Category: Writing

How to Start a Blog in 11 Simple Easy Steps in 2020

How to Write a Book: 32 Tips | Your MASSIVE Guide How to Write a Book

This post:

Why Do People Discourage Writers from Writing?

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

Make sure your posts are readable. Use this readability score check

Want to check out a writer’s community to test your writing and get feedback?

Check out these FREE trial resources from Amazon for when you work from home (or are stuck at home 🙂 ) As an Amazon associate, if you do sign up or buy anything using Amazon links from our site we make a commission at no extra cost to you.

Free Prime Membership Trial:

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

Why Do People Discourage Writers from Writing?

Enjoying Why Do People Discourage Writers from Writing? Take a moment and consider sharing this social-friendly image to say thanks and feel free to comment with your thoughts below! 🙂

Why Do People Discourage Writers from Writing?

We hope you enjoyed: Why Do People Discourage Writers from Writing!

These Bad Habits Will Destroy Your Writing Skills

February 10, 2021February 10, 2021 ~ Jeremy ~ Leave a comment

These Bad Habits Will Destroy Your Writing Skills

We all do it. “I’m a writer, I’ve been writing for years. I’m working on a trilogy. My magic system is based on…”

We talk a lot about writing. We buy books on writing and read about writing. We buy writer starting kits and courses.

We have these conversations with friends and family and it makes us feel good for a moment to talk about our story and to get quick reactions.

It is A LOT easier to get a good feeling from these little moments than actually sitting down and writing 2,000-6,000 words a day.

If we were honest with ourselves it’s a lot easier to talk about writing and buy things about writing than to sit down and type something out.

The dirty work is in the details.

It’s easier to just pick up bad habits instead that mostly waste our time and don’t make us much better as writers.

Netflix.

If you aren’t nodding your head right now you live on Pluto.

How many nights have you thought, “I should write something,” only to remember a show you have been binging or one that interested you lately and then give in to going and watching that and writing nothing?

Try unsubscribing from things like Netflix for a month and writing instead. Trust me. They’ll be waiting for you with open arms to take your monthly subscription again. (Not finance advice, but check to make sure you don’t have a “grandfathered” account before unsubbing from anything.)

Social media.

Sounds familiar?

“I should go work on my story…or I could surf insta for 2 hours and go to sleep.”

FB, Instagram, Reddit, and Twitter, you name it. They all have their positives and negatives.

One really bad habit is reading social media every free second you get chasing that social media buzz that ultimately leaves you feeling empty and unaccomplished.

Tonight, don’t go to FB. Go write something instead. You’ll feel much more accomplished. Plus, you’ll have something to show for it the next day.

Talking about it instead of writing it.

This is a trap I personally used to fall into (and sometimes still do) all the time.

We get an emotional buzz of good feelings when we talk about our ideas. And nice people don’t mean to but they actually fuel this bad habit.

When we talk about our ideas and our friend says, “that’s an awesome idea! I’d read that. You’re so creative.” Our brains get buzzing with good feelings and instead of taking that incentive and writing down the idea, we walk away feeling accomplished after doing essentially nothing other than talking.

The best way to get past this bad habit is to stop talking about our ideas. Instead, write them and do them. Then when someone comments on it you can actually feel good about that comment because there is substance behind it.

Buying books on writing.

Let me put a disclaimer here. In order to get better at writing, reading books that help us will inevitably help some, but not if we don’t write. If we just read and research but don’t put it into practice then it is almost pointless.

I could read all the books in the world, but if I don’t actually apply what I read… what was the point? The tough love question is- Am I actually any better at writing?

So the bad habit here is buying more and more books and never actually writing.

Here is a great way to break this habit is two-fold.

When you read a good tip in your next book, write a short story that uses that principle you learned. Put it into action right away and it will be more embedded in your memory to bring back up later, compared to reading a bunch of tips and using none of them.

If you read a tip use it, read a tip is it, rinse repeat, you will remember and be able to use more of the tips instead of reading 10 Tips and try to remember them all the next time you write.

You can split this up however you want and whatever works best for your memory. You could read two tips then write.

The point is to read with the intent to write.

Video games.

You might be thinking, “Hey! Story games give me ideas and are a part of my process!”

While that could be true, it isn’t for most people that want to write but get distracted on a daily basis by bad habits.

I recommend rewarding yourself with a game, not playing it instead.

You may use it to get creative ideas but at the end of the day, if you didn’t write something inspired by it, it didn’t help you become a better writer.

Instead, set a time to write and say no to gaming until after that time is up.

If you write for your time limit then you reward yourself with some game time. If you don’t write, you don’t play.

Final Thoughts

Anything can become a bad habit if it keeps you from doing things that are important to you.

These bad habits mostly stem from choosing to do things that are fun and easy compared to doing something that seems rewarding, but is ultimately hard and takes discipline.

At the end of the day, the only way you are going to overcome these bad habits is to start making good habits to replace them.

Take time to write each day. Choose to say no to the thing that keeps you from writing until you’ve written. Shut off the Internet. Lock your phone in a time box. Go to a room where you don’t have access to the things that distract you and leave them out somewhere else until you’ve accomplished your timed writing.

Find ways to turn your distractions into rewards instead of distractions.

