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Are you stuck on a writing project? Or is there something you’d love to write, but you can’t get up the nerve to start? In over 25 years of writing, I’ve found that writing happens on the page. Just start writing. You can’t do anything until you begin.

Other writers make the same point. In his book *Immediate Fiction, A Complete Writing Course*, author Jerry Cleaver recommends that when you’re writing, “you leap first and look later”. Cleaver believes that when you’re creating, you should let your imagination do the heavy lifting. Daydream. Pretend. Let your imagination lead you where it wants to go. You will write more, and reach places you can’t get to in any other way.

Writing, like any creative endeavor, requires that we use both sides of our brain, the left and the right. Our left brain is the dominant partner, and while we’re awake, our left brain is active. This means that when we think: “No way, I could never write a book” or “I could never write a screenplay” we’re taking the word of our left brain.

The creative impulse came from our creative right brain, but our left brain, which deals in realities, immediately said: “Whoa! No, you’ve no evidence for that. Couldn’t do that — you’ve never done it before. Wouldn’t work. Silly idea.”

Here’s a process to use to become familiar with writing before you look. Try it. It will feel unfamiliar at first, and you’ll worry about whether you’re doing it “right”. Be assured that as long as your body is relaxed, your left brain is (more or less) out of the way, and you’re freeing your creative right brain.

The Write Before You Look Process

=> One: Clear your mind

From the moment you wake up in the morning, your left brain is in charge. This side of your brain does a great job of getting you where you need to be, and helps you to fit into society, but it’s not creative.

To allow your right brain’s creative impulses to get your attention, you need to quiet your left brain. Any repetitive task will do this. Knitting and needlework are good. So are walking and driving, and taking a shower. Listening to classical music also works.

You can’t always be moving around, so it’s best to learn a sit-down process. The easiest way to clear your mind is to progressively relax every part of your body. If you’ve ever done any stress-reduction courses, you’ll know that in progressive relaxation you focus on your body from your toes to the top of your head, and gently relax all your muscles. Just take each part of your body in turn, and tell each set of muscles to relax.

When you first learn this process, it can take around ten minutes to become completely calm and relaxed. After a few weeks, you’ll be able to do it in less than a minute. You can speed up the process by mentally saying “relax” to each part of your body. In time, you’ll become as limp as cooked spaghetti whenever you say the magic word to yourself.

If you’re not familiar with progressive relaxation, here’s a complete course:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/har/les1.htm

=> Two: Write down your creative impulses

When you’re completely relaxed, gently focus on your breathing. You’ll find that your breaths gradually deepen more and more, and that they slow right down. This is the effect you want.

When your breathing has slowed, keep focusing on your breathing, but also think about what creative work you’d like to do. What would you like to write, if you could?

Just daydream for five minutes. If a creative idea comes to you, write it down, then drift back into your daydream.

You may not get any creative ideas while you’re daydreaming. They may come later as you’re doing something else. This is fine. Your right brain doesn’t “think” in language. It uses feelings and emotions to communicate. Your left brain translates these right-brain impulses into words. When you first start to actively try to get creative ideas, the communication between the two sides of your brain is slow. It will become more rapid the more you practice.

=> Three: Follow through on an impulse immediately if you can

Got a creative idea? Great.

If you can, follow through on it immediately. If you can’t, write down enough of the idea so that you can recall it easily later in the day. Vital: also write down any images which are floating through your mind. What mental pictures do you see? These are additional parts of the creative impulse that your left brain hasn’t yet translated into words. Capture them now by writing them down.

You can work with intensively with your right brain images by using Win Wenger’s Image Streaming process. Here’s how —

http://www.debateit.net/improvethought/imagestreaming.htm

Some writers find that they can immediately write an entire 2000 word article, or a chapter of a book after they clear their mind. This process is very powerful.

=> Four: Drop judgments — enjoy making a mess

You’ve followed through, and you’re writing. However, it’s messy. It doesn’t completely make sense.

Excellent!! This is exactly what you want. It’s your guarantee that the idea you’re developing is original. All creation starts with a mess.

Work on the project again tomorrow. Keep working. Chances are that you’re making a creative breakthrough. Remember it’s your left brain that’s making these early judgments. You can safely ignore them.

=> Five: Never assume that you “know” anything

You’ve cleared your mind, and when you read through your creative ideas later you get scared to death. You can’t do this. You can’t write a complete book, or submit your article proposal to Redbook. And you surely can’t dig that manuscript out of your bottom drawer and whip it in shape to send to a publisher.

Of course you can. Remember, your left brain is NOT creative. Clearing your mind so that you can let your creative right brain work will convince you that you DO have lots of creative ideas.

