Angela Booth's Writing Blog

New poll: your biggest writing challenge

Please share your challenges. Once I have the results, you'll find solutions to your challenges on the blog, and in the ezine.

Develop confidence in your writing: think positive

Want to improve your writing skills INSTANTLY?

You can.

Just think that you're a brilliant writer. 

No, you're not being foolish. You're managing your mind in the way it should be managed.

Try this simple exercise -- it only takes a moment.

Part A:

Think: "I'm so depressed, life just sucks..."

Part B:

Think: "Wow, my life is great! Iove my __________ "(fill in the blank with something you just adore.)

Notice the difference?

When you think negatively, you feel as if you're carrying the world on your shoulders. There's no way you can write well when you're suffering.

When you think nice thoughts, you feel better, instantly. And your writing improves too.

Here's a great, short article on the problem with positive thinking that you should read. Then resolve to think positively -- for your writing's sake. :-)

The reason, I think, is that negative thinking feels good. In its own way, we believe that negative thinking works. Negative thinking feels realistic, or soothes our pain, or eases our embarrassment. Negative thinking protects us and lowers expectations.

In many ways, negative thinking is a lot more fun than positive thinking. So we do it.

via sethgodin.typepad.com

Writing: get out of your comfort zone

As a writer, you need to be aware of your comfort zone.

Your comfort zone is that area of your writing life where you feel safe.

Paradoxically, no matter how safe it feels, your comfort zone is dangerous, because it will make you feel either complacent, or "not good enough"... it prevents you from becoming the writer you can and should be.

To extend your writing skills, and build a writing career, you need to be prepared to move out of your comfort zone whenever you start to feel too comfortable, or whenever you feel envious of other writers.

I offer coaching with most of my writing products, and 99 per cent of the time, I need to help students to get out of their comfort zone, even if they're unaware they're in one. :-)

Signs you're in a comfort zone:

* You say things like "I've got nothing to write about", "my writing is boring", "no one would be interested..." etc

* You think things like: I don't have enough experience, I'm too young, old, don't have enough education, what would my parents/ friends etc think...

* You're SCARED... (being scared is actually a good thing)

When I'm working with students, all the advice I offer and the steps I tell a student to take are based on his/ her personality, and level of writing experience.

Firstly I like to give students an easy writing process to follow so that they can write on demand, and feel competent. Having a process which works for you is essential, you need to know that even on your worst day, with a migraine which would slaughter an elephant, you can nevertheless WRITE, because you know how to get the words out of yourself and onto the computer screen.

Then I create a game plan for them which gets them motivated, inspired and EAGER to get out of their comfort zone.

Are you in your comfort zone? Get out of it -- staying too long is dangerous.

End your writing procrastination: become a prolific writer TODAY

Are you procrastinating? If so, you're feeling frustrated and guilty. You know you can write, and you know you should be writing, but you can't.

Now you can. You can end writing procrastination for good. Discover how you can become the prolific writer you were born to be with my bestselling ebook "Top 70 Writing Tips To Help You To Write More".

You'll discover 70 ways in which you can write more, no matter who you are, or what your level of writing experience.

The 70 tips will help you to plan your writing time, stick to a writing schedule, and get more energy, so that writing is a pleasure for you.

End procrastination for good today, with "Top 70 Writing Tips To Help You To Write More" - you can make writing easy and fun.

Writing Success by Showing Up

In next week's issue of Fab Freelance Writing Ezine, our theme is "writing success by showing up."

Here's an excerpt from the Editorial:

Truer words than Woody Allen's great quote for writing and for living, "Eighty percent of success is showing up", were never spoken.

That thought has worked for me for 30 years, long before I heard the quote. It sums up everything I feel about writing, and everything I've discovered to be true about writing as well.

If you want to be a successful writer (and it doesn't matter what SUCCESS means to you), just SHOW UP.

But what does "showing up" mean? It means that you're writing, every day. You may not be in love with your writing, you may feel that it's junk, but you're writing anyway. You're showing up for your writing, just because you're a writer, and writing is what writers do.

Writing is a process: use the process to help you to show up

If you're not showing up for your writing every day, you probably haven't discovered that writing is a process.

Here's the process for writing (anything at all), in a nutshell...

Discover the writing process which helps you to show up in next week's issue.

Make Money Writing and Build a Great Career

Get free weekly writing tips...

Want to make money with your writing? Fab Freelance Writing Ezine is your free weekly resource.

Build your skills, get motivated - it's never been easier to build a great writing career.

Whether you're a brand new writer, or are an established pro, Fab Freelance Writing Ezine is packed with writing tips you can use.

Here's what a new writer said: "I've always wanted to sell my writing - you showed me how. I made three sales on one day, just from my blog."

You and Fab Freelance Writing Ezine are a powerful combination. Subscribe today... it's free.

Writing the Hard Way, Versus Writing the Easy Way

As you may have noticed when I talk about writing, I'm all for writing the EASY way.

After all, writing is easy: if you can talk, you can write.

Unfortunately, many writers (especially new writers) want to make writing HARD. I sympathize. I used to be that way, many years ago. In those long ago days, after three hours of writing my eyeballs rolled around in my head, I had an incipient migraine, and it wasn't worth your life to ask me "how's your writing going?"

So let's look at how to make writing hard for yourself.

How to Make Writing Hard

* Obsess about writing, figuring that you have to write whatever you're writing the "right" way. This leads to unbelievable silliness, like squabbles about which fonts to use when printing out your novel's proposal package. (I kid you not -- this happens. Check any writer's forum.)

* Write three paragraphs of your latest opus, and decide they're the WRONG words. They don't grip; they're completely insipid... On the strength of these three paragraphs, you decide you CAN'T WRITE. (You're not wrong. Because after those three paragraphs, you stop writing.)

* Assign all-knowing, all-seeing, all-understanding god-like status to editors and other prospective buyers of your writing. When an editor ignores you (very likely) or sends you a message saying "not for us", you immediately assume that this means that you will never be able to sell your writing. Further, you also assume that you're not a writer, everyone hates you, and you might as well forget about writing as a career. (Um... It seems pointless to say this, but editors are just people, trying to hang onto their jobs. Some editors are wonderful; some are not.)

There are endless ways to make writing hard for yourself, so before we all burst into tears or take up serious drinking as a hobby, let's see the flip side: how to make writing easy for yourself.

How to Make Writing Easy

* Commit to writing as a practice. Generate text, every day. Schedule this text generation, just as you schedule everything else. Then when it's time to write, just write, realizing that if it turns out in a few days or weeks that today's output needs deleting, just delete it, without drama.

* Forget about "good" or "bad." Focus on results.

* Learn how to manage your mind, so that you're cheerfully creative and so that writing is FUN for you. (Yes, you can do this, I promise, just use self hypnosis and affirmations.)

I know that there are many more writers who make writing hard for themselves that those happy souls who know writing is both FUN and EASY.

Therefore I've started working on a series of mind-management tools for writers. There's no need to make writing hard for yourself, and yes, you're the person who's making it hard for yourself. Writing should be fun, and easy, and when you have the right tools, it is.

The first of these new mind management tools is my free report: "The Self Hypnosis Money Tree: Relax And Write Your Way To Riches" -- get it now, and start making writing easy for yourself.

Achieve your writing goals in 2009

Are you well on the way to achieving your writing goals this year?

It's six weeks since the start of 2009, and sadly, many New Year's resolutions have fallen by the wayside.

If you're struggling with your goals, here are some posts which will help you to resurrect them.

* Your writing goals for 2009: how to achieve them

Explains process goals and achievement goals, and how to achieve every goal you set.

* The Law of Attraction and Your Writing

This post helps you to use the law of attraction to achieve your writing goals.

* Freelance Writing - Build a Full Time Income Fast

Explains why goals and patience are vital when you're building a full time writing career.

* Stress Relief for Writers: Four Ways to Achieve Your Writing Goals

Under stress? Beat stress and get your writing goals -- you can relax into it.

Stop reading, already -- WRITE

Are you an info junkie? How much time do you spend reading writing sites, blogs and forums... every day?

If you spend more time reading than you spend writing, you have a problem, and you may not even realize that you do.

Many of my writing guides include coaching, so I get to talk to lots of writers. Nine out of ten are info junkies. They have lots and lots of information, and very little knowledge, because they read, rather than write.

While it's wonderful that there's so much information around, 99 per cent of it is just noise. It's mental fast food. All it does is leave you bloated and unmotivated.

Get off the info junkie hamster wheel: get a plan

You need a plan, and then you need to follow your plan.

In Fab Freelance Writing Ezine next week, I discuss planning. I hope you read that, even though it's contributing to your info addiction. :-)

If you're thinking: "I don't know enough about _________ (whatever you're writing) to create a plan", you're wrong. You already know more than enough.

For example, let's say you want to write Web articles for extra money. You'd like to make $500 a week writing Web articles.

Is this possible for you?

Yes, it is. I don't care how inexperienced you are, you CAN do this. All you need is the ability to create a plan and follow it.

Here's how to start.

Brainstorm a little. Create a mind map.

After a few minutes studying your mind map, you can create a plan which is short and simple.

Your plan might look something like this:

* Write five articles on __________ (weight loss, credit cards, whatever topic you choose)

* Create a Blogger blog (Blogger.com is FREE) and post my articles there

* Evaluate my progress; decide on next steps

You might think that this isn't much of a plan. I think it's WONDERFUL, simply because you've planned something -- and since you know your first step, and the next, that's all you need.

Now just carry out your plan.

At the end of the day (if you're not working), or at the end of a week, if you have a day job, you'll know a lot more than you know now, because you created a plan and followed through with it. You'll have experience, and experience is invaluable.

You'll also have an asset: a blog with five articles.

Now you can:

* Sell the blog; or

* Use the blog as an online portfolio and get article writing jobs; or

* Monetize the blog

Whatever you do AFTER you've created your blog doesn't matter -- you'll decide when you've done it. You can't decide before you do it.

The main reason I wrote the Sell Your Writing Online NOW (SYWON) training was to help writers to help themselves by doing the planning for them. SYWON isn't for everyone, and it may not be for you, but PLANNING your writing, and carrying out your plans is for everyone.

So please -- stop reading, and plan. And write.

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Affirmations for Writers: Enhance Your Creativity and Your Income

Have you discovered the benefits of affirmations for your writing career? Many successful writers use affirmations. If you're not using them, you're missing out on a super-simple way of reaching your full potential as a writer.

Basically affirmations are INSPIRING self-talk -- they're what you say to yourself to counteract damaging self-talk. We all have damaging self-talk running through our brains.

Damaging self-talk is the old tapes you play in your head, whenever they're triggered by something which happens. Many damaging self-talk tapes are recorded in childhood. Perhaps you broke a plate, and your exasperated mom said: "You're so clumsy!" Or you failed a test, and decided that you couldn't spell, or do maths, or draw.

In childhood, before the age of eight, you spent a lot of time in the alpha mind state. This is mind state in which you're highly suggestible, and lots of damaging mind tapes are recorded then.

If you were aware of your damaging self-talk, you could counteract it, but these old tapes play quickly, below the level of your conscious awareness.

You've got thousands of these old tapes waiting to be triggered. One of the biggest benefits of using affirmations is that you become aware of these old tapes, and once they're conscious, they lose any power they've had to affect your behavior or feelings.

For example, let's say you created an affirmation: "Writing is now easy and fun for me." You write this affirmation five times.

Here's what happens: your old tapes start to play, loudly.

Write down what these old tapes say -- you'll need to write quickly, you've probably got many tapes which say things like: "Writing is hard, I've never been good at writing"; "I can't write"; "Nothing I write is good or worthwhile, so it's a waste of time trying."

This is excellent -- write down as many of these old tapes as you can, because now you know what they are, they can't hurt you.

Affirmations Help You to Change Your Belief System

Affirmations help you to change disabling beliefs -- those beliefs you're not aware that you hold.

Here's how to create your own empowering affirmations: create them from your mind tapes. Just switch the old tapes from negative statements to positive ones.

For example:

* Writing is hard, I've never been good at writing BECOMES: "Writing is easy and fun for me, I've always been great at writing";

* I can't write BECOMES: "I write easily and effortlessly, I'm an excellent writer."

Try it. Affirmations enhance your creativity and your income. Why walk around with old, damaging self-talk? Start changing your self-talk today, with the power of affirmations.

Write more - become a pro writer

Yes, you can write more and become an expert writer - even if you're a world-class procrastinator.

Did you know that when you write more, your writing improves? Many of my writing students experience this. They find that when they write more, writing is easier for them - they're not dominated by their inner editor.

My new writing class, "Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process" is based on lessons I developed for my private coaching students to help them to write more, improve their writing, and make more money writing.

If you're struggling with your writing, the class will help. The techniques you'll learn in class with help you write fiction, nonfiction, and copy for business.

Discover how you can write more, improve your writing, and sell more of your writing to higher-paying markets.

The Law of Attraction and Your Writing

Can you use the ideas behind the law of attraction for your writing? Simply put, the law of attractions states that you get more of what you focus on: if you're focusing on how difficult writing is for you, then you'll get more of that. Change your focus, and you'll start attracting more of what you want.

These two tips will help.

1. You Get What You Focus on -- Focus on Fun

Have fun with your writing. Successful writers will tell you that their most successful projects are those on which they had the most fun. Often they took the projects on simply because they were fun, not because they were paid for them up front, or even had any expectation of money.

Keep this "you get more of what you focus on" in mind when you're tempted to take on projects which aren't right for you.

So how do you know what's right for you? You know it by the tingle of excitement you feel when you hear about a project, or get an idea for a project.

2. Focus on What You Want: Do You WANT Your Writing Goals?

Check your goals for your writing. For example if you set a goal to write a novel in 2009, is that really your goal? Or is it simply a wish?

If writing a novel in 2009 is really your goal then you will have set daily tasks which will help you to achieve that goal. If you haven't set any tasks to work your way toward achievement then you can safely say that writing a novel wasn't a goal, it was simply a wish.

Any goal you set must stem from a deep desire for achievement. If you would walk a hundred miles across broken glass to achieve your goal, you know you have real desire.

Sometimes writers set goals which are merely wishes. This is fine, as long as you're aware that it was only a wish, and aren't disappointed when your goal doesn't magically materialize.

Put the above two tips into action, and you'll be well on the way to making the law of attraction work for your writing.

Your writing goals for 2009: how to achieve them

In just a few days, the new year will be upon us. Have you set your writing goals for 2009? If you haven't, take a few minutes today, to plan your writing.

Set two different kinds of writing goals: process goals, and achievement goals.

Your process goals ("I will write 300 words every day") are usually under your control. However, achievement goals may not be. An achievement goal like "I will sell my mystery novel to _____________ by June 30, 2009" is not under your control. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't set achievement goals -- just that you need to keep in mind that you will need to adjust this goal as circumstances change.

Keep the number of your goals manageable. You should be able to keep your goals in mind, so don't set so many that you struggle to remember what they are.

How to Achieve Every Goal You Set

Here's how to achieve every goal you set. Every day, for a minute or two, relax, and imagine how you'll feel when you've achieved a goal. See yourself achieving the goal (writing every day, selling your mystery novel), and feel the feelings.

Remember these feelings, and if you start to doubt yourself, visualize again. You're aiming for a feeling of expectation.

The law of attraction works. You get what you focus on. So to achieve your goals in 2009, keep your mind on what you want, and off what you don't want.

Sounds simple? It is, and it's powerfully effective too. So set some goals today: setting goals is the first step to achieving them.

Write your way to a million-dollar income

Write And Sell Your Writing: The Power-Write Report -- 2009

The Web has made it possible for ANY writer, no matter how new or inexperienced, to turn writing into a fabulous career. If you're stuck in a soul-destroying, or just boring job, writing is your way out.

Fab Freelance Ezine helps you to understand the fast-changing world of the freelance writer, and sets you well on the way to making the income that you want to make, and that many writers are already making.

Subscribe today, and receive "Write And Sell Your Writing: The Power-Write Report -- 2009" just for subscribing.

Happy New Year: Set goals for your writing in 2009 today

Set goals for your writing in 2009 now. Today. You can't achieve goals you haven't set.

Firstly, do a review of 2008.

Which goals did you achieve this year? Where are you in your career in comparison to where you were at this time last year? Are you moving forward in your writing career? Are you pleased with your sales and income?

Before you set your goals for 2009, ask yourself what your overarching goal is for next year.

An overarching goal is a goal which encompasses lots of smaller goals.

Your overarching goal could be to leave your day job and to write full-time.

This is a big goal and you'll need to set lots of little goals in order to achieve it. However you don't have to set all the little goals immediately. Just set those goals which seem apparent to you -- that is which seem as if they'll lead you to your overarching goal.

For each goal you set, set a deadline for its achievement. For example if your  overarching goal is to write full time in 2009, you could set a goal to have six months' worth of income in your bank account by August 20, 2009.

Once you've set your goals with deadlines, create tasks and enter them into your calendar program. Start working toward your goals today.

How to achieve your goals

Here's how to ensure that you achieve your goals. Use visualization and affirmations. Every successful writer I know uses visualization and affirmations, because they work. They focus your mind.

Used in the right way, these tools will ensure that you set and achieve all your goals.

I've just set up a brand new law of attraction website. The site is totally new, and I hope it will help you to achieve your goals in 2009 and beyond.

Happy goal setting. :-)

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Make money writing from home: ditch your day job forever

If you can write, you can make money writing from home. The Web has made it possible for ANY writer, no matter how new or inexperienced, to turn writing into a fabulous career. If you're stuck in a soul-destroying, or just boring job, writing is your way out.

Fab Freelance Ezine helps you - subscribe and receive the free report: "Write And Sell Your Writing: The Power-Write Report". It's 21 pages packed with information to help you to develop a six-figure writing career.

Writing: Develop a Positive Attitude Now

Do you have a positive attitude about your writing? Chances are that you don't; many writers develop a negative mind set without being aware of it. This can cripple your writing career.

In this article, we'll look at ways to develop a positive attitude. Here's why this is essential:

* With a positive attitude, you'll be more productive. You'll write more, and if your goal is selling your writing, you'll sell more;

* You'll be happier and easier to live with. Your writing places demands on the people in your life: a stressed writer is unhappy, and your misery spreads to others;

* You'll realize that writing is a journey. When you become "successful" -- however you define it -- you'll discover that writing is what motivates you. So since writing is what makes you happy, a positive attitude helps you to enjoy your journey;

* You'll be easier to work with. The other writing professionals in your life, your agent if you have one, and your editors, want to work with writers with a positive attitude. If you're negative, you will never have the career you could enjoy.

So how do you develop a positive attitude?

1. From Negative to "Yes, I Can!"

Becoming positive is a decision. You decide. Make the decision now: that whatever happens, you will maintain a positive attitude and that your mantra will be: "Yes, I Can!"

There -- easy, wasn't it?

Please don't over-complicate this... decide.

2. Everything's Great when You're Thinking's Straight

Now you've made a decision to have a "Yes, I Can!" positive attitude, say "Yes, I Can!" often throughout your day.

Daydream too. What would your life be like if you had achieved your current writing goals? What would change? What would stay the same?

If you don't have goals, create at least one goal right now. Got it? Great. Now say "Yes, I Can!" to that goal.

Your writing will be much more fun when your thinking is straight.

3. Turn Every Failure Into a Winner

Every writer is rejected. Sooner or later you'll realize that rejections are just part of a writer's life, and not only will rejections stop stinging, they will also become valuable information you can use.

Let's see how this works. Your novel has just been rejected by default. Three months have passed since you sent chapters and a synopsis to publisher X who asked to see the material in response to a query letter...

With your "Yes, I Can!" mantra at the forefront of your thoughts, you print up several more copies of your original query letter and slip them into envelopes you've printed up. You'll drop them in the mail box tomorrow morning.

When you have a positive attitude, rejections are feedback, and they'll motivate you, rather than depressing you.

4. Let Your Writing Guide You -- Drop Expectations

Your writing is always the best you can do, at a single point in time. Your writing changes. It improves: that's what happens when you practice writing.

You need goals for your writing, but drop expectations. The only thing you control is your writing. Accept that, and accept that your expectations are the result of insufficient data. You can't know what will happen with any particular piece of writing, so just keep setting goals and writing to achieve them.

Remember "Yes, I Can!" A positive attitude grows from that simple sentence. Keep your attitude positive, and there are no limits to what you can achieve.

"Go From Zero To Making $250 Per Hour For Web Writing - Kick Off Your Web Writing Career In 24 Hours!"

There's great money in Web writing. Some Web writers are making $20,000 a month by blogging for a stable of sites. Others are writing articles or ebooks.

Want to jump on this opportunity? No matter what your level of writing skill, you can make great money writing for the Web too.

Get a full year of weekly assignments; become a Web writing pro with Sell Your Writing Online NOW.

Subscribe to Angela Booth's fabulous free weekly ezine for freelance writers: get a free report just for subscribing. Even if you're a new writer, you can freelance your way to a fantastic writing career.

Join the thousands of freelance writers who are making great money freelance writing, using Fab Freelance Writing Ezine as their guide.

Kick start your writing career with two articles

Next week's Fab Freelance Writing Ezine features two articles. Both will help you to make more money from your writing.

The first article "Kick Start Your Freelance Writing Career - 3 Simple Ways" helps you to kick start your career if you're a complete beginner, and if you're established, will inspire you to revamp your career.

Here's an excerpt:

Want to develop a great writing career? These days, you have unlimited options, because you can earn as you learn: there's never been a better time to be a writer.

Discover how you can kick start your freelance writing career, or boost a flagging career three simple ways. If you've always wanted to "be a writer", now's the time.

The second article helps you to write more and sell more. "Kill Writing Procrastination for Good with Three Words" will help you if you have a tendency to procrastinate.

Here's an excerpt:

Do you put off writing? If procrastination is a challenge for you, you'll discover how to kill that tendency for good with three short words. Discover what they are.

Let's start by assessing what writing procrastination is. Basically it's when you either put off writing something you know how to write, or are scared of writing in general because you imagine that there's a right way to write something or other.

To become a competent, prolific writer, you need to forget your education. All writing is subjective, and once you leave school, no one is giving you marks out of a hundred. That gives you lots of freedom: make the most of it with three words.

This issue will be out on Tuesday.

Subscribe now, it's free.

Make money writing from home: ditch your day job forever

If you can write, you can make money writing from home. The Web has made it possible for ANY writer, no matter how new or inexperienced, to turn writing into a fabulous career. If you're stuck in a soul-destroying, or just boring job, writing is your way out.

Fab Freelance Ezine helps you - subscribe and receive the free report: "Write And Sell Your Writing: The Power-Write Report". It's 21 pages packed with information to help you to develop a six-figure writing career.

Your Writer's Goals – Make Them Work for You

In Fab Freelance Writing Ezine this coming week, we discuss Private Label Rights content, as well as goal setting for writers. I share my own "Goals and Reports" process with you. Here's an excerpt from "Your Writer's Goals – Make Them Work for You":

Do you set writer's goals for your writing career? I hope you do, because goal-setting is essential: you can only achieve what you initially conceive. So let's see how to create achievable goals the easy, fun way.

Everyone sets goals. I'm sure that like most of us, you create New Year's resolutions. Unfortunately, often these resolutions never last longer than a couple of weeks in January.

Goals you WILL achieve (and more easily than you imagine possible) start when you write them down, and then follow up on them, by tracking your progress. The tracking aspect is vital.

I call my own goal setting process "Goals and Reports", and I spend half an hour to an hour every Sunday on it.

This issue will be out on Tuesday.

Discover Private Label Rights (PLR) , a sizzling HOT new way to make money as a writer

The basic idea of PLR content is that it's content which is sold to people to edit, mash up, or use directly on their Web sites. PLR content may be articles, ebooks, reports, or even audio. It's CONTENT - stuff for Web sites - in its generic form.