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

These Bad Habits Will Destroy Your Writing Skills

Enjoying These Bad Habits Will Destroy Your Writing Skills? Take a moment and consider sharing this social-friendly image to say thanks and feel free to comment with your thoughts below! 🙂

These Bad Habits Will Destroy Your Writing Skills

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

That’s all for now.

Hope this helps!

Happy writing!

Other Resources You Might Enjoy:

How to Start a Blog in 11 Simple Easy Steps in 2020

How to Write a Book: 32 Tips | Your MASSIVE Guide How to Write a Book

This post:

These Bad Habits Will Destroy Your Writing Skills

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

Make sure your posts are readable. Use this readability score check

Want to check out a writer’s community to test your writing and get feedback?

Free Prime Membership Trial:

“If you want to find out if someone is a true bookworm or not, give them a thousand page novel and see what happens.”

These Bad Habits Will Destroy Your Writing Skills

Enjoying These Bad Habits Will Destroy Your Writing Skills? Take a moment and consider sharing this social-friendly image to say thanks and feel free to comment with your thoughts below! 🙂

These Bad Habits Will Destroy Your Writing Skills

We hope you enjoyed: These Bad Habits Will Destroy Your Writing Skills!

33 Relatable Quotes for Book Lovers

February 9, 2021February 9, 2021 ~ Jeremy ~ Leave a comment

Relatable Quotes for Book Lovers

We all love a good read but sometimes find it hard to find community where we can laugh together and share our passion for story and storytelling. Reading quotes are helpful and fun and help us feel comradery.

Do you love reading quotes? Do you find quotes about reading fun? Does a good reading quote make you want to send out a quick? Do you resonate with other readers’ quotes? Do famous quotes about reading inspire you to read more?

Do book quotes immediately make you want to dive back into your current read? Do a certain book’s quotes fill you with nostalgia? Do quotes about books make you smile?

Quotes on reading are fun. Quotes about reading are enjoyable. We hope you are able to enjoy the reading and writing community here and are able to find some reading quote gems here that are easily shareable with other book-lovers you know.

“If you want to find out if someone is a true bookworm or not, give them a thousand page novel and see what happens.”

― E.A. Bucchianeri

“A book can give you an experience of someone’s life in a few hours, and this is far more profitable than any sale that’s going on.”

“My problem with reading books is that I get distracted… by other books.” – Source.

“My problem with reading books is that I get distracted… by other books.” Click to Tweet

“A book can give you an experience of someone’s life in a few hours, and this is far more profitable than any sale that’s going on.”

― Neeraj Agnihotri

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.”

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.”

― George R.R. Martin

“One who only reads lives no life before he dies.”

“One who only reads lives no life before he dies.”

“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” Click to Tweet

“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.”

― Lemony Snicket

“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” Click to Tweet

“We read to know we’re not alone.”

― William Nicholson

“We read to know we’re not alone.” Click to Tweet

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”

― C.S. Lewis

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” Click to Tweet

“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.”

― John Green

“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.”

― Oscar Wilde

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

― Dr. Seuss

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Click to Tweet

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”

― Groucho Marx

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” Click to Tweet

“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn’t happen much, though.”

― J.D. Salinger

“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.”

― Oscar Wilde

“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.” Click to Tweet

“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! — When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”

― Jane Austen

“′Classic′ – a book which people praise and don’t read.”

― Mark Twain

“′Classic′ – a book which people praise and don’t read.” Click to Tweet

“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”

― Oscar Wilde

“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.” Click to Tweet

“Books are the ultimate Dumpees: put them down and they’ll wait for you forever; pay attention to them and they always love you back.”

― John Green

“Books are the ultimate Dumpees: put them down and they’ll wait for you forever; pay attention to them and they always love you back.” Click to Tweet

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”

― Stephen King

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” Click to Tweet

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”

― Charles W. Eliot

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” Click to Tweet

“A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.”

― William Styron

“A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.” Click to Tweet

“A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest.”

― C.S. Lewis

“A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest.” Click to Tweet

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”

― Stephen King

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” Click to Tweet

“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”

― Ray Bradbury

“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” Click to Tweet

“Sleep is good, he said, and books are better.”

― George R. R. Martin

“Sleep is good, he said, and books are better.” Click to Tweet

“Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.”

― Sir Francis Bacon

“Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.” Click to Tweet

“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.”

― James Baldwin

“Think before you speak. Read before you think.”

― Fran Lebowitz

“Think before you speak. Read before you think.” Click to Tweet

“I spent my life folded between the pages of books.

In the absence of human relationships I formed bonds with paper characters. I lived love and loss through stories threaded in history; I experienced adolescence by association. My world is one interwoven web of words, stringing limb to limb, bone to sinew, thoughts and images all together. I am a being comprised of letters, a character created by sentences, a figment of imagination formed through fiction.”

― Tahereh Mafi

“I spent my life folded between the pages of books. In the absence of human relationships I formed bonds with paper characters. I lived love and loss through stories threaded in history; I experienced adolescence by association. My world is one interwoven web of words, stringing limb to limb, bone to sinew, thoughts and images all together. I am a being comprised of letters, a character created by sentences, a figment of imagination formed through fiction.” Click to Tweet

“Many people, myself among them, feel better at the mere sight of a book.”

― Jane Smiley

“Many people, myself among them, feel better at the mere sight of a book.” Click to Tweet

“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.”

