Building a Writing Career Takes Practice and Focus

A few years ago, my grandson, 10 at the time, was trying out for the All County Band in his area. He told me the piece he had to play was difficult. I told him that practice is a powerful tool. Just 10-15 minutes a day will help tremendously.

Obviously, the more practice the better, but my grandson, like so many kids today, has ADHD. Reducing the amount of time on practicing doesn’t make it seem overwhelming – it’s doable.

This philosophy will work for anything, including writing.

What does it take to have a flourishing writing career?

1. Learn the craft and practice it.

To be a ‘good’ writer, an effective writer, a working writer, you need to know your craft. The only way to do this is to study it.

If you’re starting out, take some courses online or offline or both. You should also read a lot of books on the craft of writing. Get a strong grasp of the basics.

We’re all familiar with “practice makes perfect.”

There’s a reason that saying has lasted. It’s true.

Writing coach Suzanne Lieurance says, “Writing is a lot like gardening because it takes constant pruning and weeding.”

You need to keep up with your craft. Even as your get better at it, keep honing your craft. Keep learning more and more and practice, practice, practice

So, what does it mean to practice?

Simple. Write. Write. Write.

An excellent way to improve your writing skills is to copy (type and/or handwrite) content of a master in the niche you want to specialize in.

This is a copywriting trick. You actually write the master’s words and how to write professionally mentally sinks in.

Now, we all know that this is just a practice tool. We should never ever use someone else’s content as our own.

A second way to improve your writing skills is to read, read, and read some more. Read books in the genre you want to write in particular. Study the books.

2. Focus in on a niche.
Have you heard the adage: A jack of all trades and master of none?

This is the reason you need to specialize.

You don’t want to be known as simply okay or good in a number of different niches. You want to be known as an expert in one or two niches.

This way, when someone is looking for a writer who specializes in, say, memoirs and autobiographies, you’re at the top of the list.

I would recommend that your niches are related, like memoirs and autobiographies or being an author and book marketing.

Along with this, focus produces results.

According to an article in Psychology Today on focus and results, Dan Goleman Ph.D. says, “The more focused we are, the more successful we can be at whatever we do. And, conversely, the more distracted, the less well we do. This applies across the board: sports, school, career.”

So, practice and focus your way to a successful writing career.

This article was originally published at:
 http://karencioffiwritingforchildren.com/2017/02/12/building-a-writing-career-practice-focus/ 

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author and successful children’s ghostwriter/ rewriter. She is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Writers on the Move and an author online platform instructor with WOW! Women on Writing.

If you’d like more writing tips or help with your children’s story, check out: Writing for Children with Karen Cioffi.

You can connect with Karen at LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/karencioffiventrice




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Writing with Focus

You have a wonderful idea for a story.

Maybe it’s a mystery novel, a children’s middle grade story, or a picture book. Maybe it’s a young adult. You know what you want to say. You know what you want the reader to ‘see.’ You start typing away.

This is the beginning of every story.

But, we should backtrack a moment and go back to the idea.

The idea: your protagonist has a problem or conflict. Delving a little deeper, you can see how each chapter or section will be worked out.

You are sure you can bring your idea to full fruition—without the use of an outline. Okay, that’s fine. Many writers use the by-the-seat-of-your-pants (pantser) writing method.

So, off your mind and fingers fly . . . creating something from nothing . . . well, not exactly from nothing, from an idea.

You type a draft of your story. How long this process will take depends on how long your manuscript will be—whether a novel, short story, or children’s story. It also depends on your writing schedule and/or if you encounter any road blocks.

Take note though . . . even if your story is as short as a children’s picture book, you will need focus in your writing.

Writing Focus

Focus is the path from point A to point B. It’s the path from beginning to end that keeps the story together and wraps it neatly up.

An example might be an ice skater whose goal is to become good enough to get into the Olympics. His focus will be to train vigorously to accomplish his goal. Barring any injuries or other sidetracking, he's focused on and moves toward that end goal.

A better example might be that of a school bus on its route to pick up children and bring them to school.

The bus depot or shop is where the bus begins - this is point A.

It will end up at the school, point B.

But, between point A and point B, the bus must deviate from a direct path in order to pick up each child. If the bus doesn’t keep on schedule, if it doesn’t keep focused, if it deviates too much from its intended path, it will get the children to school late.

The same holds true for your story.

There is a path the story needs to follow to accomplish its goal. If you deviate too much from this path your story will become diluted or weak.

