Scott Oldford Site

Category: Craft

  • Writing a Book? How to Know When to Stop Editing and Move On

    Writing a Book? How to Know When to Stop Editing and Move On

    You’ve done it: written a novel, revised it, sought outside opinions and revised some more. Maybe your magnum opus has gone through endless drafts.

    But something’s still not right. Either it’s not shaping up into the book you hoped it would be, or it’s not getting the reception you want from agents and publishers.

    It’s tempting to keep re-working the manuscript. I spent years laboring over a historical novel set during a yellow fever epidemic in New Orleans. How many iced mochas did I down in the coffee shops where I did my writing? How many hours did I spent in library archives perusing microfilm copies of 19th-century newspapers? There’s no telling. Even with all that effort, the story never quite worked.

    Sometimes, the best thing you can do for your writing career is to shelve your project and begin anew. Here are some things to keep in mind when you’re wondering, “Should I stay or should I go?”

    Quantity trumps quality

    Fail Fast, Fail Often tells a story about a ceramics class. Half the class is graded on the quantity of work they produce, and the other half is graded on its quality. Anyone in the first group who makes fifty pounds of pots gets an A. Anyone who produces a great pot in the second group gets an A, even if she makes only one pot for the whole semester.

    Spoiler alert: The students in the quantity group make the best pots. While the quality kids are hemming and hawing over how to make the perfect pot, the quantity kids are experimenting, learning from their mistakes and getting pretty darn handy with mud.

    Writers could benefit from adopting this quantity-over-quality mentality, as well as remembering writing is a craft that benefits from repetition.

    You may be holding yourself back from your best work

    Stephen King is one of my favorite writers, and the man is prolific — he’s penned 54 books. But compare book one (published in 1982) of The Dark Tower series to book five (published in 2003). In between those volumes, he published 26 novels.

    King becomes a much stronger writer after he has written dozens of books. Where would the world be today if King had spent a decade polishing Carrie? We wouldn’t have The Stand, The Shining, Cujo, Christine… the list continues.

    It gets easier

    My debut novel, which comes out next month, is not my first, second or third manuscript. It’s actually my fourth full-length novel. And while it is better than the three that came before it, it is nowhere near as good as my fifth manuscript, which I’m plugging away at now.

    Each time, the process gets a little easier and the outcome gets a little better. I’ve learned plotting, pacing, dialogue, conflict, how to cut away the dead weight and recognize the sound of my own voice — by doing these things again and again. If I was still working on the same novel I’d started in 2004, I’d be very much like the proverbial dog returning to its vomit. (It was a really terrible draft.)

    Don’t become emotionally attached to your work

    Writers often use birth as a metaphor for the writing process. They describe their relationships with their manuscripts as a sort of dead-end romance.

    But a manuscript is not a baby. It is not a lover. While I understand why writers develop emotional attachments to something that occupies so much of their time, minds and hearts, this is not a productive way to use your energy. Give those words a beginning, middle and end, and move on.

    Starting anew is a sign of success

    A lot of writers believe if they “abandon” their manuscripts, they’re admitting failure, that they’ve wasted their time. Starting a new project isn’t failure. In fact, it’s the opposite of failure.

    Every sentence you write is a success. Every sentence you write lives inside you forever and makes each subsequent sentence better. No sentence you write is ever wasted.

    Have you ever struggled with whether you should let go of a project or give it one more revision? How did you make your decision?

  • Should You Wait for Writing Inspiration, or Stick to a Routine?

    Should You Wait for Writing Inspiration, or Stick to a Routine?

    Do you wait for inspiration to strike before you write, or sit down on a regular basis and write regardless of how you feel?

    It’s great to feel inspired — to be almost obsessed with your writing, eager to get words down as quickly as possible. When you’re really in the writing zone, you might find yourself losing track of time and being highly productive for hours.

    But let’s be honest, for most of us, this isn’t a daily or even a weekly reality. Most of the time, we do want to write … but we somehow struggle to get on with it.

    If you only ever write when you’re inspired, you probably won’t produce much. That’s fine if you’re happy writing an occasional poem or short story, but if you’re working on a blog, a novel, or an entire writing career, you’ve got to make writing more of a routine.

    And yet, sitting down and forcing out 1,000 or 2,000 or 3,000 words a day could just be a recipe for hating both the act of writing and what you’ve written.

