3. Correcting yourself as you write.
This is a big one: impeding the stream of thoughts flowing onto your paper because you're always looking in the rear view mirror, wondering if that last sentence you wrote was correct.
I'd like you to keep this in mind. I can't say that this thought originated with me, so I don't take credit for it. (I think I got it from The Elements of Style): "There are no great writers, only great re-writers."
A+ papers don't come from creation, they come from refinement. (That's a thought that just originated with me a minute ago. Another way of stating it is: An A+ paper is a C+ paper, only more refined.)
4. You don't follow a template or a format.
A few weeks ago, Alex Goad, a very successful entrepreneur whom I'm happy to work with, said something that I had known for a while, but he said it in a way that I hadn't quite thought of before. I'll paraphrase what he said: "A lot of successful things can be template-ized." He was talking about how a certain type of site has a flow and process to it that can be replicated over and over again, for different markets.
The same can be true of your writing. Whether it's the A+ paper you want to write within the next hour, or the next chapter of your book you want to finish, this process can be the template — the step-by-step method you use — whenever you want to produce a great piece of writing...fast.
Preparing To Give Your Best Writing Performance
Preparing to write at your best is a four-phase process: brainstorming, mind mapping, outlining, and then, delivering. One reason why this process works so well is that by the time you get to the delivering phase, you're so well prepared (and rehearsed) that you know exactly what you want to say, when you want to say it.
1. The Brainstorming Phase
You've probably heard of brainstorming, right? (If so, have you heard of Mind Mapping?) Brainstorming is simply the process of writing down anything that comes to mind, with no concern about the order in which you're writing them down. As far as writing is concerned, a lot of good preparation comes from asking yourself the right questions. After all, if you ask the right questions, you'll get the right answers, and those will help you when it comes to the actual writing.
Before you read any further, I want you to take out a pen and paper and brainstorm your answers for the following four questions:
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