How To: Start Writing Again

Christmas is over and if your like me you've realized you haven't written anything, in well, a month. Since being stuffed with turkey your blog hasn't been stuff with anything. Here are some great ways to get your writing grove back.

Participate in a link up:
Link up are a great way to not only write something, but meet other bloggers. Most bloggers out there host a link up or participate. Link ups are easy to use. There is normally some sort of writing prompt,  a place to add your link, then a list of people who have "linked up" where you can ready what they have posted.

Read:
Reading goes a long way. Reading gets those wheels turning, rattles off the dust and can inspire you.

Journal/ Free writing:
I love these two! I not only have a blog, but keep an actual journal. The act of handwriting helps my brain focus. Many times I use my journal as a free writing tool. Free writing is a simple exercise where you just start to write with out any thought of structure. Sometimes when you read back over your writing you find some great quotes you can use, but most of the time is just random writing. It doesn't matter because it gets you writing again.

Let's have a Voices link up!

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

5 Actions You Should Take Before You Write Your Manuscript As Per Michael Hyatt

I just spent an hour on a teleseminar with Michael Hyatt... (and 10,000 of my closest friends). He spoke about the world of publishing as it is now, how to build a platform (based on his bestseller PLATFORM), the pros and cons of self-publishing, etc.  One of the most valuable nuggets of wisdom he shared was:

5 Actions You Should Take Before You Write Your Manuscript

1. Set a specific written goal. What is it you want to do? (Your answer here would be: write your book.) When will it be done? (Yes, this is an ACTUAL DATE.) What is my end goal? (This is where you decide what you want to do with your manuscript when it's done. Such as traditional publishing or self-publishing.)

2. Accept responsibility for the outcome. The old adage of : "You get out of it what you put into it" applies here. No one can do it for you, so YOU do it for you. I appreciated that reminder.

3. Connect with your "Why". Why do you want...no... why MUST, you write this book? Write this out in bullet points. Michael told a story about how he grew discouraged at one point while writing Platform and actually considered giving the advance back to the publisher and ending the project. But instead, he went back to his written "Why" and it inspired him all over again to write his book.  That spoke volumes to me and encouraged me to persevere in my goal.

4. Develop a writing schedule. Map it out. Put it on the calendar. Be committed to it.

5. Write a killer proposal. "A proposal is what gets everyone on board." - Michael Hyatt  He said author should write the original proposal themselves first, so they have a clear direction for where their book is going. If you want to hire someone to re-write it for you before submitting it to agents/editors, that's fine.  But write it first yourself.

I really enjoyed this free teleseminar. I highly recommend taking advantage of Michael's extensive publishing knowledge by participating if he offers one again. The best ways to find out about these teleseminar opportunities would be to follow his blog at www.michaelhyatt.com , follow him on twitter @michaelhyatt, or listen to his podcast.