How to be a Productive Writer

Aspiring writers often have trouble when it comes to sitting down and writing. Writing requires time and focus. People underestimate just how much commitment writing requires. Even professional writers get bogged down by seemingly endless projects or by the distractions of every day life. Productive writers find a way to get back on track.

Here are five tips to help you increase your writing productivity:

Set Aside Specific Time in your Schedule to Write

Productive writers set aside specific times to write and they use that time. One of the differences between an amateur writer and a professional is the way they treat their writing time. If writing is something you do in your spare, unscheduled time, your productivity will suffer. Most people never allow themselves to have spare, unscheduled time. If they do, they wind up sitting in front of the television set because they are exhausted and they need to relax.

Reduce Your Overwhelming Project to Manageable Pieces

Productive writers like progress they can measure. Novels are intimidating. Sitting down to write a novel is a daunting task. Sitting down to write a chapter is a little better and sitting down to write a scene seems much easier. Large projects aren’t finished in one session or even a dozen. Setting daily goals with specific targets allows you to control what you are writing. It also gives you a greater sense of accomplishment when you meet those goals.

Increase Your Accountability

Productive writers hold themselves accountable for their work. If you set a date for the completion of a project, or even a project phase, that deadline will help motivate you. Making that deadline public will motivate you even more. When it comes to writing, peer pressure is an excellent motivator. If you join a writer’s group it requires you to present and discuss what you have been writing on a regular basis. It gives you a reason to keep working even when the project gets tougher. If you find a friend who also needs to be more productive (it doesn’t have to be a writer) you can take turns reminding each other to get back to work. Accountability will keep you focused.

Find a Better Place to Write

Productive writers know that their environment matters. When your work space is also as your living space, it can create problems. People like to associate home with relaxation. When you introduce work to your home life, it blurs the lines between work and relaxation. This often results in less work and less relaxation. Find a space outside the home to write. If you can’t afford an office, try your local library or a restaurant/coffee shop that provides wireless Internet. You may not need to go there every time you want to write, but it’s good to have a place to go when you need to focus on your writing.

Pick the Right Type of Writing

Productive writers find ways to write. In many cases, people choose projects that aren’t suitable for the amount of time they have to devote. For example, a person who only has three hours a week set aside for writing, and who has to divide that amount of time into two or three sessions, is going to have trouble writing a novel. Novels are extended, time-consuming efforts and the delay between beginning a novel and completing it can make the entire effort seem wasted if something goes wrong. If you only have a little time, try writing poetry, short stories or personal essays. Those projects are manageable on a tight schedule and will give you a better feeling of accomplishment. When writing is going well, you often find more reasons to write. Eventually, you may be ready to commit the time necessary to write a longer work.

For Further Information

• Getting Things Done by David Allen
• How to Be A More Productive Blogger [And Add 37 Minutes to Every Hour!] at Problogger
• Top 30 Tips for Staying Productive and Sane While Working From Home at Zen Habits
• 5 Easy Ways to Start a Productive Day at Freelance Folder

Why Writing Deadlines May Be (Almost) As Good As Money

Article by Karen Zara

As much as we all like and/or need money, getting paid may not be enough to keep a writer motivated. Deadlines often are just as important. Although some of us fear — or even hate — them, the truth is that without them many of us simply wouldn’t write anything. And you can count me among those many.

My Story

I devote the entirety of my writing time to non-fiction pieces. However, I am and will always be a fiction writer at heart. I do like writing non-fiction, but fiction is my dearest passion. You might ask why I devote my time to non-fiction then. Some of you probably think that it’s just because it’s easier to earn a living from it. But that’s not the case. Of course non-fiction writing helps me pay the bills, but I could certainly save some time for my novels and short stories. The main reason why I don’t do it is lack of pressure.

When I have to write an article for a client, I am supposed to meet a deadline; otherwise I will lose money — and credibility, which is even worse. When I want to continue a novel or start a new short story, there’s no one telling me that I should get everything done within 48 hours. What type of writing do you think I will prioritize?

