A guest Post by Annabel Candy of Get in the Hotspot

Have you noticed how easy non-writers think writing is? When you’re a writer that can be frustrating.

There are three main things about writing that make it lack the social proof people expect of professional activities.

• It’s intangible – Many people don’t seem to consider writing a proper job, maybe because often writers type away for days with apparently little to show for it. Yes, there may be the occasional article in a newspaper, possibly even a published book you can actually show people. But even then that small book, an object you can hold in one hand, isn’t a good indication of the many hours, months or possibly years of work that went in to actually writing it.
• It’s unpaid - This is true even of successful, established and published writers, people like Zen Habits and Write to Done founder Leo Babauta who still regularly give away his writing on his own blogs and elsewhere. Many writers have blogs they write unpaid and if you’re not paid for something then other people tend to see it as a hobby and an unnecessary indulgence when for most writers creating a blog is a carefully planned career move.
• It’s intellectual – People see hard work as being physical like laboring, or stressful like being a fighter pilot. They don’t realize the kind of mental determination that writing calls for, the inner motivation that’s required to get you writing and keep you going until you actually finish the work.

No wonder writers often struggle with motivation.

Writing is a common dream for people. Yet most people who dream about writing don’t actually do it. Some of them hardly even read. Meanwhile writers who do actually earn a living from their work still struggle to stay motivated and keep writing.

Faced with all this opposition, both external and internal, how can we motivate ourselves to get writing and keep at it?

Here are six ideas that work :

1. Get motivated
   Accept responsibility for you own actions. Acknowledge that you’re the only person who can do this. That if you don’t glue your backside to the chair and first start, then finish writing your article or book, no one else is going to do it for you.
2. Create tight imaginary deadlines for yourself to spur you on.
   Try pretending you only have one hour to write today and that can be a good incentive to get on with it. Or ask yourself what you’d start or finish writing if you only had a month to live.I motivated myself to write a 70,000 word manuscript by telling myself that if I didn’t write it that year I never would. These scare tactics do work and best of all no one has to die in the process.
3. Commit to your writing.
   Work out how much time you can give to your writing and when. Schedule it in your diary it. Make it a part of your routine and keep at it until it becomes a true habit.Now stay focused. If it’s a book you need to be able to maintain your focus for months. For a shorter piece like a blog post or an article you need to focus for one or two hours.
4. Remove all distractions.
   You know what they are. Unplug the phone, turn off your router, find a place where you can write away oblivious to the household duties which are being neglected.Try using a kitchen timer to keep you seated and writing. Set the timer for an hour and write away. When the time’s up have a five minute break then repeat until the piece is finished.
5. Use motivational tools.
   Don’t dismiss Twitter as a waste of time waster or, at best, a simple networking tool. I’ve found it a powerful way to motivate myself and other people. It surprised me too but here’s how it happened.I followed a well known novelist and journalist called John Birmingham @johnbirmingham on Twitter.I noticed that he constantly tweeted how many words he’d written on a project and how many he was about to write. He’s prolific and his word count put me to shame so I decided to try his tactic and see if it helped me.First thing in the morning, I’d tweet:”Three jobs: edit chap two of fiction manuscript, finish short story for the competition, write blog post for Get In the Hot Spot.”Then I made updates on my progress via Twitter, as the day went on, such as:”Chapter two edited and looking good. About to update my blog now. Hope you’ve had a productive morning too.”

   I know this sounds ridiculously simple and unnecessary too, but if it works as a motivational tool, that has to be a good thing.

6. Try co-motivation
   Sometimes on Twitter I’ve challenge other writers or bloggers to a word race if I know they’re in the same boat as me. As we both write more than we would have otherwise, we both end up winning. I’ve found that innocent bystanders who’ve seen my word count tweets are motivated and inspired by that just as I was by John Birmingham.This type of motivation even has a proper name. Appropriately enough for writers it’s called “bookmarking”.

   Basically, you tell someone your goal and then update them regularly on your progress. It may be a friend, but it can be anyone, and it can also be done on the phone, with a text message, face to face, or on Twitter where you don’t even need anyone specific to report too.One brilliant side-effect of this is that as well as John Birmingham motivating himself and me, my progress reports have motivated other people too.

   One man told me that my tweets about writing and my word count have inspired him to start writing again. Another Australian writer Peter Moore @travdude who’s published six travel books, emailed me saying”I’m impressed that you’re knocking out those kind of numbers in a family environment.”

Final word on motivation

Who cares if writing’s intangible, unpaid and misunderstood? We mark our progress in words written and don’t worry that most of them will be removed in the end. We pay ourselves a favor each time we put pen to paper and practice our craft. We wage a war against lassitude and writer’s block on a daily basis and we win.

We just sit down to write no matter how hard it is, because no one else can write it like us.

How do you start writing and stick to it even though it’s easier not to? Please share your tips in the comments.

On the Internet it’s just the same as in real life ~ if you spend time with positive, inspiring people, you’ll be motivated to improve yourself and work harder.

Brrng, Brrng! Got to go now, the timer’s ringing. Have a super duper and highly productive day everyone.

Annabel Candy writes about self improvement at Get In the Hot Spot. She runs a web design company with her husband and manages to stay mostly focused on her writing despite the general mayhem created by their three children. To have as word count race or boast about how much you’ve written, tweet her @inthehotspot

Image credit: Photo by CarbonNY

A Guest Post by Wayne E. Pollard, Creator of Bo’s Café Life

I believe that persistence is the most important trait you should have if you want to get published. To get my first piece published in The New York Times, I pitched it to at least five different editors until I found one who was interested in the piece.

Before pitching that piece to The New York Times, I had pitched it to an editor at The Village Voice, who rejected it. If I hadn’t pitched it to The New York Times, the piece would still be sitting in a file on my computer, unpublished.

To get published, you must query constantly. Send out queries every day if you can and be persistent because persistence pays. Yes, persistence pays – but not enough to cover the rent. In addition to being persistent, to get published, you must know how to effectively query.

