Bryan Collins's Blog, page 109

Conquer Procrastination and Develop a Daily Writing Practice

This time things were supposed to different.

Late last night, you promised yourself you’d write today. Then, you woke half an hour late for work. You got stuck in traffic and spent the day dealing with an angry customer/client/boss. Later that evening at home, your kids needed help with their homework, and there were chores to do around the house.

When things were finally quiet, you didn’t have the desire or the energy to sit down and do your most important work. Or maybe you forgot about yo...

What is Writing Practice and How Can It Help New Writers?

What is writing practice? How can it help you become a better writer? And is there a right way and a wrong way to do it?

In 1986, the author, artist and writing teacher Natalie Goldberg introduced the concept of writing practice in her popular and accessible book Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within.

She says:

“One of the main aims in writing practice is to learn to trust your own mind and body; to grow patient and non-aggressive.”

Much like free writing, writing practice involv...

Get the Space You Need to Improve Your Writing Today

It’s a dirty, messy business.

This difficult craft of ours doesn’t respect boundaries.

If you’re a new writer, you’ve got to crack open a part of yourself and spill it on the page. You can’t do this if you’re working in chaos and you don’t know where anything is.

Even if your writing isn’t personal, your desk, floors, and even your walls belong to your research, notes, and your ideas.

Those who want to improve their writing value clear space.

The American novelist John Cheever wrote most of his be...

Get Paid to Write and Earn More From Freelancing Today

Do you want to become a freelance writer? Are you serious about making a living from your ability to write? Do you need a help finding clients that pay you what you’re worth?

If you’re serious about making a living from freelance writing and you want substantial answers to the above questions, I’ve got details about a new book that will teach you everything you need to know about freelance writing.

Carol Tice of Make a Living Writing is one of the web’s foremost freelance writers and has worked...

9 Rock-Solid Tips That Will Help You Become a Freelance Writer

Do you want to get paid for writing?

Almost every new writer faces this question at some point.

Unless writing is a hobby, it’s natural to wonder if you can make money from writing. One of the quickest ways you can make a living from writing is to become a freelance writer.

In this post, I explain what freelancing is and I provide practical tips for those who want to become a freelance writer today. I’ve also got details of an exciting new book for freelance writers at the end of this post.

What...

Become a Better Writer By Free Writing

I recently wrote a post for Positive Writer entitled: The Bulletproof Guide to Free Writing (And 10 Tips for Getting Started)

Free writing is one of the most effective writing techniques I’ve come across, and it’s a technique that anyone can use to become a better writer.

What is Free Writing

Free writing is the rapid and non-judgemental capturing of ideas as they occur. Writers use this technique use to express themselves, to better understand the world around them, and to think things through...

Use This Simple Copywriting Formula To Write Killer Articles

I recently wrote a post for Boost Blog Traffic that explains what copywriting is and how you can use copywriting formulas to introduce your blog posts.

If you’re not familiar with copywriting, it’s a style of writing that marketers and advertising professionals developed to sell their products, services and ideas. And if you’re writing for an online audience, it’s a valuable skill to have.

Copywriting excels at:

Capturing readers’ attention (even if they don’t have much to spare)
Persuading peopl...

What New Writers Need To Know About Fear

Do you want to become a writer?

When I was in my early twenties, I did too. I told people I wanted to write a book. There was just one problem. I wasn’t writing anything, at all.

I believed I wasn’t ready to write and that I needed some anointed mentor to pull me aside and say “Bryan, now is your time.”

I became jealous of the success of people around me and grew sick of my lack of progress.

So, I joined a fiction and non-fiction writing workshop in Dublin. On the second evening, the instructor...

Using Scrivener For Blogging: The Ultimate How To Guide

Do you like to work on more than one writing project at once?

Are you looking for a better way of organising your research and notes?

What could you achieve with a writing tool for managing all of your blog posts?

Scrivener is the answer to all of these questions.

There is a modest learning curve to Scrivener, but don’t worry.

In this post, I’ll show how to use Scrivener for blogging. I also provide power user tips for writers and bloggers who are already familiar with Scrivener and want to get mo...

5 Unexpected Writing Lessons I Learnt During 2014

Photo Credit: joao ornelas via Compfight cc

2014 is over.

Phew

During the past twelve months, I completed three big projects:

I rebranded this website from WorkReadPlay to Become A Writer Today
I wrote a series of email tips for subscribers to this blog
I wrote and published A Handbook for the Productive Writer

There were dozens of other small projects too. During the past twelve months, I learnt some difficult writing lessons, and I made a lot of mistakes while blogging.

Here are five of these lesso...