Unfortunately, your left brain doesn’t trust them. That’s OK. Remember that the part of your brain that’s belittling all your ideas is your left brain.

Ignore it. Trust your creative impulses and follow through. Clear your mind first, to muffle your left brain. Then let your right brain do the creative work.

Write before you look. That’s the entire process. Try it. You’ll amaze yourself.

Remember: the creative impulse that gave you the idea, also knows how to carry out the idea. So if you’ve got an impulse to write a book, write it. You already have everything you need to do it.

Author of many books, including Making the Internet Work for Your Business,
copywriter and journalist Angela Booth also writes copy for businesses large and
small, and consults on search engine marketing. Angela has written copy for
companies in many industries, ranging from technology and real estate to the
jewellery trade. Her clients include major corporations like hp (Hewlett Packard),
WestPac Bank, and Acer Computer. For copywriting services and marketing
advice contact Angela at angelabooth.com

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Someone asked me recently, if I were to expand an existing professional services business onto the internet, what marketing steps would I take first: set up a web site, a shopping cart, a newsletter, or a blog?

This is a very good question. Five years ago most Internet marketing specialists would have all responded in chorus, “A website, of course!” Then they would recommend their services to create an elaborate website with lots of bells and whistles.

I had an interesting email this week from a reader who asked me about website design fees. This is not my area of expertise. But this reader is a very smart guy. Why? Because he knows from my ezines, blogs and web site that I’ve been online for a few years and making a decent living from it.

He’s a rabbi who has many years experience counseling people. He now has made a wise decision to start offering coaching services to people, and wants to leverage the internet to find clients, sell ebooks and other programs.

The First Step - Ask Questions

He has many questions about what to do first, where to invest his marketing dollars, and how to get set up so everything works seamlessly and automatically.

While I don’t profess to have all the answers to his particular questions, I want to emphasize what’s important here. He is asking questions!

Many people just go with their gut or common sense. It goes something like this:

“I need a way to find people online. Ergo, I need a web site. Who can do a web site for me, that doesn’t cost too much? Oh, you can? Only $1000. Okay, that seems reasonable. Do it.”

It’s only later on down the road when they want to start an ezine, or a blog, or sell an ebook that they realize they need more than just a web site. That’s when the web designer kicks in with hourly fees.

I’ve never heard a programmer say they can’t do something. They always say they can easily set up autoresponders, gather email addresses, send out a newsletter, create a blog on your site, and even create a secure payment system for sales. I’m sorry, but here’s the real news: programmers and web site designers can do all these tasks with your web site, but they will charge you for it, and it still won’t do everything automatically. And you will be tied to their hourly fees (and schedule) forever.

Back to the question asked of me at the beginning of this article.

While my partner and I recommend an all-in-one solution and setting up all the elements together if your budget permits, there are a couple of ways to get started.

Unless you have a database of prospects, you will not sell your services or products. Therefore, we recommend getting started the right way by building your database by offering an ezine or free content to attract people to your business. And, you need a place on the Internet where people can find you and subscribe to your content.

The first two pieces then, especially if you’re just starting out and have a limited budget, are a blog and a shopping cart program with an autoresponder system.

Third Party Shopping Cart Systems

A third party shopping cart system is where you get an account hosted online by a company that specializes in providing automated database management, autoresponders, email broadcasting, online merchant credit card and payments, ad tracking, and affiliate programs.

When you start out, all you need to do is deliver your ezine and automated emails through autoresponders. You can get a basic level shopping cart account. As your business grows and you develop products, you can upgrade to get more features on your shopping cart, such as affiliate program management and digital delivery.

There are many online email broadcasting services to manage your newsletter. But be aware that an all-in-one solution such as a shopping cart program will save you time and money in the long run.

We strongly recommend starting off with a shopping cart program that can manage your database and newsletters under one roof. It is better to have all your automated marketing functions with one service provider, than to separate your database and newsletter out to another external email service provider.

For detailed information and questions to ask about how to pick a shopping cart system, there are a series of articles you can review at our website.

What’s next?

You have your shopping cart system, now what? We’ll explore the issue of websites vs. blogs in our next article.

As the The Blog Squad, Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman have teamed up to work with professionals to maximize their marketing strategies by implementing blogs, ezines and ecommerce tactics. They are co-authors of “Build a Better Blog: The Ultimate Guide for Boosting Your Business with a Professional Blog”,” Confessions of a Reluctant Blogger: From Boring to Brilliant in 30 Days” and “Secrets of Successful Ezines: A Guide to Writing and Publishing an Ezine that Gets Results.” Are you ready for a blog? Take The Blog Squad’s free assessment at http://www.snipurl.com/Ezine_Blog

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