turn what you don’t know into something that you do know a lot about! Just make sure that you really love it before you dive into writing about it.

Question #3: Can You Ever Stop Learning?

No writer is ever going to be perfect. It doesn’t matter how skilled or knowledgeable you become. There is always room to grow, both as a writer and as a person. If you don’t continue to expand your mind, you will find your writing suffer as a result. There’s so much pressure to keep writing the same thing and sharpening your focus. As a writer, you should write what you love, but keep learning other things. Even if you focus on writing nonfiction, you should never stop yourself from reading fiction or poetry. You just never know where your next good idea will come from.

A mind that becomes too focused on just one kind of writing, one way to tell a story, or one anything will eventually become complacent. This can cause your writing to become stale. Much of your audience will grow bored with the same thing after a while. This is why you must keep expanding your mind. For example, even if you’re an established horror writer, you may draw inspiration from science fiction and romance. If you focus too much on what’s already been done without introducing new combinations of ideas and new perspectives, you and your writing will suffer for it.

Also, your writing will never be perfect. So, there’s always room to learn from other writers, whether it be through their style, their storytelling, or just their ideas in general. First-time writers certainly have the most to learn about the writing craft, but even the best writers still learn all the time; that’s how they stay the best!


Question #4: Why Should You Keep Building Your Vocabulary?

If you’re a writer, you should know as many words as you can, right? This seems obvious at first. But, one common piece of writing advice is to actually use the simplest words you can. Of course, Ernest Hemingway is quite famous for his poignant use of simple words in the narration of his stories. But we’re not all Ernest Hemingway, are we?

Yes, using uncommon words, often called “big words,” “college words,” or “SAT words” can be daunting for a lot of readers. So, yes, when a simple word is fine to use, just use that. It can be very tempting for writers to show off their vocabularies. But just because you don’t use them every day in your writing doesn’t mean you shouldn’t know them. It’s actually good for your readers to have to look up a word in the dictionary once in awhile, after all. But, then, why use them at all?

Words are surprisingly complex when you actually study them. Etymology is the study of the origin of words and how they have changed in usage or form over time. The etymology of even common words is pretty fascinating. In fact, the study of individual words alone can actually help you develop writing ideas.  

And, of course, building your vocabulary will allow you to reduce the chances of not being able to find just the right word for an idea. After all, words are little encapsulations of ideas, and the more of them you know, the more ideas you can easily express.


Question #5: Should I Write Down Every Idea I Get?

Here’s a question that many first-time writers ask: should I be writing down every writing idea that I get? Yes, the most important thing about ideas is to not let them get away. Ideas often occur to us at the most inopportune times. Writing an idea down on the back of a napkin might sound cliche, but it does actually turn out that doing that has saved some great ideas. Always be prepared to capture ideas when you least expect them.

The beauty of the human mind is its ability to come up with pretty amazing ideas unexpectedly. The idea for the next great novel of all time could occur you to just about anywhere. Even a piece of character dialogue could hit you as you’re walking down the street. If an idea sparks your interest, write it down in whatever way you can. Yes, even carry around napkins if you have to!

Don’t fool yourself that you might simply remember the idea later. Yes, sometimes you may remember it perfectly. But another beautiful, and often tragic, thing about the human mind is that it can be at time impossible to remember something you came up with just five minutes ago. Ideas are always racing around and can bury one another. We’re all brilliant in a way, and we all have ideas. Most aren’t going to be good, and some will be OK. But all it takes is one great idea to get you writing. That one idea could take you further than you could ever now imagine.

Question #6: What’s the Best Writing Advice of All?

Every writer can ask this question, and the answer is actually quite simple.

Write Because You Love to Write!

A lot of writers make publication the end goal for their writing. While wanting to be a published author is definitely an excellent goal, it shouldn’t be the only one. Your main goal in writing should always be writing what you love to write. You may not always love what you write, but you should love the very act of writing itself. No, not everything you write is going to be published. Even Stephen King has unpublished manuscripts.

You should only publish when you feel you’ve written something that you actually feel is worthy of publishing. So many writers spend so much time on trying to write something to be published and are frustrated when no one wants to publish it. Lots of times, there’s going to be nothing wrong with what you’ve written.

The truth is that publishers have to make money. If they don’t think an idea will make money, no matter how good it is, then they will likely pass. This isn’t your fault and you shouldn’t let it discourage you. If you’re looking to publish, you can always self-publish to get it out there. Then, just write something else. You can always follow the money with your writing, but it shouldn’t be ever be your only end goal.