    Here’s how to get the best of both worlds.

    Step #1: Schedule regular writing sessions

    To keep up your momentum, you need to write regularly. That doesn’t necessarily mean writing daily.

    Some writers thrive while working on their book, say, for 20 minutes per day, without fail. Others do much better with two hour-long sessions each week.

    Find a writing rhythm that works for you — not your best friend, your creative writing tutor, or that author you follow on Twitter. Experiment with short daily sessions one week and longer twice-week sessions the next. Which do you prefer?

    You may even find your rhythm shifts over time, especially if other aspects of your life change, so don’t be afraid to experiment again occasionally.

    Step #2: Make your environment work for you

    Something that writers often don’t realize about inspiration is it generally doesn’t just appear out of the blue.

    You might always feel inspired after a long walk, or a relaxing bath, or when you listen to a particular piece of music.

    As much as possible, make your writing environment work in your favor. When you sit down to write, you want to feel like you’re instantly getting into that writing zone.

    This could mean:

    • Removing distractions from nearby — if you have a bunch of half-read books on your desk and they tempt you away from writing, put them somewhere else.
    • Playing music, white noise, or other sounds that help you focus. I often pick an album (or a band) to listen to just while I’m working on my novel-in-progress, and sometimes use Noisli if I’m struggling to focus on other writing.
    • Using reminders of your writing goals: inspirational quotes or posters on your wall, vision boards, or your total word count so far on a Post-it note on your desk; whatever works for you.

    Step #3: Give yourself a break when you need it

    While it’s great to form a strong writing habit, if you have a particular day or week when you’re really struggling to write, let it go. Take some time off before you risk burning out. You may just need to let your work sit for a day or two while you give your subconscious a chance to come up with some new insights.

    Personally, I sometimes find it hard to distinguish between feeling a bit lazy and being genuinely in need of a break. If that happens to you too, I suggest setting a timer and writing for just 10 minutes.

    If you find your initial reluctance to write has faded, or entirely gone, keep going! If those 10 minutes were a real grind, stop and give yourself permission to have a writing break.

    Step #4: Stay connected to your writing in busy times

    Sometimes, routines get interrupted. Maybe you’re ill, or your kids are ill. Maybe you’re moving house or starting a new job or working on a big non-writing project.

    If you know you’re going through a busy patch, and you won’t have the time or energy to write on a regular basis, look for ways to stay connected to your work.

    That might mean:

    • Keeping a notebook of ideas for blog posts.
    • Reading books or blogs about writing (or listening to podcasts).
    • Sharing excerpts of your writing with other people.
    • Jotting down a single sentence in a journal every day.

    You might find you feel inspired to write a blog post or a new scene of your novel — if so, great, go with it! If you don’t, that’s fine too.

    Ultimately, there’s no perfect blend of inspiration and routine that will work for every writer, but all of us need both the spark of inspiration and the momentum of regular work to produce finished work that makes us feel happy and satisfied.

    How do you balance inspiration with routine in your own writing life? Share your tips in the comments below!

  • Learn How to Use Scrivener: Free Webinar With Joseph Michael

    Learn How to Use Scrivener: Free Webinar With Joseph Michael

    Ever considered using Scrivener to organize your writing? Or maybe you’ve tried the tool, but want to learn to better use all its bells and whistles?

    We’re here to help! We’ve asked Joseph Michael, also known as the Scrivener Coach, to teach The Write Life community how to use Scrivener to get the most out of every writing session.

    He agreed to partner with us on a webinar called, How to Use Scrivener to Effortlessly Write, Organize & Export Your Book Into Various Formats for Printing, Editing, Publishing & More.

    Yes, you can really do all of that and more with this writing tool! And Joseph is going to show us how.

    How to sign up for our free Scrivener webinar

    When: 8 p.m. EDT on Thursday, June 18th

    Cost: Free

    How to register: Click here

    There’s only one catch: seats fill up quickly for this type of free training, and there are a limited number of seats available on the live chat. That means if you want in, you should sign up now!

