I am currently on holiday in the Carribean - an idyllic resort in the Dominican Republic. I hoped that a holiday would provide lots of free time to enable more writing. However, I’ve found that despite having more free time, I actually feel less inclined to write.
Here are some Tips for Writing on Holiday.
Decide whether you want a break or whether you want to write.
It is better to have a complete break and mentally switch off. Rather than being under pressure to write, but not having any inclination to do so.
There is nothing Wrong With Taking a Break from Writing.
A break can be good for recharging the batteries.
Write on Different Topics.
Maybe you have a commercial / work oriented blog. When your on holiday these topics may seem even less inspiring. Take the opportunity to write on other topics that do motivate you.
Prepare for a Holiday
Fortunately, on one self improvement blog I had pre written 4 blog entries that I could publish over the course of two weeks. This gives you a break and also enables you to keep your blog ticking over. Another option is to invite guest bloggers to write for you.
Find a place and Time for Writing.
Like anywhere else, writing is easier under certain circumstances. If you can find a bit of peace and quite writing will be much easier than taking your laptop to the beach (plus, sand and computers don’t mix very well.)
This holiday has shown me the importance of maximising your productivity in a busy day. When you are so busy you think - if only I had more free time to write. - But, now I have more free time, I am doing less writing.
A good article does not magically appear out of thin air. Even the best writers have to work very hard at producing good quality articles.
A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.
~ Thomas Mann, Essays of Three Decades, 1947
However, if you breakdown the article writing process into several steps, it becomes easier to organise your thoughts and produce a memorable article. It is worth noting that here, we are aiming for excellence rather than mediocrity. Mediocre articles will generally sink without trace; unless you can really stand out from the crowd your article will have little long term impact.
1. Think of a Title.
- A good title is essential to creating the initial interest which is so important on the internet.
- If the title is insipid, you’ve lost 50% of your potential readers before they get to the first paragraph.
- Of course, make sure you know what you are writing about - Writers can not live on good headlines alone
- 7 Tips for creating eye-catching titles
2. Have a Clear Objective
To a large extent this will be determined by the title. But, when writing an article think about:
- Who is the target audience?
- What do I hope to achieve with this article?
- What can I add of value that hasn’t been said before?
- What is the optimum length?
- Don’t try to cover too many things in one article. Break it down into separate sections
- Write with Confidence and authority.
- related reading: The Beautiful Post at Skellie.org
3. Plan 7 -10 Points which are the main 7 paragraphs of the article.
You don’t have to write in list format (although, they often work well on the internet) However it is a good idea to have a plan; this breaks down the essay into manageable sections.
An example of an Article Plan is like this
How To Write A Good Email
1. Short / Concise
2. Be Polite
3. Wait before sending important emails
4. Is it better to phone?
5. Stick to the point
(BTW: How to write a good email)
Then all you have to do is expand on the points and explain it. It becomes less daunting to write a 1,000 word article when you have this structure.
4. Write with Enthusiasm
- The next stage is to get in the flow of writing.
- Don’t aim for perfection, just write the ideas that come out. (Try imagine talking if you get stuck).
- You don’t have to begin at the start. Begin anywhere.
- See - Write like there’s no tomorrow.- then edit at Daily Blog Tips
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