As a writer, following your passion is all you should be doing. Your writing is going to be better when you’re not writing just to publish. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t have publishing as a writing goal. What it means is that when you sit down to write, don’t worry about the publishing being the end goal. Passion is everything with any art, and it especially shows in writing. Writing what you know and love is what drives a writer to create. If you’re not driven to create, then you’re going to have a hard time writing. It’s as simple as that.

So, with these six important questions answered, get out there and just write!

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

Ever feel like that your writing just isn't coming out quite perfect? You may feel like there's something missing. Do you feel like what you're saying doesn't sound right? That's okay. Sometimes, you simply have to take a step back and leave your writing aside for a while. It might only be for a few hours. Sometimes, it can be a day. If you have the time to do so, it could even be a week.

But if you feel like you're on to something, but you haven't quite figured out where you're going yet, it is actually okay to let your piece of writing sit. That way, you can come back to it with a fresh perspective. The idea should be to not rush a piece of writing if you don’t have to.

Why is Sitting on a Piece of Writing for a While Actually a Good Thing?

The most important part of writing is getting the ideas out. Once you get the ideas out, the hard work really begins. How do I actually turn this piece of writing into something that people can relate to and get some value out of it? Most important of all, you want it to be something to be happy with, especially if it’s going to be published somewhere.

Unfortunately, a large percentage of what we write finds its way into the recycle bin. Even the greatest writers struggle at one point or another. What's important to keep in mind is that not everything you write is going to be good, especially on the first draft. Don't ever feel like every word that you write has to see print, even if it's on a computer screen. If you feel bad about a piece of writing, taking time away from it is probably best so that you can detach yourself emotionally from it.

When Should I Set a Piece of Writing Aside?

Trust your instincts if you really think a writing piece has potential, even it's just not going anywhere right now. Save it and set it aside. Don't hit delete until you’ve given it a second chance. You may find later that you regret hitting delete on a piece that might have had some good ideas, but just needed better organization or more work.

Yes, sometimes a piece is destined to go nowhere, and that's okay. But if you're working on something like an assignment that you really absolutely have to do, then setting it aside for a while is actually the best way to go. In fact, you know how a lot of web writers purposely hold off completing assignments until the last minute? Sometimes, this is to help motivate the writing to get done, but for some writers procrastinating actually helps it get it done better.

Even if you’re a procrastinator, you actually still want to put something down. It may just be listing subheadings or questions that you need to answer in the article. Even sticking in keyword phrases and thoughts related to the writing work gives you a place to start if you really need to set it aside for a bit.


When Should You Just Get Writing Started to Work On Later?

The most important part of writing, or doing anything in general, is to get started. As long as you're able to put something down, you’re already getting somewhere. If you really get stuck, then leave it for a while. If you’re able to come back before it's due, you're probably okay. In fact, you're probably a lot better off than when you started.

But even if you put random thoughts down, why are you able to then write better. This is because your mind has actually been able to think through what you’ve written subconsciously.Never underestimate the power of the subconscious. Even though it does sound cliche to let ideas sit around in your mind for awhile, it really does help.

Some people may wonder why writers will rush to writing assignments and try to get something out right away. Doing this gains you momentum. Once you have that momentum, even if you stop and think about it for a while, you got it started. You're not always going to be able to produce your best writing work in one sitting. You shouldn't feel like you have to do that. If you do feel overwhelmed, it’s time to step back, and reconsider what you’re doing with your writing.

Is It Possible to Sit On My Writing for Too Long?

Contemplation and reflection is very important with writing. But it is possible to let writing sit too long. It’s important to get the ideas out of your head and let it sit for a bit if you have to. But, make sure you come back to it. Then, finish it or decide what else to do with it. If you find yourself taking writing work that you’re sitting on too long and it's due, it's perfectly okay to reach out for help. Writers do it all the time.

It’s important to find your place where you feel comfortable with writing. Sure, it's fine to put yourself out of your comfort zone once in awhile. This can help expand your skills and build discipline with your writing. But, don't ever feel like you have to get your writing done in one sitting if you really can't get it done.

Sure, you can try and write fifty articles in a day, but that’s rarely possible. If you feel fine trying to do a whole bunch in a day, then go ahead. Each of us has a different limit. But, once you reach your limit, don't push yourself past that limit. Otherwise, you're going to end up hating writing.

If you do find some writing is sitting too long and you can't finish it, you then have to make a decision. Don't feel obligated to finish, if it’s not vital that you do. You don't want to burn yourself out. Sometimes, you have to just let it go and move onto something else.