    What you’ll learn during this webinar

    Here’s what Joseph will share with us during this free training:

    • How to set up Scrivener quickly, so you can get a lot out of the tool
    • Tips for navigating that complicated Scrivener window so you know what you need to use and when you should use it (and what to forget about so you don’t waste time)
    • The best way to customize your toolbar and turn yourself into a writing machine… whether you have a million ideas or just one.
    • How to master the Scrivener corkboard, so you can turn it into your own writing lab and never lose track of anything, forget your notes or lose your spot
    • When to use the outliner to organize massive projects, complete them, and feel completely in control of your writing process
    • How to master the art of the rewrite and save every version of your work, so you never have to worry again about losing your drafts
    • The easiest ways to print, compile, share and export your work
    • And much more!

    A bonus for attending the webinar

    This is a free training, no strings attached.

    As a thank you for attending, Joseph will offer a bonus at the end of his presentation: a 20 percent discount on his course, Learn Scrivener Fast. You’re under no obligation to buy, but the offer is there if it’s a good fit for you!

    And as an additional bonus, if you do purchase his Master or Ninja Package, we’ll also send you a free copy of The Write Life’s new ebook, 71 Ways to Make Money as a Freelance Writer, which retails for $19.

    We hope you join us for this special live event! Click here to save your spot. See you there!

  • Become a Ghostwriter: Here’s How to Write in Someone Else’s Voice

    Become a Ghostwriter: Here’s How to Write in Someone Else’s Voice

    “A ghostwriter.”

    “So, do y—”

    “No, I don’t write about ghosts. And I don’t wear a sheet with holes cut out for eyes while I write.”

    “That’s not what …”

    “Yes it is, and you know it.”

    “OK. You got me. So what do you actually do then?”

    “I write books for other people. Their ideas, my words.”

    “Isn’t that cheating?”

    “No. My clients have great ideas. They just don’t have the time or the know-how to finish writing a book. It’s a win-win.”

    “But how do you write it so it seems like they wrote it?”

    “I’m a ghost. It’s what I do.”

    I’m a nascent ghostwriter, with just one title to my resume and two more nearing completion, but I want to do more. Consequently, I’ve been marketing myself as a ghostwriter. Because of that, I’ve had some variant of the conversation above more times than I can remember.

    When I talk with other writers, they often want to know about two specific issues: how to break into ghostwriting and how to write in another person’s voice. The first issue requires equal parts hard work and luck, but the second can be learned — although it tends to require a significant amount of trial and error.

    I learned the significance of finding the right voice after one of my clients pitched his half-written book to an agent. The agent replied that it was too academic in tone to reach a popular audience, which the author wanted to do. After I was hired to rewrite and expand his initial book, we focused on “popularizing” his book without leaving behind the important information he wanted to convey.

    Through this process, I learned a number of methods on how to write in another person’s voice. (In fact, with proper modification, these methods can be used to find a company’s voice for marketing and to discover characters’ voices in novels.)

    1. Listen

    The simplest and most effective way to write in someone else’s voice is to listen to that person’s voice.

    For instance, this client had 10 hours of video from a conference he’d led using information that would ultimately be in the book. He sent me the video and I transcribed every word. Painstaking? Yes. Worthwhile? Quite.

    In being forced to listen to the way he spoke about his book’s topic, I discovered his voice hiding in plain sight. He wasn’t academic; he was understandable. He wasn’t dull; he was funny. His spoken-word, real-life delivery was much more engaging than what he’d written.

    But you don’t have to rely on your author speaking about his or her topic (though, of course, that’s ideal). You can glean their voice from the conversations you have with them. With their consent, record your conversations, then jot down a few notes after the fact about what struck you: Did he use large words? Did she seem confident in what she was saying? Did he pause for long periods of time? Did she often quote others? What did his body language convey?

    In asking other ghostwriters about how they listen to learn an author’s voice, they offered a number of excellent suggestions for instances when a meeting may not be possible:

    • “Read everything you can from that person: books, speeches, even emails, and any notes-to-self that they’ll share.” — Jennifer Harshman
    • “Write out physically something the author has written. Do it over and over until you get a feel for how things are worded. Talking like that person out loud can help too.” — Jim Woods
    • “Watch videos they may have. Record your calls. Skype if possible so you can also learn their body language. Visualize them speaking, then pretend to be that person as you write.” — Alice Sullivan
    • “Try to never do a ghostwriting project without an in-person meeting. Also, if the client is a speaker, discuss the difference between spoken and written word.” — Mike Loomis

    Essentially, you’re searching for the ways in which they best engage an audience. If you can capture that aspect of your author’s personality in writing, you’ve accomplished much of what’s required of a ghostwriter.

