The two painfully-simple habits of highly-successful writers

Qwiklit

“What’s the key to being a productive writer?” is the kind of question a struggling novelist will ask themselves before even worrying about the quality of their work. A good workflow is as elusive as inspiration itself, and has a ton of adversaries in these distracting times.

For the past few months, I’ve been trying to figure out what makes certain writers tick, and what makes others simply write, day in and day out, without bowing out due to mental or creative exhaustion.

A few common patterns emerged among the dozens of author interviews I’ve read in the past few months. While their artistic philosophy or their writing styles differ greatly from one another, most successful authors engage in two particular habits. One of them is expected. The other—Not so much.

1. Most successful writers do their work in the morning. For a practice that some have dubbed the…

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Widen Your Circle with Guest Bloggers

The Daily Post

Blogging isn’t just about publishing. It’s about sharing, commenting, and connecting. When we engage with one another, we strengthen the fabric that sustains the blogosphere and us as individual bloggers.

One way to both grow your blog and contribute to the community is with guest bloggers. More engagement? More readers? More conversation? Where do I sign up!? This week, we’ll talk about inviting guest bloggers into your online house; next week, we’ll look at how to find guest blogging opportunities for your writing.

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Lights Out: How to Take a Holiday Hiatus

The Daily Post

The end of the year can be a personal and holiday maelstrom. Hanukkah. Christmas. Kwanzaa. Kids are off from school. Family and friends are in town, or you’re traveling to them. Work projects need to wrap up before January. Or maybe you just want a week or two of down time to reflect and prepare for the start of a new year.

No matter the reason, lots of us want to simplify during the year-end whirlwind. One way to cut back? Don’t worry about your blog. Here are four ways to take a blogging break without losing your readers.

Wise words from American World War II propagandists. (Image in the public domain.)

Announce it

The easiest way to put your blog in a holding pattern for a few days? Just stop posting.

Don’t just disappear, though: let your readers know you’ll be taking a break and let them know when you…

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