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How successful would you be at playing a game if you had no idea what the rules were? How successful would you be at arriving at a destination if you had no map, no directions, no compass, and all the road signs were written in a foreign language? How could you build a house without a set of plans or bake a cake without the recipe?

Well, writing is like a game with rules, a journey with a destination, a house built with a plan, and a cake that follows a recipe.

If you are not having success with your writing and want to have help look here or here to see what might be stopping you.

Just a few days ago the USA celebrated the fourth of July which is their independence day celebration. Oh, the picnics, concerts and fireworks that were on the schedule. Lots of good material to write about: from family traditions to favorite outings to favorite foods.

I remember hearing that the hot dog eating champion won again by eating over 50 hot dogs on buns in just a very short time.  Wow, I wonder how that competition got started? Now there is a story!

From eating competitions to parades in all of that activity, there are things to write about. So get those writing instruments out and enjoy jotting down the details of your favorite holiday and the things that make it special to you.

We are always looking for a good story, and who knows, maybe your favorite will become a favorite of others as well.

Everyone that I speak to has a desire to write a book.  When I ask them what they will write about I usually get I don’t know, I just feel like I should write a book.

If you are in the same place, I have several suggestions for you to help you get started as you are learning what type of writing you want to do by doing the exercises you have signed up to do and get better at it.

The inner author is in in the right side of the brain and likes to do fun things, listen to music, likes colors and is very spontaneous.  If you are trying to write using your left brain which is logical and likes facts, details and structure, you will find learning to write will be a difficult process unless you are writing technical papers.

If you feel at any time that you are struggling to get started take a break, put on some music or start scribbling with colored markers.  That will help you pop over into the right brain and writing will be easier immediately.

Carry a note pad with you and jot down the ideas that come to mind about things you could write about. Just record the idea and put the notebook away so you can go on with your day. Later when you have a few minutes to write you can refer to your notes.

Another great idea is to start writing short paragraphs and get paid to do that. If you can spend 5 minutes a day while you are learning how to determine what type of writing you like and be paid to do that it will be more fun for you to learn and you will be more motivated to do your exercises every day. For help in getting started check here.

Each person has a different perspective about life and makes decisions about how happy they are based on those perceptions and decisions.

Find a subject or topic you like and write a short article about why your view of the world is the one everyone should follow. This type of writing will give you a debate perspective and your objective with that is to convince your audience that your perspective is correct and they should change their mind.

Then, for fun, see if you can write about why this perspective is wrong and people should not follow it.

You can learn a great deal while doing this type of writing and in sharing both sides of the subject matter.  See where points from each side could be put together to form a new way of looking at life and creating a new perspective that would work better for anyone who might want to accept the combined perspective.

As usual, have fun and keep your writing interesting to you as well as to your reader.

As you have had your car serviced you may have had the person at the service desk come to you and tell you that your car needed ____________repairs and your cost to have this done would be___________. Sometimes they tell you that the repair needs to be done immediately or_______.

Write a short story about if this has happened to you and what you decided to do. Your story could be humorous or a drama depending on what happened to you

It will also give you the steps that you go through to decide on things that need to be done to maintain your car and sharing your written list could help others in evaluating so they just get what is needed instead of many additional items that were not needed.

I always value information that someone who is knowledgeable gives when what I need the information about is not something that I know much about. Having expert resource information has saved me a considerable amount of money and kept me from having totally unnecessary repairs.

Make your list-Share it with others if you are in the know and ask lots of questions if you are the one who is asking for help.

It can also be a good idea to get a second opinion when this happens unless you are really confident in your repair facility.

When you think about a topic that you usually write about, try to present it from a different angle so you can give it a fresh approach. You will discover new things about the topic that you have missed out on because of being familiar with your old way of communicating about the subject. It can be fun and exciting to see the new information pop in and may give you as well as your reader a new way of thinking about the topic.

What you want to avoid is people saying to you”Oh, I already know about that” when you are presenting new information to them. This often happens because you continue to approach the topic in the same way and when you have a new insight, they pop into resisting your new information because they think you are going to repeat your old information just by your approach to sharing with them in your old way.

Make them curious about what you have discovered by using a new method of sharing with them. There are so many new ways to do that today with the technology that is available. If you usually share with technology, how about writing the information down and sharing by card or letter?  I know you will think of something that is different from your usual way of doing things. You know yourself best when it comes to the ways you have shared in the past.

So, change it up and deliver your content in a new way and have fun doing it while you are exploring new choices. If we get bored, so will our readers and they will appreciate your new approaches. Look around you, fresh ideas that will make your reader look at your content with fresh eyes, are everywhere.

One of the ways to keep the interest of the reader is to add unexpected twists to your story line. it is like the cliff hanger at the end of a tv series that makes you curious enough about what the new season will bring that you look forward to seeing the season premier.

Think about what the endings of those tv shows made you think about or wonder about and see how that type of questions made you feel about the ending that you saw. This is the way to add those questions into what you are writing about so the interest is increased in you reader just like it was increased in you.

As you look around you, there are unlimited topics to write about that are just waiting for your opinion to be expressed. Over the past few days it seems like more ideas and things to write about came as a result of watching movies and relaxing.  That is because when you relax, it gives the right brain a chance to pop in with content that you are not able to hear when you are in left brain, have to get it done, life mode.

See if you can find even 5 minutes to jot down the ideas you got. You can always add them to the “I’ll get back to finishing that later”  file. If you do not jot the idea down, when you do have time and want to recall the idea, it will be gone. So, capture it while it is fresh in your mind so you will have it later.

In a conversation with someone I just met, we were talking about all of the changes that had taken place in the world around us over the past few years and how we needed to update and adjust so the information we were using was current.

It would be fun to take a topic and look back to see how it was communicated say 5 years ago, 10 years ago and contrast that with today. Who knew we would have email rather than regular mail and how that has changed our lives or just being able to use the internet to share information with others around the world.

I’m just as happy riding across country in a car rather than on a horse, for  example. Can’t imagine not having some of these conveniences in my life.  How about you?

Many words do not sound like they are written.  If you put the phonetic spelling as well as the word it will help your reader follow your story line. Ex: Challis  (shall lee) Plisse  (pla say) are 2 types of Fabrics. Someone who sews would probably know how to say the word, but not always. Genre (john rah,what the different types of writing are called)  is also one of those words.

When I was in high school my mom worked part time at a fabric store.  They had a huge sale going on that was going to be over at the close of  business that day. About five minutes before the store closed a lady came rushing in the door asking for the sudden buckle.   Mom thought a few seconds and realized the lady was looking for a fabric called suddan boucle (boo clay).  She was able to show the lady the fabric, help her pick out what she wanted and cut it off the bolt so the customer could have the sale price.

Had she not been able to convert the words the lady was speaking it would not have turned out well for the customer. So do what you can to help your reader follow your story.