    2. Write

    Robert Frost wrote, “I can see no way out but through.”

    Once you start hearing your author’s voice in your head at night, that’s just about the right time to begin ghostwriting on their behalf. If you never begin writing, you’ll have no idea whether your idea of their voice will translate well to the written page. You must go through to get out, and it will be a laborious process of questioning every word choice, every transition and every edit.

    With the best clients (and I’ve been fortunate to work with all “best clients” so far), you can write and submit a chapter, then receive feedback within an agreed-upon timeframe. This has vacillated between a day and a week with my clients.

    Remember, these are busy professionals who hired me precisely because they’re so busy. Consequently, I have to be flexible with their timeframes, though they still have to be responsive to my needs so that their respective books can be finished on deadline.

    Mike Loomis offers two superb tips for the writing phase: “Ping-pong one chapter until it feels right to everyone” and, “Try to get feedback from a spouse (or someone close to the author) when possible.”

    Feedback is when you’ll really learn whether or not you’ve captured the author’s voice.

    And that moment right before opening your author’s first email reply after you’ve sent the first draft? It’s enough to make any writer want to hide under a sheet.

    3. Bow

    Lastly, be humble when you receive feedback. Though it is your book, it’s not really your book.

    As the client paying you to write a book on her behalf and in her voice, if the author says, “I wouldn’t use that word,” you must delete all instances of that word without hesitation. In fact, the more you can discover about the particular words and turns of phrase the author prefers, the more you’ll be aligned with her voice.

    Quick tip: To prevent yourself from inadvertently using a word the author wouldn’t choose, use a text expansion app like aText (or one of these Windows options) to essentially autocorrect any unintentional word usage.

    Ultimately, you must realize what’s supposed to be on display isn’t your talent — it’s your author’s voice. Like a ghost, the best writers for other people disappear behind the author’s needs.

    If you’re a ghostwriter, what practices and strategies do you use to get inside your author’s mind? If you haven’t tried ghostwriting, will you?

    If you’re exploring other writing careers, check out this article, where you’ll find more options to get paid as a writer.

    Perhaps this quiz can help you decide.

  • Silence Your Inner Critic: How to Defeat Your Writing Demons

    Silence Your Inner Critic: How to Defeat Your Writing Demons

    Everyone has their own personal writing demon — and some writers have several of them.

    Maybe yours is a lack of confidence. Or it might be that you battle resistance. Perhaps you fight against an inner critic; more than a few writers struggle with the nagging voice of someone from their past who told them they’d never succeed.

    No matter which demon you have to battle, no writer escapes the black dog of doom that creeps close and growls when they sit down at the keyboard.

    Having a writing demon is so universal that it’s become a trope. Cue the story of the angst-filled creative who can’t get past his blocks… until some unexpected event or person changes everything and unlocks his creative genius.

    Wouldn’t it be great to have a miracle like that happen to you? Well, you could sit around waiting for that moment to happen. It’s what most writers do.

    Or, you could just take matters into your own hands and slay your personal writing demon from the comfort of home.

    How to defeat writing demons

    In the movies, defeating a demon requires the dramatic. Common approaches include finding a magical artifact that’s been hidden for eons, or taking a harrowing trip to a fiery chasm. Some massive battle of wills or strength takes place, and at the last minute, all that seemed lost is saved.

    Defeating demons in real life is far easier.

    You don’t need a magical artifact. No fiery chasm is required. Your writing demon is simply a bully — and as with all bullies, all it takes to come out on top is to stand up tall and not back down.

    Here are a few time-tested ideas that always do the trick.

    Decide how much power you’re going to give away

    The reason a personal demon has power over you in the first place is because you’re consistently giving it over.

    The demon didn’t always have power — in fact, it didn’t have any until you started giving it control. Mentally, you created a hierarchy in which you began to believe the demon had all the power… and you didn’t have any. Now you’re at its mercy, letting it dictate your options.

    It’s the same psychological phenomenon that keeps people stuck in unhealthy, abusive relationships.

    Whenever you encounter your demon, you need to decide whether you’re going to believe what it says or follow its advice. That’s your decision to make — only you have control over that.

