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Contest: Let’s Make a Writer’s Gratitude List

Carol Tice

Contest: Make a Writer's Gratitude List. Makealivingwriting.com

Years ago, when I was finding it hard to get out of bed, much less write, I started making a daily gratitude list.

To celebrate Thanksgiving, I’d like to collaborate with you today and make a writer’s ultimate gratitude list. You game?

If you haven’t done this before, writing a gratitude list is a great way to start the day, or to end it. Our human brains are programmed to focus on the negative. We needed to remember where the saber-toothed tigers were, so we’d avoid that valley.

In our modern lives full of negative news headlines and fears for the future, dwelling on the bad stuff can really sap your writing creativity.

Focusing on the positive is a powerful tool to remind us of the simple joys of being alive.

Ready to join in?

Gratitude list: Contest rules (and prizes!)

The rules for this contest are simple: Add your top 3 gratitude items in the comments. (Yes. We’ve turned comments back on just for this contest. You can also add them over on Facebook or LinkedIn.) Make them uniquely yours. Write the heck out of them.

Here’s the prize rundown:

  • Top winner gets a free year in my Freelance Writers Den community (and yes, you get in right now)
  • 2 runners-up get a month free in the Den.

I’m going to have my Den staff join me in judging this one, including moderator-in-chief Angie Mansfield and my admin extraordinaire Jen Roland.

I’ll get it started with three things I’m grateful for right now:

  1. Owning a home
  2. Unusually sunny Fall weather in Seattle
  3. The ability to make my own schedule

Look forward to seeing your entries! I’ll announce the winners on Monday, here on this post.

P.S. CONGRATULATIONS to our winners!

Grand prize goes to Anna Mouton

Runners up:

Bud Steed
Nada Adel Sobhi

Thanks to everyone who entered – it was really hard for us to choose the winners!

Freelance Writers Den: Learn how to grow your income.

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Fire Up Your First Draft: 10 Time-Saving Ways to Boost Writing Speed

Fire Up Your First Draft: 10 Time-Saving Ways to Boost Writing Speed

The Blazing-Fast Way to Boost Writing Speed. Makealivingwriting.com

Are you struggling to boost your writing speed?

You’re not alone. Cranking out a first draft is agony for many freelance writers. It can kill your productivity and suck the joy out of your work. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

I used to hate first drafts, too. I could sweat for hours over one paragraph. Hours! My writing speed was so terrible, I even quit freelance writing for a while. Don’t do that, OK?

When I came back to freelance writing after a long break, I had a new attitude-and a new skill set. I learned how to triple my writing speed. I’m happier, I’m a better writer, and I make more money in less time.

No matter how slow, scared, and perfectionistic you are, you can light up your first-draft writing speed.

It’s not a mysterious, magical gift. It’s a skill, just like knowing where to put the commas or how to pitch an editor. And the better you get at it, the more you can earn.

Ready to fire up your first-draft writing speed? Check out these ten tips to write faster.

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