If you want to be a writer, sit down and write.

Developing a Writing Process

If you don't produce, no matter how skilled or talented you are, you won't thrive.

Sit down and write

If you want to be a writer, sit down and write. Commit to see your projects through to the end. Because you've decided to be a writer.

Write everyday

We don’t need to write a lot. We just need to write often. If you are starting out and don't know where to start, just write every day. Write every day, and you're actually being a writer. Write on paper, napkins, journals, your site, social media. Just write.

Know what works for you

Determine when you are at your best creatively. For me, it's the first thing in the morning. I can write for about 2-3 hours straight before I fade. Then I switch to other things. Know what works for you.

Tap into your big mind

Big mind is our 'mind of wisdom' free of ego and control. Our best work comes from the big mind, not the little personality which is often full of worry and concern. To access our big mind we’ve got to train ourselves to sideline our little mind and flow. Flow is actually simple, do the work you want to do, remove all distractions, and work deeply. It's as simple and as hard as that.

Learn to unplug

Whatever it is you’re doing needs to stop while you write — phone calls, texting, email, Instagram, Facebook. All of it. We have to train ourselves to unplug. Being unplugged is the gateway to flowing.

Hone your creative process

By honing our creative process and 'flowing' creatively as much as we can we are creating the conditions for good work to happen. We each develop a process that works for us. And then we use it.

Employ mesmerising repetition

Keeping a daily writing routine can be mesmerising. Our minds get transfixed when we write every day. We get a rhythm. We experience momentum. It becomes a kind of ritual. The way is to train ourselves into using our complete attention when we work.

Stop each day when it's working

I stop writing each day where I feel it's working. I use that feeling as momentum for the next day. When you end your writing sessions with a clear idea of what you'll be writing next you maintain momentum. And avoid a blank page the next day uncertain on how to move forward.

Don't think about it

From Hemingway: You have to go on. So there is no sense to worry… As soon as you start to think about it stop it. Those negative thoughts are a distraction from getting your words down on paper. Fill your head with positive thoughts instead and keep moving forward.

The way you define yourself as a writer is that you write every time you have a free minute. If you didn’t behave that way you would never do anything. — John Irving

How to Write Well

Good writing is readable. It's clear, concise and brief. The very opposite of writing that's long and drawn out.

Do the work you genuinely want to do

Naturally, we want to write the best work we can. This will be the work we genuinely want to do. So we do that work. That work will be the work that others find useful or interesting.

Writing is about expressing ideas

Writing is about expressing ideas. It's about learning, and finding the essence of an idea and expressing it in simple words.

Writing about what you know or want to know

Writing about what you know, or want to know. Write to isolate ideas and making meaningful connections. Writing well requires deep thinking, patience, persistence, and focus. It's a rewarding challenge.

Write about something meaningful

Good writing is about something meaningful and worthwhile. Something important. It might not be important in the grand scheme of things, but it 's important to the people reading it. And to matter to others it has to matter to you first. You can't make audiences care unless you care first.

Write content that's useful, interesting, or both

Well written content that's focused, clearly written and meaningful will always be useful. Good writing uses clear communication to directly benefit others. Being useful means asking questions about why things are the way they are, and presenting the answers we've found. useful writing digs deeper and ask more questions.

Being interesting means being curious

Being interesting means being curious. Asking questions, and looking for answers. Sharing your natural interest in life and yourself. As we learn more we have more interesting ideas to share. As we follow our curiosity, we learn more, and deepen our knowledge. As time goes on, we have more ideas to share. And we discover interesting connections between ideas.

Good writing is transformative

Good writing is transformative. It produces clarity, understanding and insight. For us and for readers. We can achieve useful or interesting by maintaining a focus on writing clear, concise and easy to read material. We explain it and how we arrived at it.

Simplify your writing

Simplicity in writing makes our content more accessible. Simplicity in writing doesn’t mean dumbing down your words. Writing simply is about being clear and precise. It's about writing content that's easy to read and accessible to more people.

How to write simply

We make each sentence about one idea. Then use the next sentence to build on that idea. We use short sentences and scrap adverbs. We allow our writing to unfold the big idea in small, logical steps.

Eliminate unnecessary words

Eliminating unnecessary words like "actually", "really", "very", "extremely" can make writing more clear and bold. Edit them out and never look back. Ditch empty qualifiers which add nothing, for stronger adjectives. For example, instead of ‘very unpleasant’, you could just say ‘uncomfortable’.

Keep it short keep it sweet

We work to limit sentences, paragraphs and chapters to as few words as possible. But not every sentence should be short, as too many short sentences kill the rhythm of your writing. The solution is to mix short and long sentences, and read your text aloud and listen for flow.