― Joseph Brodsky

“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.” Click to Tweet

“No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally – and often far more – worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond.”

― C.S. Lewis

“No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally – and often far more – worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond.” Click to Tweet

“Reader’s Bill of Rights

1. The right to not read

2. The right to skip pages

3. The right to not finish

4. The right to reread

5. The right to read anything

6. The right to escapism

7. The right to read anywhere

8. The right to browse

9. The right to read out loud

10. The right to not defend your tastes”

― Daniel Pennac

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

Relatable Quotes for Book Lovers

Enjoying Relatable Quotes for Book Lovers? Take a moment and consider sharing this social-friendly image to say thanks and feel free to comment with your thoughts below! 🙂

Relatable Quotes for Book Lovers

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

That’s all for now.

Hope this helps!

Happy reading!

Other Resources You Might Enjoy:

How to Start a Blog in 11 Simple Easy Steps in 2020

How to Write a Book: 32 Tips | Your MASSIVE Guide How to Write a Book

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

The Hero’s Journey

This post:

Relatable Quotes for Book Lovers

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

Make sure your posts are readable. Use this readability score check

Want to check out a writer’s community to test your writing and get feedback?

Free Prime Membership Trial:

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

Relatable Quotes for Book Lovers

Enjoying Relatable Quotes for Book Lovers? Take a moment and consider sharing this social-friendly image to say thanks and feel free to comment with your thoughts below! 🙂

Relatable Quotes for Book Lovers

We hope you enjoyed: Relatable Quotes for Book Lovers!

Struggle with Self-Doubt as a Writer? When Will It Go Away?

February 8, 2021February 8, 2021 ~ Jeremy ~ Leave a comment

Struggle with Self-Doubt as a Writer? When Will It Go Away?

Self-doubt is a real concern for many writers. Whether you have been published or never shown your writing to anyone, as writers we experience constant battles with self-doubt.

Even as a copywriter that has made $150 an hour, I still experience self-doubt with copywriting.

Thoughts creep up, “What if that was a fluke? What if I mess up the next one? How do I know this is gonna work again?”

The truth is, it might not work. Our writing might flop. But it won’t do anything if we don’t try. It will 100% flop and do nothing if we don’t even attempt to write it and put it out there.

You’re absolutely not alone in self-doubt.

Just about everyone struggles with self-doubt.

Even Shakespeare struggled with self-doubt. “Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.”

Here are some more people who you might recognize that struggle with self-doubt,

“The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” Sylvia Plath

“If you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.” Vincent Van Gogh

“Writing is finally about one thing: going into a room alone and doing it. Putting words on paper that have never been there in quite that way before. And although you are physically by yourself, the haunting Demon never leaves you, that Demon being the knowledge of your own terrible limitations, your hopeless inadequacy, the impossibility of ever getting it right. No matter how diamond-bright your ideas are dancing in your brain, on paper they are earthbound.”

William Goldman

Click this below to easy tweet it for your followers and you to enjoy later.

Even the successful know the feeling of self-doubt well. And worry is an everyday battle. Be ready for it.

Even the most successful struggle with self-doubt.

Jude Apatow tells a story about his battles with self-doubt.

One day he was walking around in a mall and ran into Steven Spielberg. Spielberg praised his work.

He said for 10 minutes he was on top of the world, but almost immediately after he got lost in self-loathing again.

Can you imagine living on a planet where one, you could randomly run into steven Spielberg randomly at a mall? And two, wherein what universe this creative giant stops and praise your work?!

You would think after someone like that says your work is good and enjoyable you’d actually believe that your work is good and enjoyable. But even the successful elite struggle with thoughts of self-doubt.

Self-doubt isn’t always a bad thing.

Many successful people have strived to be better only because they doubted themselves being any good in the first place.

They saw their true inadequacies and strived to learn, grow, and be better.

Strive for a balance.

The truth is there is probably a healthy balance you’ll want to strive for.

Too overconfident and you might overlook things or just quit in satisfaction. Too much worry and you just might never start a project that could be very successful.

Don’t do it JUST for success.

I know, I know. It’s very cliche to say things like, “follow your passion.”

But there is a little bit of truth there. It is better if you can find some success in doing what you already like to do.

Do it because you enjoy it, and also strive to be good at it.

Ever heard the expression, “be so good they can’t ignore you.” That expression applies here.

Don’t do it just to be successful but if you become so good that they can’t ignore you, it will be hard not to be successful.

Success in writing or anything doesn’t come from trying to be a big success. It mostly comes from being VERY good at a skill and then multiplying on that skill, art, or trade.

If it does fail at first, that’s no big deal because you are not going to give up just because of a little let down. Now you know where to improve and can get better.

If you do something like writing because you enjoy it and because you want to be really good at it, then you are also more likely to be successful at it one day compared to those that just do it for success.

Flip self-doubt on its head.

Expand on what we talked about a moment ago.

You may feel like you’re not good enough. You may feel like you don’t know enough or don’t have the skills. You may feel like you don’t have “what it takes to be a successful writer.

Use these feelings to become the best. Use the feelings of self-doubt to become better than everyone else you see. If you feel inadequate, just use that feel to learn more, practice more, and get better.

If we feel as though we aren’t good enough, we CAN do something about it. We can learn more. We can practice and edit more. We can get better, in theory.

