You’re a writer, right?
A couple of questions for you to give an honest answer to:
- How much writing are you doing?
- How frequently are you writing?
There is no point in claiming to be a writer if you are not writing.
I write every day. I might not write creative fiction every day but I write every day. I start my day with a meditation and then I write in my journal. You’d be surprised how many ideas for the story I’m working on come from doing that. Sometimes it’s like taking dictation.
I set aside time for working on my creative fiction. I’m not a morning person, so it’s usually after lunch before I get going but sometimes it’s earlier. The secret is doing it every day. These days I write between 1,000 and 2,000 words a day. My intention is to publish two full length novels, a novella, and a book of insights before the end of 2016. I’m a firm believer in Sean Platt’s write-publish-repeat formula. But to make it work I know I have to write to publish.
When I was still working at the job, where I was employed to write procedures for tax auditors, I did my fiction writing at night, after work: 500 words a night. By the way, writing for other people is still writing, and it helps you build your skills. In fact, I got paid more to write those procedures than most writers earn from their fiction, and it was a great apprenticeship. Helped me write my non-fiction series. So if you get the opportunity, go for it.
Between 2012 and 2015, I wrote two novels, a four book non-fiction series, a book of reflections, and drew two coloring books and two coloring journals – while I held that full time job.
The secret to that level of productivity is giving up any belief you have in writers’ block. In my opinion, the notion of writers’ block is bullshit. It’s an excuse.
I know all about procrastination. It’s not writers’ block, it’s fear. And, the way to overcome it is to write every day, even if what you write is not perfect. That’s why we get to revise what we have written before we share it with the reading public.
Blogs
Are you blogging? I write a weekly blog post.
It’s great writing practice, and it’s an opportunity to write outside your genre. There’s not much crime fiction on my blog. I simply write a few hundred words on whatever comes to mind. When I started blogging, I blogged to a theme, and then wrapped up a year’s worth of posts into that book of reflections. When I wrote the novella, Deadly Sands, I published it one scene at a time on my blog.
Newsletters
I’m building a couple of email lists. One is for people who sign up for my weekly newsletter, which is another form of writing. I love the informal style it allows. If you haven’t got an email list you need to get started.
The secret
The secret to becoming a best seller might be marketing, but the secret to becoming a great writer is to write.
Peter Mulraney is a crime writing mystic from Adelaide, Australia. He is the author of the Inspector West series of crime novels, the Living Alone series of self-help books for men, Sharing the Journey: Reflections of a Reluctant Mystic and series of coloring books and journals for adults. You can read his blog at https://petermulraney.com and find details of his books at http://www.petermulraney.org and follow him @PeterMulraney1 on Twitter.
