Using myLot as a Writer’s Workspace

Using myLot as part of a writer’s online workspace is an interesting idea to explore except for one common problem. It is very distracting. Responding to several topics on myLot that will not contribute to a writer’s overall goal is surely a serious distraction. Trivial matters simply do not deserve a writer’s attention.

The first thing an aspiring writer in myLot should do is to divorce his motivation to earn from posting comments and his motivation for writing something for himself or his own benefit. The two are not the same. The former is nice to have, but not necessary. The latter is a matter of personal importance and much more valuable than a $10 payout.

Clarifying your priorities should deal with this urge to reply to everything. And the best way to have priorities is to start discussions on topics that you feel is important to you. The problem of getting responses to your discussions will be solved later once you made a conscious choice of how to use myLot to advance your personal goals.

With his own discussions started, how does an aspiring writer deal with all the clutter in his online workspace? First of all, you need to recognize that myLot is one big collection of online scratch papers filled with people’s writings. This is understandable because it is a public workspace.

The trick in utilizing myLot effectively is focusing on your own workspace. You can do that from your profile page. I understand that this may be an awkward suggestion knowing that most myLot members have their paid-to-click (PTC) banner ads posted on their profile pages. For now, no drastic action is needed. Just scroll down to your “discussions i’ve started” sortie and you are good to go.

So, you have your discussions. You have your priorities. And you have your workspace. Now is the time to start writing.

2010
05/14
CATEGORY
online workspace
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Raw Materials for Book Projects

It’s not the capacity to think that we lack when we experience difficulty in writing, but rather, it’s the raw materials like ideas and information that are in short supply. Those things are usually found somewhere else. And that is what research seeks to accomplish.

But even if we think that we know stuff, no editor or publisher in his right mind will believe us. They still expect any writer, beginner or published, to produce a decent amount of research. From there, we could take the theory of relativity apart for all they care, but before that, the editor or publisher expects at least a reference to Einstein’s paper or some book from an equally brilliant physicist who attempted to disprove Einstein.

I’m reminded of an incident in college about a term paper I submitted. It didn’t have a single footnote. I didn’t think I needed any because I was conceited enough to think that I presented a brilliant paper and I did not need to reference other authors. Needless to say, I was wrong. The professor noticed it and it was really difficult to defend yourself from skepticism.

As a rule, a conservative writer who can follow the rules of the publishing industry makes editors and publishers comfortable. They are not looking for genius. They are looking for a publishable idea that will sell.

2010
05/14
CATEGORY
research
writing materials
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Overcoming Writer’s Block

There’s a reason for getting stuck and not being able to move forward in writing a book. And that is the assumption that we are self-sufficient in producing literary works.

We can appreciate the problem if we compare the work of writing to a factory making goods. Production in a factory stops for various reasons. One possibility is the lack of an essential raw material. Writing work, like a factory, needs a steady supply of raw materials.

Ideas and information are the essential raw materials for writing work. And there are different forms of ideas and information. Some types of ideas and information contained within a book are quotations, explanations, arguments, narratives, descriptions, questions, statistics, etc.

The assumption that we are self-sufficient as to the raw materials needed for writing a book is the primary cause of work stoppage (i.e., writer’s block). If you are not drowning in a huge inventory of ideas and information, you don’t have enough raw materials. With this in mind, an aspiring writer should realize that productivity in writing work is more of a logistics problem than a lack of creativity, imagination or skill.

2010
05/14
CATEGORY
writing materials
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1 comment