04 Dec 09 Are You a Freelance Writer, Do You Know How to Fight Distraction?

For a freelance writer, it is quite easy to get distracted because he works from home. For the large part of the day, people in our home keep either talking or watching television, which never fails to distract us. This is frustrating, which further sucks away our productivity.

How to avoid it?

Fortunately, there is a way out of it, which anyone of you can use to avoid distraction, regardless of your situation.

Assign yourself a place of work

This is the must-take action for any freelance writer. It is not good to carry your laptop and sit anywhere in your home to work, well occasional working-in-kitchen will not hurt but do not make it a routine. I know it sounds against the spirit of freelance writing—you can work from anywhere and anytime—but this is worth a deviation. Find a lonely corner in your house and turn it into a workplace.

Fix your work hours

I may sound like talking against the freedom of freelance writing, but my intention is not to drag you back into the 9-5 job that you left in the past, it is only to help you produce more. And as it is you can anytime pull the string and call it off.

Work, no matter what

Once you fix your work hour, you should stick to it, no matter what. Well, you can deviate from “no matter what” principle without any guilt feeling when you know you need to. Occasion deviation never hurts, at least not in our profession.

Talk to your family

At times, getting things write just need a word from us. Talk to your family and tell them that you are working around here, so not to create distraction. Well this might not work with a disgruntled spouse, but in most of the cases, this will be enough. Believe it or not, they understand the value of the work you are doing.

As you can see, fighting off distraction does not take so much of muscle power as much it takes discipline and tactics. What are your tactics to fight this monster off? Use the comment box and tell me your strategies.

Tags: Discipline, Distraction, Freedom, Freelance Work, Freelance Writer, Freelance Writing, Guilt, Intention, Job, Laptop, Lonely Corner, Monster, Muscle Power, Occasion, Principle, Productivity, Profession, Sounds, Spirit, Watching Television

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30 Oct 09 How to Build a List of Writing Prompts

In the last blog post, I discussed about what is writing prompt and how to use it. I hope that discussion gave you some confidence to fight with the big monster we call writer’s block. In this post, I will tell you how to build a list of writing prompts to help you in time of need. Yes, I know I told you yesterday that anything can work as writing prompt as long as it helps you get out of “staring at blank page” syndrome. And I am also aware that you cannot include every kind of writing prompt in your list. Nevertheless, a list with writing prompt will help you a great deal when confronting the monster. That is why you need to build a list of writing prompts.

4 ways to build the writing prompt list

Know yourself. Ask questions about your religious beliefs, your political opinion, your view of your community, and your stance on the social and economic issues confronting your community. Ask questions about your views on your community, culture, government’s policy, medical policy, etc. The idea behind this exercise is to look inside yourself and find what you are and what you believe in.
See the world around you. A good writer is one who observes his surroundings. One who remains absorbed in oneself all the time can be anything but a writer. See how people around you interact, how they react in certain condition. What are their inhibitions, what they are afraid of doing, how strongly they cling to their belief, and what makes them stay together.
Notice the nature. Have you seen that little green-colored insect that stays on the flower? Have you seen what the shape of the cloud was today? The point is to get close to nature and observe its beauty. It has motivated many and will not fail to motivate you as well.
Take to people. Ask as many questions as you want. Get as close to people near you as you can. Know about them. Ask about their daily life, their fears, their hopes, their dreams, their ambitions, their aspirations, etc., and you will get enough material to write upon.

There are many more things that can help you build your own list, but the things that I have talked about here will help you regardless of the genre you write in.

Tags: Ambitions, Aspirations, Belief, Close To Nature, Community Culture, Confidence, Dreams, Economic Issues, Exercise, Fears, Flower, Inhibitions, Insect, Medical Policy, Monster, People, Religious Beliefs, Shape, Surroundings, Time Of Need

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29 Oct 09 What is Writing Prompt and How to Use It

Often times, we find ourselves staring on a blank sheet, or on a blank word processor hoping to get some idea, but as the luck would have it, nothing comes to my mind. After waiting for hours, when nothing happens, we feel the frustration. If you have been into writing then you must be aware of the monster called writer’s block. How many times have you faced this monster? This monster comes to haunt all of us, and even the award winning writers are not safe from this.

It is where when we need writing prompts to help us get out of this rut. Writing prompt can be anything that can make us write. It could be a picture, a word, a phrase, a quotation, an illustration, a person, a place, or anything. Anything that prompts us to write can be called writing prompt.

You will need writing prompts a lot in your writing career, hence I will ask you to maintain a list of writing prompts that can pull you out of the writer’s block. If you think, you are not going to face writer’s block in your career then either writing is not something in which you are going to make your career, or you are not planning to write much, at least not regularly.

How to use writing prompt

Make a list of writing prompts that will help you get out of the writer’s block. Always remember, writing prompt for a fiction writer cannot be same as writing prompt for a non-fiction writer. Writing prompt used by a self-help writer cannot be same as writing prompt used by writer writing on health-related issues. Hence, see what works for you and make a list of it.
Like anything else, writing using prompts also depends upon practice. The more you practice the more quickly you can get out of the block.
When faced with the writer’s block. Start with choosing any random prompt from the list, and then write on it continuously for 10-15 minutes.

In the next blog post, I will tell you how to build your own list of writing prompts. Till then practice what you have learned.

Tags: 15 Minutes, Blank Sheet, Face, Fiction Writer, Fiction Writing, Frustration, Health Issues, Health Related Issues, Illustration, Lot, Monster, Non Fiction, Phrase, Quotation, Random, Word Processor, Writer Health, Writer S Block, Writing Career, Writing Fiction, Writing Help, Writing Prompts

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04 Dec 09 Are You a Freelance Writer, Do You Know How to Fight Distraction?

Assign yourself a place of work

Fix your work hours

Work, no matter what

Talk to your family

30 Oct 09 How to Build a List of Writing Prompts

4 ways to build the writing prompt list

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