How to Succeed by Writing

In this day and age, when we are surrounded by computers and it seems that every month there is a technological novelty that affects our everyday lives, it is important one still remembers to read books and write down our thoughts. Regardless of all the advances the technology has made and continues to make, it is important to look back to our roots and give enough attention and time to reading and writing. Because is it not exactly the books that gave us the knowledge to advance in technology and resulted in us advancing as a society? Books are and must remain our best friends.

If you have at least an inkling to write down your thoughts and you feel you have enough knowledge of grammar and vast vocabulary, then you should really write as much as you can. Simply sit down and write - regardless, whether you are writing to publish a bestseller or simply just because you want to share something with the rest of the world.

The same as with most things in life, you first need an idea - something you can develop, work on, upgrade, and bring to an end-result. How to come up with an idea for a story?

Well, this is certainly not an easy task. When I first started writing short stories I used to have a small notebook with me at all times, to jot down ideas. Most of them were just jibber-jabber, something I thought no one else would enjoy reading about. But it was exactly these bad ideas that helped me reach good ideas and develop them into something more - into stories that people enjoyed reading online or as my e-books.

Be sure to have your notebook or your smartphone with you at all times so that you write down any idea that springs to mind for a potential story or a novel. You may think this is funny because you always have a clear head and you remember everything, but be sure, when it comes to the creative writing process, you are bound to have tons of ideas and if you don't immediately write them down you can easily forget them!

Even though it will seem to you at least at some point that you have hit a wall in your writing, don't give up, simply jot down ideas, even if they seem bad at first.

Those who have already written a book or have their works published will probably tell you that the best advice they can give you is to write from the heart and to write about topics close to your heart and to which you have a personal connection since that will surely reflect in your writing. On top of it all, your readers will have a better chance of connecting and finding themselves in your stories if you write with a personal note. Feelings, thoughts, fears, phobias - remember those are the four aspects most people enjoy reading about!

Do not be afraid to share the dark and gory secrets of your life. It is exactly these secrets that will raise eyebrows among your potential readers and spark interest. Don't worry too much about divulging your secrets to the rest of the world. If you opt to write under a pseudonym, no one will know who you are writing about - of course, just be sure not to use real names in your stories. Remember, writing from the heart is the best thing you can do as an author.

Well, published authors surely have different opinions regarding this question. Many would say that what attracts readers the most are personal drama and romance stories, while others would opt for real detective stories. Again, others prefer reading history novels or even sci-fi stories. The pool of readers is almost as vast as the pool of topics you can work on and write about as an author.

Whatever you choose to write about, be sure to include your personal experience and views on the topic, and don't be afraid if your opinions are different from those of most people. It is exactly this clash of views and perspectives that makes the world turn and makes our lives fascinating, intriguing, and yes, worth living.

You could even write a book in which you'd join different perspectives and views on a particular topic, shared from people all over the world and write about the commonalities and opposites of such views, regarding the locations of authors who are willing to share their personal thoughts with you and allowed you to publish them.

Many online writers and publishers make the mistake of writing and publishing texts online only to earn that extra buck or two, without really caring what they are writing about and the style and grammar they use in their articles. This can be considered the first mistake they make since their potential readers are bound to immediately see that they posted articles with only one sole purpose - not to share their knowledge and thoughts with the rest of the world, but rather for the sake of making money online.

If you are serious about your writing and you want to establish your online writing presence, and yes, make some extra money writing and publishing, I would advise you to start your writing process systematically.

First, write down ideas, then divide those ideas into two piles, good and bad. Develop good ideas, work on them, research them, and simply start writing about them. If you are an eager and curious writer, you will surely develop your own take on any topic that might interest you.

If you are seeking to succeed as an online writer, you must find and discover a niche to write about and develop it to the best of your abilities. If you are successful in discovering and developing a niche, it will surely pay off for you, since you'll notice and start seeing floods of online traffic to your website. Of course, that is only possible if you take out the necessary time from your schedule and pay attention to the research of keywords and keyword phrases you will use on your website, blog, or platform. The right selection of keywords will result in greater numbers of visitors to your website, which will start to flourish and blossom and you'll soon be asking yourself where the heck are all these visits coming from.

Another important thing for you to remember is that even though you may have set up a great website that is currently getting lots of views, that does not necessarily mean that the traffic will keep flooding in by itself. Be sure to regularly update your website and suitably promote and advertise it online.

A lot of writers give up long before publishing their work. Maybe they realize that they lack the time to really write, polish, and publish their stories, so they just give up. Of course, sometimes life happens and gets in the way, but I would advise all of you to always keep your stories and notebooks close because you can never know when the creative spark will start to light brightly again.