Interviews with Well-Known Ezine Writers #2: – John Colanzi – Writing-Articles
Interviews with Well-Known Ezine Writers #2: - John Colanzi
MS: John, you must be one of the most prolific Ezine
Writers on the Web - I see your articles nearly everyday in
the article lists and in dozens of Newsletters. How long
have you been writing Ezine Articles?JC: I first started writing ezine articles around 1999.MS: What are the main topics that you write about in your
Ezine Articles?JC: I mainly write two types of articles, (i) Marketing and
promotion, (ii) Success and motivation.MS: John, how important have Ezine articles been in
promoting your website?JC: I sometimes use paid advertising, but my main method of
promotion is writing and submitting articles.MS: John, what sort of Articles have you had most success
with? In your experience, what kind of Articles are most in
demand?JC: I get the most feedback on articles about success and
motivationMS: Some Ezine Writers promote a product or service in
their Resource Box, while others aim only to get a
subscription to their free Newsletter. What would your
advice be for getting maximum results from your Resource
Box?JC: I usually promote my newsletter and free ebook in the
resource box. Sometimes I promote a product, but mainly the
newsletter.MS: What have you found to be the most effective ways of
getting your Articles published?JC: Persistence. I've set up a weekly mailing to
publishers. Most publishers get a lot of submissions, so
getting them to notice you article will take some time.
Once they start using your articles, they are more likely
to start reading your submissions.MS: Apart from getting your Articles published in
Newsletters, are there any other ways you use your Articles
to promote your website? (such as turning them into a free
E-Book)?JC: I created my free ebook Street Smart Secrets Of Success
from a collection of my success and motivation articles:
http://www.internet-profits4u.com/streetsmart.exe. I was
also contacted by a publisher who read the free ebook to
create a free e-course for his ebook Autoresponder Gold. So
from the articles I've created my ebook and the 7 Days To A
Turbo Charged Mind email course:
johncolanzi@freeautobot.comMS: Some people are discouraged from writing Ezine articles
because it seems that everything has already been written
about. What's your view on that?JC: Every writer brings their own style to a subject. You
may read about it 100 times, but a certain writer's way of
presenting the information, may be the article that gets
you to take action.MS: Yes, that's an important point. What's the single most
important style tip for writing a good Ezine Article?JC: Write to one person. Make the ideas personal to the
reader.MS: How important have Ezine Articles been in achieving
your success in online business?JC: Every good thing that's happened to me online has been
a result of someone seeing an article.MS: And finally John, what would be your advice to someone
who wants to write Ezine Articles but has never written for
the Internet before?JC: Write the same way you would explain something to your
best friend. Write to inform, don't write a sales letter
and try to pass it off as an article.MS: Thank you John.------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Southon has been writing for the Internet for over 3
years. He has shown hundreds of webmasters how to use this
simple technique to build a successful online business. Click
here to find out more: http://ezine-writer.com/
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10 Ways to Shatter Writers Block
10 Ways to Shatter Writers Block
1. Use Logic: Check for External PressuresAre you under physical or emotional stress? Is your diet lacking? Do you need more sleep, or more restful sleep? Would a visit to the doctor be in order before you start beating yourself up about your inability to concentrate?2. Start brainstormingJot down all the possible plot permutations you can think of. At first, these will be fairly logical. Then, as you run out of options, you'll find that you start to come up with more off-the- wall ideas. These might be just what you need to get you going again.3. Ease into your writingStart your writing session with something that's 'easy' - a letter, a shopping list, a recipe, a 'to do' list. Then move on to a brief session of free writing. THEN go back to your story. You may find, as others have in the past, that a half-hour session of writing in a journal or diary is a good warm-up for a writing session.4. Take some time outOnly you know how much time this should be. Sometimes the subconscious simply needs time to work its magic. That might be a day, a week or a month. Obey your instincts. You might think that the danger is you'll never get back to it. Okay: perhaps that means you don't LIKE it enough to get back to it. Writing shouldn't be a penance. Find a job or a hobby that you DO like.5. Revisit the last few pagesGo back ten or twenty pages and revise. You could even retype the last page completely, and see if that releases new ideas.6. Use the tried and true 'carrot' trick. Reward yourself!Think of something you'd really, really like. (Of course, the family might object if you want to reward yourself for your diligence with a trip to Bali.) A chocolate? A trip to see a movie? Dinner out? New clothes? Set yourself a task that is commensurate with the size of the reward - and DO IT.7. Pressure Cooker TacticsSome of us work well only under pressure. You'll probably know if this applies to you by thinking back to how you handled homework, assignments and exams at school. If you can produce when the pressure's on, then set yourself a deadline. Don't make that deadline too unrealistic, though, or you may find that you're setting yourself up for failure - again.8. Change the time and venueJ.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book in extended stints in a cafe (or so the story goes). Roald Dahl worked in a battered garden shed. Try changing the venue or the time of your writing - from home to a library; from late evenings to early morning; from the kitchen table to a table in the corner of your bedroom.9. Meditate or go walkingSometimes it helps to get out in the fresh air, or to sit quietly and move into a meditative state and just let the ideas flow. Or not flow. Perhaps what you need is to dissociate yourself from the world for a while.10. KEEP walking... remember Forrest Gump...Don't want to write any more at all? OK. Then walk away and keep walking. Nobody said you have to write. Why write if it makes you miserable? It may ALWAYS make you miserable. If that's the case, don't do it. It really is that simple.Or...it may be making you miserable NOW, but you loved it in the past and you expect you will again. If so, walk away just for a while. Give yourself an extended break - and only go back to the keyboard when you just can't stay away any longer. That's the best cure there is for writer's block. (c) copyright Marg McAlister Marg McAlister has published magazine articles, short stories, books for children, ezines, promotional material, sales letters and web content. She has written 5 distance education courses on writing, and her online help for writers is popular all over the world. Sign up for her regular writers' tipsheet at http://www.writing4success.com/