Self-doubt doesn’t have to be negative.

Think more about what we saw above, if we think ourselves into a paralyzing corner, that is not good, but self-doubt itself doesn’t have to be bad.

It could be good.

Those won’t work for everyone, but some of us might be very motivated by self-doubt and the need to prove ourselves. We might benefit from the desire to be better and get better.

If we didn’t feel self-doubt we might not strive harder and reach the next level of our potential.

Having the mindset that we have room to grow and that we haven’t reached our peak is a great place to be for getting better than those competing around us.

Learn to ignore it.

For some of us, we shouldn’t expect the feeling of self-doubt to go away. Instead, we should learn to ignore it.

We should face every writing season knowing that self-doubt will attack us and that it isn’t going anywhere.

We should just write anyway. Who are we to say that our story is no good? How are we to know if people won’t love it or hate it.

There is truly no way to know until they are reading it and they say so.

Just write crap.

This is one of my favorite lines. “Just write crap.”

It’s really freeing.

Because of self-doubt we get stuck in our own heads and worry so much about whether it’ll work or what people will think, but if we just wrote crap and we ourselves were okay with it not being perfect, that is such a better feeling in writing than worrying about the perfection of every little sentence.

Then after we’ve got the “crap” out we can work with it and edit it and shape and mold it into an amazing piece of work, especially if we have the mindset to always be learning our craft, practicing our craft, and becoming the best at our craft.

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

Struggle with Self-Doubt as a Writer? When Will It Go Away?

Enjoying Struggle with Self-Doubt as a Writer? When Will It Go Away? Take a moment and consider sharing this social-friendly image to say thanks and feel free to comment with your thoughts below! 🙂

Struggle with Self-Doubt as a Writer? When Will It Go Away?

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

That’s all for now.

Hope this helps!

Happy writing!

Other Resources You Might Enjoy:

How to Start a Blog in 11 Simple Easy Steps in 2020

How to Write a Book: 32 Tips | Your MASSIVE Guide How to Write a Book

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

The Hero’s Journey

This post:

Struggle with Self-Doubt as a Writer? When Will It Go Away?

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

Make sure your posts are readable. Use this readability score check

Want to check out a writer’s community to test your writing and get feedback?

Free Prime Membership Trial:

Want to get paid to write? Check out Writing Paychecks

Struggle with Self-Doubt as a Writer? When Will It Go Away?

Struggle with Self-Doubt as a Writer? When Will It Go Away?

We hope you enjoyed: Struggle with Self-Doubt as a Writer? When Will It Go Away?

Are You an Adult that Feels Like Your Creativity Has Died? Try this to Reawaken It

February 6, 2021March 5, 2021 ~ Jeremy ~ Leave a comment

Adulting and Feel Like Your Creativity Has Died? Try this to Reawaken It

How do I spark my creativity?

You used to read fiction all the time. Maybe you have a notebook full of writing and stories.

Now, you work 9-5 and you feel like you have absolutely no time to even think about being creative. But seeing how you used to be creative makes you wish you could do it again.

Consume to be creative.

When you were in a more creative headspace you were most likely consuming things that inspire you creatively.

You were reading stories. Watching your favorite tv shows, and watching movies more regularly.

Consuming stories that inspire us often lead our thoughts to imaginative places.

What we put in will in some way come up. During that time when you’re most inspired by what you’ve just seen or read, is a good time to try to write about it.

Practice this habit by reading or watching something that inspires you and then take only 5 minutes to write about it. Since you are trying to get your creativity going again it would make sense to start small with only 5 minutes. When you’re ready you can bump that time up.

By practicing this on a regular basis you will see your creativity spark right back up.

Write literally anything.

It could be one to three pages. But when you can, schedule a time to write one page of anything.

Anything?

Anything.

“I’m writing because I want to try to be creative again. I can’t think of what to write, but I’m going to keep writing because I want to write a whole page and not give up. Today, I opened my fridge and found no cheese. I thought to myself, “I’ll have to go to the grocery store later.””

A very fun exercise for this type of writing it’s to turn your daily routines into another character’s life.

“Tommy got up to Write and couldn’t think of anything. He stared at the blank page as though it were Everest. He knew it was impossible for him, so instead, he got up and went to his fridge.

“Ugh. Out of cheese again…” he sighed to himself. “Gotta go to the store today.””

And then you can add some fiction to spark that creativity and make the writing more fun.

“Tommy biked pretty much everywhere. He liked the passive exercise and the breeze. When he was biking he would often daydream about where he would travel to if he could travel. He didn’t normally imagine warm beaches. He often drifted to snow-covered mountains and skiing. He had one memory of his father taking him skiing and it really stuck with him.

Tommy’s thoughts were interrupted by a sound he knew well but didn’t think it was real. It was louder than he had ever heard before. So loud that it sounded like it was right behind him. He turned around to see two cars had collided. At first, he couldn’t believe it, but then inside the car closest to him, he saw a young woman panicking as blood was flowing from her neck.

He didn’t even think. He just threw down his bike and sprinted over to her. He opened her door and grabbed her neck to try to stop the bleeding. While his one hand was blocking the blood flow his other was dialing 911.”

It’s not perfect, but hopefully, you get the idea of how you can start writing about anything, perhaps nothing exciting, and then twist it and turn it into a fun creative daily writing exercise for yourself.

