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    Be a Writing Machine: Author Level Up, #3
    Be a Writing Machine: Author Level Up, #3
    Be a Writing Machine: Author Level Up, #3
    Ebook130 pages1 hour

    Be a Writing Machine: Author Level Up, #3

    By M.L. Ronn

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    The no-nonsense, no BS guide to becoming a prolific author--available in ebook, paperback, and audiobook!

    Do you want to write a lot of novels, but can't improve your writing speed?

    Writing fast is the most important skill you can develop as a writer. While it seems hard to hit high word counts, the secrets are easier than you think.

    In this writer's guide, prolific author M.L. Ronn pulls back the curtain on the process that he uses to write 6-8 novels a year. He has kept this pace while juggling responsibilities as a husband, father, manager at a Fortune 100 company, and a law school student. The result is a catalogue of over 40 books and counting.

    * Create a writing habit that suits your lifestyle
    * Use writing apps on your phone to double your word count
    * Learn strategies to beat writer's block forever
    * Discover how to write smarter by using unorthodox strategies used by the masters

    This book is the only thing standing between you and your writing dreams. Write faster, write smarter, beat writer's block, and be the prolific author you've always wanted to be!

     

    V1.0

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAuthor Level Up LLC
    Release dateMay 7, 2018
    ISBN9781386327622
    Be a Writing Machine: Author Level Up, #3
    Author

    M.L. Ronn

    Science fiction and fantasy on the wild side! M.L. Ronn (Michael La Ronn) is the author of many science fiction and fantasy novels including the Modern Necromancy, The Last Dragon Lord, and Sword Bear Chronicle series. In 2012, a life-threatening illness made him realize that storytelling was his #1 passion. He’s devoted his life to writing ever since, making up whatever story makes him fall out of his chair laughing the hardest. Every day.

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    Reviews for Be a Writing Machine

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    • 5/5
      I would probably call myself an intermediate writer – I have published several indie novels but I'm always looking for craft tips and process hacks. This combines nicely with my love of procrastination, so let's just say I've made the rounds when it comes to writing manuals. At a certain point, they get kind of repetitive, but Michael's book was a breath of fresh air.

      While he provides some great practical tips for boosting your word count even on busy days, I believe the book's focus on mindset and process are what really make this shine.

      Michael places a high value on creating a process that you really love, which for me, is a *huge* mindset shift. I'm very goal-oriented and tend to ignore my emotions (or try to), but that's really no way to spend your life, is it? I feel that writing is my life's work, and like a lot of artists, I'm in it for the long haul. This book made me realize how crucial it is to create a process that isn't just productive, but also makes me happy.

      The author states unapologetically that neither outlining nor deep edits are necessary. In fact, he does neither! Maybe this is hard to believe, but folks, reading that was an absolute game changer for me.

      I suppose Michael's book came to me at just the right time. I had been struggling for months to finish another novel, blaming myself the entire time and feeling like a quitter. But really, I just needed to focus on creating a fun and (somewhat) easy process instead of white-knuckling out my word count. (Now my word count seems to take care of it itself.)

      Michael's advice was the permission I needed to just enjoy the process without punishing myself later. I could trust my creative mind, allow my subconscious the free reign it needed, and not feel obliged to edit the ever-loving crap out of my books later. This sounds silly, but I really thought that these were requirements for creating a decent book.

      After trying a lot of Michael's suggestions, I'm happy to say that my writing life has been reinvigorated. Something to note: per this book's advice, I also checked out Dean Wesley Smith's "Writing Into the Dark." It provides more insight into the outline-free, no/low-edits method Michael presents. I suggest reading both for maximum benefit.

      Even if you only get a few tips out of this book, it's a fast read. Why not spend an hour or two skimming through it? You might be like me and have a whole new lease on your writing life.
    • 1/5
      Ask any artist how long it takes to create a work of art, and what they consider part of the artmaking process. If they tell you that you can minimize the amount of time spent and still create competent work, and that prepatory work isn't part of the artistic process, then they haven't made any.

    Book preview

    Be a Writing Machine - M.L. Ronn

    What You’ll Learn from This Book

    Let's skip the fluffy stuff for a minute and talk about the two simple things you're going to learn in this book.

    First, you're going to learn how to write books faster. Way faster. This will be easy.

    Second, you're going to learn how to write smarter. This will be hard. Crazy hard. But you will be better for it.

    When you're done with this book, you'll have a step-by-step roadmap on how to become the prolific writer you’ve always wanted to be.

    You’ll be a writing machine.

    What if you could develop a consistent daily writing habit and finish a new novel every few weeks? Every few days? What would that mean for your writing career?

    We all know that writing more books means more readers and therefore more money. But for many of us, just writing the next chapter is a struggle.

    Writing isn't easy. If it was, then everyone would be prolific.

    There are tricks to make the words flow easier. Fortunately, it doesn't involve any extra intelligence or wisdom.

