Write Productively, Make Steady Progress and Finally Cross That #@*&% Writing Project Off Your To-Do List!

Do you have a specific long-abandoned or never-started book or other writing project that you may finally have time for yet you don't know how to get going again or going for the first time?

Is writing painful for you, something you dread and put off as long as possible?  Something that always takes laborious effort, resulting in cramped and convoluted text that neither you nor others are happy with?                                  

Or perhaps you love to write - at least in the initial stages where you blissfully express your heart out or   explore ideas you're excited about.  Then you get bogged down later in the process.

Then imagine knowing how to restart (or start), how to keep your momentum going and how to take each writing project to the finish line so it communicates what you wanted to say, clearly and effectively.

Imagine too knowing how to wend your way past your personal obstacles, whether those fall into the category of lingering childhood bugaboos or practical conundrums like feeling too busy or distracted to carve out time for writing.

The Complete Your Writing Project online course eases you into new writing routines, new skills, greater confidence about writing and many more terrific pages of writing than before piling up.

"Complete Your Writing Project gave me processes to use when I get stuck and useful tips for time management.   During the course I became 'unstuck' on a book project I had started a long time ago and regained my passion for the topic.  Even better, I now have tools I can use in the future when I'm     struggling with a writing project or unable to prioritize.  Thanks, Marcia!" - Cheryl Rainey, Tallahassee, FL

A Field-tested, Validated Program

Complete Your Writing Project is based on a course I originally taught at Radcliffe Career Services, part of Harvard University, decades ago.  Professors and doctoral students from Harvard, Brandeis, MIT, Babson and the University of Massachusetts learned to disregard their writing demons and move along their "publish or perish" projects more efficiently, improving both the quality and the quantity of their writing.  

In 2009, I revamped the course for a teleseminar-and-email format and tested it with a small group of people with varying backgrounds from all over the country.  Their progress was just as impressive as with the original course structure.

I have now restructured it slightly to work for online learning.

What You Learn

Here is the comprehensive outline for the online incarnation of Complete Your Writing Project.  It takes place through four written modules, along with nine short, provocative "interludes" consisting of instructive anecdotes and self-awareness or writing exercises.

Module I: Examine Fears and Misconceptions about Writing
Catalog your fears, likes and dislikes when it comes to writing so you can replace misconceptions with more realistic ideas and productive expectations.  Find out which commonly held beliefs and expectations about writing are surprisingly untrue - and why.  Learn (and put to work) the never-fail secret for resuming work or getting started on a long-stalled writing project.

Examples of famous writers with little-known productivity triggers and stories of people I've worked with make this session practical and inspiring rather than theoretical.

"I had been writing lots but publishing none of it - I just couldn't seem to finish any of the topics. Now I can. Some of the course techniques also helped me get to the point and inject interesting points to make my content less boring. Already this week I have finished the content of five web pages that had been sitting around for a couple months, unfinished. The ideas are flowing again, the inspiration has returned. In the future I will approach writing with far more pleasure and much less trepidation. Good stuff!" - Linda Popovich, Bothell, WA

Module II. Learn Quick Writing Techniques
Discover - and practice - five ways to get chunks of writing done in a very small amount of time.  Use your current writing project for these exercises if you like.  I tell you the advantages and disadvantages of each exercise, so you know which ones match which writing purposes, as you assess which techniques click best for you.  

For the rest of the week, you find half-hour chunks of time in which to apply the exercises you like best to your real-life writing project.

Module III. Overcome Psychological and Practical Obstacles
Fear of criticism holds back many writers, so we look at that and disarm your critics (whether living or dead) during this session.  You consider other psychological blocks and inventory your practical obstacles.  

It feels fun and liberating as you discover options and solutions for even the toughest hindrances and hurdles, such as lack of time, too many ideas, no child care or no place to write.  Between modules, you continue making gains on your writing project.

Acclaim for the Complete Your Writing Project Perspective
An audio cassette incorporating many of the ideas in this course made the rounds of the writing world prior to the rise of the Internet.  It became a selection of the Writers Digest Book Club and was offered in the Sounds True catalog.  Best-selling mystery author Sue Grafton called my approach "excellent."  Years later I met published writers who told me they had listened to my soothing words on tape every night before going to sleep.

Module IV. Create and Maintain Writing Momentum
Learn why productive writing that pleases both you and readers involves a balance between inspiration and discipline and get guidelines for creating a comfortable equilibrium between those elements.  Find out why "energy engineering" can be as vital to your writing progress as time and a conducive space.

As in the previous three sessions, you receive a wide range of suggestions for forging ahead and staying on course through the final stages of your writing project.

"Learning Marcia's productive writing techniques permanently improved my writing process, not just by speeding it up, but by making it less frustrating. The self-paced exercises pushed me to try out an  amazing variety of mental tools, which I now have at my disposal  every time I sit down to write. Highly recommended." - Jean Moroney, President, Thinking Directions

With these four modules behind you, your writing projects take less time, are better focused and involve more pleasure and less pain.  For many people, greater productivity translates into lower life stress and higher earnings.

Note that while you may go through the course as quickly or as slowly as you like, I recommend that you space out the modules so you have time to do the exercises and absorb the new concepts and techniques before moving on.  When I taught this with one module per week, the pacing worked really well.

"There were two techniques in the course I bonded with immediately: outlining articles, websites, and even books in just 20 minutes (yes, 20 minutes is enough to provide a good solid skeleton), and doing fact-checking after I've finished writing for the day, and thus not getting distracted or losing the flow of my writing. I've been using those two techniques in almost everything I write, and they have made my writing much, much more efficient." - Sue Schopp, Arlington, MA

Experts say it takes 28 days to build new habits, and by the end of the four modules, you can expect to have a markedly different experience of writing from what you had before you began the course.

The course fee is just $47.

Satisfaction Guaranteed

If you've read this far, you're definitely interested in transforming your relationship with writing.  To take away the risk of signing up, I offer the following strong-as-steel guarantee: Sign up and complete Module I, along with the two "interludes" that follow it. If you do not already feel a shift in your confidence about writing, if you don't trust that the rest of the modules will get you writing despite the worries and distractions you experience, simply let me know and I will refund what you paid for the course.

I am promoting this course only to Marketing Minute subscribers, so I assume you know my background and have seen me consistently deliver what I promise.  If you need to know more about me, you can find my About page here.

Finally, how to sign up?  The enrollment link is below as well as at the top of this page.