Note: This Was Done In Outline Form To Help Explain How To Write The: Fill & Download for Free

In my experience, there is a level of code quality that benefits any project on any timescale—and it’s a level above 90% of the code I see in the wild.I am talking basic hygiene:clear, descriptive namingconsistent organization—code laid out based on how it should be understoodintelligent grouping—functions, types, classes, modules and so onsane layout—short lines and enough whitespacedocumentation—the what and the why is explained for each organizational unit of your codeIf you do this, you will save yourself time, tomorrow if not today. I am not exaggerating.Clean code will help you avoid whole classes of bugs and the corresponding drawn-out, frustrating debugging sessions. I learned this the hard way, by cutting corners on clean code and then struggling to fix stupid mistakes or add simple features the same week (if not the same day). It took me multiple projects to draw this connection—after all, most of the mistakes (even the really stupid ones), were, well, just bugs. Even the cleanest of code will have bugs! The aspect it took me years to fully understand was how a lack of code hygiene actively bred bugs and made debugging harder than it had to be.One dynamic that keeps people from realizing this is that they mentally separate the time it takes to write code from the time it takes to debug it. I sympathize: I do the same thing. In my mind, I’m “finished” when I write the final line of my program even before I test it at all. The revision and debugging that happens after the first draft—which can take longer than the initial stage—is its own entity. The fact that the code is unusably broken until I iron out all the obvious problems doesn’t come into it.That’s not how reality works, but that’s how it feels. Feeling done prematurely skews your own understanding of how long a project took. Writing quick-and-dirty code, you might “finish” a feature in three hours and then spend four more debugging it; with clean code, it might take you four hours to write the code but only one to debug it—holistically, the latter is much faster, but if you’re mentally comparing the time it took you to feel “finished”, the quick-and-dirty version comes out ahead.It gets better. Adhering to the rules of basic hygiene I outlined above doesn’t carry a real cost—or at least it shouldn’t. Except for writing documentation, nothing I outlined requires extra work: it only requires healthy habits. Write code right the first time. If you haven’t built up the right habits, writing clean code takes mental energy slowing you down. After you have, you’ll do it without thinking and clean code won’t cost a thing. Even writing code documentation (the kind I described, anyway) should not require significant extra time—all you have to do is put in writing¹ what you’re already thinking about as you’re writing your code. After all, you wouldn’t start writing a function without a general idea of what the function does or why it’s needed, would you?The short-term benefit of writing documentation is in the writing, not the reading. It’s like taking notes in college: even if you didn’t refer to your notes to study, taking them forced you to pay attention and put what you were learning in context. I write a short paragraph describing each function or type I’m introducing before I write any code. Sometimes I end up with a bunch of documented stubs before implementing anything in a module. This approach stops me from punting on fundamental questions like “what am I doing?” and “why am I doing it?”. I need some level of clarity before I dive into coding, which keeps me focused, prevents me from wasting time on unneeded functionality and keeps the high-level organization of me code coherent even if I spend most of my time focused on the tress rather than the forest.Writing messy code will not give you a working product in less time. Instead, it will make your work unfocused and will mire you down in unnecessary debugging.Do you want death marches? Because that’s how you get death marches².You need to develop good habits. That’s on you. Personally, I believe these habits are a low bar we should expect every professional programmer to pass—the fact that most don’t is a real shame. (It’s also eminently human: humans are not good at forcing themselves to spend energy now to build healthy habits for the long term. And building habits does take real work!)There are levels of clean code beyond what I outlined. Software projects need relatively comprehensive automated tests. Core abstractions should be well thought-out and fit the naturally fit the domain. Projects should be extensible in the right places, without so much abstraction that the cost outweighs the benefits.If abstraction is what you mean by “clean” code, it is certainly possible to go overboard—abstractions that are absolutely necessary for enterprise code expected to last years or decades with a large team can be actively counterproductive for a small project by a handful of developers, and abstractions for that small project might get in the way of a one-off script by a researcher. Poorly designed, overly complex abstractions are straight-up counterproductive, regardless of the scope of the project. Making this tradeoff well is difficult; the best results require a rare combination of experience, taste and creativity.But that’s not true for code hygiene, which is largely systematic and benefits everyone, from the researcher writing a one-off script³ to the largest software projects in the world. Don’t trick yourself into writing unhygienic code just because your project doesn’t need too many levels of abstraction. Both of these notions might be described as “clean code”, but they are fundamentally different.footnote¹ This is also the reason I believe that knowing how to touch type is important for programmers. Touch-typing for code is not a big deal, but if you have trouble typing up a paragraph, you’re not going to write nearly as much documentation as you should. Even when you know exactly what to write, it will still take too much energy and willpower if the physical act of writing is difficult. So learn touch typing well enough so that you don’t have to think about it! No need to be a speed demon—you just have to be comfortable.