necessary to invest in your vision or your dream. The struggle won’t be real anymore, because you’re living your life with passion and purpose.
We often feel like we are selling our souls for a few bucks when we are just in the figuring-it-out stage, but once you’re living in your purpose, your income will fall into place. Others will believe in your gift when you start to believe in yourself. You no longer put your life on hold. You are truly living in your destiny. You owe it to yourself to live every day like your last. I wish I could paint you a picture of how amazing it feels to live in your purpose, but I have a pretty good feeling that you will be on the right track once you get past this chapter.
You will get to know what happiness feels like when you are living in your purpose. Living in your purpose your excitement and visions will keep you up at night. Getting random ideas in the middle of the night, while in the shower, and sometimes even when you’re driving.
My purpose is creating magical stories that make you feel like you’re a character in the book.
That’s an example of living in your purpose by actively doing things.
// Chapter 2: Creating Original Content
Original:
Something that was created by one artist and it is not to be copied or imitated.
As a writer, creating original content can sometimes become a daunting task. You have an idea that you think is fresh and new, only to do a search and find out that it’s been done before, or there is something fairly similar to your idea. I can tell you that it’s possible to find something that’s outside the box, and that’s original. You just have to believe in yourself.
I feel that we should all surround ourselves with certain people that contribute to our thinking when it comes to creating content.
As a writer, there is no way you can read every book and synopsis in your genre to make sure you’re not copying anyone’s storyline. It would be impossible. When I start new a new story or a new series, there is always a few things that I do that can also help you with creating fresh new content.
These few tips will help you dig deeper to find new ideas to write about.
/ 5 Content Creation Tips
• Speak from Experiences
Speak or write about something you have dealt with in your life. If you have a better solution to the problem, write about a character choosing the better option than you did. If you had an extremely hard break up, it would be easy to write with those emotions. A lot of times we create masterpieces from our failures. People love to know how you did something, and when you don’t paint it all magical but include the struggles, they relate to you.
• Ask Your Audience
You can ask your friends what they like to read about. Social media is a good platform to also ask this question on. You can get advice on what genre people love to read. If you have a large audience who have opinions, this source will never go dry. It’s refreshing to get inspiration from the people who you inspire.
• Set A Timer
Grab a timer and set it for thirty minutes. Get your pen and paper out and brainstorm until your timer goes off. If this doesn’t work for you, take a walk, or even a long drive. I get great ideas in the shower—I’ve made sure I have a waterproof pad to capture my thoughts. Most people have smartphones which come equipped with an easy to use timer.
• Write It Down
You need to write it down as soon as you think of it, wherever you are. Once it’s gone from your thoughts, you won’t be able to remember it. I struggled with this step in the early stages of writing. Now I carry a notebook and pen with me at all times.
• Try It Out
If you are still scared about putting your work out there, try out Wattpad. It’s a website where you can upload free stories and share them on your social media platforms. This helps you get comfortable with sharing and marketing your work. If your blog has great views, you can create free blog stories, too. This has recently been an amazing asset to my writing. Sharing a free short story has gained me new readers and new sales.
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You need two types of people in your corner. Many people feel that writers never run out of ideas. I’m here to tell you we get stumped, and writer’s block is real.
Everyone should have someone who can critique their writing. If you have a “yes man” or woman who constantly says they love everything you do, you need to find a new naysayer. You need someone who can critique your writing and also be able to tell you what’s wrong with it. They need to understand your vision, but also give you a list of problems you may face with that idea.
You also need someone on your team who can read your writing and push you to the next level, someone who sees your storyline going farther. That person will help you dig deeper into scenes or character development. This person may be able to see parts or holes in your story that can be filled to make it complete.
I don’t want you to look at these people as negative, because they are there to help you. We all need a little help, and we should never let our pride lead our careers. I get opinions, but I get them from someone I trust.
The reality is when we create something we become attached. Most of the time we are emotionally attached to our writing. I know there are people out there who write stories and then they never read them; the story was their emotions falling out of them onto paper. It’s like therapy, and once it’s written, the process of healing is over. Reading that emotional piece is like opening an old wound.
We don’t want someone to give negative feedback because we may not be able to handle it. The truth is, we need it. I’ve written a little over ten books now. I have no reviews that are less than four stars on Amazon. (I also wrote a blog post called “No Bad Reviews.”) I know I have areas in my writing that I can improve, but if my readers aren’t giving me their honest, unfiltered reviews, how can I improve? I have people who send me private messages with their reviews and I appreciate that, but I never want anyone to spare my feelings because of how they think I will react. Being an author, this comes with your success. Not everyone will love what you do.
I think this is a good time to share a personal story on how I create my stories and what my process is.
So, freewriting is basically writing what comes to your mind without an outline that provides structure.
What would you think if I told you that many of my books or my short stories have been written without an outline, and sometimes I start a story without character names or location? I start with a plain canvas of just an idea. Then it turns itself into something I can’t even explain. I wouldn’t give you this advice and tell you this is how you should create your stories, but most of the time it works for me. When people tell me that I usually leave my stories with amazing cliffhangers that leave them wanting more, I’m always thrilled. Verbally, my storytelling skills aren’t that good, but give me a pen and paper, or let my fingers do the talking on the computer, and something magical happens. I can’t explain it, but my thoughts just flow from my head into a story, and once it’s done, it would make you feel that I’ve spent hours or months creating it.
My most-sold book was written in two days on my cell phone while I was at work. I had an idea, and I wanted to see if I could write in a different genre; the story was born. It was supposed to be just one story, and now it has turned into this wonderful short story series that’s getting ready to end with book five.
I often go back and read my stories, adding more things to it. This is the freedom that I have because I decided on self-publishing.