Blogging For Money… and Deadlines

I don’t see why a writer wouldn’t want to have a blog nowadays. It’s so easy to use blogs to showcase your talent and display samples to potential clients, that you’d be really missing a lot if you didn’t make use of those powerful tools.

Nonetheless, when you keep your own blog you may end up neglecting updates. On the other hand, when you’re hired to update someone else’s blog, you will have to sit down and write those posts. And your boss will certainly have told you which days of the week you should never skip. No excuses will be tolerated. You won’t be able to wait until you find the perfect blogging idea.

Using Deadlines to Strengthen Your Writing Career

Would you like to speed up your dwindling writing career? Do not waste your time telling yourself that someday you will query that magazine’s editor or pitch a guest post to that famous blogger. “Someday” is just too vague. What you may need is to put some pressure on yourself. And the first step is to search not only for money or fame, but also for tight deadlines.

Let’s see if that would work for you.

Just for a few months, forget about your beautiful writing dreams. Try to be more practical. Visit a good writing job board — you’ll find one right here at PoeWar — and don’t pay too much attention to the highest pay rates (I know that’s really hard to do, but…). Instead, apply for jobs that demand a fast turnaround. The faster, the better. Bonus if the topic you’ll have to write about requires some research.

The idea here is to be bold. Of course, you should never exaggerate. Don’t apply for a job if you feel that it’s really beyond your forces and ability. But don’t be too nice to yourself either. You must get used to challenging yourself and writing as quickly as possible, without sacrificing your piece’s quality. At the end of the process, you will have a happy client, some money in your pocket and renewed motivation to move your writing career forward. Now rinse and repeat.

Put your limits to the test, get those tough jobs done and see how good it feels when you realize that you can be a productive writer — and get paid for it.

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Karen Zara is a writer who dislikes working under pressure but does it all the same, because she knows it is good for her. What happens when she doesn’t have an approaching deadline to meet? She tries to update her blog Abaminds, which you are kindly invited to visit.

Want to be a Freelance Writer? Get Ready for Business!

Writing Skills Aren’t All You Need

If you’re just realizing that your excellent writing skills could be put to good use on the Internet, and earn you some attractive cash, welcome! You’re about to have the time of your life as you explore being a freelance writer.

But hold on – writing skills aren’t all you need. In fact, a lack of secondary skills is what sets many freelance writers on the road to failure instead of success.

Before you launch yourself into writing your way into a fulfilling, satisfying career, take a good look at what else you’ll need for a successful venture:

Customer Service Skills

Interestingly enough, writers are horrible at customer service.

Wrapped in their comforting words, they can pen beautiful content that converts and resonates – but they often come off as arrogant, overly laid back or just plain blunt in communication with clients.

Convey a positive, professional attitude at all times – and especially in email communication. Emails are no place to let your guard down and show your worst. In fact, emails are the single-most important area in which you should excel at writing.

It may mean the difference between landing a gig and being passed on.

Bookkeeping Skills

If you can’t do the math, then you can’t run a business.

Freelance writers are self-employed workers. They must effectively manage their books, track their income, monitor expenses and examine their profit and loss statements. (And you thought there was no math involved in writing.)

Buy a book on accounting 101. Take a course at a community college. You can even learn basic bookkeeping online.

Otherwise, you may sit down one day and wonder why you’re not making ends meet, even when you’re making good money.

Marketing Skills

The Internet is saturated with competition for writers.

The good news is, many of those competing writers aren’t very good ones. You may feel like there’s a writer around every corner, but when you take a good, close look, you’ll notice that many are just fly-by-night hacks. Sad, but true.

Learn how to tell people about your services and why you’re the best choice for them. It isn’t because you’re a crack writer, though that certainly helps. The extra qualities that make you stand out are what sells people these days.

It’s also a good idea to take a marketing course or learn more about it. Web writing often involves a healthy dose of marketing and having good knowledge helps you get an edge.

Organizational Skills

If you can’t plan and your memory is shot, you’re going to have a tough time online.