But, if a writing assignment is very important to get done, get help with it if you need to. Always give yourself a break before you feel like you have to finish something. Know when you need to let it go to someone else to be done in time. If you don't do these things, you're probably not going to be happy with your writing. Letting your writing sit for awhile is important to let yourself reflect and produce the best work you can. But you also need to get back to writing in a timely manner. Finding that balance is the key to being a successful writer.

by Phoenix A. Desertsong, Staff Writer, Healer & Advocate

For me, prewriting has always been a bit of an ironic term. After all, doesn't prewriting involve writing things down? But, really, the act of prewriting is actually helpful for a lot of writers. While I have rarely ever done prewriting in the traditional sense, there's a lot of usefulness to integrating prewriting into your own writing process.


"What the heck is Prewriting?"

In school, we were probably all taught that you needed to do prewriting before starting the first version of a writing assignment. I rarely did this, even in cases that the prewriting was part of the grade. I'd just start writing the assignment and go back and fix it later as I developed more ideas. I became a pretty good self-editor at an early stage. So, I could skip prewriting, really.

But not everyone can write a whole paper straightaway. Even the most seasoned writers sitting down to write something that isn't an assignment can find great value in old school prewriting. How do you start prewriting? You ask yourself some questions.


"What am I writing about?"

What is the topic or theme of what you're setting yourself to write? I usually am able to complete this task in the title of my work or in the first few sentences. But one benefit of prewriting is that not only can you set your topic or theme in writing before you actually begin writing the actual work, but you can also ask yourself: "is this something I even care about?"

I used to ask myself "will anyone care about what I'm writing?" most times I set to writing. That's a question I'm sure many people ask themselves.  The trouble is, writing what you think people want to read often leads you to writing something you're not as invested in.

Believe me, it's usually fairly obvious to people when someone writes about something they actually care about or are moved by. For some, prewriting is a great way to really decide the direction you want to take with your writing, whether it's for yourself or an assignment. After all, once you put something in writing, it can look a lot different.

This is one very useful thing about prewriting. You can figure out what you actually care to write about before writing a whole piece you're unhappy with. Now that I think about it, I could save myself some time by just doing this one part of prewriting. In a way, I already do something like that in my journals, where I often come up with my topics and themes for writing essays. In fact, this very piece came from an idea I wrote in my journal.

Still, formalizing this part of the writing process as the first step in prewriting makes a lot of sense. If you think it will help your writing, by all means adopt this idea.

But this is only the first part of prewriting.


"Why am I writing about this?"

If you're writing something for an assignment, this question seems to have an obvious answer: "duh, I have to write it!" But that's not what this second stage of prewriting actually means. This is when you decide on the purpose of your writing.

Well, the purpose of your writing should not be "a good grade" in a class or "get me paid" for a freelance assignment. No, by purpose, we want to know what this piece of writing is meant to accomplish, what job it has in life. One guide to prewriting has a great list of possible purposes to write for:

• to explain
• to inform/instruct
• to describe
• to narrate
• to persuade
• to move
• to amuse/entertain

Your writing can be for multiple purposes. But typically, you're looking to focus on only one or two of these purposes – although you can do more. It's possible to entertain while also being persuasive, for example. You can narrate and move someone through your words. Really, you can mix and match any of these purposes.

If you do take up prewriting, it might be handy to keep this short list of purposes on hand. That way, you can choose the purposes that best fit what you're trying to accomplish with your writing. Sometimes an assignment will give you a strictly defined purpose. But many allow you to add an additional purpose to your writing. And, of course, if there are no exact purposes assigned, then just go with however you feel you can best write about your topic or theme.

For example, through this prewriting piece, I am informing while also hopefully explaining why I don't necessarily do prewriting myself. I find that I tend to have a purpose to explain and inform a lot in my writing, although I also aim to amuse, sometimes, too. Keep in mind you don't have to try and do all of these things in every piece you write, as you can't have any one piece do everything, after all.


"Who am I writing this for?"

Ah, yes, the ever important question for a writer: "Who is my audience?"

This is the point in the prewriting process where you may have to reconsider the purpose for your writing. Where is what you're going to write be posted? Even if it is for your eyes only, you still inevitably have to think about this.

The whole point of writing is for someone to read it, even if it's only for yourself. More often than not, you're trying to reach a specific audience. Your audience is, sadly, not just everybody. You must have an audience in mind whenever you write something.

Myself, I tend to write for other writers, authors, and bloggers, while also considering other creatives. Does that mean that my work is only meant for those specific people? Not at all. But what it does mean, then, to target a specific audience?

Targeting an audience just means that you need to decide who is most likely to get the most out of what you are writing. Then, if you decide your target audience prefers to read a more amusing piece or more of a narrative, you can adjust your "writing parameters" accordingly.


"How am I going to write about this?"

This is where things get juicy in prewriting. Some prewriting guides have choosing your piece's genre before figuring out your audience. But you kind of want to know your audience before deciding how you want to write about it. After all, you haven't actually started writing your actual writing yet, so you can go back still and adjust things.