² Death marches lead to a vicious cycle. The problem started because you ran into issues with your code that were hard to solve. You work 60+ hour weeks and don’t get enough sleep. Because you’re overworked and underslept, you write worse code, which leads to more bugs, which leads to more overtime spent debugging. A few weeks in and you’re accomplishing less in absolute terms than you would have had you stuck to ~40 hour weeks. I’m not talking about less per hour, I am talking less overall. And ruining your health to boot. Don’t do it.³ I’ve talked to a lot of researchers who don’t realize this: it is worth writing clean, organized code even if you only plan to run a script once for a paper. The dynamic is the same as for software engineers: on average, you will get your script working faster (less time spent debugging), and all it takes is having the habit of writing code well right off the bat. The habits are worth developing for everyone who ever writes code, not just professional programmers.One-off scripts are rarely truly one-off.At minimum, your research needs to be reproducible. Academia is slow to realize that software is as critical to reproduction as data—and even sharing data is not universal—but sharing research code for reproducibility is becoming more and more common, and not just in CS.Cleaner code will also improve the quality of your research. Here’s a story that repeats across countless papers in different disciplines: you have a new idea to test or a new benchmark to run, but the paper deadline is in two days, and your paper is barely half-done. (Of course.) Perhaps you met a colleague in the hallway who pointed you to a relevant paper you hadn’t seen earlier. Perhaps you realize that your approach has a potential weakness you have to watch out for. How much work would it take you to run the new analysis or extend your benchmark suite? If you wrote clean, reproducible code, it might take you an hour to try your new idea. Maybe you add it to your paper, maybe you don’t, but it made your research more robust. On the other hand, if you wrote truly one-off code, you won’t have the time or energy to try anything new with a deadline looming. The code being a one-off script became a self-fulfilling prophecy—if you hadn’t written it as a one-off, it wouldn’t have been a one-off. If you’re in the habit of treating all your research code as one-offs, you probably don’t even notice all the opportunities you’re missing.

Step by Step Guide to Start Writing a BookStep 1: Pick a GenreTake a quick glance at your bookshelf. What do you see? Mills and Boons historical romances? Charles Bukowski’s Dirty Realism? Paperbacks straight from the NYT Bestsellers list? Anne Rice vampire rip-offs? The complete Dune and Foundation series?Picking a genre is the first step in writing a book. Don’t base this choice on what genres sell best, but what you like to read. A hardcore sci-fi fan writing a ‘new adult’ novel is only going to produce a shoddy book – if she finishes it at all.In other words, write for yourself, not the market. Stephen King puts it best:“When you write a story, you’re telling yourself the story. When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story. Your stuff starts out being just for you, but then it goes out.”Step 2: Start from the EndEndings are the hardest part of any story. Don’t take our word for it; just ask any writer buddy of yours. Most beginners start out strong but find themselves flummoxed by the time the ending draws near. It doesn’t help that the ending is also the thing that stays longest with readers.So before you put a single word to paper, figure out how your story ends. Not how it begins – that can be redrawn and revised indefinitely – how it closes. Work your way backwards. How does the character(s) reach his/her ultimate fate? What are the catalysts that lead to the close? What was their origin? And so on. Your plots will sound much more plausible and you’ll avoid the dreaded Deus Ex Machina that plagues so much fiction.Step 3: Create Your CharactersCharacters, not plots, are the soul of good writing. You don’t recall the story from Henry V; you recall Falstaff. The plot of Catcher in the Rye is mostly superfluous. It’s Holden Caulfield who holds your attention. Same with Sherlock Holmes, Atticus Finch, and Hercule Poirot. Characters stay with readers for generations, the stories are mostly forgotten.This is why you must draw out your characters before you start writing the book. These tips should help:Write a Character Biography: When was the character born? What is her name? Who were her parents? Was she rich, poor, or middle-class? Where did she go to school? What did she study in college? Answering questions like these will help draw a deep portrait of the character and make her more convincing.Understand the Character’s Motivations: What does your