The Internet world moves very quickly. You might find yourself needing a calendar to manage your schedule and a way to organize your daily workload. Freelancing isn’t a huge life of abandoned freedom – in fact, quite the contrary.

A freelance writer needs to be able to organize a day efficiently and work in all the possible interruptions that might occur. Writers need to plan, schedule and maintain a production routine – just like any business in operation.

Know realistically how much time you have available and how much you can manage before saying yes to each gig that comes your way.

A Plan B

If you’re about to step into freelance writing, you need a Plan B.

Earning enough income to support yourself isn’t going to happen for a while. What’s your backup plan in the meantime while you gain clients and increase your income? Do you have three months of income set aside to support yourself?

What happens if you have a really bad month and no one needs you?

Have a Plan B at hand for the worst case scenario – always and forever, no matter how established you become. You never know what tomorrow might bring, and taking a leap of faith without a good parachute to catch your fall is a huge mistake.

Sound Grim?

If you find yourself feeling discouraged about your idea of becoming a freelance writer, don’t be. Freelance writing is an exciting, fulfilling career and you’ll have a great time easing into your new job.

You also have a better idea of exactly what you’re getting into. You’re more informed, can research the additional areas involved in freelancing and learn the skills that you may need.

By taking the time to learn everything you can about freelance writing, you’re giving yourself a solid fighting chance at making it as a writer. You’ll be able to think on your game plan, prepare yourself and take secure steps to ensure your success.

Because success is what you want, isn’t it?

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If you want to learn how to be a freelance writer on the Internet, then save yourself hours of searching and hard-knock lessons. Get comprehensive, practical advice and tips in Write for the Web, and jump-start your new career. It’s great advice from successful freelance writing pros who’ve been there, done that.

About the Author: James Chartrand is one of the daring duo found at Men with Pens, your best resource for freelance writing on the Internet. Want another great shortcut to top pro advice? Subscribe to the Men with Pens feed.

Better Writing Through Stress

My friends, I could advocate stress-free productivity like all the other bloggers, but when it comes to personal improvement, I’m a Maverick. Productivity isn’t for wimps. Here’s some ways to whip your way back into stress-filled achievement.

Make a Long List

Buy a set of 100 3 x5 cards. On each line of each card (both sides) list an item that you want to accomplish. Do not leave any blank space. No task should be considered to large or too small to list. If done properly, you should have approximately 2000 tasks that you need to accomplish. That should tide you over for the first month. Every time you feel yourself starting to relax, pick up one of the cards and do not rest until you have completed every task on the card.

Don’t Clean

A clean environment is a relaxing environment. Stress needs chaos to survive. Clutter your desk. Add a new junk drawer. Pile your dishes. All of these messes will make it almost impossible for you to relax, which will make for dynamite productivity.  Remember, a messy desk is a productive desk.

Avoid limits

Setting limits on your time just encourages you to become protective of your needs. Being protective of your needs means taking the occasional break. Breaks are for losers and orthopedic surgeons, and you sure don’t look like an orthopedic surgeon. Spend too much time on your email. Edit that paragraph another seven times. Common sense says that you need to move on, but common sense if for common people, not achievers.

Move faster

Walk fast. Drive fast. Eat fast. Read fast. Motion equals progress. If you stop to think, you may think of a reason to stop, so speed through tasks as quickly as possible. The more important a task is, the faster you should do it.

Multitude-task

Most people think that they have to multi-task in order to succeed. Those people are fools. Multi-tasking doesn’t come close to describing what you need to do. Multitude-tasking is far better. If you aren’t working on 20 tasks simultaneously, consider yourself to be a slacker. Up the ante. You never know how many things you can accomplish at once until you accomplish something.

Sleep as little as possible

Sleeping is not a productive use of your time. Try to avoid it.