By genres, here's what sort of things you could be writing:

• biography
• book
• essay
• letter
• narrative
• news story
• novel
• poem
• review
• report
• short story

Some themes are better written about through the narrative of a short story, for example. Other times, you may want to write something biographical and descriptive about someone who dealt with a certain topic or theme throughout his or her lifetime. Myself, I tend to prefer the essay, because it's versatile. I also use poems a lot to express certain ideas. But I've written all of these types of things in one form or another.

When it comes to genre, unless it's assigned, I always recommend to write to your strengths sometimes and to your weaknesses at others. Really, you should dabble in every kind of writing that you can.

The reason for this should be obvious. The more you grow as a writer, the better all of your writing will be, even if your forays into other genres seem to fail miserably. The very act of putting together a piece you wouldn't usually write makes new connections in your brain.

You can learn a lot by writing what you're weak at, because you could eventually find new strengths. After all, writing is first and foremost a skill. The more you develop your skills in different sorts of writing, the more you can do.


"OK, it's brain dump time!"

Once you have decided on the topic or theme, the purpose, the audience, and the genre for what you're writing, it's time to throw down! It's planning time! Planning my writing is something I rarely do, although I do brainstorm from time to time when I feel compelled to do so.

However, depending on what you're writing, there are lots of ways to collect your thoughts and ideas for the sake of prewriting. You can sit there and think and take notes on whatever floats through your brain for hours. Then you end up daydreaming and fantasizing and go write some poems or start some story that will go nowhere, instead. Yeah, I've been there and done that. But there are other ways.

Researching is actually pretty helpful. This is a part of prewriting that I actually have done a air amount. Reading on the topic or theme you want to write about is helpful for many reasons. Not only does it give you a ton of ideas to start from, but you also know what's already out there.

You can also interview someone. This is easier than you'd think. People love to talk. If you ask someone who you consider an expert on a subject, and you have a few good questions you're looking to answer, you'll likely get a positive response!

In fact, an interview itself makes for some good writing, in addition to what you're already writing! Plus, interviewing is an awesome skill to develop. But the greatest benefit of an interview is that you can get an expert source and those are awesome social proof for your work.

Of course, you can also discuss your topic or theme with friends and family. You may get some ideas that you don't expect.

However you pull your ideas together, it's the one part of prewriting that I actually do. You should do it, too. You'll probably end up getting more ideas than you need for the writing project you started with. As you find as a writer, too much is actually a good thing, because you have other things to write about later!


"Pull it all together now!"

The end of prewriting is now upon us! Now you have to organize your notes and put some sense to them. This is where some people engage in the dreaded outline or do some fancy flow chart or spreadsheet or whatever other crap you want to throw in Microsoft Excel. (Or OpenOffice Sheets, as I prefer!)

Myself, I just pick a few good ideas and develop them in a way that makes sense. Most of the time, I do all this organization in my head. Then again, especially with assignments, I will put headings and sections in a document first before the writing gears really start cranking. It's not an outline, per se, but it sort of serves the same purpose.

And yes, writing an outline is perfectly OK. But my own writing tends to be a but spontaneous, so outlines frustrate me. There's nothing actually wrong with them, though. And I've see flow charts and tables work wonders for some people. Really, however you best get organized in writing, go for it!

That's it! Now you're ready to start writing... even though you just did more writing in the prewriting than you'll probably actually do in the actual drafting... But hey, it's more writing, and who doesn't want to do more of that?

How do you prewrite? Or are you like me and mostly just fly by the seat of your pants? Whatever your process is, I'd love to hear about it!

~ Phoenix <3

by Phoenix A. Desertsong, The Perpetual Prose Machine

Writing online is a highly competitive game - that’s for sure! But if you think you have something new or unique to bring to the table, it’s never too late (or early) to start! It doesn’t matter how young or old you are! I see writers as young as 12 (and there may be even younger, especially on YouTube.) Then, I see writers well into their 60’s, 70’s and even 80’s! As long as you’re a competent writer and have something useful to share, then writing online is well worth a shot!

Starting Young as a Writer

When you’re younger, you obviously have not only time on your side to build your writing portfolio and your personal brand. You have youth itself on your side! This is both good and bad. There are those that will think it’s “cute” or “adorable” that you’re starting so young! It may be hard for some of your audience to take you seriously.

But for those of us who have been in the game for a bit, we have a deep respect for young writers. This is because it takes a lot of time and dedication to build a successful online presence with writing. Yes, many kids have more free time than most of us adults, but there’s more to it than just time and energy.

You have to have a certain maturity to be a successful writer - something many adults don’t even have - to be brutally honest. You have to have a plan and know how to take the steps to execute it. Having a blog, for example, even if it doesn’t do particularly well, is a great learning experience for any writer.