The value of brevity

The value of brevity is it increases clarity and treats your readers like intelligent human beings. When we over explain the reader is not given the opportunity to join the dots. It's okay to have put space around ideas to allow the read to do their role. The more we explain it, the less they may understand it.

Make it readable

Readability is determined by how understandable a piece of writing is. It boils down to word difficulty (number of letters per word) and sentence difficulty (number of words per sentence). Keep this in mind as you write. To write readable content we express ideas and information in the simplest possible manner. We use plain, simple language. Short words, and brief sentences.

Eliminate words that are too complicated

Eliminate words that are too complicated. Keep your writing concise and brief. Avoid writing filled with jargon. The result will be writing that's highly understandable.

Keep the reader focused

Good writing has a focus. Each chapter, paragraph and sentence has a clear idea. Each sentence, paragraph, and chapter leads the reader towards the goal of the writing. The writing is organised to focus the reader on one idea at a time and keep the reader knowing where they are, and where they are heading.

Present information clearly

Good writing has clearly presented information. Anything that doesn't support the clear direct communication of the idea is edited out.

Keep it organised and flowing

Well organised writing is clear and precise, and structured in a logical way that flows. The chapters, paragraphs, and sentences are well ordered, fitting together neatly and drawing the reader along. The layout of the type is also highly legible and aesthetically pleasing (on all screens and devices). Well organised content becomes easier to read and accessible to more people.

Assume the reader knows nothing

Assume the reader knows nothing. But don’t assume the reader is stupid. Think what you want to say, then say it as simply as possible. — Unknown

Get your facts straight

When our writing is supported by research it has confidence, and the material doesn't feel flat and uncertain. Research underpins all good writing, and there's no excuse for not doing it.

We focus on improving

We can learn to thrive on criticism. If we are open and listen to the feedback we receive from ourselves, and from others. We keep an eye out for what could be better. And we focus on improving. Forget about praise. It's nice to get a pat on the back, but it does nothing to improve the work. If we write, edit and seek to improve we can be sure to wind up somewhere worthwhile. We can trust our hearts desire to write, and relax into a process of improving our craft.

Write shitty first drafts

The first draft is the opportunity to get your ideas down in writing. Then you can start the work of producing well organised piece of writing. "The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is that you really want to say." — Mark Twain

Get an editor

Even great writers need editors. The editor makes sure we've communicated clearly and said what we meant. They provide some some loving care and professional attention to detail. They ensure we have written content that's easy to read, focused, precise and with good grammar.

Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on. — Louis L’Amour

Write In Your Own Voice

We share our struggles. We use our own examples. And write about what we're learning. This is how we can write in our own voice.

Write as you would speak

We write as we'd speak, keeping to simple language that communicates ideas and observations. When we nurture our curiosity, and share what we’re learning, it can resonate with others. We don't dumb anything down, but focus on being clear and precise, making our writing easy to read and accessible.

Evolve your authentic voice

As we grow, our voice develops to be authentic, natural and unique. It's who we are, what we write about, and how we string together sentences, paragraphs, and chapters. Our voice evolves over time through the practice and experience of writing. We relax, we write, and we be ourselves.

Don’t take yourself too seriously

We’re all a little weird. Don’t take yourself too seriously. And don't try to share anything other than yourself.

There is an enemy. You are the enemy. Resistance will kill you. — Steven Pressfield

Overcoming Resistance

To get out of our own way we need to form creative habits and rituals, and use our inner genius.

Trust In our hearts desire

When we trust our own hearts, we are drawing from the source in each of us. To get out of our own way we need to form creative habits and rituals and use our inner genius. We need to stay true to what inspires us. In a nutshell, we all must move past self-sabotage and begin to live our authentic calling.

Concentrate on the mundane

A great secret successful artists know is that the profound can be reached best by concentrating on the mundane. Do you want to write? Sit down at the keyboard. Want to be an artist? Make art in the studio. Want to teach? Start running boot camps and workshops. The art is in being it.

The artist journey

Steven Pressfield is an author who argues we must overcome the creative resistance we throw up for ourselves. He writes 'You are an artist too—whether you realise it or not, whether you like it or not—and you have an artist’s journey. Will you live it out? Will you follow your Muse and do the work you were born to do? Ready or not, you are called.'

Creative rituals and habits

We each need to get out of our own way and form creative habits and rituals that work for us. Sticking to a schedule seems to work for most, myself included. A truth for writers seems to be that it's impossible to focus on writing for more than a few hours a day. So find your few hours and keep to them.