    You can choose to believe you have no options. You can choose to believe your demon has taken them all away.

    Or you can choose to believe in your own free will and ability to act.

    You can decide to stop giving your demon the power of an authority figure. You can refute its message. You can refuse to be controlled. Instead, you can start treating it like some random bozo on the street. One who doesn’t know you, and who can’t tell you what to do.

    You don’t have to listen to your demon. How much power you relinquish to it is your decision, and yours alone.

    Find the easiest way to chip away at its power

    Your demon has been around for a long time. It’s conditioned you to hold beliefs that don’t necessarily go away just because you want them to. It affects your confidence that you can be creative, productive and successful.

    It affects your ability to write.

    You might think that you have to engage in some epic battle against these beliefs to break free. That approach might work, but to be honest, it’s prone to fail.

    Your beliefs have strong foundations. They’re not easily toppled. But they are easy to chip away. Instead of using brute force to topple a belief, undermine it by taking small actions that run counter to the idea.

    Your writing demon wins because it has you believing global statements like, “I just can’t write” or “My writing isn’t any good.” The universal nature of these beliefs gives them their power.

    This is what you can chip away.

    For example, the next time you think, “I just can’t write,” chip away at that universal belief. Sit down and write for five minutes. You could write a mere 100 words. You could write on a completely unnecessary topic — anything to get reactivated.

    This small step won’t magically turn your writing life around, of course, but it does create a reference point that immediately works to undermine your global belief, and it helps your brain to re-engage. You’ll come to realize that sometimes it’s more difficult to write, and most times, it’s not difficult at all.

    And when you think, “I just can’t write!” you’ll begin to realize that statement isn’t true. The voice of your demon begins to lose credibility. Eventually, it becomes a fleeting whisper until the day you don’t hear it anymore at all.

    Will it take time? Of course it will. But if your writing has been stalled because of your demon, gradual improvement is better than the zero you have now.

    Assign a talisman to remind you of your power

    The beliefs you currently have are the result of long-term conditioning. They’re going to be your default pattern for a while. That’s why it’s a good idea to have something at your disposal to remind you that you can break that pattern any time you choose.

    In legends, a talisman is an object that protects you from harm. In real life, you can have one, too.

    You might choose a “lucky pen” you keep on your desk to remind you that if you just write for 10 minutes, you’ll warm up to the task. It could be a sticky note on your monitor that says, “Everybody starts somewhere.” It could even be a picture of a loved one that you can look at and think, “This person believes in me, and I’m going to believe in me, too.”

    Be creative. Have fun with this. Choose a talisman that makes you feel good, that makes you feel confident, capable and strong. Just pick an object that you associate with your new, more empowered belief, and keep it handy.

    The psychological term for this is anchoring; you anchor a particular thought, state of mind or emotion to the sight or feel of an object. It’s a smart thing to do, because it can help you break from your rut when you’re feeling trapped.

    Can defeating your writing demon really be so simple?

    Yes.

    It’s likely that on your search for the miracle cure that’ll save you from your demons, you’ve encountered all sorts of other writers talking about their difficult struggles and sharing “helpful” advice suggesting a long, daunting road of recovery back to writing health.

    Sometimes the simplest advice is best. And even better, not only is this advice simple, but it’s easy to implement.

    No matter how long your demon has held power over you, that power is fragile. It was never the demon’s power to begin with — the power was, and always will be, yours.

    So the next time your writing demon starts whispering in your ear, use these three simple steps to get the power back in your hands… where it belongs.
    Have you battled a writing demon? What strategies or tools did you use?

  • Writing a Book? 3 Reasons to Work in a Noisy Place

    Writing a Book? 3 Reasons to Work in a Noisy Place

    Most writers find it necessary to work in quiet places where they can concentrate in silence. Jonathan Franzen has been known to write in a room with no electronics, no WiFi, nothing but a chair and a table. On occasion, he’s even blindfolded himself and plugged up his ears.

    Maybe that’s your style — being cut off from the world. But don’t dismiss the possible advantages of writing in a noisy environment. Crafting prose in silence and serenity has its benefits, but it might be time to take your laptop and wrap yourself in racket.