At the very least, writing online can make you connections. These connections can prove quite valuable! We’re more than happy as fellow writers to build up the younger members of the community. After all, you guys are the future of our industry! Sounds corny, but it’s true!


Starting Older as a Writer

Somewhat interestingly, the advantages of time that you have when you’re younger can be the same advantage when you’re an older writer. I’ve seen so many retirees pour all of the time they would have used in their day to day jobs into their blogs and other online writing efforts. The effort really shows. Some of them make a decent side hustle from it!

The other advantage older writers have is that they tend to have a fairly substantial network of friends, family, and former colleagues to get the word out  about their new endeavors. Also, life experience is a huge advantage when it comes to content. While most of us younger writers are still learning how to put the pieces of our lives together. Retired writers can give us perspectives and stories we can only dream of one day sharing.

It really is never too late to start writing, and it’s so easy nowadays to get started with your own blog or website! Also, it’s an awesome hobby, even if you don’t care about actually making money from it. We really love the elder members of the writing community and we’re always happy to welcome more to our ranks.


For Those of Us Writers in the Middle

A lot of us writers are twenty-somethings or thirty-somethings trying to make online writing our primary work. Many of us have regular 40-hour or more a week jobs on top of the dozens of hours we dump into networking, promoting, and the writing itself. Younger and older writers definitely have an advantage when it comes to time.

But for those of us in the middle that are turning to making online writing our primary gig, it’s important to realize that any kind of writing is a full-time job in and of itself. If you’re looking to get into the writing game, realize it’s going to be a 40-hour a week commitment, and often more. Much of that commitment needs to be about building one another up, young, old, and in between.

Whether you are looking into online writing full-time, part-time, or just as a hobby, it’s all worth it. But as with anything, you get back what you put into it. Think of writing as starting your own business. It takes the same blood, sweat, and tears. Even if you aren’t writing as a business, you still have to treat it like one, even if it’s not-for-profit. In the long run, you may not get rich, but you can definitely make a living from it.

It’s never too early or too late to start writing online!

~ Phoenix <3

by Lyn Lomasi; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

Most web writers will get questioned about their price at least once, but usually quite often. Who doesn't like a bargain? But your writing's worth is dependent upon what you make it. Here's why.

Discounts Are Fine, To A Certain Point

It's fine to have sales or deals for new or regular clients. But you still should keep the worth of your writing in mind. The lower you are willing to go, the less valuable people will see your content as being. Give discounts, but don't go so low that it's not worth both your time, as well as the value the client will get from it.

The Proof Is In Your Work

Quality web writing is getting more difficult to find. More and more people are discovering they can put their words online. This is a good thing, as far as communication. But those looking up specific information need accuracy and quality. This is where you come in as a web writer and prove to your client that your work is worth top dollar. Sometimes it takes that client paying a low quality writer less and finding out the hard way that they should have continued coming to you. I’ve had clients return after doing this more than once. It’s like the old saying goes “You get what you pay for.” Some people charge less than they’re worth, but in many cases, quality writing will cost more because of the time and energy put into creating a quality piece. 

Word Gets Around

Remember that business owners talk to each other often. This includes many topics, but who they hire for writing and other services essential to success is very common. If you charge one client a fee that is significantly less than you usually charge, other business owners will learn this and expect the same deal. The reason for the deal often doesn’t matter. Keep things consistent and accurate where your prices are concerned. You want the word to get around regarding your quality, instead of your low price.

Price According To Actual Value

The lower your price, the less value is likely to be given to your content. Remember that word gets around. So, whatever one business owner feels it’s worth may be what others are saying as well. In order to keep your value high, you need to keep your quality high and price your work accordingly and consistently. Obviously, there is some customizing involved in most web projects, based on topic matter, research, word count, and so on. But try to be as consistent as possible and consider the value of your time, as well as what the client will potentially get from said work.

Your work is worth what you make it worth. So, be sure to price it accordingly, limit the bargaining to a reasonable point, and show your clients what your worth via quality.

by Richard Rowell; Co-owner of Brand Shamans & Write W.A.V.E. Media

So you want to become a better article writer? Here is my simple three-step process to do just that!

1. Read a lot
2. Write a lot
3. Read and write a lot

OK, there you have it. Now go forth into the world and write your heart out!

Right, there’s a bit more to it than that. Isn’t there? Obviously, being highly literate definitely helps anyone. But as an article writer, constantly taking in new ideas is very important. Too often, we as writers just get stuck for what to write. The funny thing is, you never actually run out of things to write about. It’s just that any writer can get stuck on how to write about what they want to write about.