Some people think that because their lives are normal they can’t write about anything interesting, but the flip side of that is, your character could be in a normal routine when something out of the normal happens to them.

There is a simple method over 30,000 people use to get paid for freelance writing online.
Opportunities can get started in just minutes a day, all from your home couch.
It’s easy to get started! No previous experience or degree required to start.
Exclusive job listings for writers, updated daily.

Check out Writing Paychecks to see if you can start getting paid to write today.

Try writing about characters that used to inspire you.

Think of what you used to read and watch. Who were the characters that inspired you when you were in a more creative headspace?

Go ahead and piggyback off of your favorite authors and borrow their characters and world to write your own adventures for your favorites.

This allows you the easier path to just being creative in your writing exercises.

You don’t have to think about world-building just yet. You can focus on just the story.

As you get more into it, it will be easier for you to come up with your own characters, their world, and the big plot points.

But when you’re in a creative rut, it is a good practice to let someone you admire do the heavy lifting while you get back on track.

Try writing a short story with one of your favorite characters in their world. Then drop them into a different world. Then create your own character and drop them into the new world you just made.

Blend your ideas between fiction and the real world.

Tolkien wrote his fiction and based it around real-world stuff happening in his own life.

He explored PTSD and how characters that had gone through the bloody, horrifying war were left changed, and they couldn’t go back to normal life.

Rowling, the fact that she was a teacher, wrote about the politics outside the school and how they affect the daily and yearly lives of students.

So don’t be worried if all you have time for is watching the news.

Try this exercise:

The next time you hear a news report that shocks you, turn it into a short story but jazz it up.

“Breaking news: Trump Rallies turn into a riot.”

“Povlo didn’t want to go on a car ride today, but mama bear insisted. They drove for miles and hours. He eventually nodded off. When he woke up he couldn’t believe his eyes. There were other animals all around the car, as far as he could see. They were walking with flags and chanting something he didn’t understand. Some wore face paint of blue, yellow, and red.

“Mama, why are they wearing paint?”

“Because they’re excited.”

“I want to wear paint!”

Mama bear smiled, “okay, when we get there, I’ll paint a turtle on your face. Would you like that?”

“No, I want a shark!”

Mama smirked, “oh I see. Turtles aren-“

Before Momma could finish her sentence there was a loud pop and an explosion of glass. Mama looked in the rearview mirror and their back window was shattered. Mama reacted in a scream and Polvo immediately cried.”

You can take almost anything and turn it into a story. Try to turn the news into a detailed moment for a couple of characters even though the news might be about many people.

Final Thoughts

There are seasons of life where it’ll take more work to be creative.

Try to take what seems normal and mundane to you and turn it into short stories.

Try to develop a regular practice of this.

Don’t worry if it’s perfect, (the things I wrote above weren’t). It’s better to have words to work with instead of a blank page.

Just write. Stop worrying about perfection. It’s better to have words to work with instead of a blank page. Click to Tweet

Want to get paid to write? Check out Writing Paychecks

There is a simple method over 30,000 people use to get paid for freelance writing online.
Opportunities can get started in just minutes a day, all from your home couch.
It’s easy to get started! No previous experience or degree required to start.
Exclusive job listings for writers, updated daily.

Check out Writing Paychecks to see if you can start getting paid to write today.

Are You an Adult that Feels Like Your Creativity Has Died? Try this to Reawaken It

Enjoying Are You an Adult that Feels Like Your Creativity Has Died? Try this to Reawaken It? Take a moment and consider sharing this social-friendly image to say thanks and feel free to comment with your thoughts below! 🙂

Are You an Adult that Feels Like Your Creativity Has Died? Try this to Reawaken It

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

That’s all for now.

Hope this helps!

Happy writing!

Resources:

How to Start a Blog in 11 Simple Easy Steps in 2020

How to Write a Book: 32 Tips | Your MASSIVE Guide How to Write a Book

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

This post:

Are You an Adult that Feels Like Your Creativity Has Died? Try this to Reawaken It

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

Make sure your posts are readable. Use this readability score check

Want to check out a writer’s community to test your writing and get feedback?

Free Prime Membership Trial:

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

Are You an Adult that Feels Like Your Creativity Has Died? Try this to Reawaken It

Are You an Adult that Feels Like Your Creativity Has Died? Try this to Reawaken It

We hope you enjoyed: Are You an Adult that Feels Like Your Creativity Has Died? Try this to Reawaken It!

Questions to Ask About Your Magic System

February 5, 2021February 5, 2021 ~ Jeremy ~ Leave a comment

Questions to Ask About Your Magic System

Building a new Magic System for a story or saga doesn’t have to be hard, but it does need rules and you can’t break them or else it cheapens it.

Use these questions to help you think through Your Magic System.

How is it learned?

How does one in your fictional world gain access to magic?

How is it executed?

Do they have to say specific words? Do they clap their hands? What do they have to do to actually use it?

How is it accessed?

Do they have to go to a special place to get it? Are some born with it?

Is it restricted by space and time?

What are the restrictions on your system? Do they have a certain device necessary in order to wield it?

What does their magic do?

How is it important and helpful in their current world situation? Does it allow them to heal? Destroy? And create?

How does it relate to character growth and development?