I’m going to tell you how to increase your chances of getting an article published. These are the steps that I followed to get articles (mine and my client’) in publications ranging from American Banker to Wine Enthusiast. Here are my seven steps to querying success:

1. Position Yourself as an Authority.

Just as an author should have a platform, a writer should also have a platform. What makes you qualified to write the article? Write a brief, two to three sentence bio sketch that establishes your credibility and then put this in the first paragraph of your query letter.

2. Have a Strategy.

To get bylines in better publications, you must stick and move; hit one publication and then move on to another one. Your aim is to build momentum. What do I mean? Start with smaller publications and then work your way up. Submit a few pieces to your community paper or magazine. Then use those clips to get into a regional publication.

After that, use those clips to get into a statewide publication. My bylines in a county-wide newspaper enabled me to write for the #2 paper in my state. This enabled me to get a piece published in The Village Voice, which then enabled me to get a byline in The New York Times. Get the idea?

3. Be Choosy.

You must strategically choose where you submit your work. The truth is that some bylines are more prestigious than others. I occasionally blog for The New York Times The Local. Another writer who wanted to blog asked me if she should submit pieces to The Local or to another blog in my community. I told her that if she’s trying to get build her career as a writer, then she should submit pieces to The Local because having a byline in The New York Times will give her more credibility as a writer.

I know that some writers don’t feel comfortable hearing this, but it’s the truth; there are some publications that editors-in-chief and managing editors will respect more than others. And if you are trying to build your career as a writer, you can’t waste too much time writing for publications that won’t help you achieve your writing goals. Do you understand?

4. Research. Research. Research.

The key to successfully getting published is to do your research. Once you have your article or an idea for an article and you know which publication you want to target, study what’s been published in that publication in the past two years. If you find nothing similar to your article, great! Mention this in your query letter. If you come across an article that covers your topic, tell how yours will be different.

5. Give the Benefits.

In your query, tell why the publication’s readers will find your piece informative or interesting. This is crucial. My very first piece that was published in a national magazine was, “Confessions of a Software Salesman.” It was published in CIO (Chief Information Officer), a difficult magazine to get published in.

When I pitched the article to the managing editor, I told her that I was a former software insider and that I could give her readers tips that would help them save hundreds of thousands of dollars. She bought my article. You, too, in your query, must tell how readers will benefit from your article.

6. Pick up the Phone.

Unless the submission guidelines say, “absolutely no phone calls,” you should consider calling the editor. I loved doing telesales and I’m extremely effective over the phone. If you, too, know how to effectively pitch over the phone, then by all means get on the phone and call that editor!

Create a brief pitch that gets the editor’s attention. Here’s mine: “My name is Wayne Pollard and my work’s been published in The New York Times, The Village Voice, and Writer’s Digest. I’m calling you because I’d like to submit an article on… I’ve researched your archive and you haven’t published anything like it in the past two years.î

In the few seconds that it takes to say this, I establish that I’m an experienced writer who should be listened to. I also establish that I’ve done my research. Go back to your bio and create a five second pitch that will get an editor’s attention. The key thing is, when you deliver this over the phone, DO NOT PAUSE. Once you’ve gotten the pitch out, wait for the editor’s response. And if the person says that now’s not a good time, just apologize and say that you’ll send an email. Then get off the phone!

7. Let Them Know that You’re a Pro.

Finally, in your query letter, let the editor know that you’re a pro. In my queries, I say, “I can meet any word count and any deadline. I’m also willing to make any edits.” You’re probably thinking, edit my piece?! Yes – if you want to get published, you must be willing to edit your piece. Do you want to get published or do you want to hold on to your precious piece?

Bo’s Café Life is my look at the writing life through the eyes of Bo, an aspiring novelist who spends his time in a café writing and talking to other writers who are also on the quest to get a book deal. It is an honest look at the writing life.

Writers find the strip funny, however, Bo’s Café Life is primarily about determination; Bo is determined to get a book deal. That’s what the strip is really about, pushing on with a dream despite the rejection and the tremendous odds you face.

Have you heard of writers who knew from the time that they first held a #2 pencil that they wanted to be writers? I’m not one of them. I didn’t even major in journalism. I only decided to start writing about ten years ago. Before that, I was in public relations and sales, which is how I learned to be persistent and how to effectively query.

By using my seven steps to querying success and by being persistent, you will get more of your articles published. And don’t forget to have fun and enjoy the process. This is another key message in Bo’s Café Life. See the lighter side of trying to get published and enjoy the ride.

Wayne E. Pollard is the creator of  Bo’s Café Life, a comic strip about an aspiring novelist who spends his time writing in a café and talking to other writers.

A guest post by Bamboo Forest of Pun Intended

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if there was a method ensuring every article you wrote was concise, relentlessly focused and said everything you wanted it to?

There is.

I recommend using a thesis statement and outline for many posts that you pen.

Jesse Hines has written,

“A thesis statement is generally one or two sentences in which you clearly lay out your focus, idea or argument.”

While in an academic setting a thesis statement is included in your actual paper, I’m referring to something you write just for yourself. Write a thesis statement before you begin your post and it will set the tone for the rest of your article. It will encourage you to stay consistently aligned with what you’re trying to get across, making your article stronger and better.

After the thesis statement has been made, you’re now ready for the outline.

Have you ever gone to the grocery store without a grocery list? I don’t know about you, but I have. And the outcome often results in forgetting important items that you really wanted to purchase. It’s a real bummer, isn’t it?

This can happen with your writing, too. If you write a post without first gathering exactly what you want to include, you’re bound to forget a few important points that would have made your article better. Let’s not do that.

Prior to writing an outline, I recommend you first look over any notes you have pertaining to the post you’re about to write.

Then, simply break it down. I take a real relaxed approach to writing an outline and I recommend you do as well. Remember, we’re not submitting this outline to a stuffy teacher. We’re simply preparing ourselves to write the best post of our life.

I break my outline down using capital letters, A;B;C; etc. After each letter I include an important point that I don’t want to forget while writing my article. The outline ensures that everything I wanted to get into my article, does. It also keeps the order and flow of my post logical.

Another benefit of using an outline is it encourages†very tight writing.