Appease the Skimmers

Especially in the online world, most readers do exactly what we writers don’t want them to do. That is, they skim. So, what do you do to appease the skimmers? People like sub-headings and little blocks of text that drive home important parts. Sometimes when reading an article online, those little blocks of text even allow us to share this bit of wisdom as a 140-character tweet. Then, you can make a button for anyone to share it with the world. It makes you look so smart!

Basically, something like 80 to 90 percent of online readers aren’t going to read every single word you write. It’s not quite that way for ebooks and traditional paperback and hardcover books. But even then, you still have to make your reading easily digestible. Whether it’s a good thing or not, most readers just don’t sit there and digest writing one word at a time. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.

You’ve probably heard the saying, easy reading is hard writing, or something to that effect. No one is quite certain who said it first, but it’s true. If you’re writing online, it’s even harder. Why’s that? Because it’s harder to stand out among all of the millions of articles being published daily. So what you have to do is please both crowds: the skimmers and the close-readers. Yes, the majority of your readers will probably be skimmers when it comes to search engine traffic. But for the serious, critical members of your audience, your attention to detail will not go unappreciated.

You Can’t Make Everyone Happy. Just Make Sure They Can Learn Something.

While it’s important to find that balance of making your writing easy to skim, but also detailed and engaging enough to be search-engine friendly and useful to anyone who reads it, no matter how closely. Essentially, you want every reader that comes across your writing to take something away from it. This doesn’t mean making everyone happy. Don’t spend every last second furiously checking a thesaurus. And don't get stuck rewording the same sentence a dozen times until it sounds “perfect.” Make your points as well and as concisely as you can and move on to the next topic. Don’t get hung up.

So what if you do get hung up? What if it’s an assignment and it keeps getting sent back for revision? Well, if it’s worth your time, then just make the edits that you can and move on. The worst thing that can happen is to get burnt out on one piece. As a writer, that is very bad. Writers need to write. This is why writer burnout happens.

Some clients, venues, and some readers are simply never going to be satisfied with anything. Once you keep that in mind, you’ll understand which clients and venues are worth working for and which aren’t. Micromanaging as an editor may be fine in some cases, but sometimes you just write what you can. You can’t beat yourself up over any one piece. There will be plenty more to be written.

Learn All You Can, Even If You Don't Think You Need It

You've probably heard of always trying to venture outside of your comfort zone in both reading and writing. It's a good idea. Even reading fiction can give you article ideas! Diversifying your knowledge can only make you a better reader and writer. It can also help you to think of topics that you may never had considered before. Also, by reading all sorts of things, it opens you up to more writing opportunities.

Basically, to become a better writer, you need to read and write a lot. Sometimes you just have to write for the sake of putting thoughts together. It doesn't have to always be an assignment. In fact, reading and writing are like intense exercise for your brain. By exercising your brain more often, not only will you become more literate, but a more intelligent and thoughtful human being, as well.

It has always proven to be the case that when my writing becomes too predictable, I simply cannot be at my best. Whenever I have a plan going into writing something, if it's more than a simple direction or idea leading me into it, what ends up coming out is a rambling unfocused mess. When I write, the more unpredictable the course of my work takes, the better it ends up being. In a way, I'm a fiction writer writing non-fiction. I always want to keep the reader guessing.

In a world in which answer-driven content has become the most sought after, I feel like a bit of a dinosaur. I want to lead people on and help them to answer questions they never thought to ask. It's not as if that sort of content doesn't work any more. Storytelling still works, of course. But I find myself greatly uninspired reading content that attempts the answer the same questions over and over again. You can find yourself at a point where taking a fresh perspective on something becomes immensely hard to do.

Sure, it can be risky to not have a plan. Most writers would find it ludicrous to not outline where you're going with a given piece. I've rambled on for hours and hours, pages and pages, many times before. Sometimes the words go nowhere good. But other times, I'll get three or four really good ideas that I can run with, and weave them together into a complete piece. I'm one of those writers who just needs to be let loose and edit it all down later. Sometimes I'm overwhelmed with the sheer volume I produce and it can be very tricky to pare it down into anything tangible - even to myself.

Lately, my writing has just been feeling too predictable. I have a topic and I just comment on it, basically. That just has become rather stale. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with being strictly informational and coming to a sometimes fairly obvious conclusion. That sort of writing just isn't for me. There needs to be a fresh take on whatever I am doing. Having a strict topic doesn't always work for me, and for whatever reason I stopped dancing around the edges trying to make new connections. I've found when the words don't come the reason is usually as simply defined as "uninspired." Sure, what may follow many times is a hot mess of nonsense, but it's better than to not have just written it at all.

