Friday, October 03, 2008

Write it down

If I had a dollar for every time I neglected to write down an idea I’d have a lot of money. When you're a freelance writer you constantly need to be coming up with new ideas. This comes easy to folks like me; our minds are a factory of ideas and suggestions, for others it may take you a little longer. These types of people are usually better at executing the idea. But however you are, when you come up with a new idea write it done right away.

Sure you may not have everything thought out in that moment, but you do have something that you can work with. Or at least something you can investigate further.

Who knows your research may lead you to decide to chuck the idea out the window. But as long as you have it, you can come back to it. Don’t think, “I can remember lots of things.” When you work at home you can easily forget even important tasks, if they're not written somewhere because you have so many things to do, so something like an unpolished idea is very vulnerable to getting axed out of your memory.

Don’t sit and ponder whether or not it’s a good idea, simply find some place to store it where it will be in your vision. Then decide how you plan to employ your new found idea.

Not writing down ideas is the fastest way to throw money out. So get yourself a notebook, create a computer file, or at least get some sticky notes and keep all your brilliance close at hand.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Too busy to write?

When we are anxious about writing, our lives suddenly become hyperactive. We fill our days with enough busyness that we can easily believe that there isn’t enough time left to write. This is simply a creative way to boycott writing.

Then, feeling guilty, we become too ambitious in our quest to make up for lost time, and try to force ourselves to dedicate hours to writing. However, this overzealousness simply brings us back to our anxious state and once again we are doing everything but writing.

To put writing in its place, you have to shrink it down to dimensions that allow you to fit it into your life. You can do this simply by giving yourself permission to write for 10-15min each day. The time slot does not matter, what matters is that you are writing.

The goal is to shift your response to writing from negative to positive. By limiting your writing time to a “brief interlude” you lower the threat of walking away and not returning for days.

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