character want? What are her motivations for doing what she does?Understand Character Arc: Character arc refers to the character’s development through the story. The essential quality of every good character is change. For example, Harry Potter starts off naïve and ends up a steely eyed adult, while Frodo Baggins is a nobody from Shire who ends up as the savior of Middle Earth.Understand the Struggle: “Character A wants B, but C stands in the way”. How A manages to overcome C and get B is the heart of any story. For example: Rocky wants to be a champion, but crushing poverty and Apollo Creed stand in his way. How he overcomes this is the meat of Rocky, not the final fight itself.Step 4: Make an OutlineOnce you have your characters firmly in place, start creating an outline of the plot. This is meant to serve as a very rough guideline to hold the plot in place. You don’t have to follow it word for word; feel free to improvise while you write.Chiefly, the outline should:Give a brief overview of what happens in each chapter.Delineate the primary struggle in the novel.Show how different events and characters interact and affect each other (A murders B, C takes the fall, etc.)Allow plenty of room for improvisationStep 5: Write the First Draft“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed”-Ernest HemingwayThe first draft is where you discover the story by yourself.As you write, you’ll find characters and plots growing in directions you’d never thought possible. The outlines you wrote earlier will often be discarded as you experiment with characters, plots, styles and forms. This is a place for you to break the mold and push yourself creatively. Don’t bother being perfect; the faster you can jot down ideas on paper, the better. Eventually, this rough collection of thoughts, ideas, and plotlines will come together into a comprehensible book – after due editing and countless revisions of course. For now, focus on writing – anything.Step 6: Get Yourself a DrinkNow that you’re done with the first draft, head over to the nearest watering hole and grab yourself a drink. You’ve earned it.Step 7: RewriteThis is the part where most writers fail. Slinging out a rough draft is easy enough; turning that incomprehensible mess into something readers would want to read takes time, patience and practice.Ideally, you should give yourself a few months between first draft and first rewrite. This gives you the creative distance necessary to analyze the writing dispassionately.Ask sharp, pertinent questions – does the plot make sense? Are the characters convincible? Is the pace too slow? Too fast? Is the writing crisp and creative enough? Is the story fun to read?The first rewrite should take you considerably longer than the first draft. Don’t worry about getting every word right – you’ll take care of that during editing. For now, focus on pulling the rough ideas in the draft into a narrative that actually makes sense.Step 8: Edit“Write Drunk; Edit Sober”– Ernest HemingwayDone with the first rewrite? Don’t start partying yet. There is still lots of work to be done.Editing is the opposite of creative writing. Instead of spinning beautiful metaphors and creating lush imagery, you have to actually delete linguistic flourishes. The amazing adverb you found after an hour’s search in the thesaurus? Gone. Those long-winded, poetic asides? Deleted.This is where, as Stephen King puts it, you must “kill your darlings”.To make this murder slightly easier, follow these tips:Minimize Adverb Use: Adverbs are the lazy man’s writing crutches. They reduce into a single word what should generally be conveyed by context. “He walked quickly to the door as Lily pulled into the garage” is not bad writing, it’s lazy writing. Try being more descriptive – “He rushed to the door as soon as he heard Lily’s car pull into the garage”.Use Plenty of Synonyms: This quote from Dead Poet’s Society says it all:“So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys – to woo women – and, in that endeavor, laziness will not do. It also won’t do in your essays.”Tighten Up: A book is no place for lazy writing. Take out words and passages that aren’t absolutely crucial to the story. Your book should be half its original length after a solid round of editing.Get Outside Help: Most writers don’t have the critical distance to edit their own books properly. Consider getting outside help – a professional editor or a friend – to look over your manuscript.Step 9: Party!Congratulations – you’ve now written your very first book. This is the time to hit the clubs and party hard. Then wake up next morning and start working on your second book!Source : UdemyEdit : Thanks a lot guys for your upvotes. I am sharing a small guide on how to write a book in 2018. Lets have a look on it too.How to Write a Book in 2018: A Definitive Guide for WritersSo you want to learn how to write a book in 2018?I think you'll agree with me when I say learning to write a book for the first time is a challenge.Let’s tackle that.Over the past few years, I’ve written a 60,000+ word book about productivity, a novella and several short stories. I’ve also recently completed a 60,000+ word book about creativity.I’ve faced a lot of painful mistakes while writing books, and I’ve also learned a little bit about how to write a book.In this post, I want to explain exactly how to write a book based on what I’ve learned.I also want to reveal some of my mistakes and some proven book writing tips, so you can get started writing a book today.Caveat:Although I write fiction and non-fiction, my specialism is non-fiction writing.In