Do you ever feel like your writing has become too predictable? It's okay to shake things up. Perhaps a bit of misdirection here and there isn't a bad thing at all. Being straight and to the point obviously has its place, and I'm not saying I can't write like that anymore. My comfort zone when it comes to writing seems to be in making the reader uncomfortably unsure of where I'm going. But there's that delicate balance of losing your reader in confusion and making them think through why you're going in the direction that you are. One of the beauties of written communication is that ten people can read exactly the same words and come to ten completely different conclusions. It's also one of the shortfalls and one of the major limitations. No human communication is perfect. Nor do I think it ever should be.

It's high time I stopped being predictable and just let the randomness of life's ebbs and flow dictate where I go when I write. As moods shift and opinions waver, it's possible to stay the course while still having a few twists and turns thrown into the journey.

There have been several times in my life in which I didn’t write much of anything for weeks or even months at a time. Life can come and sweep you away to more urgent things. But for a writer, having to write is urgent even if you don’t really have time.

Recently, I was thinking about how to get jump-started after long absences from writing, on the web or otherwise. Here are a few things to help you get back into writing after a long absence.


Ease Back into Writing

The number one thing to do when you’re returning to anything after a long absence is to ease yourself back into it. There’s a good reason why it’s suggested to work part-time first when returning to the workforce after long periods of not working.

Laura Whitelaw at Selfgrowth.com offers the advice to write down what you hope to achieve when you resume working. That’s excellent advice. The best way to start writing again is often to just begin by writing about what you are hoping to write about. That can help jumpstart your brain and get it moving on a good track.


Focus on What You Know

If you’re writing for money, especially for the web, it’s good to focus on what topics you can write at the highest level and jot these down. Having vague topics and ideas is perfectly fine. Writing these down regularly is good for anyone, even people that don’t write for a living. You never know when you might use them.

Whitelaw also mentions updating your skills at a local community college. This is also particularly good advice for writers if it’s something that may work for you. Online workshops are also a good idea if you can afford them. There are free webinars and workshops all over the internet, too.

Study.com has some online writing courses that offer credit. But along with their own offerings, they have a list of 10 universities offering free online writing courses. Of course, you may not have time for all that. Just reading up on the topics that you want to write about is fine.


Refresh Your Online Presence

When you do get writing again, make sure any writers’ resume or “about me” sections you have online are up-to-date. Even if you’re not actively applying for any positions, you never know if someone may have interest in hiring you for your skills.

Donna Fuscaldo at Bankrate.com offers a couple of good tips when it comes to resume-writing after a long work absence. Her idea of a writing a functional resume, where you list your skills first, is an awesome idea for writers. Again, you never know who may need content in a given area.

Fuscaldo also mentions being upfront about everything you’ve been doing. Say you haven’t written much but have attended trade shows or other events related to your writing topics. It’s good to mention these. It’s also fine to say if you took a break from writing to attend to family matters. That simply happens, and helps explain long absences.

Also, every experience that you have is important to writing. Keeping anything that lists your experience when it comes to writing up to date is essential. Web writing resumes, in particular, need to be updated more often even more than traditional resumes, because of how fast the writing game can change.


What Else Have You Been Up To? What Have You Learned?

While it may not be absolutely necessary for writers so much, listing work outside of writing is not a bad idea, paid or not. Anything you’ve done that has given you practical experience that affects your writing is a good idea to mention, paid or not.

Looking credible is extremely valuable. It's become even more important in a writing world where the competition is continually growing ever fiercer. It also helps you in case someone just happens to be looking for someone to help them write about topics you’re an expert in. Backing up your expertise can only help you obtain potential work. It can also help you gain a better overall following.

Have you ever been away from writing for a long period and have found certain ways of getting yourself “back in the game?” Be sure to let us know!

by Amy Kampstra, Contributing Writer

An independent and voracious reader tends to be a better author. That may be partly why bonafide word addict, Sarah Winter, effortlessly weaved together a spicy, character-driven plot in her romance novel, Snowbound. 

Throughout the pages, Liam and River are two 30-somethings stuck together in a Wyoming cabin during the blizzard of the century. He is a flourishing movie star from Europe, and she’s a tomboy living in the middle of nowhere after cancer rips her life apart. Is this change meeting merely life-saving or will it allow them to live their lives to the fullest?

Then, Winter didn’t stop with writing the thing! She took the reins, embracing the newness of self-publishing with an open mind, navigating through the steps like a bright reader charting the dark waters of a Stephen King novel. 

Yes, self-publishing involves a plethora of tasks that can make any top-notch writer stuff their manuscript in their nightstand and dream about their dream of words in print -- instead of actually going for it. 

Whether you love or hate her first novel, Winter vows to accept all positive comments and criticisms with open arms. Yet, she makes no apologies for her first effort. She believes authors need to give themselves permission: to read, write and explore self-publishing. 