    I have used the strategies in this book to write 6-8 books on average every year since 2014. I have written dozens of novels in the same amount of time it takes many authors to write a few. My novels range from 40,000 to 70,000 words. The techniques in this book will help you with any fiction genre.

    You’re going to learn a simple system that you can adapt to suit your own lifestyle and career goals. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a part-time or a full-time author. All you need is an open mind and a willingness to try something new.

    A Little About Me

    Here’s my story and why I'm qualified to write this book.

    In July 2012, my wife rushed me to the emergency room. I was experiencing horrible stomach cramps, so bad I couldn't even see straight. Little did I know that the restaurant I'd visited the night before had served me tainted food, resulting in the worst food poisoning of my life.

    I'll spare you the details of my hospital visit, but while I was there, I caught an infection.

    I spent an entire month doped up on morphine, staring at a wall. I had a lot of time to think about my life.

    Until then, I had been a sometime writer. I wrote whenever the muse moved me. I wasn't serious about it.

    Something on that hospital bed made me change my mind.

    I had a spiritual awakening. Among my many hallucinations, I visualized myself as a published author. It made me so happy—I felt an incredible euphoria just thinking about it. (Okay, the euphoria probably came from the morphine, but hey, details…)

    I swore right then and there on that hospital bed that I would become a serious writer, no matter what.

    Fortunately, I beat the infection and escaped from the hospital. The very week I came home, an article came out on the front page of USA Today about the particular strain of bacteria that I had, and how it was killing an alarming amount of people all over the United States.

    Basically, I could have died.

    That was life-changing for me.

    The next week, I remember sitting down at my kitchen table and trying to write a short story. I didn't know how to start it, and I stared at a blank screen for hours.

    I remember an intense wave of fear. My inner critic kicked in.

    You'll never be able to write, it said. This story will fail. Give up now before you embarrass yourself.

    I remember thinking, Why am I scared? I just spent a month in the hospital on my deathbed and wasn't scared of dying, so why the hell am I scared about writing this short story?

    Something clicked.

    Then I stopped being afraid of just about everything in my life.

    Compared to what I had been through, fear, in the writer’s sense of the word, stopped scaring me. I learned how to fight my fear every time it tried to stop me.

    And then, one morning, four years later, I woke up and realized I had written over 40 books, with no signs of slowing down.

    I wrote those books while becoming a father for the first time.

    I wrote those books while climbing the corporate ladder at a Fortune 100 insurance company in the United States, with management-level responsibility.

    I wrote those books while attending law school in the evenings.

    I wrote those books while being a friend, father, son, husband, and all the thousand other things my loved ones needed me to be.

    I wrote those books while hosting a podcast, running a YouTube channel, mentoring other authors, and finding ways to give back to the indie author community as a liaison for the Alliance of Independent Authors.

    If anyone should have a thousand excuses not to write, it should be me. If you look at my life, it's a miracle that I can even think about writing.

    But that's enough about my credentials. I just wanted to get those out of the way to show you that I know the topic of writing fast and smart. And I know it well.

    If I can do this, it's only right for me to share some of my secrets so that you can do it too.

    Quick Overview of This Book’s Structure

    The Mindset chapter will teach you how you need to adapt your mindset in order to reach new levels of productivity. I can't promise I won't go hippie on you, but I can promise that you'll get a fresh perspective that you haven't seen before.

    The Tools chapter will show you what tools I use to hit crazy word counts every day.

    The Time Management chapter will teach you how to organize your limited time and make the most of it.

    The Write Smart chapter teaches you how to be smart about your novel writing. It will give you a prolific author’s perspective on what you can do to produce high numbers of books year after year.

    The Writer’s Block chapter is the most important in the book. I will show you the root causes of writer’s block and my strategies on beating it every time. The latter part of this section is organized into quick hit strategies that you can refer to whenever you find yourself in a rough patch in your work in progress.

    My goal for you is to pull back the curtain on how I do it and give you a different perspective on writing fast.

    Remember, prolific isn't just about writing one book fast. It's about producing book after book after book, rain or shine, no matter what. It's about learning how to be systematic.

    Proficient fiction writers will benefit the most from this book. If you’ve been through the novel writing process a few times, then the strategies in this book will make more sense to you. If you don’t write fiction, you can still use the strategies here, but know that your mileage may vary.

    If you're in this for the long haul and are ready to take your word counts to new, consistent heights, then read on.

    Mindset: You Cannot Be Prolific Without Getting Your Mind Correct

    The first step to writing fast and developing a prolific career is developing the right mindset.

    I know, I know, you're probably thinking that you've heard all the typical mindset crap before.

    I'm not talking about that.

    I don't care whether you state spiritual affirmations to yourself in the shower, meditate, or have a daily ritual.

    Seriously. You do whatever you think you have to do to get into the right mindset. I can't teach you that.

    But I can give you some useful things to consider.

    You Cannot

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