Accept we don't know what we are doing

The artist is not expressing themselves. They are discovering themselves. Steven puts it like this "The artist is being driven from a far deeper and more primal source than the conscious intellect. It is not an overstatement, in my view, to declare that the artist has no idea what he’s doing." If we can accept we are a mystery to ourselves we can approach living with a sense of curiosity and wonder.

Writing Tools

A good writing tool can be a game-changer. These are some writing tools I've used extensively and can wholeheartedly recommend.

Notion

Notion is my favourite text app of all time. It's that good. They call it and an all-in-one cloud based workspace. I run my life and work using Notion. As far as text goes it does everything well. Notion provides ton's of templates and ways to organise information. It supports you in organising your notes and projects your way. It also has ships with sublime typography. Notion is free to a point, then costs $4 flat price per month.

Try Notion
Hemingway

Hemingway makes your writing bold and clear. It's like a spellchecker, but for style. It makes sure that your reader will focus on your message, not your prose. Hemingway is an online app (or desktop) that gauges the understandability of your text. It gives you a grade level of your text using the Automated Readability Index. Basically, it culls your writing. If you are starting out writing it's a fantastic tool.

Try Hemingway

Scrivener

Scrivener is a word-processing and outliner app designed for authors. It's not free. But it's an incredible tool I use every day. I can't recommend it highly enough for larger writing projects. It's widely celebrate online for it's abilty to organise and structure larger writing projects.

Try Scrivener
Evernote

Evernote is cloud based text app. It runs on modern web browsers and as a desktop app. You are limited to two installs of the free version. Evernote does permanent storage of large amounts of texts very well. I've used it for years but have now migrated to Notion.

Try Evernote
Readable App

Readable App measure whether written information is likely to be understood by the intended reader. The apps designed tell you how easy a piece of text is to read and provide tips for improving its readability.

Try the Readable App
Pocket

Pocket is a virtual pocket for collecting treasures. Pocket, previously known as Read It Later, is an application and web service for managing a reading list of articles and videos from the Internet.

Try Pocket

Questions and Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

Where writing was invented?

Writing systems evolved in different human civilizations almost 5,500 years ago. Writing began as using reed styluses to make wedge-shaped marks impressed wet clay, now known as cuneiform. True writing, where another reader could reconstruct the exact meaning intended by the writer, was a later development.
What are the main writing techniques?

The Simile: a descriptive writing technique comparing one subject to a different subject. For example, “As quick as a whip"

The Metaphor: instead of comparing things we say to objects are the same. For example, “Life is a rollercoaster.”

The Rhetorical Question: questions not intended to be answered, to make the reader think about a point. For example, "can fish swim?"

Personification: giving human characteristics to something non-human. For example, "He drank like a fish.

Emotive language: Using adjectives and adverbs that are related to emotions. For example, "Timmy loved to fish."

Colloquial Language: The shortening and joining of words together. For example, "Go Bananas."

Hyperbole: The use of excessive exaggeration to highlight a point For example, "This bag weighs a ton."

Foreshadowing: Including hints letting readers know what will happen at the end of the writing. For example, "The most awful thing happened on a stormy evening."
Should I write a journal?

Keeping a journal daily is a widely accepted method to increase awareness, improve your mood and manage symptoms of depression. Journalling can help you be more aware and know yourself better. It does this through bringing thoughts and feelings to the surface and helping keep things in perspective. Journaling can give you insight into what's going on for your 'under the surface'. perhaps most importantly a journaling process can crystalize and clarify your ideas and insights.

Why is writing is important?

Clear writing is a sign of clear thinking. When we write we express ourselves better and develop an ability to communicate complex ideas in effective ways. WE can eliminate stress by getting things 'off our minds'. Writing can help is be more effective in carrying out ideas properly. And last, by not least, we can increase our awareness of our reality, as writing in your own words helps us reflect, learn, and assimilate and consolidate knowledge.
What is the main purpose of writing?

Writing is humankind’s principal method to collect, manipulate, store, retrieve, communicate and disseminate information. We write to helps us to think, learn and understand. Writing enables a higher level of thinking, and therefore, more focused action.
Single quotes or double quotes?

'Single quotes are used if you voice the person’s thoughts.' “Double quotes are used for speaking.” In basic terms, use double quotation marks for speech and single quotation marks for thoughts.

Double quotation marks are typically used exclusively in North America, while in British and Australia they typically uses single quotation marks exclusively.

Keep in mind, while quotations are necessary, too many quotation marks can make your writing seem heavy-handed.

Being a Writer

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