    An unintentional experiment with writing amid noise

    The other day, I locked myself out of my house. I was in a hurry, trying to get the dog to poop, taking out trash, stacking laundry from the washer. While I waited for my wonderful girlfriend to drive over and let me in, I wrote in a nearby coffee shop.

    Espresso machines whirring, clinking and clanking of silverware and mugs, laughter, talking, chatter — the constant din of a caffeine club wasn’t my typical writing environment. But I wrote, I thrived, I fed off all of the noise.

    If you generally write in silence, this situation might sound awful. But here are three reasons why you might want to experiment with writing in a noisy place.

    1. Conversations inspire authentic dialogue

    Listen to the conversations going on around you. What are people saying? How does each one turn a phrase? What kind of voices do the speakers have — gravely, sweet, annoying? And most importantly, how does the conversation unfold?

    Dialogue is hard to write with authenticity. Listen to how people really talk, and let it evolve into your writing. If you’re writing a scene about a conversation in a coffee shop, go to a coffee shop and listen to the voices.

    2. Noise offers depth and color

    Your parents always told you to do your homework in a quiet place, and yes, research says studying or working in silence, in a place where distractions are low, is a good thing.

    But that was homework; now you’re writing and creating. Instead of letting noise disturb you, allow it to inform your work. The music you hear inside a tavern can add mood, police sirens from the street outside can add to plot, and an overheard argument at the table next to you can add depth to a character. Use what you hear to enhance scene and story.

    Next, go deeper and explore the ambient noise, the less obvious sounds. What do you really hear? Go beyond the people talking at the next table and the music coming from the speakers. What about the squeak of a chair, the clang of a closing door, the food grilling in the restaurant’s kitchen?

    Let each one settle in and listen closely. Consider how they manifest and how people react to these sounds. You might think the audio coming out of a television in a bar would be distracting, but the content of that sound or someone’s response to it might lead you to a new creative idea.

    3. Science suggests noise might lead to inspiration

    If you need to be creative, you might be better off in a moderately noisy place than a quiet one. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found noise at about 70 decibels — the equivalent of a busy coffee shop — distracted participants just enough to help them think more creatively.

    Inspired by this research, a website called Coffitivity offers a soundtrack of ambient coffee shop sounds. If you want to try writing at a noisy coffee shop before actually going to one, give it a try to see whether a little clatter gets your creative juices flowing.

    Will you try writing in a noisy place?

    Although this noisy world can sometimes wear on our senses, commotion and clatter just might take our writing to wonderfully imaginative places.

    Life happens in the noise, so writing right in the middle of it is a great example of embedded reporting. It might take extra concentration at first, and your usual writing discipline or routine might need some adjustments, but shaking things up could have a great effect on your work.

    Do you enjoy writing in noisy places? Or do you prefer to work in silence?

  • Fighting Writer’s Block? This Strategy Will Get Your Creativity Flowing

    Fighting Writer’s Block? This Strategy Will Get Your Creativity Flowing

    Every writer experiences this situation at some point.

    You sit down at the computer, ready to hammer out words, but absolutely nothing comes out. Not a single word.

    It’s just you and the blank page, with its blinking cursor quietly taunting you. Eventually you force a few clunky words and then…

    Backspace, backspace, backspace.

    It’s like someone ran a super-magnet over your brain’s hard drive and wiped it hopelessly clean of whatever inspiration and imagination had been inside when you first sat down.

    What should you do when the creativity won’t flow? Prolific artists like Pablo Picasso and Austin Kleon, author of Steal Like an Artist, offered this answer: When you’re running low on inspiration, steal it from others.

    A point of clarification

    There’s a difference between finding inspiration in others’ work and plagiarizing it. Don’t plagiarize, ever.

    Become a student of others’ work, but do it to pinpoint the style that resonates with you and then make your point in your unique voice.

    Build a swipe file

    Staying creatively prolific requires smart tools, and the swipe file is one that should be in every writer’s bag of tricks to beat writer’s block.

    Marketing pros have used swipe files for years because they’re always looking for a hundred different ways to say something. Starting from scratch every time they need to pitch a product is both difficult and unnecessary, so they’ve learned how to engineer inspiration into the process by making it a ritual.

    They’re always paying attention, studying other marketers and collecting ideas. When a smart turn of phrase grabs them, or a competitor’s ad is a runaway success, these experts add it to their swipe files. When it’s time to develop a new concept, they use the swiped ideas to spark their own creative processes.