This is not to say you can't have subplots, it means everything needs to be tied together moving forward on the same path toward the same end.

Using an outline can often help with maintaining focus, even with a short story.

It’s kind of a writing GPS that guides you from point A to point B. It allows you to stray here and there with the comfort of knowing that you need to be at certain points throughout the manuscript. It’s a reminder to help keep you focused.

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author. She runs a successful children’s ghostwriting and rewriting business and welcomes working with new clients.

For tips on writing for children OR if you need help with your project, contact her at Writing for Children with Karen Cioffi.

To get monthly writing and book marketing tips, sign up for The Writing World – it’s free!


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Building a Writing Career Takes Practice and Focus

By Karen Cioffi

My 10 year old grandson is trying out for the All County Band in his area. He was telling me the piece he has to play is difficult. I told him that practice is a powerful tool. Just 10-15 minutes a day will help tremendously.

Obviously the more practice the better, but my grandson has ADHD. Reducing the amount of time on practicing doesn’t make it seem overwhelming – it’s doable.

This philosophy will work for anything, including writing.

What does it take to have a flourishing writing career?
1. Learn the craft and practice it.

To be a ‘good’ writer, an effective writer, a working writer, you need to know your craft. The only way to do this is to study it.

If you’re starting out, take a few courses online or offline or both. Get a strong grasp of the basics.

We’re all familiar with “practice makes perfect.”

There’s a reason that saying has lasted. It’s true.

Writing coach Suzanne Lieurance says, “Writing is a lot like gardening because it takes constant pruning and weeding.”

You need to keep up with your craft. Even as your get better at it, keep honing your craft. Keep learning more and more and practice, practice, practice

So, what does it mean to practice?

Simple. Write. Write. Write.

Again, even if it's for short periods of time throughout the week, you're practicing. 

An excellent way to improve your writing skills is to copy (type and/or handwrite) content of a master in the niche you want to specialize in.

This is a copywriting trick. You actually write the master’s words and how to write professionally mentally sinks in.

Now, we all know that this is just a practice tool. We should never ever use someone else’s content as our own.

2. Focus in on a niche.

Have you heard the adage: A jack of all trades and master of none?

This is the reason you need to specialize.

You don’t want to be known as simply okay or good in a number of different niches. You want to be known as an expert in one or two niches.

This way, when someone is looking for a writer who specializes in, say, memoirs and autobiographies, you’re at the top of the list

I would recommend that your niches are related, like memoirs and autobiographies or being an author and book marketing.

Along with this, focus produces results.

According to an article in Psychology Today on focus and results, Dan Goleman Ph.D. says, “The more focused we are, the more successful we can be at whatever we do. And, conversely, the more distracted, the less well we do. This applies across the board: sports, school, career.

So, practice and focus your way to a successful writing career.

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author and children’s ghostwriter. She is also an online marketing instructor with WOW! Women on Writing.
Follow Karen at: http://facebook.com/writingforchildrenwithkarecioffi



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Narrowing Your Focus... Yay or Nay

Most of us can agree that writers everywhere write... must write, live to write.  And if you are like me, you have thousands of ideas floating around in your head, ideas that need to get on the page. But trying to balance those ideas with what you know and what your target audience needs to read can be a real challenge.

The question for even the most experienced writer is how to decide on a focus for the writing and marketing to keep inspired, to  keep loving what you do and to be productive? Do writers actually need to narrow their focus as is recommended by books and instructors everywhere or can a writer  successfully write about absolutely everything swirling around in their head and reach a marketable audience?

First, decide what success means to you. Success may be keeping some of those tidbits of ideas in a journal while working on other projects. Success may be being on the New York Best seller list. Success may be in the form of self-publishing and for others success may be writing only for the catharsis of the process and not for public view. Ask yourself what success means for you as the writer to help to determine the focus and purpose of your work?

Next, list the ideas that you love, the topics that you know something about, and the subjects that your reader or audience longs for. This is where you start on any new project or new idea and where you decide what your focus should be. Explore these ideas and how many ways you can use this list to develop your product, story, or article idea. Within the focus of a topic there may be numerous ways to expand that focus for more than one product.

Narrowing your focus now becomes important for each project. Narrowing the focus helps you to hone in on the subject and the audience allowing you to meet the needs of your reader but it also assists you with targeting your audience specifically for this project in regards to marketing to them.

