20 Comments

1. 

   Silver Huang on May 29, 2012 at 4:29 pm

   My favorites are the last two:
   “You don’t find time to write. You make time.” and “To write faster: Plan first. Set a timer. Edit later.”

   I found that my writing speed increased dramatically (even though it is still extremely slow as you know) when I decided to just spew stream-of-consciousness material out onto the screen without thought for even spelling, grammar or even complete phrases or sentences at times.

   Basically the idea was to type as fast as I could think, with no care for word limit. Starting point is inspiration and then the writing was either to flesh it out or to discover if there was a point at all to make. Many times, there wasn’t… but until I brain dumped, I wouldn’t have known.

   Strangely, even brain dumping therefore can sound like a waste of time, as not every dump results in a useable post, I feel that the act of just getting the thoughts out, however incomplete, as a discipline just helped.

   Is it the same for you Ali?
   Silver Huang’s last blog post ..Update! Exciting News And Something Special For June 2012

   • 

     Ali on May 29, 2012 at 9:54 pm

     Thanks, Silver!

     For me, writing is a thinking process… today, I wrote out 2,400 words for my BlogWorld session next week (despite the fact I won’t use those words — I’ll reduce them to notes, and then just use the slides I made). I’m a more disciplined thinker when I write instead of just gazing into space, though! Sounds like your process is similar?

     • 

       Silver Huang on May 30, 2012 at 6:30 am

       Yeah that sounds about right.

       Julia Cameron was right, getting it out onto the page is the key. Keeping it in the head just keeps it in a near unusable ephemeral form.

       Can’t mold smoke into gold. LOL.

2. 

   Carole Lyden on May 29, 2012 at 4:48 pm

   These cards are a great idea. I use cards for ideas and research material. I think I’m with Silver on this but “To write faster:plan first. set a timer .Edit later.” is the best.
   Carole Lyden’s last blog post ..Who stole your confidence?

   • 

     TNeal on May 29, 2012 at 5:07 pm

     I’d agree with the “…set timer…” choice. I’m drawn to the two cards with the word “plan” in them. As a seat-of-the-pants writer, I find planning a weaker discipline for me, yet I’m recognizing the important of organizing and directing my thoughts before hitting the keyboard.

     • 

       Ali on May 29, 2012 at 9:55 pm

       Thanks Carole, and TNeal. My talk at BlogWorld is on editing, so that was coming through as a theme a bit … and I firmly believe that good planning means much less editing!

3. 

   Laura Howard on May 29, 2012 at 5:09 pm

   These are fantastic Ali! So adorable!! Wants one!! 🙂

   • 

     Ali on May 29, 2012 at 9:57 pm

     Thanks, Laura! 🙂

4. 

   Yoneco Evans on May 29, 2012 at 5:58 pm

   I love cards from Moo! I’ve never tried the minis, but my business cards are from there. My favorite is “plan, write, edit, publish, repeat”.

   • 

     Ali on May 29, 2012 at 9:59 pm

     That was the first one I came up with — glad you like it, Yoneco! 🙂 Moo are awesome, aren’t they? All my business cards are from them. Thinking of making stickers in the future..!

5. 

   Donna Brown on May 29, 2012 at 6:12 pm

   I love the cards, I would love to do the same! Great ideas!

   • 

     Ali on May 29, 2012 at 10:01 pm

     Thanks Donna! They were really easy to make (you basically just type in the text, choose a font, and choose a background pattern & colour — if I can do it, anyone can..!)

6. 

   Giulietta Nardone on May 30, 2012 at 6:46 pm

   Great idea! Someone suggested Moo to create some cards and I forgot about it. Thank you for the reminder. I also like the shorter ones.

   G.
   Giulietta Nardone’s last blog post ..Time, Would We Really Want To Save It In A Bottle?

   • 

     Ali on May 31, 2012 at 6:09 pm

     Thanks, Giulietta! Hope you get a chance to make some Moo cards of your own. 🙂

7. 

   Sandee on June 1, 2012 at 8:19 am

   I think you should think about actually printing them (maybe actually business-card sized, for older eyes?) I would definitely buy the set to post on my wall for inspiration!
   ~ Sandee

   • 

     Ali on June 1, 2012 at 4:09 pm

     I never thought of people wanting to buy them, Sandee! I think that’s possible through Moo, but only in quite large sets (50 cards or more). Will have a think about how I might be able to provide them… thanks. 🙂

8. 

   Sabina on June 1, 2012 at 8:07 pm

   I like “Plan, Write, Edit, Publish, Repeat” 🙂

9. 

   farouk on June 3, 2012 at 10:30 am

   very inspiring Ali
   thank you 🙂

10. 

    Lena on June 3, 2012 at 11:36 am

    Although I feel one of them looks cluttered, this is a great idea. I especially love the one with “Build traffic: ….”
    Lena’s last blog post ..Would You Take Me For A Friend?

    • 

      Ali on June 4, 2012 at 10:32 am

      Thanks, Lena! I did them in a bit of a hurry, so the design definitely has room for improvement…!