Do some characters get corrupted by their power? Do some use it for good and to help others while some use it to take and steal away from others?

Does their magic have a cost?

Does it have a cause and effect? Do they equally lose what they gain?

Are there limits?

What can’t they do within your magic System?

Does it have a time limit?

Once the sun sets does it disappear and you have to wait another day to use it again?

Is it restricted to only certain persons?

Are certain people born with the ability to access it, while others aren’t?

How does the world feel about it?

Is it normalized? Is it scandalous?

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

Questions to Ask About Your Magic System

Enjoying Questions to Ask About Your Magic System? Take a moment and consider sharing this social-friendly image to say thanks and feel free to comment with your thoughts below! 🙂

Questions to Ask About Your Magic System

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

That’s all for now. If this ends up being popular in the comments we may add more ideas later.

Hope this helps!

Happy writing!

Resources:

How to Start a Blog in 11 Simple Easy Steps in 2020

How to Write a Book: 32 Tips | Your MASSIVE Guide How to Write a Book

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

This post:

Questions to Ask About Your Magic System

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

Make sure your posts are readable. Use this readability score check

Want to check out a writer’s community to test your writing and get feedback?

Free Prime Membership Trial:

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

Questions to Ask About Your Magic System

Enjoying Questions to Ask About Your Magic System? Take a moment and consider sharing this social-friendly image to say thanks and feel free to comment with your thoughts below! 🙂

Questions to Ask About Your Magic System

We hope you enjoyed: Questions to Ask About Your Magic System!

Cliché Story Openings to Avoid

February 4, 2021February 4, 2021 ~ Jeremy ~ Leave a comment

Cliché Story Openings to Avoid

Cliche openings are a dime a dozen, but some are just too much to ignore. Watch out to not use these cliche openings that stick out like a sore thumb.

The walking somewhere opening.

Sometimes it seems like a good idea to us to put our character into a slow position at the start.

We want to be able to have room to start to reveal our world to the reader. We do this by having our character walk to school or to the grocery store.

Don’t make this mistake.

Think about your first sentence as, “How do I get my reader hooked for the next chapter off this one sentence?”

A great example is the first sentence of the Dark Tower Series.

“The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed.”

It’s pure art. It’s brilliant. It’s simple.

And most importantly it works.

The very first sentence introduces the main characters and a major conflict that needs to be resolved. It’s tempting you to read a little more.

Traveling to a meeting.

All too often writers decide that the perfect way to introduce their main character is to put us on a train, bus, or car with them for two hours to get to know them before we get into any conflict whatsoever.

Don’t do this. You’ll lose your reader and the good stuff that may be waiting beyond this scene might never be discovered.

A better way to do it would be to start it in the middle of “the meeting” or even sometime after when the conflict is already apparent and in progress.

You can always flashback if you really want to. But in the opening, we really want to be finding that grand hook to keep them curious for more.

One good example we can think of where this is done well would be Unbreakable, but be aware the point of traveling on the train isn’t to give us a long introduction to the main character; on the contrary, it is meant to bring us into the main conflict quickly.

Don’t assume that action is the only possible hook.

Men chasing each other across the desert with guns might not be the genre you’re writing in. That’s fine. Good hooks aren’t always about action. But they always involve emotional responses and curiosity and conflict of any kind goes a long way.

Emotional motivating factors could be love, loss, heartache, time, fear, shock, horror, curiosity. There are many ways to think about hooking your reader.

Take this opener for example, “We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.”

No action in this opening. They are traveling and that’s fine. The motivator here is probably curiosity.

The reader might think, “The drugs began to take hold? What does that mean? What is about to happen?”

And so they read further. That’s all you want! You just want to evoke emotion in them to want to read further.

And of course, reward them as they do. Give them curiosity. Then reward them for giving in to that curiosity, rinse and repeat. A good opening brings curiosity. It doesn’t explain a character or a world unless a conflict is naturally introduced by that introduction to the character and world.

If you’re writing drama or romance then your conflict isn’t about car chases and explosions per se.

It might just be that “He couldn’t wipe away his tears of anger fast enough as he ran through the hall and down into the stairwell. Everyone stopped and watched him. It was the most embarrassment he had felt in his entire life.”

Remember that a good opening hook doesn’t have to rely on action. It relies on evoking emotions in our reader. And when we get the emotions right, they will read on.

Over-detailed, needless setting description, and discovery.

This is an easy rule to live by for the rest of your writing days.

You are only allowed to open your story with vast amounts of setting description on drafts that you never intend for anyone else to read other than after you have written an impelling version of the story, you sell a million copies and then you have hundreds of super fans that would love to gobble up the tedious backgrounds of your creative process for the world you created that they now dearly love in their hearts.

Before that though, never and I mean NEVER open any of your stories with a full page of describing settings before you come to any conflicts whatsoever. I beg you! 😬

Side note: (I will qualify here, that every once in a blue moon an author appears in the universe that can actually pull this off.

They somehow magically know how to put 5 pages worth of setting descriptions and character descriptions as the opening of their story and not bore everyone to death.

In fact, they know how to draw you in and make you enjoy it and want more. I’ll be the first to say, I’m not that mystical author. And most of us aren’t.

You are more than welcome to practice that type of writing and try to get many people to read it. But it’s truly a magnificent skill that takes either born talent or years of practice.)

