It's Mercury Retrograde until November 10th–that wonderful time when computers and phones go wacky, travel plans go awry, and the technology gods sit back and laugh at us. 

And yet, it is also a time for re-orienting yourself, when any and everything that starts with the prefix "re" is good to focus on.  So, reconnecting (seen a few old friends you've lost touch with again recently?  Me, too.), reorganizing, reviewing.  You get the picture.

In this vein, I've been revisiting an old system of mine in advance of possibly turning it into a signature program, wherein each of the seven steps would be studied in depth as a way to catapult your writing to new heights of productivity.  Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

Okay, so here goes:

Writing Abundance

7 Practices of the Prolific and Prosperous Writer

This system grew out of my own writing career. People constantly ask me how I can be so prolific as a writer. Further, they often marvel that I’ve created a truly satisfying writing life for myself. I write for clients and I write for myself, and one way or another, you’ll find me writing something every day. After being constantly beseeched to give up my secret, I finally sat down and took a good, hard look at what I do. I realized there’s no one secret—there’s seven of them! The seven practices are each process-oriented, things that I do regularly to enable my writing. While the practices work well when done step by step, it is not required. I prefer to think of them as a spiral or a series of ongoing activities. For instance, you may get stalled during the practice of creating and realize you need some inspiration, so you return to the practice of connection. Or perhaps the block is serious enough that you need some help in clearing it. Writing Abundance is a fluid, flexible system that will enhance your ability to put words on the page. Here’s a brief introduction to the seven practices. 

Connect—Writing is communicating, and to do that we need to connect. It is vital to connect with other writers and talk craft. It’s also imperative to connect with family and friends for support. It is also important to connect with clients and readers, of course! But most important is to establish an ongoing connection with a higher power. Call it God, the goddess, Allah, Buddha, creator, or the source of all that is—but please call upon it. Establishing a regular meditation and or prayer session will do wonders for your writing.

Cultivate—Successful writers have cultivated the mindset of a writer. This means we (continue reading the rest of this article on my blog) are constantly on the alert, and constantly taking in information and inspiration for our work. Writers observe details large and small, view our world intently in order to be able to describe it, listen carefully to write believable dialogue, and read voraciously to see how other writers do it. Then they write all of these things down in a journal so as not to forget. All of these are part of the practice of cultivation.

Conceive—A constant flow of ideas is vital to the writer. Who are we without ideas for our work? How are we to write stories, essays, articles, novels, and books without first coming up with ideas? Ideas breed like rabbits, and the more you have, the more will come to you. I’ve developed some amazingly simple ways to keep the ideas coming!

Clear—As writers, we need to get very clear about who we are, what we want to write, and how we want to write it. Limiting subconscious beliefs can keep us from reaching our full potential as writers. Say, for instance, you keep wanting to write but never quite manage to get to it—you may have a block which prevents it. We’re lucky to live in a time when there are many effective energy modalities we can use to easily do this.

Create—Finally, the time to put words on paper has arrived. You put your fingers on the keyboard or pick up the pen….and nothing happens. For this practice, I’ve gathered sure-fire techniques to get the words flowing across the page. Some of them include easy and fun ways to prep and outline your work before you get started, which is one of the secrets to block-free writing.

Correct—Ah, now there’s a C word some of us have learned to fear. But correction—critiquing, editing, rewriting and revising—is the real meat of writing, where you dive deeper into the true meaning of your work. You, too, can learn to love the practice of correction.

Ceasing and releasing—All good things must come to an end, even your beloved writing project. Yes there comes a time when you must release your baby out into the world, without ego or control, and let it be what it is to be.

So what do you think?  Did I miss anything?  Are they in the right order?  What are your best practices for prolific writing?

Image by einahpets.