this guide, I focus on how to write a non-fiction book in 2018.That said, you can still use some of the lessons from this post if you want to learn how to write a fiction book.GET A SPREADSHEET FOR TRACKING YOUR WRITINGContents [hide]Commit to Writing Your BookWhat You Need to Know About Writing a Book for the First TimeDetermine Why You Should Write a BookResearch Your AudienceEstablish What Your Book is AboutDecide What Type of Writer You AreBudget for Self-Publishing Your BookResearch Your BookInterview Experts for Your BookKnow When to Stop Researching and Start WritingOrganise Your Ideas and Outline Your BookSet a DeadlineWrite That Messy First DraftManage Your Writing Time Like a ProTrack Your ProgressLet Your Work SitWrite Your Second and Third DraftsHire an EditorHire a ProofreaderFormatting and Publishing Your BookKnow When You’re at The EndCommit to Writing Your BookCan anyone write a book?Writing your first book is a time-consuming creative project that demands months (or even years) of your time.Before you decide to write one ask yourself if you have the mental resources, the creative energy and the time to do it.You do?Great.You’re going to have to write almost every day and sacrifice other things in your life or rearrange your day so you can put writing first, if only for a little while.When I wrote my first book, I gave up playing Call of Duty and Halo because I didn’t have the time to write and to play games.In other words, like anything worth doing, you must stick to your commitment when times get tough, when you feel like you’re not progressing as fast as you’d like or when the writing is more like work and less like something you’re passionate about.You must adopt the mindset of a professional writer who doesn’t call in sick or give up because he or she doesn’t feel like doing the work, you must become a professional writer who goes in and gets the job done.What You Need to Know About Writing a Book for the First TimeThis is because you may be unsure of what a book should achieve and how to publish it. Book writing, like any skill, takes time to develop. You need to learn skills like writing the first draft, self-editing, arranging your ideas and son on.Stephen King, for example, threw a draft of his first book in the bin. His wife fished the book Carrie out of the trash and encouraged him to finish and publish it.It took me three years to write my first novella, and it took me a year to write my second book.Determine Why You Should Write a BookMost people leave out how lonely the writing process feels when you’re starting off.You have to spend hours researching your book, writing and rewriting it, and sitting alone in a room with only your words and ideas for company.If you’ve never written a book the isolation is difficult to get used to but don’t worry, it’ll pass as you get into the process of writing a book.Now the people close to you may understand what you’re doing, but don’t count on it!Listen to this: one new writer struggling with his book emailed me to say:“One of the reasons I have not gone farther with writing is because family sees me working at a computer, or like today with a cell phone and thinks I’m goofing off.”You’ll be able to handle isolation, other people’s judgments and keep motivated if you know why you should write a book in the first place.Here are some questions to ask yourself:Is my book a passion project?Am I writing this book to improve my craft?Will this book help me advance my career or become an expert in my field?How will I serve existing or new readers with my book?Is a book the best medium for me to express my ideas?Do I want to generate a side-income from my book and if so, how much?Do I have a plan for the marketing, promotion and distribution of my book?Will this book help me advance my dream for writing full-time?Have at least four to seven reasons for why you’re writing a book in the first place because they will help you keep motivated when you feel isolated or when others question what you’re doing.Why do I write books?To practice writing and improve my craftTo help other writers and readersTo deepen my knowledge of various topicsTo earn a side-income from book salesResearch Your AudienceAs a savvy, writer it’s your job to find out what your audience wants, likes and dislikes.Spend an hour or two browsing Amazon and finding Kindle books about your topic. Look for books in your niche with a sales ranking below 30,000.Typically, these books sell at least five copies a day, meaning they’re popular with readers and earn a return for the author.Read at least five of the books in your niche, taking note of the titles, categories and ideas behind each book.So, how do you get new ideas for your book? Study the good and bad reviews for these books, so you can see what readers liked and disliked and how you can do better.One great way to do this is to combine several different ideas from different books and then remix them with your writing.Figure out what you’re going to say that’s different because if you want to add value for readers, you must offer something other writers (your competition) don’t.Establish What Your Book is AboutAlthough you may have a vague idea of what you want to write about, you’ll save a lot of time if you clarify your idea before you start writing.So how do you get ideas to write a book?Get a blank piece of paper and spend an hour asking and answering questions like:Who is this book for?What’s the big idea behind my book?What am I trying to say?How is my book different to everything else that’s out there?Why should people spend their money (or time) reading my book?What can I offer that no one else can?Nobody has to see your answers, so be as honest as you can.You might know what your book is about, but does your reader?Unless you’re writing fiction or literary non-fiction, craft a positioning statement for your book, so you know what it’s about in one sentence.Here are three templates:My book helps ________________ who ________________ get ________________.My book teaches ________________ how to ________________.My book helps ________________ who ________________ achieve ________________.And here’s my positioning statement for my book about creativity. “My book helps people who don’t think they’ve any ideas become more creative.”Doing this extra work upfront will help you avoid spending hours writing a book, only to find you hate your idea. And if you’re self-publishing your book, your answers will also help you market your book so readers care.Decide What Type of Writer You AreThere’s two types of writers: pantsters and plotters.Pantsters are writers who sit down in front of the blank page with only a vague idea of where they are going or what the story is about. They write from the seat of their pants inventing things as they go along and are happy to see to see where their characters take them. They write with a connection to God, their muse or their sub-consciousness. Stephen King is a pantster.Plotters are writers who spend weeks or months organising their ideas, deciding what they want to write about in advance. When plotters sit down to write, they have a strong idea of what they’re going to say and they’ve the research to back it up. Robert Greene, the author of Masteryand the 48 Laws of Power, is a plotter.I’ve tried both approaches, and there’s nothing wrong with either.You’ll discover what type of writer you are (and your voice will emerge) if you turn up and do the work.Remember, as Seth Godin says, everybody’s writing process is different.After years of painful rewrites, unfinished manuscripts and pulling my hair out, I found out that I’m a plotter. I like to know what I’m writing about in advance. I NEED to know what I’m writing about in advance. Today, I’m convinced being a plotter lends itself well to most types of non-fiction writing.Budget for Self-Publishing Your BookI’ve written before about the cost of self-publishing a book.Writing a book is free (unless you count your time) but publishing a book is not. So please, budget for hiring an editor, proofreader and a cover designer. Recently, I spent:USD2000 on an editor for a 60,0000-word book about creativityUSD500 on a proofreaderUSD250 on a cover designerAnd what else did I budget for?Well because I’m self-publishing this book I set aside several hundred dollars for Facebook ads and for various book promotional services on Fiverr. You can get all of the above for cheaper (which I’ll explain), but please understand that having an editor, proofreader and cover designer is non-negotiable.Here’s the truth: If you want to write a book readers enjoy, you must invest more than just time in your book.Research Your BookRobert Greene says he reads 300–400 books over the course of 12–24 months before he starts writing a book. He uses an analogue system of flashcards to record lessons and stories from each of these books and highlights what he reads. He says “I read a book, very carefully, writing on the margins with all kinds of notes.A few weeks later I return to the book, and transfer my scribbles onto note cards, each card representing an important theme in the book.”You may not be writing a book as dense as Robert’s but research is an important part of learning how to write a book. Have a system for recording and organising your research.You could use Evernote like I do, create a mind map or use index cards like Robert. I use my Kindle to highlight key sections in books I read. Once a week I review these highlights and record notes about them in Evernote. This way, I have a digital filing system of everything I’ve come across.Interview Experts for Your BookIn another life I was a journalist, and part of my job involved interviewing politicians, business people and even authors.Can I be honest with you?The interviews that caused me the most problems were over 60 minutes long because they took hours to listen to and transcribe.Don’t make my mistake. I recommend keeping your interviews between 30–60 minutes and working out what you want to ask interviewees about in advance.You can also save a lot of time by getting your interviews transcribed for a dollar a minute using Rev.Know When to Stop Researching and Start WritingSo, how much research is too much?Well, Robert Greene’s books are dense 500+ page non-fiction books filled with historical stories and psychological insights. In other words, research forms the backbone of what Robert writes.Your book might not depend on so much research up-front. There comes a point where research stops being helpful and transforms into a type of procrastination.Besides, you can always continue to research you book as you write… once you have a system for capturing your ideas as you go.Organise Your Ideas and Outline Your BookOutlining my bookI outlined my book about creativity in advance. I started by reading dozens of books about creativity over the course of a year before deciding to tackle this topic.Then, I free wrote about creativity for an hour or so.Then, I extracted the ideas I wanted to write about. I turned them into provisional chapter titles and recorded on them on twenty index cards, one for each chapter.On each card, I created a rough list of ideas