Do this now: assess your writing habits

It’s been a long week and finally, I was being consistent in writing after publishing some blogs on Hive and earning from it. The writing and reading routine is still consistent after announcing the changes in my newsletter issue last week.

Honestly, I am happy about this realization because I feel that I am using all of my resources in the right way and giving off my knowledge on the internet for free.

But why I opened my eyes to this realization? Maybe you should also assess your writing habits. I started assessing my writing habits after reading blogs from other bloggers. They are productive ones who has been passionate about writing and living their life by blogging.

How to assess your writing habits?

1. Start writing in the morning. When you woke up from your bed, go to your desk, grab your notes, and start writing your thoughts and ideas. It can be your journal, learnings from your previously-read blog, or anything else to juice your brain. I find my brain working effectively in the morning, so I don’t want to waste it scrolling mindlessly on social media.

2. Start reading. It doesn’t matter if it is a book or blog, the most important thing is to give yourself an idea and knowledge every time you read. Writing is not always about writing, but also about reading. A great writer was once a reader. Recently, I subscribed to become a Medium member and read unlimited stories. I always read since then and take advantage of it by taking notes of my knowledge from each blog.

3. Set clear and realistic goals then take action. If you start a blog as a business, you should have a goal for success. This is one thing that I did not focus on. I just set a goal but never make the proper action to make it successful. This is now the beginning of it. Having more than a year of possible content for my newsletter, I think I can write consistently and finish these sequential blog posts.

4. Invest in a good working setup. Recently, I bought a laptop stand with a cooling fan for my laptop since it is overheating all the time. It boosts my productivity because of the ergonomic setup and the assurance that my laptop will not overheat while working.

5. Minimize and eliminate distractions. One reason why I bought a laptop is that I don’t feel productive while writing on my phone because of several distractions. On a laptop, I can resist not visiting Facebook and other social media because I prefer using them on my phone. I also chose not to download and install games so I will not be distracted.

6. Experiment with different writing approaches. I love experimenting. This is why I always experiment with what kind of writing approach should I apply to my blog. Should I use the first point of view? or maybe the second? or third? it depends on the topic.

There are several ways to improve and assess your writing habits, but hopefully, these tips will help you to become an efficient and productive writer. As of writing, I feel productive. It is already 9:27 am in the morning and I just felt like doing a lot of things productively.

For example, I am now creating the report for my client, then I realize that today is Sunday and it means I have to send my newsletter issue so I went here to write. Everything will come to you. Don’t wait for a motivation to write, one paragraph is better than a blank page.

Mind⁺⁺ Curation List 📖 

I love collecting helpful blogs and ideas that will help you as a writer, here is a list of resources that I find useful:

1. Don't Chase Money in Your 20s: The Top 1% Do This by Charlie Chang. This video clip gives me a realization that everything that I do today might not be a business but an upskill. I am just trying new things and finding out what will be the best to do in the future and start a real business.

2. How I Grow and Monetize My Website — Tips from an SEO Expert by Victoria Kurichenco. Her blogs are always helpful for every millennial (for everyone) who wants to expand their knowledge with SEO.

3. The 5 Powerful Habits of Highly Productive Writers and How to Boost Your Output and Stay Inspired by Nikita Singh. This is my first time reading her blog and I would say this blog will be super helpful for you to become a productive writer.

Writing Prompt ✍️ 

Each week, I will be sending a writing prompt that will help you to become an efficient and productive writer whether it is fiction or non-fiction. Feel free to share your work on Twitter, you can always mention me to let me know that you are participating in the community.

A little reminder, it is not important if you share long content or short post about the prompt. What’s more important is you share your idea and make it a habit.

Prompt: What do you think is the secret to creating an engaging blog?

Download my e-book 📕

As a writer, I know you are looking for the right community to share your ideas online. This is how I find Hive, a blockchain-based blogging platform that rewards its users.

Do you need some help?💡 

Are you a growing business that needs assistance?

1. Social media management: I’ve been managing several social media accounts for the past two years to help them grow.

2. SEO Content Editor: I help blog owners to edit their content and grow their traffic with SEO.

3. WordPress Manager: Let me help you manage your WordPress blog and start looking for its pain points and grow your audience.

All the best,

Mark Laurence