How I ensure a successful morning, every morning

The morning hours, just after I wake up, are the most important hours of my entire day.

Why? Because these are the hours that control what type of day I’m going to have.

Is it going to be a lazy day? Or is it going to be productive?

Am I going to get a little extra work done? Or do the bare minimum?

Is it a relaxing day? Or is it stressful?

Is it good or bad?

open or full?

Successful, or not?

All of this depends on what type of morning I have—and that’s why it’s so important for me to spend these hours wisely…

Because the success of my day at large is entirely dependent on the success of my morning.

But how do I ensure that every morning a success?

Discovery writing shouldn’t happen by accident—here, take these three ways to do it on purpose

As writers and storytellers, we’re always searching for… something.

We’re always trying to figure out new techniques to use in our writing and make it better. Or we’re looking for new and exciting ideas to use in our stories. Or we’re hunting for inspiration. Or trying to find beauty to put in a poem.

Or, simply, waiting for a peaceful moment to sit, and think, and dream, and discover something new…

The anticipation of discovering something amazing about a new story was about as addicting to me as the feeling you get in your stomach when you’re riding a roller coaster—that sort of nervous excitement that stews inside of you just before the first drop.

Sure, I loved it. Writing would be a lot less fun for me without that feeling. Yet, despite that, I couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong with the whole situation…

It came down to this: was I really okay with the best parts of my stories coming about completely by accident?

No. No I was not.

“Learning” how to write poetry is easier than you think…

I used to always say that I wasn’t a poet…

And I had good reason to say that because, well, I wasn’t.

I didn’t know how to write poetry…I didn’t even understand what poetry was!

But that never stopped me from trying to write them.

In the early days, I tried dozens of times to write a poem that I could be proud of. Love poems (of course), fun poems, meaningful poems, angry poems, sad poems, poems to show how frustrated I was at not being able to write poems… I made lots of attempts, but never produced anything I could consider a success.

I would get frustrated, because even after all of these attempts, I could never figure out what I was doing wrong or why my poems never turned out right.

As far as I knew I was going through all of the right motions: I was following the proper rhyme schemes, I had proper meter, I even had fancy sounding words thrown in there just to make the poem as pretty as possible. Yet, I still had a problem; because everything that I wrote, just, felt… off.

Well, as it turns out, there was a reason for that: I was focusing on all the wrong things. And, as with most brilliant breakthroughs of this nature, I finally discovered this completely by accident. All it took was a freak moment of extreme inspiration.

How writers keep writing when their muse is dead

The muse is dead; and with her, your desire to write.

You no longer feel the urge to tell that story in your head. You no longer feel the need to get the words out. You have no interest in putting in the work required of a writer; because, well, the underlying motivation that inspired you to start writing in the first place, is gone.

This isn’t like writer’s block where you know exactly what you want to write, but don’t know how to go about doing it; although, it’s just as dangerous, and just as difficult to deal with. This is like a punch to the gut that knocks all of the creative energy out of you.

With writer’s block, you stare at a blank screen and a blinking cursor; but when the muse dies, you’re not even motivated enough to sit in the chair—and that’s not even the worst of it all. The worst part this is how sudden this can come on.

There is no warning, no indication that something might be wrong; you simply wake up one morning to discover that your inspiration, drive, excitement, and motivation to write are, just, gone.

What else could it be? Your muse is dead.

The number one plain, simple, and easy way to improve your writing

There is someone out there, right now, who want’s to read what you write.

There is someone out there, right now, who needs your words. Maybe they need them to escape, or maybe they need them to relax; but whatever their reasons, one thing holds true: they are relying on you.

Okay, that sounded a little dramatic. No, this isn’t a life or death situation here. But sometimes, in order to get yourself motivated, that’s how you have to think of your writing.

Somebody out there needs to read your story. If they don’t get it, you’ve let them down.