in the form of five to ten bullet points. I also noted other books and stories to reference.Then, I pinned these index cards to a wall near where I write so I could live with this outline for a few weeks. I spent several weeks working on this outline before transferring it to my computer and expanding upon each of the bullet points.Why did I do this?I wanted to spend as much mental energy during the planning stage as I could so that when the time came to put words on the page, I wouldn’t have to worry as much about what I was saying.Outlining my book with pen and paper, and then later with Evernote, helped me figure out what I wanted to write about in each chapter, identify gaps in my research and problems in my work UPFRONT.Obviously, my outline and table of contents evolved while I was writing the book, but when I was starting from ‘Total word count: 0’, my outline served as a map. It saved me time and helped me beat procrastination.Set a DeadlineProfessional writers work to deadlines.A typical non-fiction book is between 60,000 and 80,000 words, and a typical novel can be anywhere between 60,000 and 120,000 words. (That said, there’s a case for writing shorter non-fiction books if you’re self-publishing)So, if you want to write a non-fiction book, and you commit to writing 1000 words a day, it will take you 60 days to write a first draft if you write every day.Do you need to write every day? If this is your first book, it’s unrealistic to expect you can write every day for several months. Instead, aim to write five or six days a week. If you haven’t written much before, set a more achievable target daily word count along the lines of 300 or 400 words.Then, with some basic maths and a calendar (I use Google’s), you can work out how long writing the first draft of your book will take and set yourself a deadline.Write That Messy First DraftWriting the first draft of a book is intimidating. You look at the blank page in front of you and you wonder how you’re going to fill this page and hundreds of other pages to come. Don’t overthink it.Instead, find somewhere you can write quietly for an hour and do all you can to get the words out of your head and onto the blank page.The first draft is sometimes called the vomit draft because you just need to get it out! Don’t stop to edit yourself, review what you’ve written or to see if what you’re saying makes sense.I find it helpful to set a target word count for my writing sessions. I usually aim to write 1500 words in an hour, set a timer and open Scrivener. Then, I keep my fingers moving until I reach the target word count or until the buzzer sounds.While you’re writing your first draft, keep your outline and notes nearby, to guide you through each section in your chapter.My writing isn’t good enough, I feel like I’ll never finish my first draft!A writer asked me this question a few weeks ago.First of all, the job of your first draft is simply to exist, so please don’t worry about the writing… that comes later. If you feel like you’ll never finish it, start writing in the middle of the chapter that’s causing your problems.Here’s why: Introductions explain what you’re about to say next, but how can you write an introduction if you don’t know what comes next?Similarly, conclusions wrap up what you just said, but how can you write one if you don’t know what you just said! Jumping straight into the middle of a chapter will help you gain momentum faster. Then, take your first draft chapter by chapter.Tip: Speech to text software will help you write faster.Manage Your Writing Time Like a ProI wrote my first book when I was working in a job I disliked, just after my wife had our daughter.I didn’t have enough free time to write eight hours a day. Even if I did, I lacked the mental discipline to do it.When I was starting out, I wrote every night after 9 PM when the kids were in bed. However, I quickly found that when I put writing last in the day, it was least likely to happen.Now, I block-book time in my calendar for writing every morning at 6 AM, and I do all I can stick to this. It helps that my daughter is now five. IIf you’re a new writer or you’ve never written a book before, you’re probably balancing writing your book with a job and family commitments. So, pick a time that you’re going to write every day, block-book it in your calendar and do all you can to stick to it.Managing your writing time also means saying no to other activities and ideas… if they take you away from the blank page.Did I ever tell you about the podcast I almost launched? Well, I had a great idea for a podcast, and I even bought all the audio equipment, but then I realised spending time on a podcast would have taken away from writing my creativity book.Track Your ProgressOne of the biggest tips I can give you for writing your first book is to track your daily word count and how long you spend writing each day.Ernest Hemingway recorded his daily word count on a board next to where he wrote, so as not to kid himself.Tracking your daily word count will help measure your word count and see how far you need to go to reach your target for writing your first book.Your daily word count becomes less important when you’re writing the second and third draft or editing your book.During these rewrites, you should be more concerned about shaping your ideas and working on the flow and structure of your book than an arbitrary word count.When you’re at this point, it’s more helpful to know long you spend rewriting or editing your book.No matter the stage of your book, you should be able to :Review your word count and how long you write forIdentify if you reached any milestones like finishing a chapter or sectionSee what’s holding you backFigure out what you need to write or research nextTrack your wordcount in 2018Remember, what gets measured gets managed and what gets managed, gets done.Source : How to Write a Book: The Seriously Ultimate Guide for New Writers