Jesse Hines has written,

“Once I’ve developed a solid outline, writing the article is, in a sense, simply filling in the blanks.”

When you know from the beginning exactly what your article is going to encompass, you fill those blanks in with ultra focus. You say only what you need to say to get the specific points across.

Of course, as you’re writing your post and referring back to your outline — you’re not beholden to it. You can change the order as you see fit.

Also, youíll most likely include more information in your post than your outline lays out. This will happen organically from the main points you wanted to ensure got included in your post.

Using a thesis statement and outline in your writing is like laying down a strong foundation before building a house. Your architecture will end up stronger, and more beautiful.

P.S. — This is my outline for this guest post:

A. Wouldn’t it be great…
B. What’s a thesis statement?
C. It helps you stay focused and not drift all over the place
D. An outline works like a grocery list
E. What’s an outline?
F. Conducive to being concise, because now you’re essentially filling in the blanks.
G. Conclusion: The preparation stages are like laying down a strong foundation to a house.

Bamboo Forest writes for†Pun Intended, a blog that will make you laugh and feel inspired. To ensure you don’t miss all the goodies,†subscribe†here.

A guest post by Eric Cummings of On Violence

First, there was the “old school.” A bunch of stubborn grammarians got together and decided what defined “proper English.” Don’t end sentences with prepositions, never begin a sentence with “and” or “but,” and never split infinitives. They were strict, but they established the rules of modern English grammar.

Then came the “new school” in the sixties. And like the sixties, it was “craaaaaaazy.” As language evolved, they evolved. Led by William Zissner and John Trimble, these writers thumbed their noses at tradition, preferring natural, conversational writing to old, formalized prose.

Well, as part of the millennial generation, I’ve got some criticisms for the “new school”, “the old school” and other pieces of advice that I think hold writers back. (Feel free add your own rules you love to break in the comments section below.)

1. Be Clear and Concise . . . But Not Simple.

This advice is considered gospel for a reason: nothing is worse than confused, labyrinthine prose. This includes needlessly bureaucratic writing and writing stuffed with more adverbs and colorful adjectives than Kobayashi after a hot dog eating competition. More words do not equal better prose.

At the same time, clear writing is different than simple writing. Don’t simplify your ideas to make your prose clearer. Write essays or blog posts that discuss about complex thoughts. Just present them clearly with the right amount of words needed. No more and no less.

Also, feel free to write long sentences and paragraphs. In fact, you need to or your prose will quickly become monotonous.

2. Be Confident . . . But Don’t Be Arrogant.

I see this advice all the time: write with confidence. But it’s a thin line between confident and arrogant. And I hate arrogant people. You probably do too.

This advice is intended to prevent writers from using wishy-washy verbs, adjectives or qualifiers. But let me ask you: do you want to come off as rude or arrogant? Perhaps you write a political blog. Write like Mark Shields or David Brooks than Bill O’Reilly or Keith Olbermann. There is no reasons to call your political rivals the “worst person in the world” or a “pinhead.” Some graciousness to the people who disagree with you goes along way.

3. Use Small, Every Day Words . . . But Use Big Words Too.

This has become the new school mantra. “Simplify your prose to make it more natural,” they say. “Avoid big words.” I disagree. To my taste, there is nothing better than a big word used well. They convey meaning and subtlety that small words simply can’t. “Amber” is more evocative than “yellow”; “evocative” is more exciting than “descriptive.”

That said, let big words come naturally. Never go hunting through a thesaurus for a big word, and don’t over do it. If you read regularly, your vocabulary will expand naturally. I say let it.

4. Don’t Use The Passive Voice . . . But What Is It?

Even amateur writers know not to use passive constructions like, “Jim was stung by a bee.” But what is the passive voice? According to Geoffrey Pollum, even the writing sages Strunk and White misidentify the passive voice in the The Elements of Style. And as screenwriter John August found out, his readers don’t know what the passive voice is, and instinctively strike out all to be verb + infinitive constructions.

So one, learn what the passive voice is. And two, as both of the above writers pointed out, in some cases passive constructions are superior to active constructions.

5. Don’t Use Adverbs . . . But What Is An Adverb and Why Not?

Do you know what an adverb is? A word that ends in “-ly”? That’s what I thought. Then I found out “later,” “sideways,” “downstairs” or any other word that modifies a verb’s time, place, manner, or degree is an adverb. (Don’t think I’m a genius, I first heard about this on the Grammar Grater podcast.)

But what about the dreaded “–ly” adverb? Use it, but don’t abuse it. Inventive, creative “-ly” adverbs will make your writing better. Redundant, staid “-ly” adverbs will make your writing laborious and, well, staid.

6. Write Exciting Titles . . . But Don’t Write Checks Your Butt Can’t Cash.

I’ll be honest, I’m sick of misleading “clever” titles. I hate getting excited to read an article and then getting taken right back down when I realize the writer hasn’t delivered what they promised.

A real world example: I bought lasagna at the store today, and the lasagna was packed in a small box inside a larger box to make it look bigger. Make sure your post’s “lasagna” matches up to the headline’s “packaging.”

7. Write Lists . . . But Seriously, They Are Over Done.

Lists have their place, and I’m not really in a position right now to disparage them. I just think they are over done. (When Time magazine does a whole issue dedicated to Top Ten lists, you know they have jumped the shark.) There is a whole world of blogging from film reviews to politics where lists have no place. Lists are great for some niches; just don’t feel you have to turn every post into one. And definitely don’t feel like you need to stick five pieces of additional advice at the bottom of every post.

Also, never write top ten lists. (Unless you have some ironic or humorous intent behind it.)

8. Post Regularly . . . But Don’t Overwhelm Me.

I like your blog. Honestly, I do. But I don’t want to read it four times a day. Please, you are overwhelming me.

I have friends who say my blog posts too often, and my blog only posts 3-4 times a week. Remember, not all of your readers are Internet junkies. Think about them too.

