If you want to make a living writing, publishing and working online, then you’ve got a tough road ahead.
There are a million and one strategies that you could use, but the majority of them come down to one key aspect: you need to create content regularly and publish it as often as you can.
I can help you do this, and in this article, I’m going to give you a list of tips and tricks that have helped me write several books, several hundred articles and countless other things in 2016.
Plan In Advance
The worst thing you can do if you’re publishing a lot of material is leave it to the last minute.
School and University do a fantastic job of teaching us how to write stuff we don’t want to within a few hours of the deadlines they set. You need to get out of this habit if you have it.
The hardest points in 2016 content-wise were when I got to the end of the day and I still had words to write with no clue what those words were going to be.
A lack of ideas is a problem for very few people. Most of us have tons of ideas; we just need to have them at the right time. Save yourself from this by getting ahead of schedule.
Schedule A Time To Sit And Hit Your Word Count
Assuming you’ve planned ahead, you’ll have the idea ahead of time. Along with the idea will come a basic sense of structure, providing you’ve had a good idea.
For instance, this article is about getting a schedule for writing and sticking to it. That idea comes with a set of sub-ideas that are in the process of becoming this post.
However, the best ideas and plans in the world are useless if you don’t sit and schedule time to write. You aren’t going to be able to publish material if you don’t create it (or, have it created) and you need to schedule time to get that done.
I’d recommend one of two pathways, depending on how much time is available to you. Let’s talk about them now.
Pt I – Gamify and Pomodoro If You’ve Got A Lot Of Time
If you have a lot of time – say, writing is your full time job – then you need to pace yourself. Sadly, the more time you spend in front of a screen typing, the more money you make. However, most of us can’t sit for ten hours straight typing without breaks.
The best way to get yourself to be a productive as possible is to schedule in short breaks when you need them. There’s a technique called the Pomodoro Technique which involves setting a timer for 25 minutes for work, then following that with 5 minutes of rest, before repeating the cycle again.
In theory this means you’re more likely to work productively knowing a break is not far away. It’s good for measuring your productivity per 25 minute session at the very least.
Gamification is the act of turning rote tasks into games in order to feel a sense of achievement when those tasks are completed. Read more about that here.
Pt II – If You Don’t Have A Lot Of Time, Two Hour Window
If you don’t have all day to write and publish material, then you are probably better served by forgetting the breaks and just stencilling in a dedicated amount of hours per day/week that you stick to religiously.
Recently, I’ve been occupied by life outside of writing, but I’ve found that if I can spend two hours a day on work, I can achieve some pretty awesome results. Most people can find an extra hour or two a day, and that’s enough to work hard and see results.
Before You Start: What You Measure, You Control
I’m a big fan of measuring everything. When it comes to publishing, there’s a good chance that whatever it is you’re doing can be measured.
This applies to both the results you receive and also the output you create.
If you say “Writing is my full time job” but you go days where you produce less than 500 words of publishable content, then you’re failing somewhere along the line. You’re not alone… many, many writers suffer from this affliction.
I remember speaking to one writer who told me with a straight face, “I make sure to write around 500 words a day, then I feel like I can enjoy myself, guilt free.”
If you’re a writer who only produces that much material, you need to rethink what you’re doing. No excuses… 500 words is something you do in half an hour. It’s a warm up and can’t possibly be your entire day’s work.
Well… it can be, but bear in mind you’re competing with people who write 2,000 words an hour, for eight hours a day.
My point with this isn’t to guilt-trip you into writing a lot (although, what a great idea!) but to say this: most writers do not think systematically about their work. They don’t measure it. They couldn’t honestly tell you whether they’ve had a productive day or not, because they don’t know.
This is not business-like and if you want to succeed in writing, publishing and the like you need to be systematic in your approach.
Killing Writer’s Block – Just Write
I’ve written whole articles on killing writer’s block. You can read them here:
- 1
- 2
However, you can just follow this simple advice: kill writer’s block by writing. It doesn’t matter if you’re typing endless words of gibberish into a notepad app or whether you’re going to throw sheets of scrap paper away. If you sit and write, eventually your brain will get the idea and you’ll form coherent thoughts.
From that, publishable material will follow.
Don’t Stop Until You’re Done
Let’s continue on the “writers who don’t think like businessmen” subject.
Most writers have manuscripts sat on their hard drives or in drawers in their desks. Those manuscripts are unfinished, but they’ve had hundreds of hours poured into thinking about them, creating them and their editing.
Here’s a harsh truth: Those hours, thoughts and headaches are worthless. If you don’t finish what you start and don’t publish what you write, then you’ve wasted your time. You’re never going to get a financial return on your time invested, you’re never going to get recognition for work unpublished and those unfinished works will haunt you until you get them done.
If you don’t publish anything, your publishing business doesn’t exist.
If you don’t finish what you write, then you’re never going to have a publishing business of any kind.
Put the two sentences above together, and you’ll be better off than the vast majority of writers.
Final Point: Repeat The Process
Publishing is a long game.
Shakespeare has been dead for hundreds of years, and his stories are still in print.
Even in the digital age, as a publisher, you need to think long term. You’re probably not going to be an overnight millionaire. You might start a website or release a book that sells zero copies for the first month it’s out. You might not make any money for the first year after creating something.
Keep going though. You are not going to retire on that one book or sales letter.
Even if you write a book that makes a million pounds, you have a choice:
- Sit and wait for your money to come in
- Write another one while you’re waiting.
Obviously, I recommend the latter. With publishing, writing and so on, you can continue to write whatever else happens. Make the most of this. Figure out your system based on the stuff I’ve written in the sections above, and then keep repeating the process. Over and over.
Final Thoughts
The above article distils how to plan, create and maintain a publishing schedule.
There will be quirks depending on what type of publishing you’re involved in, but the above will apply broadly to pretty much everything that involves writing.
If you write fiction, the above process will work for you.
If you run a website, this will work for you.
Should you be a freelancer, the above all applies.
Plan, make time to write and publish, and then make sure you follow through and do what you say you’re going to do.