    When I began writing fiction seriously 10 years ago, I borrowed that approach to build an inspiration reservoir, and it transformed my writing.

    It all starts with reading

    To be a good writer, you must first be a prolific reader. As you expose yourself to ideas and stories, your brain subconsciously absorbs and files source material that will inform your work.

    If you don’t think you have time to read, that’s an indication that you need to make time and foster curiosity. Reading both broadly and specifically in your chosen genre will teach you what good (and bad) writing looks like. You’ll develop a palate for language and intuition for good ideas.

    More importantly, each idea and word that you experience is like a dot on the page of your subconscious. Creativity is little more than connecting dots, so the more dots you have, the better. When comes time to write, the well will be full.

    But reading isn’t enough. You have to steal along the way.

    Steal like an artist: How to use a swipe file

    We’ve all had times when we’ve had a great idea, or were inspired by something we saw, and didn’t take the time to capture it in the moment. “I’ll write it down later,” we say, but later never comes. The moment is lost, and the idea along with it.

    This is where the swipe file comes in. You need one place to conveniently and consistently chronicle the dots as you bump against them.

    I use a combination of Evernote and Pocket as my swipe file. Both are free and can be used on a mobile device and laptop, so I can capture text, images and audio notes for later reference.

    For those times when I purposely unplug from digital things, I use a pocket-sized Moleskine notebook, though several writerly folks I know use Field Notes.

    As I come across things I want to capture, I curate them in my Evernote swipe file or jot them down in my notebook until I can add them to Evernote.

    A peek inside my swipe file

    My Swipe Book is divided into a few separate sections:

    SIPs (Stories in progress)

    At any given time, I have dozens of ideas in various stages of development. Stories need space to grow and time to age before they’re ready to be written.

    I often have “What if… “ scenarios that cross my mind, and this is the folder they go in until I can more fully develop them.

    Story starters

    Reality is sometimes stranger and more fascinating than fiction. I keep a folder specifically to capture those things that I think carry some story DNA. Often, bits of story starters end up in my work in unexpected way.

    Stolen Words

    To be a wordsmith, you should study wordsmiths. As I’m reading during the week, I come across turns of phrase that I love and wish I had written. I’ll capture those in my “stolen words” folder and study them to deconstruct why I love them.

    I also flip through this folder when I’m stuck with own manuscript and need inspiration to see things from a different angle.

    Putting it all together

    It all breaks down to this process:

    • Create a swipe file to easily capture ideas for later.
    • Explore other people’s ideas and be hyper-aware of what resonates with you.
    • Capture great ideas in the moment and curate them in your swipe file.
    • Once a week, review your swipe file and see what happens.

    Developing a bottomless reservoir of ideas is truly as simple as it sounds. Be curious about the world around you and then document everything that sticks with you. Soon you’ll have more ideas than you can possibly develop, and your imagination will never stall again.

    Do you keep a swipe file? How has it helped you as a writer?

  • Can You Write a Great Essay? Apply to Win This Maine Inn

    Can You Write a Great Essay? Apply to Win This Maine Inn

    Your writing chops could be your ticket to small business success.

    Janice Sage, innkeeper at Maine’s Center Lovell Inn and Restaurant, is retiring after 22 years. She’s giving the inn away, and she’s choosing the winner through an essay contest.

    Sage actually earned her own rights to the inn by writing an essay, and she had never been to Maine before she won the inn in 1993. While Sage could sell the business, she has said she would rather give it away to someone with passion and business know-how.

    How to win the inn

    Dream of being the next innkeeper? Sage told the Boston Globe that she’ll be looking for “grammatically correct entries that show a passion for work.”

    The prompt for your 200-word essay: “Why I would like to own and operate a Country Inn.”

    Sage will keep the application money and narrow down the applicant pool to 20. Then, a judging duo with no stake in the business will choose the winner. The new owner will also receive $20,000 to put toward the business.

    Applications are due by June 6, 2015. You’ll need to include the $125 application fee, and deliver your essay by snail mail.

    If fewer than 7,500 entries are received, entrants will have their application fees refunded. The search will still move forward, but if a winner is chosen, they won’t receive the $20,000 award.