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

Cliché Story Openings to Avoid

Enjoying Cliché Story Openings to Avoid? Take a moment and consider sharing this social-friendly image to say thanks and feel free to comment with your thoughts below! 🙂

Cliché Story Openings to Avoid

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

That’s all for now.

Hope that helps!

Happy writing!

Resources:

How to Start a Blog in 11 Simple Easy Steps in 2020

How to Write a Book: 32 Tips | Your MASSIVE Guide How to Write a Book

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

The Hero’s Journey

This post:

Cliché Story Openings to Avoid

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

Make sure your posts are readable. Use this readability score check

Want to check out a writer’s community to test your writing and get feedback?

Free Prime Membership Trial:

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

Cliché Story Openings to Avoid

Enjoying Cliché Story Openings to Avoid? Take a moment and consider sharing this social-friendly image to say thanks and feel free to comment with your thoughts below! 🙂

Cliché Story Openings to Avoid

We hope you enjoyed: Cliché Story Openings to Avoid!

I’m Struggling to come up With a Good Mythical Creature Name! Help!

February 4, 2021February 5, 2021 ~ Jeremy ~ Leave a comment

I’m Struggling to come up With a Good Mythical Creature Name! Help!

Have an awesome mythical creature in mind but can’t come up with a good name?

Maybe it’s like similar creatures on earth but just a little different or has magical abilities compared to our normal creatures.

Good for you, not using the typical dragon or unicorn. How did they name those things anyway?!

Coming up with good names for our mythical creatures is tough. And when it doesn’t feel right, you just can’t get it out of your mind.

Hopefully, these tips will help you think through it.

Google translate.

Try a variety of different languages to see if you can pull something out of it.

If your creature is wolf-like, maybe try looking up “wolf” in many different languages and write down the ones that stick out to you.

Remember you don’t have to use the entire word. Even if just a shortened version of it sounds good to you that’s better than having a blank slate to work with.

Look at other mythical creatures.

Find more mythical creatures like yours from other stories around the world and see what they are called. No reason to reinvent the wheel.

If someone has come up with a good name for what your thinking of you may be able to shorten or expand on that name. It could even be a subspecies of that type.

A subspecies of dragons could be “dragonaus” or “dragoons” or anything like that. Be creative and know that it might feel funny at first because it’s brand new, but give it time and it’ll either grow on you or fade away.

Try Latin and root words.

Latin is an awesome language and it can have some really cool sounding words to use for all kinds of fantasy and mythical creatures.

Again you can use root words as is or you can shorten or expand them. For example, let’s say you had an Elk-like creature.

Elk is in the genius of Cervus. That’s probably a Latin root word. Cervus and cervi could be good choices for a new elk-like creature. Or twist it a little and call them “Servus.”

Where is its region?

You can make creatures based on where they’re from. For example, the “Elderwood Badgers” or the “Murroks of Bercilli.”

Take where your creature is from into consideration. Sometimes their region can make them more valuable or rare in your story culture. Or it can give them distinct characteristics compared to others of their species. Sometimes it can mean they have magical abilities, whereas ones in the world not from that specific region don’t.

Think about its characteristics and combine words.

Try an exercise like this wolf + cat + energetic=

“caterolf” or “waterg” or “wolfnergat.”

Mix it up many times and give yourself more to work with.

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

I’m Struggling to come up With a Good Mythical Creature Name! Help!

Enjoying I’m Struggling to come up With a Good Mythical Creature Name! Help!? Take a moment and consider sharing this social-friendly image to say thanks and feel free to comment with your thoughts below! 🙂

I’m Struggling to come up With a Good Mythical Creature Name! Help!

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

That’s all for now.

Hope this helps!

Happy writing!

Resources:

How to Start a Blog in 11 Simple Easy Steps in 2020

How to Write a Book: 32 Tips | Your MASSIVE Guide How to Write a Book

This post:

I’m Struggling to come up With a Good Mythical Creature Name! Help!

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

Make sure your posts are readable. Use this readability score check

Want to check out a writer’s community to test your writing and get feedback?

Free Prime Membership Trial:

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

I’m Struggling to come up With a Good Mythical Creature Name! Help!

I’m Struggling to come up With a Good Mythical Creature Name! Help!

We hope you enjoyed: I’m Struggling to come up With a Good Mythical Creature Name! Help!

What If Your Magic System Were Based On Boring Stuff?

February 3, 2021February 3, 2021 ~ Jeremy ~ Leave a comment

What If Your Magic System Were Based On Boring Stuff?

We’ve all seen magic is science. And of course, magic is a feeling or superpower, but what else could your magic system be based on?

Magic is math.

Understanding 2+2 can get you a sparkler, but understanding calculus you can grow a tree, or create a fire breathing dragon.

Magic is painting.

If you can paint it, it can come to life. The more realistic it looks the more powerful it is and the longer it remains in the real world. The less life like it is the more it comes out like a messy sloppy dud, and it doesn’t remain in reality very long.

Magic is history.

Are you a walking historian factoid? The more history you know the better.

Can you tell us what year Napolean was born? Conjure up his hat. Can you tell us what he did for his fifteenth birthday? Conjure Napolean himself. Can you tell us the complete history of Napolean and his conquest? Conjure up Napolean’s army to fight at your command.