Surviving as a Writer in a Bad Economy

Life as a career writer, or really as any employee in a down economy, is a difficult one. If you are out of work, your situation is bad, but your goals and direction are clear. You want to do whatever it takes to bring in an income again. If you are employed, you have the benefit of a job, but your need to walk a tightrope. You want to be in the best possible position to find another job (or at least an income) if you need it but you don’t want to alienate your current employer by appearing to be putting yourself on the market. I have already written an article about How to Find Publishing Industry Jobs.  If you are out of work, you should read that article immediately. It has the process you need to follow in any job search, whether the economy is good or bad. The advice below is aimed at both promoting and protecting yourself so that you can minimize the risks of losing your job and put yourself in the best position to find work if you do lose your job.

Put Your Money Aside

A bad economy is not a good time to be spending money on non-essentials. I know the current philosophy is that you can spend your way out of a recession, but let the rest of the people do that for you.  Put aside as much money as possible. I know how difficult it can be, but do whatever you can do because any cushion you have will help keep you afloat if you lose your job.

Do Your Job Really Well

A down economy is not a good time to be a bad employee. Don’t give your company an excuse to let you go. Get your projects done on time or early if at all possible. Double-check your work to be sure everything was done properly. Be willing to help out another employee if they need it. Do what you can to promote as positive a reputation at work as you can muster. If the stress is getting to you, look for healthy ways to let off steam after work such as exercising or getting back to a hobby you enjoy.

Know Your Market

At least once a week, take the time to do a general online job search for writing positions in your area. Your goal is to get a sense of where the market is and what your options are. I recommend Indeed for this search because they aggregate multiple job sites and they allow you to include salary levels as a filter so that you can see where you stand when it comes to pay. If a job sounds interesting, you can apply, but the main goal is to stay informed.

Perfect Your Resume

Make sure your resume is complete and flexible. Create a single-page version for basic job search needs, and a longer, detailed version that discusses all of your past writing experiences in depth. The second resume is more of a reminder of what you have done in the past at each job so that you are ready to discuss those things if they come up. The in-depth resume should come complete with exact work dates and company addresses. This will come in handy if you find yourself filling out a job application.

You might also want to create some tailored single-page resumes. If you are capable of working in multiple fields (copywriting, technical writing, editing, proofreading, public relations, etc.) create a resume for each type of job. In a down economy, you may need to take a position you would otherwise not be interested in. It is best to be prepared for those openings before times get desperate.

Putting your resume online with a service such as Monster, Dice or Career Builder is a judgment call. If you are worried about your employer finding your resume, than either make it private/anonymous or fill out the resume but leave it inactive so that you can activate it the moment you know your job is in peril.

Update Your Portfolio

Often, when you are laid off, the notice comes quickly and there is no time to assemble current samples of your work. If you want to be ready, work on your portfolio before there is a crisis. Keep it updated. If you need to use unpublished company materials that may contain protected information, working on this in advance gives you the time to remove or rewrite any sensitive information that your company may object to your distributing.  Much like your resume, you will want to tailor your portfolio to different career paths. Samples of your copywriting work are not appropriate when applying for a technical writing job.

Increase Your Visibility

While a company may object to you sending out your resume, there are plenty of other ways to increase your visibility. You may want to start your own professional blog. Some companies do object to employee blogs, so make sure you aren’t in violation of any policies. If you cannot run your own blog, you can always write guest articles for other blogs or industry publications. Work on your networking. Join organizations in your career field and attend events such as conferences and seminars. Try to meet as many people as you can at these events and be sure to bring business cards. You can also join business networking sites such as LinkedIn or Xing. If you do join, try to be as active as possible. The more you interact, the more options you will have if you ever need to put your network into play.

Diversify Your Income

If you can develop a secondary income source, it will help lessen the blow of losing your primary income. You can take a second job, freelance or set up a small business such as an income producing blog. You know your own strengths so I can’t tell you which one will work best for you, but find a way to keep all your eggs from being in the same basket.

That’s it for my advice. I welcome advice from others. What do you recommend for a down economy?

Will The Recession Hurt Your Writing Career?