Heed her words! Winter’s Snowbound (2014) was a quarter-finalist in the most recent Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest.

Amy Kampstra: Can you share a bit about the scope and process of self-publishing for fellow authors that may be considering or even starting their own self-publishing venture?

Sarah Winter: It takes longer to design a cover for the book than to actually have it ready for sale. Createspace is an Amazon company, so getting the book on paperback and Kindle at the same time is part of the process, and choosing your sales channels is another. Through just one simple step-by-step online process, I was able to make Snowbound available through every channel that a traditional publisher can. Self-publishing, once you have a finished manuscript, is easier than I expected.


AK: As a self-published author, how do you market or advertise your book? And, is it more work to write the book or actually market it yourself?

SW: I use social media and have the book listed on every website I can find that doesn't charge to list books that are available for sale. Tweets, Pins, and Facebook posts drive traffic to the sales pages and
to my blog as well. Also, by entering the Amazon contest, my book got exposure to the other entrants through the message boards associated with the contest.

I think the ratio of work on a self-published book is about 15 percent writing, 30 percent editing, and 55 percent marketing, especially if you don't have money set aside for marketing. If you're looking through free marketing options, a lot of time and effort get spent on that. Everything that a publisher handles for you when they sign you to a book deal, you have to do yourself. It's quite an undertaking.


AK: What is the best thing about having your words in print?

SW: Seeing a book on a shelf with my name on it. It's satisfying to have done something even I wasn't sure I would ever do. I can't lie though; royalties aren't bad either even if they don't amount to much.


AK: Now that you've penned your first novel, is there anything you'd do differently if you could do it all over again? For example, the recent buzz is that author J.K. Rowling now seems to have regrets about her choice to have Harry Potter characters, Ron and Hermione, end up together. And, she's written a short story about Harry and friends in their 30s. A) Would you have done something different with your plot or certain characters? B) Is it a possibility that you will resurrect your characters in future projects?

SW: I don't think I've had time to really think about what I'd do differently. I'm happy with the way Snowbound turned out, and don't think there's really anything I would change about it right now. It's always possible I could resurrect them in a new work, but I don't see that happening just yet, either. I've left the cabin for now.


AK: Do you have any goals left for "Snowbound"? That is, are you looking at shopping it around to publishing houses, selling a certain amount of books in a set amount of time, or entering more contests?

SW: I would love to get it published by a traditional house, and I will probably shop it to agents starting next summer, once I have another work released. (I'm shooting for a January release of my second novel).

I intend on entering one of the two in the Amazon contest next year, and hope it works out as well as it did this year.


AK: In retrospect, would you have done something different with the marketing or publishing of your book?

SW: The only different choices I could really have made are ones that are still available to me, even after publishing. I still have the option of getting my work accepted by agents and publishers, so I don't think
I went wrong or made a decision that I regret. I would have set aside some funds for marketing campaigns, but with two young kids there's always somewhere that money needs to be other than paying for promotion.


AK: Why do you write under a pseudonym? Would you advise other authors to do so?

SW: There are several reasons people choose pseudonyms. My motives are really simple. I like the surname Winter, but also it's for a separation of the two versions of me: the mom, wife, daughter, sister, and friend; and the writer. It’s a matter of personal choice and, if you have a pseudonym you want to write under, go for it.

Pseudonyms have been used since publicized writing began for people who are trying to break into a genre dominated by the opposite gender. The Bronte sisters each used male names when they were first
published. Benjamin Franklin wrote under three different women's names, one of them in direct protest to women being punished for having illegitimate children while the fathers went unpunished. Romance author Leigh Greenwood is the pseudonym for Harold Lowry, who served as the president of the Romance Writers of America for two years.


AK: Are more Sarah Winter novels (or other works) on the way?

SW: I mentioned it in an earlier question. I have another romance novel in the works that I hope to release in January just like Snowbound. We'll see how it goes, as I plan to go back to work part-time this fall.


AK: On your blog you've written a past post in regard to authors giving themselves permission to write. Can you tell readers and any fellow writers a bit more about this concept, and do you have any other honest and helpful tips for anyone stuck on penning their first novel?

SW: Giving yourself permission, to me, is just about letting go of your hang-ups. They're your hang-ups to have, but they're also your hang-ups to let go of. It ultimately comes down to a choice: you either give up
your hang-ups or you give up your dream. It's unpleasant to think about those two options, but they're really what it all boils down to.

I don't mince words so for other advice, I say this: stop dicking around and write the damn thing. It's not going to get written by the excuses you make for not getting it done. If you're stuck on page five and make excuses for why [you] don't write for ten years, you're still only going to have five pages of a novel and 10 fewer years to write it in.