Facts become valuable. Especially rare facts. The more you know things that no one else knows the more powerful you are as a historian magic wielder.

Magic is sculpting.

If you can shape it, you can bring it to life. Very similar rules and ideas to painting.

Magic is sports.

Move over jocks. Playing magic ball is way beyond basketball. Fireballs are just the start. Your spin move shoots a tornado at the opposing team clearing the way for your glacier dunk. (We’re going to need a mop.)

Magic is animal training.

Animals used to be able to just play dead and rollover. Now you can train your dog to dig up the dead and your cat to breathe fire. The better you train your hamster, the more magical and powerful it becomes.

Magic is traveling.

The more places you’ve been to the more magical you are. Been to places that haven’t felt the footsteps of mankind before? Move over Voldemort.

Magic is archeology.

You dig stuff up and depending on how old and rare it is it carries with it magical properties. As long as you can carry a piece of it with you on your person it can make you more or less powerful.

Which magic system would you be?

Did you think of another good magic system idea?

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

What If Your Magic System Were Based On Boring Stuff?

Enjoying What If Your Magic System Were Based On Boring Stuff? Take a moment and consider sharing this social-friendly image to say thanks and feel free to comment with your thoughts below! 🙂

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

That’s all for now.

Hope this helps!

Happy writing!

Resources:

How to Start a Blog in 11 Simple Easy Steps in 2020

How to Write a Book: 32 Tips | Your MASSIVE Guide How to Write a Book

This post:

What If Your Magic System Were Based On Boring Stuff?

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

Make sure your posts are readable. Use this readability score check

Want to check out a writer’s community to test your writing and get feedback?

Free Prime Membership Trial:

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

What If Your Magic System Were Based On Boring Stuff?

Enjoying What If Your Magic System Were Based On Boring Stuff? Take a moment and consider sharing this social-friendly image to say thanks and feel free to comment with your thoughts below! 🙂

We hope you enjoyed: What If Your Magic System Were Based On Boring Stuff?!

Tips From Aaron Sorkin on Screenwriting Part 1

February 2, 2021February 2, 2021 ~ Jeremy ~ Leave a comment

Tips From Aaron Sorkin on Screenwriting Part 1

Aaron Sorkin is an Oscar winner, tv show, and movie hitmaker.

He worked on things like A Few Good Men, Social Network, and Steve Jobs.

I recently took his MasterClass and here are a few good tips for screenwriting. As well as some insider information on Aaron.

Better at writing than speaking out loud.

Some people live this way. They would rather the entire world only ever communicate in text.

When they try to speak out loud things become convoluted and confusing. But Writing has a clear flow and pattern.

Aaron admits to being this way.

It’s like writing is our first language and speaking is a second (or third 😂).

Aaron believes writing can be taught, but some of it is unteachable talent.

I half agree with this thought. I think all skills involved with writing can be talked about and taught.

Will everyone who’s taught how to write well, enjoy it? No.

Will this make some succeed and some fail? Yes.

Don’t worry if you’re afraid you can’t be taught how to write screenplays. If you’re that concerned about it then your someone who will probably get very good at it over time and experience and practice.

Start with the character and an intention with an obstacle.

There’s a guy and he wants the girl, but she’s dating someone else.

There’s a Princess that wants to be queen but her sister is first in line for the throne.

There is a mother and she needs a thanksgiving turkey, but when she reaches out to grab it, it’s snatched up by someone else.

Intentions and obstacles are so important to meaningful and interesting conflict.

It sets the script in motion. Without it, it’s like, “why are we here and where are we going?”

The obstacle has to be believably formidable.

Aaron joked about times in college when he wrote stories that were full of witty dialogue that didn’t go anywhere.

This can happen if we have characters but no intentions or obstacles. We’d be directionless.

And the obstacle has to be believable or the reader will quickly lose interest.

Why would they care to find out what happens next if the stakes aren’t high?

Press on the intention and obstacle.

What is your story? What does the character want and what is in their way?

If you have 5 friends that are going on a road trip across the country that’s not good enough.

They need to be on the other side of the country. They need to get to the other side within 6 days or else one of them loses his life’s goal, career, dream job, etc.

Along the way, they run into many side trials and roadblocks that make their journey there full of tension and conflict which is more interesting than just a road trip for fun.

Watch out for easy outs.

Have you ever been watching a movie and thought something like, “Why didn’t they just go through the back door? Why didn’t they just call the police earlier? Why didn’t they just-?”

You name it. If you have something the character could have done to get through the obstacle easier or quicker and it’s obvious to the viewer, that’s a big problem.

They are going leave feeling like the obstacles were stupid and not believable.

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

Tips From Aaron Sorkin on Screenwriting Part 1

Enjoying Tips From Aaron Sorkin on Screenwriting Part 1? Take a moment and consider sharing this social-friendly image to say thanks and feel free to comment with your thoughts below! 🙂

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

That’s all for now.

Hope this helps!

Happy writing!

Resources:

How to Start a Blog in 11 Simple Easy Steps in 2020

How to Write a Book: 32 Tips | Your MASSIVE Guide How to Write a Book

This post:

Tips From Aaron Sorkin on Screenwriting Part 1

Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

Make sure your posts are readable. Use this readability score check

Want to check out a writer’s community to test your writing and get feedback?

Free Prime Membership Trial: