Angela Booth's Writing Blog

Hypnosis for writers - super-powers for your writing

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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

Motivation secrets: get motivated to write

A couple of days ago we talked about procrastination. From discussions with my copywriting students, I know that procrastination is something many writers beat themselves up over.

Procrastination leads to a lack of motivation. (Of course, this is a chicken and egg challenge - it's debatable which comes first, procrastination or a lack of motivation.)

This week I'll be discussing motivation secrets on Fab Freelance Writing Ezine. Discover the secrets to boosting YOUR motivation.

Technorati Tags: Motivation

What's your mission as a writer? Discover your mission and succeed

You can achieve all the goals you set yourself as a writer, and be miserable if you don't fulfill your mission.

Here's an excerpt from this week's Fab Freelance Writing Ezine's article:"Be A Successful, Selling Freelance Writer: Identify Your Writing Mission And Succeed":

Freelance writing is highly competitive, especially in areas like magazines, genre novels, and nonfiction books. Of course you can enter these writing areas and succeed, but you need to identify the competition, and you also must decide whether you really want to succeed in these areas. Basically, you need to identify your mission as a writer.

“Succeeding” in an area if you haven’t identified your mission as a writer can be a disappointing distraction. You can succeed, but the success will feel like failure.

The article helps you to identify YOUR mission as a writer; the issue is out on Wednesday. Subscribe here.

You can read the ezine's archives at Fab Writers' Ezine.

Technorati Tags: Motivation