Now if you do not have any children in your life-borrow one from a family member or neighbor. Not literally, but talk to the parents and see what appeals to their child and see what you could create. There are many software programs that let a person read a story to a child. See if you might be able to do the same thing. Write then record the story you want to test on the child and let them listen to it. Get the feedback about their response to the story line.

While you might not be interested in childrens writing as a long time project, it can give you some connections to the stories that appealed to you when you were younger and help you unravel what about those stories that you liked that still makes you remember them.  Adding that insight to your writing can change how your reader will connect with you and your stories. Besides it can be fun once in a while to get nostalgic and remember the romance of those old stories and some of the other things that were happening to you and your family during that time that were positive influences on you that still impact you today.

I recently saw a movie and the teacher was contrasting the way fairy tales started and ended and how that often was different than in real life. However, I have had some of those happily ever after results and I’d guess if you really put on your thinking cap you might be able to connect with some of those results too.

Hey, it’s just a bit of time and a few sheets of paper if you are writing manually or a few pages of copy in your word processor. Give it a shot.  It could be great fun and the benefit to your reader will be huge because it makes your writing more believable.

No limits here to things to write about so get those pencils sharpened-do finger exercises so your fingers can fly across the keyboard as you type and if that doesn’t work-look into voice recognition software so you talk and it types what you are saying. You have got to get these ideas floating around in your head down on paper. You can do it!

If you need help, the resources area in the navigation bar is packed with tools to assist you at any place you need extra help or how to information.

* If you normally see surface details, notice all the visual and sensory details: the colors, the shine, the feel.
* If you normally see things in relation to your relationships, notice who is on your yacht with you and how they interact and the part that your yacht plays in that relationship.
* If you normally see how things are connected, notice where your yacht is anchored, what you are doing there, how you got there and where you are going next.
* If you normally see concepts and “the big picture,” notice how the yacht represents YOU and the role that it plays  in your journey of self discovery.

The more “real” you can make your visualization, the more impact and power it will have.

You are your own best coach in this because the first thing you have to do is recognize how you see the world around you.  By bringing those elements into your visualization they will become more alive and “real” for you.

So, right now, what do you see? What do you feel? What is real to you? And what is unique in the way you are experiencing it?

Now, it starts here with what you are going to write down. Just jot down the description of the pictures you are seeing as if you are trying to describe them to someone else in writing instead on verbally. They are your pictures and the way you explain them is unique to you.

The people who see what you are seeing as they read your words will become your readers. It is just that simple to start writing.

A search engine may deliver readers to some point in the middle or end of your document. If you have written a coherent and cohesive piece then those readers may well move back to the beginning to read properly.

In response to the scanning readers, as many internet readers are, it is best to break longer documents into several stand-alone pieces that can work together as a whole or as separate documents if approached in that manner.

Keeping these three key points — audience, format, and lifespan — in mind when writing for the Internet will help you achieve greater writing success.

Would you like to know a winning formula on how to make money on the Web from writing articles? Here’s how I do it: I write an article, create 4-5 versions of it, and sell it for use by others in my same profession. In fact, just that one part of my business generates enough income to fully support myself comfortably. Just about anyone in any profession or business can copy this formula.

The idea is you just have to get started and do the writing. If you are struggling, you can get help.  What is the most important is you have to decide and begin to do it.

In order to be a successful and effective communicator, you’ve GOT to be a highly effective listener.  As a leader, LISTENING skills are MORE IMPORTANT than your speaking or writing skills …. No question

1. Quiet your mind and make a space for you to listen.
2. Resist the need to be in charge of the conversation.
3. Listen for ideas and central themes. A great listener should be able to mine at least one great great idea from every conversation.
4. Pay attention only to content, not delivery. Teach yourself to focus on what a speaker is saying and keep the message above the manner or method that the message is being delivered in at the time.
5. Be engaged and engaging. Use your skills to keep alert and aware of the conversation so you do not tune out the speaker.
6. Avoid getting your exercise by jumping to conclusions. It’s easy to assume that you know the rest of a sentence or message after hearing the beginning. Much of the time we are formulating our come-backs in our minds before someone has completed their full sentence. Get the whole message then respond.
7. Take notes if you are in an environment that will allow you to do that. This way you can stay engaged and the benefits are it will also enhance your memory, recollection skills, sharpen your reception, understanding and retention of the information.
8. Concentrate and resist distraction. Internal as well as external things going on around you.
9. Summarize the message being received. Chunk down the ideas into smaller bits of information you can apply to what you could use in your life.
10. Control your emotions. Learn your emotional triggers and be alert. Try not to take what you are hearing personally unless, of course, it is content that impacts you directly and was meant to be directed to you personally.
11. Stretch and exercise your mind. I have heard it said that the mind can only take on and comprehend one new thought a day.
12. Be an active listener. Practice, practice,practice.

Then take what you are hearing or have heard and begin to see how you can use it to write or improve your writing.

Since writing is another form of speaking, learning to listen will give you a place to start to improve your skills as a  writer.

Most businesses could use a hand with writing about their business so they can share it with their customers.

Think outside the normal writing  you might think of and add your ability to  their need to write about what they want to communicate with others.  Most people freeze up when it comes to writing and you can help them get un-thawed.

Why not find someone to help? You get to practice (don’t tell them that) and they get to benefit.

Everyone needs encouragement when it comes to writing and communicating with others. Help out while you are in the learning process.

If you spend ages in the pre-planning and trying to set up perfect conditions before your start a writing project, it’s less and less likely you will be able to create freely and without over thinking everything.

Over thinking will get you into all of those old patterns of

• who do I think I am
• why would anyone read my writing
• what if_________  you probably have a long list like everyone else

and those old patterns will stop you quicker than anything else. DO NOT let that happen to you.

If you do not want to write to make money then just write to get the information out of your head and onto paper so you do not have to keep it in your head. It clutters up your thinking and we get enough interference in your lives so encourage yourself not to let this continue to happen to you.

There are so many resources in that area in the navigation bar above so get started. Get the help you need instead of continuing to think you will get it on your own.  If you are not writing, you are stuck. The resources area will help you get unstuck and get going.

Read the first sentence again!   Capture first, edit later.

Stop trying to be a perfectionist and get going with your writing projects NOW!