9. Ignore Those Stodgy Grammarians and “word police” . . . At Your Own Peril.

Every book on writing I’ve ever read has told me to ignore the conservative grammar police, and yet nothing is worse than having someone point out a mistake you didn’t even know you made. Buy books on grammar and usage, listen to grammar podcasts, and learn the rules of grammar. Then feel free to flaunt them.

10. Break All the Rules . . . But Know The Rules Before You Break Them.

Eric Cummings writes for On Violence, a blog on military and foreign affairs, art, and violence, written by two brothers–one a soldier and the other a pacifist.

A Guest Post by Markus Urban of Art of Blog

In December of 2009 I decided to undertake a lofty challenge – to create a website/blog in one week and get 100,000 unique visitors within a week of launching it. I knew it was possible, and the sheer enormity of it was exciting enough for me to go ahead with the project.

I created the Art of Blog “One Week Challenge.” Along the way I wanted to share everything I knew about creating a world-class website. The plan was to launch a photography site called Hot Shot Photo and detail the progress as I went along.

I failed at what I set out to do.

However, I learned many valuable lessons along the way and I want to share them with you:

1. It doesn’t matter where you start, just start

One of the biggest obstacles to my online career has always been inaction. I would read dozens of blogs and countless articles about “how to do this and that”, amass great knowledge about what works and what doesn’t, and generally fill my head with enough blogging/business ammunition to do anything I set out to do.

The problem was that none of it mattered one bit if I didn’t put it to use. The sheer number of possibilities and options had become paralyzing and at the end of the day I would end up doing nothing.

The key was to start. Something. Anything. So I decided to move on something that really inspired me – the desire to share everything I’ve learned over the years and undertake a huge challenge. I took the first step. That’s what really mattered.

Takeaway: All there ever is – is to start. Start somewhere. Start with something that inspires you.

2. Timing is crucial

Like in comedy, timing is everything. One of the biggest mistakes I made was creating this challenge right before Christmas.

There were fewer people tweeting, a lot of the world was distracted by the holidays, and it was more difficult to gain traction during such a quiet time in the tweetasphere / blogosphere.

When Christmas came around, I focused on my family and friends and let the project take a back seat, weakening its momentum.

Takeaway: Be aware of what’s happening within the time frame that you set out for yourself. Avoid predictable distractions and conflicts.

3. You know a lot more than you think you do

I came to this realization after about the 10th video I published. I realized how much there is to know about blogging. Even though I had been putting out a ton of information out there, I was only beginning to scratch the surface.

When we’re caught up in what we do and what we’re interested in – almost every day of our lives – we forget just how much we know about the topic of our expertise.

I would be willing to bet that you highly underestimate what you know. Once you start putting it out there, whether in video form, through writing, or whatever – you will realize just how much you know.

Takeaway: Become aware of what you know – and realize that you have a lot to share with the world.

4. Get people involved

No man is an island. It became a lot easier to continue working when I had support and interest from my friends and colleagues. Not only did they encourage me along the way, but I was able to get them emotionally vested into the project by asking for their feedback.

People who found the project interesting would retweet and share it with their friends. When I mentioned them in the posts or asked for their input & help – then published posts and videos – they were vested into the project and would help spread the message.

Their input was helpful, and so was their desire to spread that which they helped co-create.

Takeaway: Ask people for feedback along the way, attribute their contributions, and they will be more likely to help you spread your message.

5. Put yourself out there

A good friend of mine Vo Megastar always says “put yourself out there. go hard. and someone will notice.”

A lot of people fear being seen. Mostly because they fear failing and being seen as a failure. If you can just take a look at that fear – accept that it’s there – and act anyway, you will be ahead of most people.

You have a unique life experience that no one else has – you have unique combinations of knowledge and a personality no one else has. Don’t be afraid to share that with the world. You will connect and make a difference to people who can identify with your style.

When I first started recording videos, there was that fear of “being seen” that eventually lessened. If you take a look at videos of people starting out, you will usually see then being somewhat uncomfortable in the first minute or so before they settle in and start talking like themselves. It’s ok – we all have that.

Takeaway: Just put yourself out there. You are great just the way you are. And you’ll be surprised at all the positive feedback people will give you.

6. Keep it Simple

One of the things that derailed the project was the complexity of it. People were confused about the concept. The series on Art of Blog was meant to be a behind-the-scenes series detailing the creation and launching of Hot Shot Photo. It was a website series about another website.

A lot of people thought that Art of Blog was the website that the challenge was about. It created a lot of confusion.

There was also confusion about what the “One Week” meant. Was it build and get 100,000 visitors all in one week? Was it build a site in one week, then reach that goal in the following week? To be quite honest, I didn’t define that clearly (even for myself) from the get-go, which fueled this uncertainty.

Takeaway: Define your purpose or goal in super clear terms, and keep it simple, right from the start.

7. When you fail, own up

If you set out to accomplish something and don’t fulfill it – don’t run and hide and hope no one else will notice. Always own up to it.

Own whatever it is you do – the successes, and even more so the failures. Everyone knows what it’s like to fall short. You will get a lot more respect from people when they know you have nothing to hide.

Takeaway: Own everything you do, whether it’s positive or negative.

8. Failure is never failure

Failure by itself never really happens. It is only when you accept that something failed, is it ever failure in reality. You can just as easily look at what opportunities present themselves from the wake of that which you didn’t accomplish. Wired recently ran a whole series of stories about failures that later turned into huge opportunities for many famous actors, politicians, and thought leaders.

Action begets opportunity. Even action that “fails” ends up opening more possibilities and opportunities that present themselves.

Takeaway: Always keep moving, embrace failure, and see where you end up.

9. You Never Know Where it Will End Up

Part of the fun of launching a project is that you never know where it will end up. Be open to that – give up control and see where that ride takes you – and most importantly – enjoy it along the way.

One of the great things that came out of this entire series is this post itself – the one you are reading right now. I got connected to Mary and we discussed writing this very post.

Here I am – a while later – writing this post on a very prominent website, sharing what I learned. Did I know this would happen along the way? No, but it’s wonderful.

Takeaway: Keep your mind open and embrace the opportunities that present themselves along the way. Embrace new directions.