If you can write ten PLR articles in a week, you can make $4000 a week

Sounds weird, but it's true. Many writers are already cashing in on PLR, and you can too.

"Instant PLR Author: Make Money Writing Private Label Rights Products" shows you how.

[tags]writing,goals,writing process,writing skills,writing tips[/tags]

Get motivated to write

I've received a couple of questions about writers' motivation this week. Your motivation that is, not your characters:-)

Lack of motivation for your writing means writing resistance, and as any psychologist will tell you, all resistance has meaning. Discover what your resistance means, and it will often vanish.

Your resistance may be grounded in the writing itself

Maybe you don't know enough.

For example, if you're writing a mystery novel set in ancient Rome, a la Lindsey Davis' Falco series (great stuff BTW, I recommend the novels) your resistance may be because you don't feel THERE, so to speak. Maybe you need to imagine the sights, sounds, smells, tastes. Do more research, so you know what the Romans ate for breakfast and when slaves became freed men.

Or maybe you don't care enough.

Perhaps you've accepted a writing job to write 10,000 words on bio energy. Your soul shrivels at the thought, but you need the money. If this is the case, realize that writing is HARD when you don't care.

In this kind of situation, you can quit the writing job, or push on. Both will teach you a lot. You can work up enthusiasm for almost any topic, so I'd suggest you grasp the nettle and push through your resistance - do more research. More research is often a good solution.

Your resistance may occur because you're scared

As any magazine editor will tell you, many are chosen, but few respond. Some writers just send out article queries endlessly. When they get a gig, they don't produce. Editors hate this.

If you're outside your comfort zone, and are plain scared, there's only one solution - do whatever it is you're scared of. You can push through the fear. Force yourself, even if you're shaking and you feel ill, just do it anyway.

Once you do it, your fear will evaporate. Here's a tip about fear: it's self-limiting. You can be scared, but there's a limit to how scared you can get. Just allow yourself to feel it, and it will slowly fade.

Remind yourself that writing is just writing, it's not brain surgery, nor is it lion taming. It's just an article, or a book, or whatever, but it's just writing... you can't die from writing. :-)

Here's a tip which works for me, it might work for you too, if you're a chocoholic. Promise yourself a coffee truffle when you've written 500 words (or even 50 words.) Your inner child may respond to chocolate too; in the battle of fear versus greed, greed may just win.

Sorting out your motivation is important, because otherwise you'll have a miserable time writing, because you're not writing with ease.

You should be jumping out of bed at dawn, ready and eager to get at the day's writing. If you're not, something's wrong, and the answers are within you. Find them.

Subscribe to Angela Booth's fabulous free weekly ezine for freelance writers: get a free report just for subscribing. Even if you're a new writer, you can freelance your way to a fantastic writing career.

Join the thousands of freelance writers who are making great money freelance writing, using Fab Freelance Writing Ezine as their guide.

Triple your writing income this month

What's stopping you tripling your writing income this month?

Answer: nothing.

Do you enjoy writing? I assume that you do, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this blog.

So, since you're a freelance writer, you enjoy writing, and you want to make money at it, please understand that there is NOTHING preventing you from tripling your writing income this month.

Read the article...

Write - turn information into knowledge

A few years ago I chatted with a "blocked" writer.

She put it this way: "Something's stopping me writing."

So, being rather more naive then than I am now, I spent a week exchanging emails with her.

After every email message I sent, she'd send a longer message. Since my messages were taking me 20 minutes to write, I knew hers were taking half an hour or longer, so at the rate of three email messages a day, she was writing for 90 minutes a day. At least.

Read the entire article.

Hypnosis for writers - super-powers for your writing

Image via Wikipedia

In this week's Fab Freelance Writing Ezine, our feature article is "Hypnosis for Writers - Get Inspired and Write".

Here's an excerpt:

Everyone gets hypnotized, every day. You're in a mild form of trance whenever you concentrate on something to the exclusion of everything else. When you're reading, for example, or driving, or watching a movie.

So hypnosis is a natural ability we all possess.

You can make use of that natural ability in your writing. Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, gives the best explanation of the "powers" that hypnosis gives you that I've ever read.

He maintains that everyone can be hypnotized and gain these three powers:

1. Extra relaxation

2. Extra imagination

3. Extra focus

Subscribe now - the issue's out on Tuesday.

Discover Private Label Rights (PLR) , a sizzling HOT new way to make money as a writer

The basic idea of PLR content is that it's content which is sold to people to edit, mash up, or use directly on their Web sites. PLR content may be articles, ebooks, reports, or even audio. It's CONTENT - stuff for Web sites - in its generic form.

If you can write ten PLR articles in a week, you can make $4000 a week

Sounds weird, but it's true. Many writers are already cashing in on PLR, and you can too.

"Instant PLR Author: Make Money Writing Private Label Rights Products" shows you how.

