Why You Need to Practice Your Writing

Written on March 7, 2010 at 1:43 pm

Writing is a skill and a form of art. All artists or artisans practice their art. Musicians do not play for a crowd without hours of practice first and learning the skills of the craft. Many people think that writing is something everyone who can read and write can do. In one sense, that is true. However, it takes practice to change your writing into something everyone wants to read. Anyone can string some words together to create a sentence, but true writers manage to get their words to speak to the heart of multiple readers and have the audience clamouring for more!

Practice makes perfect. If there is one thing I have learned over the past few years while working as a freelance writer, it is that my writing is continuously improving the more I practice the art. I know I am not perfect yet, but I love the journey I am on to make my craft of writing as enjoyable for the reader as possible.

Structuring an article to draw the reader in is just as hard as structuring a novel and planning the chapters. Good writers pay attention to structure, hidden meanings, word choice, audience, grammar, and creativity. Good writing is more detailed than simply stringing some words together, which is why every writer needs to practice the art of writing continuously.

Expanding Creations encourages all writers to practice the art of writing – whether you prefer to write prose, fiction, or poetry. Take up the challenges of writing something every day, even if it is just a few paragraphs. Try different styles of writing and expand your own writing skills. We have several resources that can help you to meet the challenge of practicing your writing, including the Sales Success on Constant Content ebook, the How to Write a Winning Article email training course, the articles about writing, and the interviews with freelance writers. The free newsletter is a great place to start.

Writers need an audience to write for and Expanding Creations is offering new opportunities for writers to find that audience in our new section – the Hire a Writer section. Put your profile up on the page and see if you can meet new clients and customers who need your writing work.

If writing is more than a job for you, it is something you HAVE to do, or go crazy, you ARE a writer. Practicing your craft is an essential step to move forward from writing for yourself to writing for new audiences.

Expanding Creations is Expanding

Written on February 5, 2010 at 11:23 am

This is very exciting news. Expanding Creations is planning several expansions to the business over the next month. We will be:
· Expanding this website to include profiles of freelance writers for prospective customers to contact;
· Providing an online training course on How to Write Articles (six weeks via email, including practical exercises and proofreading of your articles by professional proofreaders);
· Providing writing workshops (for those who live in Sydney, Australia); and
· Creating a new Resources page to link to other useful websites for writers and small business owners.

This is all in addition to our free newsletters and the current ebook on “Sales Success on Constant Content”. We will be launching a second ebook by the end of March, as well as providing an updated version of the first ebook.

Details on the website upgrades will be announced in the free weekly newsletter, with some discounts that will only be available to the newsletter subscribers, so make sure you sign up for your free newsletter.

If you want to advertise your website on the resources page, please email info@expandingcreations.com for details and prices.

Expanding Creations has so much to offer for businesses who need writing and freelance writers (and those who want to be freelance writers). We really need to get the word out about this great site. Please tell everyone who needs writing for the web to visit our great site.

New Article Writing Poll

Written on January 19, 2010 at 10:58 am

I have been tossing around the idea of designing a “how to write articles” course. The course would be delivered over 6 weeks via email and would include practical exercises and articles to write that would be marked by a professional proof-reader. However, there is a lot of work in creating such a course, and I need to know if anyone is interested in such a course.

The new poll on the website asks this question. I am also trying to get a feel for the pricing strategy – I don’t want to price the course out of reach of my readers. This would be like a membership program – the course will not be published anywhere and you only receive the benefits of the proof-reading and ongoing support when you sign up for the training course. Please contact me using the Contact Us form on the website with any suggestions or comments. Please take the time to click on one of the answers in the poll to give us feedback on whether this is something you would be interested in or not.

Thanks for all the positive feedback this site and the newsletter have received; it is great to know that Expanding Creations is helping so many people.

Online Surveys by Constant Contact.

Blog – Dare to Dream in 2010

Written on January 7, 2010 at 11:48 am

Well, it is a grand time to make new resolutions at the start of the year. I sincerely hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and wish you all a joyous 2010. This is the year to stop dreaming about being a freelance writer and start living the dream.

Susan Boyle said “If you dare to dream, you can make your dreams come true,” and this is certainly true for a woman who took the world by storm in 2009. This year, I offer a challenge to everyone to make your dreams come true in 2010. You may not take the whole world by storm, but you will succeed if you want to.

Expanding Creations is definitely expanding this year. The newsletter will be continuing on a weekly basis, with writing tips, interesting articles and ideas for writers, plus the insights from the successful authors. Don’t forget to refer your friends to the newsletter.

To kick off the year on a high note, our Author Interview this week is with Celeste Stewart, one of the most popular and well-known authors at Constant Content. She shares her secrets in an interview that makes fascinating reading.

As well as the newsletter, I plan to release a couple more ebooks throughout the year, and have started working out the outline on a How to Write Articles People Want to Read ebook. Look out for the special coupon in the newsletter when the ebook is ready to launch in a couple of months.

So, what are your dreams? What will take for you to stop dreaming and start achieving? Can you make a difference this year? I believe you can! Happy new year!

Writers Need Life Experience

Written on December 16, 2009 at 6:14 pm

I was going to write a blog about how I keep running out of time to write at the moment. But then, I made a similar comment in the Newbie Writers Forum and received an answer along the lines of “Well, enjoy your life and take a break from writing then.” That got me thinking, all writers need real life experience or there won’t be anything to write about.

Whether you write factual articles, fiction, poetry, or copywrite advertisements for business, you need to have some knowledge about the topic you write about. Although good writers will always build on personal experience with thorough research, readers can tell when the writer really has no idea or if the writer knows about this experience first hand (or at least second hand).

So, as I relax and unwind from a busy year and meet up with family and friends over Christmas drinks or at the church services, I’ll be listening to my friends’ stories and storing up ideas to write about in 2010. I may not take a pen and paper to the party (I find people stop talking if they think I’m taking notes!), but I’ll at least have one in the car to jot down my ideas before heading home. Life is about sharing experiences with other people, and writers need this experience to add a depth to any style of writing.

This Christmas, I may not write much, but I will learn a lot while I enjoy the experiences life has to offer me at the moment. What will your life experiences add to your writing in 2010?