The recession is starting to get painful

I know that there are some people out there who don’t think that we’re in a recession. Some of those same people believe that a 700 billion dollar bailout of the financial caretakers who made bad bets with our money is a good idea. What I know is that my 401k is down 18% over the past year and it wasn’t due to me taking a whole bunch of chances. I chose the most conservative portfolio my company offered. I know that my company’s stock value, despite the company making its financial projections, is down by half. There haven’t been any layoffs in the past year, but hiring at the company has become anemic. They aren’t replacing the people who leave unless the absolutely have to.

As a person who posts job openings across the writing industry on my site, I know that it is getting harder for me to find good jobs to post.  I know that at least one writing career path, newspaper reporting, is experiencing a record number of layoffs. Take all that together and we’ve got trouble. If you don’t want to call it a recession, or a “slowdown”, feel free to call it “that lack of jobs thing” or something else that makes you comfortable.

Whatever the case, it is time to look at where the jobs are and where they aren’t, at least from what I have observed so far. Let me clarify that I base my opinion on three things: articles I am reading, trends I have observed as someone who posts jobs, and conversations I have had with other writers. This is not a newspaper report, it is my view of the situation. Call me a pundit, if you will.

Newspapers are doing badly

Newspapers, of course, are the hardest hit employers of writers. Their industry-wide payrolls were declining even before the general economy went into the tank. Newspaper circulations have been down for years. People don’t read the newspapers as much as they used to, and when they do, they generally read them online where revenue is tough to come by. Poor circulation reduces both newsstand income and advertising revenue. Now that the economy is bad, advertising income is dropping even more sharply as companies cut their advertising budgets. In the United States, the election season is helping offset some of those losses, but after the first weekend in November, that income will dry up. This is a terrible time to be looking for a newspaper job, there’s no way around that. Other media outlets such as television and radio stations are also feeling the pinch, but to a lesser extent. Their markets aren’t on the ropes the way the newspaper market is, but they are experiencing the same downturn in advertising as the newspaper industry is.

Copywriting isn’t too strong either

The copywriting industry is experiencing the slowdown as well. When companies cut their advertising budgets, it hits the people who create the advertising. There are some layoffs and a significant reduction in hiring. I’ve noticed a definite drop in the number of positions being advertised in this field. The only area that seems unaffected so far is direct mail, which still seems to advertise for writers at about the same clip as they have for the past three or four years.

Technical writing is still holding up

Technical writing and information development positions have stayed relatively stable so far. While there are technology companies that have had to cut their budgets over the past year, I am still seeing plenty of new positions opening up and no reports of layoffs. If the recession gets worse, which I suspect it will, then you can expect that this field will dry up too. Most companies view documentation as a “nice to have” rather than a “must have”, so if the cuts start to get severe, you’ll see this job market go down as well. For now though, it is healthy.

Proofreaders and editors have their own problems

Proofreaders and editors are facing hiring slowdowns as well. Magazines have been failing frequently over the past year, due in equal parts to reductions in advertising and increases in both paper costs and mailing costs. On the plus side, many of them are converting to web publications, but that generally means lower paying jobs for writer, proofreaders and editors alike. Medical and legal proofreaders are still getting steady work because neither of these areas has been hit by the recession yet and there is no major expectation that they will be hit.

There are some bright spots

If you are looking for some bright spots, resume writing is always a good place to find work during a recession. More and more people need good resumes as they look for work and if you know how to write resumes, you can be very helpful either as a freelancer or working for an employment agency.

In general, because it is such a low-paying industry, finding work writing for web sites isn’t difficult if you know what you are doing, it just doesn’t pay very well. Freelance copywriting is also still providing steady work as companies look to bypass agencies or internal writers and find lower-priced options for their copywriting needs. In general, freelancers tend to do well during a recession because many companies need things done but don’t want to hire someone permanently or go through a high-priced agency. The down side is that as people lose their jobs, more and more of them turn to freelancing so you competition increases.

Bad but not terrible, yet

So far, most of the writing fields are feeling the slowdown, but only newspaper writers are at a crisis point. The next year may lead to more widespread problems. The economy isn’t going to magically turn around any time soon. Next time, I’ll discuss some strategies for surviving as a writer in a down economy.

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