Over the course of getting my undergraduate and two graduate degrees (very different from one another), I collected tips and learned from professors who went to Ivy League schools. Then I studied, researched, and compiled dozens of additional tips on how to study smarter and not necessarily harder, because going to school is tough enough and having a shortcut or two can make a huge difference. Now, for a part of my career I coach students (many from those same top schools) to maximize their day, use their time effectively, and get results without feeling like they’re putting their life on hold.Why? Because you should enjoy every single year of your life, especially while you’re in college!Here are my top 10 tips for studying smarter:Tip #1. Start the day with a BBB: a brain-boosting breakfast.Boost your brain power ahead of a busy study day with food that will give you energy, improve your focus, and optimize your brain function.Oatmeal mixed with 1 tablespoon flaxseeds, 1 teaspoon peanut butter, sliced banana or other fresh fruit, and some walnuts or almonds on top. Flaxseeds are an excellent source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a healthy fat that boosts cerebral cortex function and helps to build and protect neurons.A parfait: Layer 1/2 cup of yogurt, 1 tablespoon granola, 1 cup fresh fruit (sliced or diced), and a spoonful of nuts such as walnuts and almonds. Almonds are beneficial for increased attention and awareness necessary for learning, as well as restoring memory and cognitive function.Eggs. They’re a powerful mix of B vitamins (they help nerve cells to burn glucose), antioxidants (they protect neurons against damage), and omega-3 fatty acids (they keep nerve cells functioning at optimal speed). Have two eggs either soft or hard-boiled, or make an omelette with some mushrooms or spinach.A beet and berry smoothie. The natural nitrates in beets can increase blood flow to your brain which improves mental performance. In a blender, combine 1/2 cup orange juice, 1 cup frozen berries, 1/2 cup diced beets (raw or roasted), 1 tablespoon granola, 2–3 dates, 1/4 cup coconut water or plain low-fat yogurt, and 3 ice cubes. Blend for one minute.Tip #2. Commit to reaching ONE study goal a day.The best way to get your mind on board to concentrate on studying is to start the day with a question: “What is the one thing I am committed to completing today?”Why it’s important: It will encourage you to think strategically about the day, keep you focused on your top study goal, and force you to prioritize the one goal that you want to reach by the end of the day. This doesn’t mean that you don’t have many study goals, but it does means that you can finish one today (read a certain number of chapters or practice exam questions, for example), so that you can concentrate better on your other goals in the days that follow.How you can practice it: Write the question in big bold letters on a sheet of paper and hang it on your bedroom or bathroom wall. Pick a location where you can easily see the question as soon as you wake up (next to your bed or the bathroom mirror, for example). Then, read it out loud as you start your day. Take a few moments to think what you want to prioritize, and then come up with an answer and say it out loud too. Later, as you go through the day, make sure you’re working on completing what you’ve identified as your study goal for that day.Tip #3. Let your brain map out the learning process.This technique is called building a mental model: you imagine in detail how you expect things will go during your studies and even when you get to exam time. By telling yourself a story, you train your brain to anticipate your progress. Here’s how:Start your day by visualizing your success with studying. Do this before you begin your study session, and set aside about 5–10 minutes for this activity. You can do it either before you get up in the morning, while you’re having breakfast, or right after breakfast as you’re sitting with your eyes closed.Be detailed in thinking about all the steps you will take. This can include covering the chapters and exercises planned for that day, to taking the time to review the material, to writing out an outline of important concepts, to practicing exam questions and knowing the answers.Anticipate and identify which parts you will find challenging to understand and remember. This helps you prepare for problems so you don’t end up getting surprised because you don’t understand a part of the lecture. Then, come up with ways to resolve this (for example, by asking a classmate, reaching out to the professor during office hours or via email, or by designating a little extra time for review).Imagine yourself at the end of the day feeling great about covering the study material and understanding what’s most important. It’s not all about just what happens on exam day that can contribute to your feeling of success. Celebrating small wins every day will boost your motivation and help you feel more positive about moving ahead.Take a minute to think what you will do in the evening to treat yourself for all your hard work. Maybe you’ll want to go for a long walk or bike ride by yourself or with a friend, enjoy a run through the park, prepare a