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You have a wonderful idea for a story. Maybe it’s a mystery novel, a children’s middle grade story, or a picture book. You know what you want to say, or convey, and you start typing away. This is the beginning of every story.

But, we should backtrack a moment and go back to the idea. The idea: your protagonist has a problem or conflict, and you can see how each chapter or section will be worked out. You are sure you can bring your idea to full fruition—without the use of an outline. Okay, that’s fine; many writers use the by-the-seat-of-your-pants writing method. So, off your mind and fingers fly . . . creating something from nothing . . . well, not exactly from nothing, from an idea.

This is the beginning. You type a draft of your story. How long this process will take depends on how long your manuscript will be—whether a novel, short story, or children’s story. Take note, though . . . even if your story is as short as a children’s picture book, you still need focus in your writing.

Writing Focus

Focus is the path from point A to point B. It’s the path from beginning to end that keeps the story together and wraps it neatly up. An example might be an ice skater whose goal is to become good enough to get into the Olympics. His focus will be to train vigorously to accomplish his goal. Another example might be that of a school bus on its route to pick up children and bring them to school. The shop is where the bus begins, point A; it will end up at the school, point B. But, between point A and point B, the bus must deviate from the direct path to pick up each child.

The same holds true for your story. There is a path the story needs to follow to accomplish its goal. If you deviate too much from this path your story becomes diluted or weak. This is not to say you cannot have subplots, it means everything needs to be tied together moving forward on the same path toward the same end.

Using an outline can often help with maintaining focus, even with a short story. It’s kind of a writing GPS that guides you from point A to point B. It allows you to stray here and there with the comfort of knowing that you need to be at certain points throughout the manuscript. It’s a reminder to keep you focused.

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Aim for Writing Success

Finding Children's Story Ideas

The Elevator and One Sentence Pitch

What Makes a Good Fiction Story: Plot Driven, or Character Driven?

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2 Comments on Writing with Focus, last added: 11/11/2010

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Susanne Drazic said, on 11/11/2010 9:24:00 AM

I never liked doing outlines but I've learned how important it is to help your story move forward. Working with an outline does help when writing. Nothing saying the outline can't be changed if you find your story changing course.

Karen Cioffi said, on 11/11/2010 9:36:00 AM

Great point Susanne. Nothing's set in stone until you sign that contract. :)

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Do you write everyday? Do you spend a great deal of time each week writing? If you answered yes to these questions, you should have noticed an improvement in your writing, and possibly an improvement in the speed at which you are able to write. But, that’s not all; you will also find it easier to think of topics to write about.

This is especially true if you do article marketing, or ghostwrite articles for other writers, blogs, or businesses. The more articles you write, the better you’ll get at it. The more writing of any type you do, the better you’ll get, just like the adage, ‘practice makes perfect.’

But, what does it mean to get better at writing?

Structure

One aspect of writing improvement is the ability to create a well structured article or story. It should begin with an interesting or hooking introduction. The beginning lets the reader know what the piece will be about. And, it should move smoothly into the middle. You might think of the beginning as the appetizer to a meal.

The middle is the content substance. You let the reader know what the story will be about in the beginning, the middle follows through and embellishes on the topic. The middle is the meat and potatoes of the story or article, and it should move smoothly into the ending, or conclusion.

The ending wraps things up. It should wrap up any loose ends and tie the piece up into a nice package. It needs to leave the reader satisfied. You can think of the ending as the dessert.

The more you write, the easier it becomes to create content that is well structured and smooth.

Focus

Another aspect writers strive for in their writing is clarity. Along with a well structure piece, you need it to be clear, easily understood. It needs to have focus.

Think of your story as having a road map. You need to get from point A to point C (beginning, middle, and end) with as little deviation as possible. Your reader is following you down the road and you don’t want to lose him. I

f you give your reader any reason to pause or divert his attention from the main point of your story, you’ll lose him. People have a short attention span today; they want the information as quickly as possible with as little effort as possible.

If your topic is about health, don’t go off on a tangent about today’s political climate, unless it’s in regard to the stress it adds to your everyday life, and thus the harmful effects it has on your health.

The more you write, the easier it becomes to create content that is focused and lean.

Wrapping it Up

There are a number of writers who give themselves daily writing quotas. Some may choose thirty minutes a day, others 500 to 1000 words per day. There are also those writers who feel too pressured having to fulfill a daily writing quota, so they choose to create weekly quotas.

One problem writers face is time. Even if you work from home, by the time you read and respond to your emails, keep up with your blogs, do your social networking, and keep up your family and household duties, the day can just slip away. It might be helpful to a create weekly writing plan or schedule and do your best to stick to it.

If you’re a writer it’s important to write regularly, if not every day, as often as you can. As with any craft, the more you practice or work at it, the better you’ll get.

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Today I have an article by Jack Canfield. For those who don't know who he is, he's the co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul, and co-creator of all it's trimmings. Along with this, he has built an amazing empire of coaching. I love this article because it deals with us getting out of our own way. And, all to often it's the individual who creates self-made road blocks to happiness, success, and even health.