10. Don’t Take it All So Seriously

At some point throughout this whole process (especially when I ended the challenge and changed direction) I found myself worried about what it will all look like.

Then I took a a step back and remembered why I was doing any of this in the first place. I want to have fun and create a life of freedom for myself, where blogging is just one aspect of my own self-expression. I want to help people out – and that’s exactly what I ended up doing.

It’s important to step back and keep it all in perspective. Why are you blogging? Why are you writing? What got you into this in the first place. By all means, come through on your promises to people and keep true to your word, but remember to have fun along the way.

Takeaway: Win or lose, have fun and remember why you’re doing this in the first place. Don’t take it all so seriously.

Markus Urban is a lifestyle designer, travel show host, cat herder, and entrepreneur who can’t keep still (except when meditating). He runs a series of sites about blogging, technology, photography, and unconventional living. Follow his lifestyle adventures on Twitter.

Don’t let blogging overwhelm you.

By Leo Babauta

Blogging can be a mighty confusing endeavor for newcomers.

And yet, in my experience, it’s one of the most rewarding, life-changing things you can do, from the comfort of your own home.

If you’re just starting out as a blogger, or contemplating making the leap, don’t let the technical side of blogging, or all the confusing options, hold you back. I remember how overwhelming everything was at the beginning, but several years and 160K readers later, I’ve learned a ton and I’m ridiculously happy I stuck with it.

So take heart, new bloggers … the learning is fun and the experience is delicious. As always, if I can help, I will … and in that spirit, I’m going to give you some brief, concise answers to the most common beginner blogging questions.

1. What’s the best blogging platform?

A: There isn’t one best platform. There are many excellent ones, and each has its strengths. One of the most popular, and a great choice for a professional blog, is Wordpress, but others love other platforms, such as Movable Type. For the less technically inclined, I’d recommend Tumblr over Blogger (which I started on) or Posterous.

2. How do you create a blog?

A: The easy way is to sign up for a hosted blog service, such as Wordpress.com, Tumblr, Posterous, Blogger, Typepad, or one of the many others available. It’s usually free, and all you need to sign up is an email address. Give your blog a name, and you get assigned a “subdomain” (such as zenhabits.blogspot.com).

You can also sign up for a web host, such as Dreahost or Bluehost or MediaTemple, for a fee. They usually have popular blog software available for easy install through their online control panels, which aren’t hard to figure out. If you go this route, you’ll need to buy your own domain, through your webhost or via a service that sells domains (Godaddy or Namecheap or others).

3. How do you make a blog skin or design?

A: Most of the above-mentioned blog software comes installed with “themes” or designs that you can choose from, for free. Often you’ll be able to customize the themes if you play around with the options in the blogging software.

There are also thousands upon thousands of free (and paid) themes available on the web, for any of the popular blogging software platforms.

4. How do I choose a good niche or name?

A: Pick a topic that a) you know a lot about and b) you’re passionate about. Don’t pick it just because you think it’ll be popular.

As for picking a name, I suggest brainstorming all kinds of names and words associated with your topic until you find one that reflects your main message and is memorable. And also that has a domain available.

5. What are the benefits of or best reasons for blogging?

A: Too many to fully name, but just to get you started, you’ll:

• Be able to express yourself, and share what you know and think with the world.
• Interact with smart and interesting people around the world.
• Learn a tremendous amount about yourself.
• Learn a lot about anything you’re interested in.
• Perhaps make a career out of it.
• Have a helluva time.

6. How do I get my first readers?

A: You’ve written a few posts but no one even knows you exist. You’ll need to connect with others, somehow, to share your posts with them. Social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, along with email, and commenting on other blogs (but not spamming them with lots of links to your posts) are great ways to connect with others and share the best of what you have on your blog. As you connect with more people, they’ll naturally start checking out your blog.

7. How do I get more readers or subscribers?

A: OK, you have a few readers, but you want more. Hundreds upon hundreds, thousands and thousands! Well, take it easy. Blogs don’t just explode overnight.

The best answer is just to provide useful and/or really interesting content on a regular basis — daily, weekly, or somewhere in between. As you continue to provide amazing content, your readers will share what you have, and others will start to find you. It’s slow growth, but better than spamming people.

8. I have readers but no one comments — how do I encourage comments?

A: Write posts worth talking about. Interesting, thought-provoking, bold posts. And ask for your reader’s opinions.

9. Should I hire a professional designer?

A: In the beginning, it’s usually not necessary. The basic themes that come with your blogging software are enough for now. And you can find thousands of free ones on the net. Writing great content is more important than the perfect design.

Later, when you have thousands of subscribers and a modest income, you might consider paying for a professional design.

10. Where do I get topics to write about?

A: From your life, and what you know and love. On my blogs, I write about what I’ve learned through actual experience over the years, through experimentation and research and reading and talking to others and finding out what works and doesn’t.

If you use your life, and what you know and love, as your source of topics, you’ll never run out of things to write about.

11. How do you make money blogging?

A: Mostly you don’t. Most bloggers don’t make a dime, or at least not much more than a dime. If you build up a good-sized readership over time, by consistently producing good content, you can make some money — a part-time job, perhaps, or even a full-time job eventually.

Usually bloggers make money though ads, selling ebooks, affiliate links (recommending products and getting a percentage of sales for the referral), and by selling their consulting or freelance services.

12. I’ve read the blogging is dying – is that true? Would I be wasting my time blogging?

A: Those articles are written just to be controversial. Obviously blogging isn’t dying — more and more people are discovering blogging every day, both as bloggers and as readers. My own blogs continue to grow in readership despite minimal promotion on my part, simply because more people keep discovering me. Blogging is growing rapidly, and should continue to do so for awhile.

Of course, it will also change. In 5 or 10 years, it’s not going to be exactly the same as it is now, just as it isn’t the same now as it was 10 years ago. Microblogging services such as Tumblr and Twitter will change blogging, and what results will be something a bit different.

But sharing thoughts and information, having a global conversation in a form that’s much like blogging … that’s going to continue in some form for awhile, and now is as good a time as any to get into it.