Narrowing your focus is important for stories, articles and specific writing projects so that your points can be clear and the topic remains specific. Facts and research can be used again in other products with the same topic so no information is wasted.  But the question still lingers for the writer... Does a writer need to narrow the focus in general when working on a lucrative writing career? Can an author be successful writing in more than one specific area? Can a writer who has done medical writing branch out to mystery or suspense? Can a financial guru write books for children? Or must you stay within your narrow focus of expertise to be successful?

I have found that there are many authors very successful at writing in many genres and avenues. I think the key to success is to hone your skills, narrow the focus of each project, and know how to market to the target audience with each written work. Being an expert in a field is very lucrative and increases the chances of success. For me narrowing a focus can apply to each individual piece of work but doesn't have to limit your ability to succeed with those other ideas swirling in your head. Your writing focus narrows with each project as does your marketing and audience but the types of writing you do can be wide open. What is your experience and opinion about narrowing your focus?

Terri Forehand writes from her home in Nashville Indiana. She writes health related material, stories for children and is currently writing and designing small quilt patterns based on fictional characters. She is the author of The ABC's of Cancer According to Lilly Isabella Lane and The Cancer Prayer book for adults newly diagnosed. http://terri-forehand.blogspot.com , www.terriforehand.webnode.com

How to Build Your Online Authority With Focused Writing Goals

By Karen Cioffi

We’re in the last month of the first quarter. It’s time to reassess.

As each year comes and goes, you need to put your writing focus and writing goals under a microscope. Take the time to analyze if you’re known for who you want to be known for.

In other words, if you ‘really’ want to be known as a top-notch ghostwriter is your focus and goals leading in that direction? Are your actions leading in that direction? Or, are you here, there, and everywhere? Are you lacking online authority in your niche?

You don’t want to be known as a ‘jack of all trades, master of none.’

While it can be that you have a number of different areas you’re involved in, you need to pick and choose to be ‘master’ of one or two.

It’s this focus that will enable you to gain authority in your niche and to attract customers or clients.

It’s this focus that will motivate you to take the necessary steps to reach your goals.

So, how do you focus in on who and what you want to be known for?

This is interesting, because it can change as the years come and go. For example, I started out as a children’s writer, and while I still love this aspect of my writing, I have evolved into a freelance/ghostwriter (specializing in business incentive and health writing) and an online marketer (specializing in helping authors create and build their online platform).

Taking my freelance writing and marketing skills a bit further, I created a new business, the Article Writing Doctor.

Finding my focus, I took the time to analyze my actions and revamp my websites to reflect what I want to be known for.

While I have three businesses going, they’re all very closely connected – my focus is intact.

Updating this article, there are times when your 'calling' or what you should be doing pushes you in a certain direction.

As I mentioned, I started out as children's writer and veered off in other directions. But over the past two years or so, I've marketed myself as a children's ghostwriter and people have been coming to me to ghost their stories. I could have four or five clients at one time. So, obviously, my focus is back on being a children's ghostwriter.

Fortunately, I'm passionate about writing for children so it works out well.

I still do marketing e-classes, but it's separate and I don't market them. I work through sites like WOW! Women on Writing.

What about you?

Maybe you write for children. Maybe you're a romance writer, a technical writer, or business writer. Maybe you're a freelance writer or ghostwriter. Maybe you're all these things.

But, what do you specialize in? What are you known for?

Do you have online authority in a particular niche?

To help determine your area/s of focus you need to write down the questions below and answer each one (write your answers out):

•    What writing arenas are you involved in?
•    Do you find yourself leaning toward one or two more so than the others, if so what are they?
•    Can you effectively market yourself in these areas?
•    Are you writing and marketing as a hobby or to earn an income or a supplemental income? If your goal is to make money, write down how much?
•    Did you have a writing/marketing goal for last year? Did you reach it? If not, why?
•    What does success mean to you – what does it look like?
•    Do you really want success? If so, is there anything blocking your path to it (often we sabotage our own success)?
•    What do you want to be known for?
•    What can your new ‘signature’ tag be?

You’ll need to think about these questions. It might be helpful to actually have someone ask you each question and quickly give answers. Sometimes this helps you get a glimpse of what’s going on subconsciously.

Once you have your goals in sight, write them down; be sure to include the tasks of increasing your online presence and mailing list. You’ll need to keep those goals front and center and read them every day. The reason for this is our ‘intention’ can quickly be sidetracked if we don’t continually keep it in sight and in mind.