Releasing the Brakes
by Jack Canfield

Have you ever been driving your car and realized that you'd left the emergency brake on?
Of course.  We all have.  But when we discover the brake is on -- do we press harder on the gas pedal?  Of course not!

We simply release the brake… and with no extra effort we go faster.

Going through life is a lot like driving a car.  But unfortunately, most people drive through life with their psychological emergency brake on.  They hold on to negative images of themselves... or suffer the effects of highly emotional events they haven't yet released.  To cope, they stay in a comfort zone entirely of their own making.

And when they try to achieve their goals, these negative images and preprogrammed comfort zones always cancel out their good intentions—no matter how hard they try.

Call them "blocks" or "limiting beliefs" or "being stuck" -- but these images and past hurts are nothing more than driving through life with the emergency brake on.
Successful people, on the other hand, continually move beyond their comfort zone -- not by using increased willpower, but by replacing their beliefs about themselves and changing their self image.
They release the brakes -- and, just like a car, they instantly go faster.

GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE

Think of your comfort zone as a prison you live in – a largely self-created prison. It consists of the collection of can’ts, musts, must nots, and other unfounded beliefs formed from all the negative thoughts and decisions you have accumulated and reinforced during your lifetime.

The good news is that you can change your comfort zone. How? In three different ways:

1.    You can use affirmations and positive self-talk to affirm having what you want, doing what you want, and being the way you want.
2.    You can create powerful and compelling new internal images of having, doing, and being what you want.
3.    You can simply change your behaviors

All three of these approaches will begin to shift you out of your old comfort zone.

STOP RE-CREATING THE SAME EXPERIENCE OVER AND OVER!
 
An important concept that successful people understand is that you are never stuck. You just keep re-creating the same experiences over and over by thinking the same thoughts, maintaining the same beliefs, speaking the same words, and doing the same things.

Too often, we get stuck in an endless look of reinforcing behavior, which keep us stuck in a constant downward spiral.

It goes like this: Our limiting thoughts create images in our mind… and those images govern our behavior… which in turn reinforces that limiting thought.

This is known as the Self-Talk Endless Loop.

As long as you keep complaining about your present circumstances, your mind will focus on it. By continually talking about, thinking about, and writing about the way things are, you are continually reinforcing those very same neural pathways in your brain that got you to where you are today. You are continually sending out the same vibrations that will keep attracting the same people and circumstances that you have already created.
To change this cycle, you must focus instead on thinking, talking, and writing about the new reality you want to create. You must FLOOD your unconscious with thoughts,

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I’m a huge fan of positive thinking and projection. I believe our mind has a great influence over our well being and the direction our life can take. Granted, it’s not always easy to harness that influence, but there is enough content out there, including The Secret, to at least strive to think positive and project.

For example, Jack Canfield and co-creator Mark Victor Hansen, of Chicken Soup for the Soul, were rejected 144 times from publishers. Finally, in 1993, their book was accepted. Since they were in debt and couldn’t afford a publicist, they did their own promotion. In 1995, they won the Abby Award and the Southern California Publicist Award.

In a teleconference I attended with Jack Canfield as the speaker, he said the co-authors created vision boards of what they wanted. They even took a copy of the New York Times Best Selling Page, whited out the #1 spot, and replaced it with Chicken Soup for the Soul. They put copies of it everywhere, even in the toilet. They envisioned and projected success. The rest is history.

On a much smaller scale, my daughter and co-author of Day’s End Lullaby, Robyn, practices the philosophy of The Secret. For ten years she’s dreamed of being in the audience of the Oprah show. She actually got tickets twice, but for one reason or another, she was unable to attend. But, it didn’t stop her, she persevered and kept trying. Well, the weekend of May 8th, Oprah had her Live Your Best Life weekend in New York City. Robyn got a ticket for the weekend event and ended up being photographed. Her photo is now on Oprah’s website. In addition, she was about four feet from Oprah at one of the events, while she took a picture. This may not mean much to some, but for a young woman who has dreamed of being in the same room as Oprah, it’s a big . . . no HUGE deal. You can check it out at (she’s the one on the right, her friend Christine is on the left):

http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/Photos-from-O-Magazines-Live-Your-Best-Life-Weekend/5#slide

So, what has this to do with you and me as writers . . . plenty . . . just about every writer has heard the adage, it’s not necessarily the best writers who succeed, it’s the writers who persevere. Stay determined and focused on your writing goals. Don’t let rejection stop you . . . persevere.


Related Articles:

Writing to Get Published
Writing, Motivation, and Guidance

A great way to stay focused is to join:
Write More, Sell More, Make More Money Than EVER in 2010 Coaching Program.

This program is facilitated by Suzanne Lieurance and provides daily writing motivation, guidance, resources and tools to help you get published. You can even ask your writing and marketing questions, Suzanne will answer them in a weekly audio clip.

Or, for more hands on instruction and guidance, check out the Children's Writers' Coaching Club. You are given weekly teleclasses on writing and marketing from experienced and multi-published authors. And, you can submit a weekly manuscript of up to 1000 words which Suzanne Lieurance will personally

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