Want to write? Take action

My Inbox is crammed with messages from writers-to-be every day. Now, although I love hearing from all my blogs' readers, many of the messages depress me.

Why? Because I know that although I can give advice, that advice is useless until the writer-to-be WRITES.

I have four correspondents who've been sending my assistant questions for the past six months to a year. She responds, and copies me on the responses. She's a kind and giving person who offers great advice... but - you need to take the advice and actually write.

How much are you writing?

I hope you're writing every day, because if you are, I know you will achieve your goals as a writer, no matter what those goals may be. On the other hand, if you don't write, I know equally well that you will not achieve your goals.

Take action. Write. That's really all you need to do. BTW, if you're writing, the information I provide freely will help you. It can't help you if you don't write.

Discover the world of Web writing - make a great income writing from home, or from anywhere

Sell Your Writing Online NOW

There's great money in Web writing. Some Web writers are making $20,000 a month by blogging for a stable of sites. Others are writing articles or ebooks.

Join the Web writing gold rush with Angela Booth's comprehensive training: "Sell Your Writing Online Now".

Technorati Tags: Motivation

How to cope with fears of rejection of your writing

Being a writer means managing your fears of rejection. Do YOU fear rejection?

If you know you're scared of rejection, you can manage your fear. Unfortunately some writers repress their fear, and either give up writing, or stay in a comfortable writing rut for years.

Rejection is a fact of life for writers. All writers, even bestselling writers, have been rejected. Conquering your own fear of rejection is a huge step forward for any writer.

Here's a simple way to manage fears of rejection: take control, so that you barely notice any particular rejection.

How to cope with fears of rejection when selling your book: take control of the process

If you're sending book proposals to publishers and agents, create a deadline for each response, and put the deadline right on the proposal. For example: "If I don't hear from you by X date, I'll assume this book doesn't meet your current needs."

Then in your calendar program, note the deadline: "Indication-of-interest deadline for publisher X; send to publisher Y."

Or send out simultaneous proposals to ten publishers at a time. (Some publishers don't like this, but until they have you under contract their likes and dislikes are no concern of yours.)

How to cope with fears of rejection when selling articles: assume a lack of response for a week means "no"

You need to write custom queries for each magazine, because each magazine has its own style, so blasting out simultaneous queries doesn't work. Inevitably, this means that until you collect a stable of magazines for which you write, you end up writing many queries without a sale.

It's a lot of thankless work, which should inspire you to set time limits for your potential magazine clients.

Just as with publishers, use this formula: "If I don't hear from you by X date, I'll assume this article doesn't meet your current needs."

Give each publication a week - no longer - to get in touch with you. A week is long enough. Even without setting a deadline, interested editors will usually get in touch with you within hours of receiving your proposal. They know that professional writers are out to SELL, and will pass on to the next publication if they don't move quickly.

If a week goes by without a response, revise the query quickly and send it on to the next publication on your list.

Rejections are normal for writers. Fearing rejections is normal too. No one likes to be rejected. However, when you take control, you're too busy to notice rejection.

Take control of your writing process today.

Want to develop a six-figure writing income?

The September 2007 issue of The Writer had a great story: “Secrets Of The Six-Figure Freelancers”. The story’s wonderful because it shows you the potential of a freelance writing career; with the development of the Web and its unlimited markets, if you can write, you can make a great income as a freelance writer.

I chuckled when I read the story because many writers think a “six figure income” is hype. Either that, or they think that a great income is reserved for copywriters, or genre novelists, or other specialist writers.
The fact is that YOU can develop a six-figure writing career: you just need to know that it’s possible to earn $250,000 a year and more as a freelance writer, and then make that your goal.

And of course, you need know-how. That's what my writing ebook manuals give you. In 30 years as a freelance writer, I've learned the tricks of the writing trade, and I'd love to share those tricks with you, so many of my ebooks offer free coaching. Whatever your level of experience as a freelance writer, you can develop a fantastic career, when you know how.

Develop your writing skills today.

Technorati Tags: Motivation

End writing confusion

Confused about your writing?

I've just posted "I don't know where to start! Why confusion is good for you" on my Fab Freelance Writing Blog.

The post covers Life Writing and PMI charts, both useful tools for any writer.

Enjoy. :-)

Technorati Tags: Motivation

The Slacker's Guide To Goal Setting And Writing Success - make 2008 your best writing year ever

This week's issue of Fab Freelance Writing Ezine has just gone out to subscribers with the article "The Slacker's Guide To Goal Setting And Writing Success" - you'll enjoy it too, I hope. :-)

Here you go.

The Slacker's Guide To Goal Setting And Writing Success

(c) 2007. Angela Booth. All Rights Reserved.

In this article I'll share my "slacker's" guide to goal setting and writing success. This goal setting process has worked for me for many years, and it's worked for my writing students too.