13. What’s the most important blogging question I’m not asking?

A: You should be asking, “How can I most help my reader?” Bloggers get caught up in technical things, like blog platforms and widgets and themes and plugins … or in numbers, like visitors and pageviews and subscribers and comments and ad revenues … but this is the wrong mindset.

Focus instead on how you can help people. Make your reader the center of your blog, and find ways to help your reader succeed (at whatever you’re teaching). The rest — stats and money and all that — will come later.

—
Beginner bloggers: We’re in the closing hours of the signup for my A-List Blogging Bootcamp, “Blogging 101 – How to Create a Blog that Rocks.”

It’s aimed at complete beginners, and will teach you the basics to start a fantastic blog that will grow as your blogging skills grow. Deadline to sign up is 12:00 NOON, EST, on Feb. 13, 2010 … so sign up now!

A guest post by Alex Blackwell of The BridgeMaker

An effective way to gain more readers for your blog, and keep the ones you have coming back, is to give them the opportunity to see the real you. Generally, people will have more affinity with the bloggers they like and trust.

Sharing my experiences and beliefs on an honestly-written lifestyle blog can be a tricky business. There is a persistent voice in my head that warns me not to reveal too much about my personal life but do allow my readers to see the real me; the real Alex, through what I write. So, the goal becomes how to be transparent while not being excessively personal.

My hope is the articles resonate with each reader and they find value in the words. To do that, I need to be vulnerable and transparent. Even though my writing is far from perfect, I’m finding a sweet spot that gives people a chance to look in without overwhelming them with personal details.

The Emily Test

I have one, simple rule: I will never publish a post that I would not want my 11-year-old-daughter, Emily, to read. An important component of The Emily Test is to make certain no one in my immediate family would be embarrassed by what I write. After all, blogging is my passion, not theirs.

Choose your words carefully and take a breath before pressing the Publish button. Your blog is you and the person you want the world to see. Consider how the people in your life will react to the words.

Focus on the behavior, not the person

When I write about someone close to me, I attempt to focus on what is happening to them or comment on their behaviors rather than offering judgments. My goal is to explain how their actions, words, or choices are affecting my life; and then by association, the lives of my readers.

It’s no coincidence I read blogs where the blogger writes about the people in their life, too. One of my favorite writers, Ali Hale of AliVentures.com, does a wonderful job of blending elements of her personal life into her blog. In a recent post, Do You Need to “Better Yourself”? She illustrates this point brilliantly. Her post begins with:

I had a conversation with my sister while I was at my parents’ for Christmas, and I wanted to pick up on something which she said to me and explore it here, because I suspect it’s an issue for a lot of people.

Ali’s tone here is far from critical. Her sister touched her with a thought Ali wanted to explore a little deeper. Do You Need to “Better Yourself”? is a moving post that addresses the topics of self-doubt and personal fulfillment in a compelling way. I took away several things to think about – thanks to Ali’s sister and the conversation they shared.

Ali ends the piece as eloquently as she starts it and provides the essence of the article’s message while honoring her sister’s choices:

If you’re a student, like my sister is, it’s fine just to work towards your degree. You don’t need to feel pressured to join up to every extra-curricular event going, or to keep up with your music, or to start a business or write a novel or run a marathon. Cut yourself some slack….

The Soul of a Relationship

Tina Su of ThinkSimpleNow understands the soul of a relationship. Through her warm and open style, Tina frequently writes about how her relationships enable her to grow as a person.

In Tina’s post, The Ups and Downs of Life, she freely makes known what is working and not working in her marriage at that time. She shares a moment of divine self-realization when she grasped the power of surrendering:

As for the future, I surrender to the higher intelligence of Life and trust with absolute clarity that only the best things are provided for me, that I am always cared for regardless of how things may appear now. I accept the now, by accepting the outer world for what it is, and taking responsibilities of my inner world.

I connected with Tina at that moment even though we have never met. Her transparency was a gift at a time when I needed to be reminded of the grace that flows when we surrender the condition of our relationships to a higher authority.

Learn to feel comfortable in your own skin

Glen Allsopp, of PluginID, demonstrates the effectiveness of self-discovery through his writing. Glen’s post, My Six Week Challenge: Learning about Myself, gives the impression we are eavesdropping on a moment of seemingly painful, but healthy, self-reflection:

I’ve had enough of feeling unfulfilled at the end of each day, so it’s time for a change. If you like the sound of a challenge like this, only start it if you are completely sure it is what you want to do. I know I will struggle with this, but hopefully come out of it in a far better position than before.

By sharing this moment, Glen reminds us to consider our own personal challenges and provides the inspiration to take the journey with him.

Let them see more of you

Here’s the key. Write about what you love if you want your readers to see the real you.

When you do, the world will see what makes you special. They will see what makes you authentic. They will read your words that come from a place of love – and passion. They will be moved by your confidence and they will want to see more of you in what you write next.

Alex Blackwell writes for The BridgeMaker, an honestly-written blog about faith, inspiration and personal change. To receive twice-weekly articles subscribe here.

Photo by mysza831

A guest post by David Pierce from Digitizd

I’m a writer, and I don’t carry a notebook around with me. Heck, I don’t even carry a pen. Do people even use those anymore? Pens. So old school.

Instead, I just use my cell phone. In my life as a writer, there’s been no tool more useful or worth the investment than a smartphone. For such a small device, its benefits are enormous. For writers, the benefits might not be as obvious as they are for, say, money managers, but they‚Äôre no less fantastic. Since owning a smartphone (mostly meaning a phone with a functional Internet connection), I’ve become a far better writer, and in this case I’m convinced it’s the tool that made the man. Here’s why.

Remember Everything

The blessing and curse of a writer, or anyone creative, is the constant stream of ideas coming into, and then immediately out of, your head. Maybe you see something that you want to write about, or suddenly get a brilliant idea for how to kill your protagonist. No matter how good the idea, it’s astonishing how fast they disappear.

With a smartphone at the ready, you’ll never forget anything again. Whip out your phone and enter your thoughts into an application like Evernote or Simplenote, and you‚Äôll never forget what tickled your creativity. Unlike paper, which for me is as likely to get lost as not to, these apps stay synced to your phone, your computer, and the Web, meaning your ideas and inspiration are with you and accessible anytime you need them.