After you have your goals in place, write down action steps to get there. It’s advisable to have a yearly calendar with goals to reach each month. Then prepare a weekly writing/marketing plan to achieve those monthly goals. Again, you need to keep those goals and action steps visible. Remember: out of sight often really does mean out of mind.

Creating focused writing goals and implementing focused action steps to reach them will definitely help you increase your online authority.

This works even if you switch niches as I have. It just takes more focus and work to become known as an authority in a different niche of field. But, it can be done.




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It's a 4-week, in-depth, interactive WOW! Women on Writing e-class that covers basic website optimization, blogging, email marketing, and even social media marketing. All the elements needed to boost your visibility, authority, and sales.

Check it out today: CLICK HERE

Freelance Writers: How to Stay Focused on Developing Your Writing Career

by Suzanne Lieurance, the Working Writer's Coach

One question I hear over and over again from the writers I coach is, "How do I get focused and stay that way?"

That's a good question. Even seasoned professional freelancers have trouble staying focused from time to time. And they usually find their writing careers start to suffer when that happens.



Here are some tips for getting focused on developing your freelance writing career and staying that way:

1. Brainstorm for a few minutes and make a list of all the things you like to write about. Once you've got several things on your list, narrow the list down to just your top two areas of interest. Stick with these two areas or topics for awhile. Any writing or research activities that don't come within these two areas of focus should be set aside - for now.

2. Every Sunday evening, or Monday morning, sketch out your marketing plan for the week. And remember, keep your two areas of interest in mind when you do this. Only put things on your marketing plan for the week that relate to your two areas of interest. If you've decided you love to write about parenting, for example, but you'd like to finish that novel you started years ago, don't even think about the novel right now. Instead, focus on the kinds of parenting articles you want to write. Start studying the different parenting publications you find at your local bookstore or library to get a feel for the kinds of articles they publish. Then, get busy and write some queries to a few of these markets.

3. Start small. Make just a few simple changes in your life that give your writing priority. For example, if you're trying to develop a freelance career while still holding down a full time job, don't over work yourself. You'll only end up frustrated and disappointed. However, do plan on structuring your days to give yourself at least 15 to 30 minutes EACH day to write queries or articles, research markets, or study books about writing techniques. Too many people think they have to allocate huge amounts of time in order to get a writing career started. And, since they don't have huge amounts of time available for writing, they don't write at all, so they never develop the freelance writing career of their dreams.

On the other hand, if you decide you absolutely MUST write for at least 15 minutes, every single day, and you stick to that, soon you'll see some big improvements in your writing and you'll also begin to feel more in control of your life. It doesn't matter when you schedule the 15 to 30 minutes. It could be in the mornings, in the evenings, or on your lunch hour at work. The important thing is, just do it.

4. Part of your weekly marketing plan should include how you will network with other businesses and other writers each week. Don't neglect this part of the marketing plan. Even if the only way you network with other writers is through a listserv or private email with another writer, make sure you do this each and every week. Contact with other writers will keep your passion for writing alive, even when the pressures of work and family threaten to make you lose focus. And networking with other business people just might result in a few writing assignments.

5. Have fun with your writing. Don't turn it into just another chore. If you do, chances are you'll give up on the idea of freelance writing very quickly. And, if that happens, you'll just feel disappointed in yourself again for failing to follow through on your dream.

Try all of the above tips for awhile. Then – if you find you can't manage to stay focused, or develop a marketing plan each and every week, or actually write queries or articles to submit to publishers – hire a writing coach. A good coach can keep you focused, will help you improve your writing skills, and will teach you insider tricks to marketing your work.

Suzanne Lieurance is an author, freelance writer, certified professional life coach and writing coach, speaker and workshop presenter. She has written over two dozen published books and hundreds of articles for newspapers, magazines, and other publications. She lives and writes by the sea in Jensen Beach, Florida.

Visit her blog at www.writebythesea.com and for daily tips to help you stay focused on your writing career, get your free subscription to The Morning Nudge at www.morningnudge.com.

Writing and Online Marketing Focus for 2013

Can you believe how quickly 2012 flew by? Of all the things I’ve learned this year, learning the importance of focus is by far the most important.

This is something you should be looking into for 2013.

While it can be that you have a number of different areas you’re involved in, you need to pick and choose to be ‘master’ of one or two. It’s this focus that will enable you to attract customers or clients. It’s this focus that will motivate you to take the necessary steps to reach your goals.

So, how do you focus in on who and what you want to be known for?