It's the lazy person's way of goal setting; I prefer to let my subconscious mind work out the details. You'll find that using your imagination to set goals is much easier and more effective than using will-power. It's a right-brained process, so it's ideal for creative types. :-)

I set three kinds of goals for each year: creativity goals, productivity goals, and financial goals. You can set goals in any area of your life; these are the writing-related goals I set.

When you're following my slacker's process, setting your goals for the year takes around half an hour for the basic process.

The basic slacker's goal setting process - it's fun

You'll need a large sketch pad, pencils and pens.

Choose a time when you're alone; close the door and turn off the phone. Play some relaxing music. I like Early Music - that is, Medieval / Renaissance / Baroque music, so I put on a CD, and set the volume low.

Write "2008" as the title on a blank page in your sketch pad.

Now close your eyes, and imagine yourself on today's date in 2008. (You can lie down if you wish, so you can really relax.)

You're daydreaming, and reviewing what you've accomplished in 2008. Just let your mind drift. Take several deep breaths, and listen to your music.

Relax, and dream... It's today's date in 2008. Where are you? Are you at home? Somewhere else? Just follow wherever your imagination leads you. Perhaps you're having a conversation with your partner or a friend, and are discussing your writing achievements in 2008. Perhaps you're at a dinner party...

You may be surprised at what you hear. Just pay attention to what's happening in your imagination, listen to who's talking, and what they're saying about your writing successes in 2008.

Without breaking the connection to the scene you're imagining, draw balloons on your sketch paper, and write your accomplishments in the balloons - "completed my novel", "sold an article to X magazine", "my Web site attracts copywriting clients", "sold a nonfiction book proposal"...

Just relax, listen to your music, and let yourself imagine. The scenes may change several times; you're daydreaming. Just go with it - don't try to direct this process, just let yourself imagine.

After ten minutes or so, sit up and look at the balloons and read what you've written in them.

How do you feel? Are you inspired?

If you don't like what you see, turn to a new page in your sketchpad, and do the process again. You can repeat this process as many times as you like.

If you're feeling a little scared and excited at what you see in your balloons, that's great! That's what you're aiming for. Often what's in your balloons amazes you.

Next: write ABOUT your goals

Put your sketchpad aside for a few days. When you have time, look at your balloons again. This time, set some goals for 2008 based on your balloons.

Write each goal at the top of a sheet of letter paper, in this form - "I choose to__________"

Viz:

* I choose to complete my novel in 2008

* I choose to write articles for X magazine in 2008

* I choose to sell my novel to a major publisher in 2008

* I choose to become a successful Web writer in 2008

For each goal, write 250 words about the benefits that achieving this goal will bring you. Don't censor yourself - write whatever comes to mind. As you're writing, you're imagining your achievements, and are making the goals real to yourself.

So there you have it: my slacker's guide to goal setting and writing success. Try it. It's very easy and it works.

Enjoy - you'll be amazed at how many of your goals you've achieved when you look back on 2008.

More on goals and achievement.
Subscribe to Fab Freelance Writing Ezine today.

New to writing for money? I've created a site just for new writers - Start Writing For Money. Feel free to ask questions. :-)

Technorati Tags: Motivation

Achieving your writing goals: best explanation ever of how you get things done

How good are you at achieving the writing goals you set? If this is a challenge for you, here's the best explanation I've ever heard of taking action and DOING.

On The More Clients Blog Robert Middleton recommends: "I want you to imagine a Christmas tree with no branches. At the bottom, the trunk is sitting in a Christmas tree stand. At the top of the tree, there is a star. The stand is the foundation or the goal and the star is the realization of that goal."

Read the whole thing. It's great. And then follow his strategy: I can guarantee you that it works. I've always got lots of projects on the go, and I work on them concurrently, exactly as Robert suggests.

Writing success: What's holding you back?

Here we are in the final quarter of 2007. Are you pleased with the progress you've made in your writing career this year?

If you're not, what's holding you back?

Chances are that it's you and your attitude to writing. If things haven't been working out for you, you need to do something different.

Remember the old saying: "If you do what you always do, you'll get what you always get".

We all tend to get stuck in a rut. As you plan for the rest of this year, and for 2008, ask yourself: "What can I do and write that's different?"

Invariably, you know quite well what you can and should do, but the very fact that it's different - you haven't done it before - scares you.

It's fine to be scared and anxious - your "anxiety" is just excitement.

Look on your life as an experiment. Become curious.

Try this. Write "What's holding me back from writing success is_________". Complete the sentence, and keep writing for 250 words. You'll surprise yourself.

Technorati Tags: Motivation

Get motivated: know what you want from your writing

Apropos of the motivation focus in the ezine this week, I found this great remark from Jeff Rivera, a novelist, in his interview with John Kremer:

A: I would go to the Self-Publisher's Hall of Fame webpage on your site and I would visualize myself as one of those people who got picked up by a major publisher. I typed in my name on that list and printed it out because I wanted it to happen so bad.

Do you know what you want from your writing?

Do you want it badly enough?

Technorati Tags: Motivation