Write When it Strikes

Every once in a while I just get in a writing zone. Problem is, 95% of the time when I’m in the zone, I’m about a million miles away from my computer. While it might not be the fastest writing solution, my smartphone has proven a great way to crank out a couple hundred words when I’m feeling the juices flowing.

When you get an app like Dropbox or Sugarsync for your phone, you can even access your files on the go, writing and editing whenever you feel like it without having to carry a computer around. Having your files accessible everywhere means you’e free to be anywhere, because you can always get done what needs to get done in a pinch.

Read

One of the most often-quoted things about writing is that to become a better writer, you have to read. A lot. In a world where we’re constantly on the go, that’s harder than ever. If you pair your smartphone with applications like Instapaper or Read it Later, you can save yourself a personal ‘to read’ list.

With one click in your Web browser, you can save articles or stories to your smartphone, and they’e available to you wherever and whenever you get a minute‚or in line at the grocery, waiting for the doctor, or anywhere else. You’ll be amazed how much reading you can do in 5-minute spurts.

Get Instant Feedback

Social media’s all the rage these days, with Twitter and Facebook quickly becoming the de facto ways we communicate with each other. One of my favorite uses of these services is what I see comedians doing: testing material on their friends and followers. They come up with a joke, and tweet it. Immediately, people comment on the joke, critique it, and decide if it’s funny or not. Over time, the comedians shape the joke with the help of their fans, and the end result is a better joke that goes in their set.

For me as a writer, that would be huge! If I have a great blog post idea, or interesting thought about the world, instant feedback on whether it’s interesting, or true, or totally moronic, is an amazing resource. Twitter and Facebook, in particular, are available on most smartphones, and let you tap into that huge network of fans, critics, and colleagues.

Never Stop Learning

This might be just me, but I hate the ‘I wonder if’ questions. Not the big, deep questions we should all think about, but questions like “I wonder if the Giants won the Super Bowl in the 70? Thanks to my smartphone, I don’t have to wonder anymore. I have the Internet, the most incredible research tool in the history of the Universe, right at my fingertips.

For us as writers, whether we’re looking up mundane facts or boning up on Darwinist theory so we can debate it better, constantly learning is crucial to continuing to improve as a writer. In a way that was never before possible (short of carrying an encyclopedia on your back – and if you do that, I applaud you), we have access to information, research and knowledge at a moment’s notice. You’ll write smarter, sound smarter, know the answers to everything, and be a champion cheater at trivia.

We’re living in an incredible world, where you can record all your thoughts and ideas, read others‚ and answer any question you could possibly have, all in a matter of seconds. In the palm of your hand.

What about you? Are you a high-tech writer, or do you appreciate the good ol’ pen and paper?

Read more by David Pierce on Digitizd. Or grab his Twitter feed here.

A heads-up for WTD readers
Leo and Mary will run the next A-list Blogging Bootcamp, How to Create a Blog that Rocks from 13-17 February. Everyone had a blast last time! We’ll be emailing some great articles on blogging. Get yourself on the mailing list by clicking on Leo’s report below.

A guest post by Diggy from UpgradeReality.com.

Let me paint a little picture. Allow your imagination to go to work.

It’s a beautiful sunny afternoon, you’ve just stuffed yourself with a great lunch and you’re all stretched out on your couch. Flipping the channels on your TV to find something that you will allow to steal your afternoon away. You have plenty of ideas you want to start and projects you want to complete, but you can’t get yourself off that couch and get motivated to get to work and start writing.

How Do You Find Motivation?

The answer to this question is often what stands between you (right now, far from your goals ) and reaching your goals and being successful. That reason or thing that sparks us to take action, (the carrot in front of the donkey’s nose) is what we need to find or create. Everyone has a creative genius inside of them. There just needs to be a reason to let that genius come out to play.

I think there is little more motivating than a near-death experience or a loss of something you’ve always taken for granted. Getting told that you only have one year left to live or surviving a head-on collision are examples of events that change everything. After one of these events you will focus on the things you truly care about and spend as much time with the people and things you love.

The secret to being continuously motivated is realizing why your whole focus shifts after you nearly lose something very important (like your health or freedom).

If you can understand that principle and apply it BEFORE something bad happens to you (i.e. pretend or imagine how you would feel if you indeed lost something very important), then you would truly live your life to the fullest. You will love with all your heart, work with all your energy and enjoy everything that this world has to offer you. You will see every day as a gift that allows you to be creative and share your thoughts and writing with the world.

Imagine that you only have one year left to live, would you waste it by sitting on the couch and watching tv? I highly doubt it…

Find Motivation By Setting Imaginary Rewards:

Fear is usually a bigger motivator than dreams and that is why the process of nearly losing something really important to you makes you so much more motivated to live your life to the fullest.

However, you are the only one that knows what you really desire in your heart. This means that you can use that desire as a source of motivation.

Let’s say for example that you really want to be financially independent so that you are able to travel the world and wake up to a tropical beach and aqua-blue sea every morning. If you really really want that tropical beach, it will always be on your mind. When you wake up in the morning you can remind yourself how much you want it and that you are going to do anything you have to do to reach that goal. You can find a postcard or photograph of that beach you want to be on and pin it on the wall behind the desk you work at. That way you will want to write as soon as you see that postcard.

You need to determine if you are someone who is more motivated by fear or by dreams. I am not able to tell you that. What is the thing that is going to make you get out of bed on a Sunday morning or motivate you to work late into the night so that you can achieve your goals?

The Lance Armstrong Story

I’m pretty sure that you know the Lance Armstrong story or have at least heard about it.

Lance Armstrong was a top-athlete at the peak of his career in 1996. Back then, he had just won the World Cycling Championships. He had become the first cyclist to clock the widest winning margin in the U.S. National Road Race Championshipís history. Even more, he had also signed a 2 year contract to ride with a famous French racing team for an amount of $2.5 million.