    Don’t plan to make this your vacation home

    The Boston Globe story illustrated the difficulty of running a bustling B&B: Center Lovell Inn has seven guest rooms, 10 staffers and 120 dinner guests on a good night. The innkeeper tends to be on duty 17 hours per day. “Unless you raise[d] 14 kids, you’re not going to be used to this,” Sage told the Globe.

    Want to own the inn, but still want time to write? The contest mandates that the winner keep the inn and restaurant open for at least one year after taking over. After that, the facility is yours for the rebranding.

    But with a real estate value of about $900,000, the taxes, legal fees and upkeep of the property could be too much to maintain without running some kind of business.

    Still interested in becoming the innkeeper?

    Yes, your writing skills could help you win this picturesque inn. But if it’s going to be worth the investment for you, you’ll need to love business as well. When you’re tending to guests around the clock, you won’t have much time to escape into a nook or cranny with your notebook.

    Our advice: Apply, win the inn and invite TWL readers to a yearly writing retreat on the property. We’ll see you in Maine!

    Are you going to enter the essay contest to win the inn?

  • Your Last Chance: The Writer’s Bundle Disappears Tonight

    Your Last Chance: The Writer’s Bundle Disappears Tonight

    Wow — We’ve been blown away by all the excitement around The Writer’s Bundle. It’s great to see so many of you taking advantage of this deal, and talking about it on Facebook and Twitter!

    Still on the fence? If you want to get your hands on this fabulous package of nine ebooks and courses, you’ll need to act quickly: The Writer’s Bundle disappears at 11:59 p.m. ET tonight.

    That’s right: This is your LAST CHANCE. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

    These resources will help you write and self-publish a book, build a freelance writing business and supercharge your marketing efforts. If you bought them all separately, they’d cost nearly $1,100 — but you can get your hands on them today for $99 ONLY.

    Click here to get The Writer’s Bundle

    Questions? Check our FAQ. If your question isn’t answered there, feel free to get in touch at team@thewritelife.com.

    And if you’ve already downloaded The Writer’s Bundle, we can’t wait to hear what you learn through these resources!

  • An Unbelievable Offer for Writers: The Writer’s Bundle

    An Unbelievable Offer for Writers: The Writer’s Bundle

    Remember that amazing bundle sale we ran last year?

    Guess what… It’s BACK! And completely different from last year. We’ve packed it full of nine new resources that will help you make a living as a writer.

    Click here for more details on The Writer’s Bundle

    If you’ve been thinking about investing in a course or ebook to help you build your freelance business or self-publish your book, now’s your chance.

    We’ve bundled together nine ebooks and courses for writers into one impressive package. If you bought each of these tools separately, it would cost you nearly $1,100.

    But through The Writer’s Bundle, you can get them for only $99.

    Curious about making the most of Scrivener to write and format your book? Learn from the Scrivener Coach himself, Joseph Michael, in Learn Scrivener Fast.

    Want to give your ebook the best chance of success? Check out the step-by-step guidelines in Nick Loper’s Kindle Launch Plan.

    Querying agents and editors? You’ll definitely want Joel Friedlander’s Book Proposal and Manuscript Templates.

    The catch? The Writer’s Bundle 2015 is available for three days only.

    After 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 11, 2015, it will be gone forever — so if you want to get your hands on this deal, you’d better act quickly!

    Click here for more details

    Resources for writers: The Writer's Bundle

    Here’s what’s in The Writer’s Bundle:

    • Kindle Launch Plan: $1,400 in 30 Days & an Amazon Bestseller, from Nick Loper (Course; retails for $99)
    • Content Strategy for Thought Leaders, from Sarah Peck (Course; retails for $300)
    • Book Proposal & Manuscript Template, from Joel Friedlander (Tools and ebook; retails for $27)
    • Learn Scrivener Fast, from Joseph Michael (Course; retails for $197)
    • Video Idiot Boot Camp, from Katie Davis (Course; retails for $297)
    • The Momentum Kickstarter Kit, from Charlie Gilkey (Tools and ebooks; retails for $47)
    • Authority, from Nathan Barry (Ebook; retails for $39)
    • Write for the Web, from James Chartrand (Ebook; retails for $23)
    • Turn Your Side Hustle Into a Full-Time Business, from Alexis Grant (Ebook; retails for $47)

    Interested? Grab your bundle before it’s too late!