Red supposedly represents anger or power. It also represents the expendable red shirts in the Star Trek TOS-era. I am the latter for this body is merely a temporary vessel before the afterlife; I try to use it to help others as much as possible.
At my disposal, my red wooden pencil and red notebook are always there to write my ideas and thoughts. I then use my red phone to type and post my blog articles. These three items help me spread my words throughout the online world.
This is not to brag or think I’m better than everyone else. I’m at the point in my life where I want to contribute whenever possible. It’s a calling, not a job. I can make money elsewhere.
I used to like Medium articles. Anything related to writing, marketing, or business, Medium was my go-to. However, too many paywalled articles and forcing you to register just to read the free articles turned me away from the site.
I do love Substack and there are many informative and thoughtful creators I follow. However, I don’t think I’m intelligent enough nor have the time to write such articles. Who knows, maybe in the future when I’m not so busy.
The main reason I choose Write.as for my primary blog is focusing solely on writing without worrying about click stats, email marketing, or selling a product or service. All my posts are free and they are not monetized. So enjoy, take what you can learn, and spread the word. And I will try to do the same with yours.
During my longhand writing on this post I have my six-month old son in my left arm while my 4 year old son is playing with a rolling bumblebee toy. My younger son is crying for me to stop writing while the other is always running up to me to get my attention. There are writers with children who say to set a specific time to write so your family won’t disturb you.
Another tip writers tell you is to write when everyone goes to sleep or an hour before they wake up. But that hasn’t worked. I’m tired. Once I’m in bed, I sleep so I have energy to take care of my family the next day.
Maybe these two tips will work when my sons are older and more understanding of my need to write. But what do I do in the meantime? Well, since I thrive more in unpredictable settings the best time for me to write is during those few precious seconds in between the chaos.
Writing while using the bathroom is a good place as long as you lock the door. Another is while feeding my older son while holding onto my younger one but the writing doesn’t last long. A few minutes in the car at the school parking lot before dropping off my older son is usually the only place and time to write anything. Finally, I’ll write while cooking dinner although that can get messy.
In the end, these strategies work for me. How about you, especially with young children? What’s your best strategy or strategies? Let me know.
I’m chaotic when it comes to daily tasks, generating ideas, and writing. It’s a constant battle in a world seeking order. My writing strategies are no different. I’ve used many writing tools and techniques throughout the years with successes and failures. Here are some of them.
Writing Tools:
Wooden pencils (Blackwing, Musgrave, Tomo 100, USA Gold, and USA Titanium)
Pens (UniOne, Zebra)
Notebooks (Decomposition, Mead, and Moleskine)
Electronics (Laptops, Smartphones, Typewriters, and Freewrite (ugh!))
Apps (Apple Pages, DeepSeek, iA Writer, LibreOffice, Scrivener, and UpNote)
Writing Strategies:
Longhand writing first before typing (My go-to)
Outlining (With AI, it’s easier)
Pantser (Always have been)
Even though I always prefer writing on paper, the past few years I’ve adopted my writing strategies from writers such as Robert Caro, Scott Scheper, and others and refined my techniques. And it works for me. So, what is my actual writing strategy?
I’ll first write longhand on a notebook (preferably on Decomposition notebooks) with pencil. I can focus solely on writing without any electronic distractions. Then, I’ll type what I’ve written on my laptop (usually on LibreOffice) or phone (UpNote). Writings larger than a blog post (notebook then the WriteFreely app) I’ll print it out, edit and proofread, and type out the final draft before publishing. It sounds simple but the key is consistency.
Is your writing method similar to mine? If not, how do you do your writing? Let me know.