Starting to write can seem like the hardest job in the world. Even housework or doing last night’s greasy dinner dishes can be more enticing than sitting down to write whatever it is you need to do. Some people need to write for work, perhaps they are journalists or a feature writer or even a freelance writer or article marketer. Others write for pleasure in the hope of getting a book published, whether fiction or fact. For those who are still at school, college or university, many courses require you to write essays, papers, experimental write-ups or even a dissertation or thesis. There’s really no getting away from writing. But it needn’t be a dreaded chore.
There are many programs available that can help you write, overcome writer’s block, help you structure your writing, picture your thoughts, find the facts or the words to say or show you how to say it differently. There are also many programs available that can transform your words into an ebook or a printed page, a poster or an article in a directory and that will help you work on your writing in a way that fits with how YOUR brain works.
And most especially, there are programs, books or sites that can MOTIVATE you to do the writing you need to do and to help you get it completed within the necessary deadline, even if that is tomorrow! You need that right now? There used to be an anti procrastination site but unfortunately, it seems to have disappeared – maybe the owner procrastinated too long! If you HAVE TO write a college or school paper, download the ebook from Steven Posusta, “The Procrastinator’s Guide To Writing An Effective Term Paper” (see above). It’s easy to read – even fun and definitely interesting. You can read it inside 2 hours and it WILL help you get your paper written, even if you have to pull an all-nighter! The Amazon blurb for this book mentions compare and contrast writing, it will definitely help you with that but it will also help you with other types of writing too. Another useful book on getting stuck into writing is from Peter Elbow – Writing With Power. This covers freewriting and writing out and writing back: both excellent techniques. I have read and used both books and found them extremely useful and helpful.
Mind Map
One technique I use a lot is to plan out my writing using a mind map. You can get a book that shows you how to create a mind map and that has pages in it where you can create all your mind maps and save them. This helps with writing and also with studying.