Later that year, Lance was diagnosed with an advanced stage of testicular cancer. The cancer had spread to his lungs and brain and doctors gave him a 50/50 chance to live. An urgent operation had to be arranged to remove his swollen testicle that was the size of an orange. Lance had cancer cells the size of golfballs in his lungs. Doctors and others were really not optimistic about his recovery.

Lance however, was determined not to give up and to beat his illness. He underwent the surgery and the chemotherapy and lost a lot of weight in the process. Amazingly he was declared cancer-free after he completed his chemotherapy and he went back to his cycling.

For the next 7 consecutive years, Lance proceeded to win the Tour de France. He went from facing death and having people tell him he was going to die to winning the largest cycle event in the world 7 cosecutive times in a row. At a later stage, Lance wrote that he chose overcoming cancer to winning the race. It was the former that allowed him to ignore the negative predictions that his doctors gave him and focus on his own strength and faith.

Lance Armstrong published a book titled “It’s not about the bike” which is a really inspiring and beautiful story to read. If you haven’t read it yet I really suggest you get hold of a copy.

The reason that I told you this story is that you should never give up. You are much stronger than you think and you are capable of withstanding much more than you think. Don’t allow the negativity of others to drain your life or motivation out of you, it’s not over until it’s over.

Let Me Give You A Boost:

Everyone has days where they can’t find motivation and they are a little low on confidence or self-esteem. You may not have the urge to write on these kind of days which can turn into weeks or months if you let them. Even if you have been writing for months without results and your efforts seem fruitless, then remember the Lance Armstrong story. You can be facing what seem insurmountable odds, but you can still conquer them with hard work,persistance and determination.

If you are having one of those days where you don’t feel creative, let me help you by telling you the following:

1. You are alive
2. You are enough
3. You are unique
4. You are cool
5. Never give up

Always remember this! Now get off your butt and go and write some mind-blowing articles (Just do it)!

Diggy writes all about self improvement at his blog UpgradeReality.com. If you are looking for motivation, inspiration or useful tips to live a better life, subscribe to his articles via RSS FEED or EMAIL

A heads-up for WTD readers
Leo and Mary will run the next A-list Blogging Bootcamp, How to Create a Blog that Rocks from 13-17 February. Everyone had a blast last time! We’ll be emailing some great articles on blogging. Get yourself on the mailing list by clicking on Leo’s report below.

A guest post by Glen Allsopp who writes about Viral marketing.

I wrote my first blog post back in 2006. At the time, blogging was just starting to be used as a way to connect with your audience and attract more eyeballs to your products and services. Back then, I didn’t care about building a readership or writing posts that hit the Digg homepage, I simply kept writing content so that Google would send me more traffic.

Of course, a lot has changed since then. I now couldn’t care less about search engine traffic to my blog and instead focus all of my energy on building a vibrant, helpful community around my brand. It’s not only my blogging focus that has changed in the last few years, but also the way I actually write my articles.

The Old Way

In 2006 I was blogging once or twice per week to an audience of less than 30 subscribers. I think it took about 6 months for the blog to receive a comment that wasn’t left by me. Around this time, and up until very recently, I still held the same ’style’ of blogging, even though my entire aim for what I wanted out of blogging had changed.

The process was very structured, and went something like this:

• Decide on something you can write about
• Choose a killer headline (1)
• Map out sub-headings for different sections of the post (2)
• Fill out these sub-headings carefully (3)
• Watch out for spelling / grammar mistakes as you go (4)
• Re-read the post (5)
• Hit publish when you want it to go live (6)

This is a very basic outline, but it contains most of the steps that I used to follow and most of the steps that I’m sure thousands (if not millions) of bloggers still follow today.

If we were to put this process on a chart that showed the level of passion, energy and excitement that takes place when writing the post, I think we would see something very basic like this:

There are clear peaks here of energy and excitement when you find a killer headline that you love, have the post organised and eventually hit the publish button. Apart from that though, blogging can look like a pretty simple and boring process. Some people might love this, and I totally get that, but don’t ignore other options before you try them.

One such option, is the new blogging way…

The New Way

The reason we need a ‘new way’ is because it is no longer enough to succeed at blogging by showing up and posting frequently. A few years ago that would have been great for your readers and excellent for search engine traffic, but things have changed. There is now so much noise in every industry online, that if you don’t stand out with amazing content, you may as well not write at all.

This change still means that you need to write content, and if you wanted you could write in the style of the ‘old way’, or you could start getting the most out of the process. A few months ago I noticed this change in my blogging but really didn’t know how to describe it. It wasn’t until a tweet from Adam allowed me to ‘picture’ the process in my mind that I could finally put things into words.

The process of the New Way, goes something like this:

• Decide on something you can write about
• Choose a killer headline (1)
• Start writing the most important things you want to say (2)
• Don’t worry about headings, spellings or grammar (3)
• Keep going until you’ve wrote everything you want to on the topic (4)
• Take a break and cool down (5)
• Tidy up the post and hit publish (6)

If we were to put this in a graph like we did for the old way of blogging, you would see something like this:

This New Way of blogging does include a concept I have written about here at WritetoDone in the past: keep writing until you’ve said everything you want to say, then edit after. Not as you’re going along.

However, this whole process is going to be an entirely new concept to most people. Again, it’s not simply enough to be writing content for your niche anymore. Due to the sheer mass of competition online these days, whatever you put out to the world on your blog has to provide massive value to your readers.

Because of this, if you can get really into your articles and get excited about the process, that’s going to show in the final result. The bottom line is that if you’re feeling really passionate about what you’re saying, you’re going to produce the type of posts necessary to gain mindshare in your industry.

Maybe I’m off the mark, but for myself and many others, I’m seeing a totally new way to look at writing blog posts…

This is a guest post by Glen Allsopp who writes about Viral marketing. He has also written an in-depth guide about guest blogging you may also enjoy.

A heads-up for WTD readers
Leo and Mary will run the next A-list Blogging Bootcamp, How to Create a Blog that Rocks from 13-17 February. Everyone had a blast last time! We’ll be emailing some great articles on blogging. Get yourself on the mailing list by clicking on Leo’s report below.