This is interesting, because it can change as the years come and go. For example, I started out as a children’s writer, and while I still love this aspect of my writing, I have evolved into a freelance/ghostwriter (specializing in business incentive and health writing) and an online marketer (specializing in creating and building an author online presence).

Finding my focus, I’ve been taking action steps for the past couple of weeks to revamp my websites to reflect what I want to be known for. I’m still working on my ‘signature’ tag.

What about you?

Maybe you're a writer for children. Maybe you're a technical writer or business writer. Maybe you're a freelance writer. Maybe you're a ghostwriter. Maybe you're all these things.

To help determine your area/s of focus you need to write down the questions below and answer each one (write your answers out):

•    What writing arenas are you involved in?
•    Do you find yourself leaning toward one or two more so than the others, if so what are they?
•    Can you effectively market yourself in these areas?
•    Are you writing and marketing as a hobby or to earn an income or a supplemental income? If your goal is to make money, write down how much?
•    Did you have a writing/marketing goal for last year? Did you reach it? If not, why?
•    What does success mean to you – what does it look like?
•    Do you really want success? If so, is there anything blocking your path to it (often we sabotage our own success)?
•    What do you want to be known for?
•    What can your new ‘signature’ tag be for 2013?

You’ll need to think about these questions. It might be helpful to actually have someone ask you each question and quickly give answers. Sometimes this helps you get a glimpse of what’s going on subconsciously.

Once you have your goals in sight, write them down, be sure to include to increase your online presence and mailing list. After they're in place, you’ll need to keep those goals front and center and read them every day. The reason for this is our ‘intention’ can quickly be sidetracked if we don’t continually keep it insight and in mind. Also, reading your goals every day reaffirms your commitment to achieving them.

With your goals for 2013 in hand, write down action steps to get there. It’s advisable to have a yearly calendar with goals to reach each month. Then prepare a weekly writing/marketing plan to achieve those monthly goals. Again, you need to keep those goals and action steps visible. Remember: ‘out of sight often really does mean out of mind.’

~~~~~
To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars - signup for The Writing World newsletter (top right sidebar).

Karen Cioffi

Author Online Presence and Book Marketing Ecourse:
http://karencioffi.com
Karen Cioffi Professional Writing Services
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/

Aim for Writing Success

Writing success can mean different things to different writers. Some writers may simply want to get a book or article published; others may want to be on the New York Times Best Sellers List; still others may want to make a living writing; and there are those who may be seeking wealth and fame. The key here is to dig down and really know what your perception of writing success is.

Once you are certain what you are aiming for, take the necessary steps to become the writing success you dream of. Sounds easy, right? Well, we all know it’s not, if it were, there would be no struggling writers.

The first problem we seem to run into is actually realizing how we perceive success, or what we want from our writing efforts. According to Jack Canfield, co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul, the number one reason for being stuck and not realizing your potential or goals is the lack of clarity.

Step One: You Must Define Your Goals and Your Perception of Success

It’s not sufficient to state you want to be a published writer; you need to proclaim the specifics. You want to be a self-help nonfiction author of published books and magazine articles earning an income of $100,000 per year. You can even get much more specific than that—the more specific your goals and intentions are the more likely you will attain them.

Step Two: Prepare a Plan

When you finally have a break through and know exactly what you want from your writing efforts, you need to prepare a detailed plan. Your plan, just like your goals, needs to be very specific. Think of a recipe: You plan on baking a cake, but you’ll need more than just the ingredients, you’ll need the exact amount of each ingredient, the proper procedure for mixing them together, the baking temperature, how long to bake it, how long to cool it before removing it from the pan . . . you get the idea.

Now you’re on your way . . . you have specific goals . . . a detailed plan . . . but . . . you’re still not achieving success.

Step Three: Take Action

Think of the first two steps as the foundation of your house. To move forward toward success, you need to build the house. This takes action; it actually takes more than just action, it takes ongoing action and perseverance to carry you through to completion.

Step Four: Projection

You have the other steps down pat, now picture yourself attaining your goals. According to motivational speakers, you will have a much greater chance of making it happen by projecting success. This step encompasses a number of strategies such as envisioning, projection, projection boards, and affirmations.

Take aim . . . shoot.

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children's author and children’s ghostwriter as well as the founder and editor-in-chief of Writers on the Move. You can find out more about writing for children and her services at: Karen Cioffi Writing for Children.

Check out the DIY Page and don’t forget to sign up for The Writing World Newsletter - it has great monthly writing and book marketing tips and it's FREE.

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