dinner with some of your favorite ingredients, watch a fun movie, or spend some quality time with a friend or family member.Tip #4. Tackle the most difficult material early in the day.Why study early? It’s all about taking advantage of your circadian rhythm, which dictates which activities we’re more likely to do best at certain times of the day. For most people, your brain’s peak performance happens 2-4 hours after you wake up. This is the time when your brain can focus on analytical thinking that requires the most concentration. For studying, this can be reading, writing, coding, analyzing, critical thinking, or problem solving.When should you study? If you wake up at 8, your peak times are between 10 and 12. And just because it’s noon, it doesn’t mean you have to stop; feel free to extend this time for another hour or so to maximize your peak performance and wrap up an important section, chapter, or lecture.What are the benefits? Doing your hard work early in the day allows your brain to focus fully on the problem at hand, with fewer distractions, less inputs from your environment, and with a lot of energy that you've gained from a restful night. It's the exact opposite of what can happen if you leave your toughest studying for nighttime, when you are exhausted, both mentally and physically, from the day. That time is much better for going over the material you’ve already covered earlier.Tip #5. Work shorter and smarter.For most efficient studying, you don’t need to be sitting at your desk for hours. Use a timer to better manage your study session. That way you allow your brain to focus in a more targeted and effective way. Here are some examples:Read and review study material. Set the timer to 30 or 60 minute increments to maximize concentration; or, for really short bursts of study, try the Pomodoro technique which consists of 25 minute blocks of time, followed by 5 minute breaks.Practice exam questions. Use the review questions from your textbook or handouts prepared by your professor; you can also create your own questions based on the most important concepts from each chapter. Write the questions down on a sheet of paper. Then, use the Pomodoro technique to rehearse for the exam. Give yourself only a short time to answer each question. Use each 25-minute block of time to cover several questions, and go down the list until you’ve covered them all.Take breaks. When you're done with one timed segment, step away from your desk and do something completely unrelated to work: get some fresh air, stretch, have a snack, grab a cup of coffee or tea.Tip #6. Master your note-taking skills.Don’t just sit and read the textbook passively; write stuff down. This improves your brain's cognitive skills, makes retention of information easier, and boosts memory.Note down what’s relevant. This includes key concepts, ideas, and topics. Don’t waste time writing down every single word, Instead, boost your critical thinking skills by identifying what is relevant to the topic. An excellent example of how to write relevant information is to use the Cornell Method.Use bulleted lists. This saves time, enables you to skim the material when you need it, helps you locate information faster, and makes the review process easier.Use color. Get notes more organized with multi-colored pens, markers, or highlighters to emphasize the most important sections. Use specific colors to highlight top priority concepts, then pick other colors to identify second level priority items such as examples and additional information.Make additional information easily visible. When you find more information you want to add to your notes later, draw an asterisk (*) next to the concept that you want to expand on, then add the new information in a footnote at bottom of the page.Tip #7. Become a pro at eliminating distractions.Distractions can easily take you away from the work you’re focusing on. You know only too well how this goes: you think you’ll spend ten minutes browsing Facebook or Twitter, and next thing you know two hours flew by without you noticing. And on top of everything, you’re starting to feel overwhelmed and maybe even stressed out with all that information overload. Time to minimize all that noise. Here’s what can help:Check your email and social media apps only 2–3 times a day (around lunchtime, later in the afternoon, and evening).Set your phone to Airplane mode when you need to focus, or simply turn off the volume and put it away for a few hours.Avoid browsing the Internet or reading the daily news; leave these activities for later after you’ve completed all the items you need to cover.Set expectations with others by letting them know you won’t be available in the next few hours; this can apply to family members, classmates, and close friends.Tip #8. Boost memorization with the teaching technique.One of the most powerful memory techniques is recalling newly learned information by teaching it to someone else or simply retelling it to yourself out loud. This helps you review, recall, and retain what you’ve learned better than just silently looking over the material. Here’s how to get started:Get an audience. It can be a close friend, study partner or family member. Too shy to speak to anyone? Pretend you have a couple of invisible students who really need to learn what you just covered, or use the family dog to be your attentive listener - chances are they’ll enjoy the attention!Create a private classroom. Take a large sheet of white paper (or tape together several sheets for a bigger writing surface), then tape it to your bedroom wall at eye level. Be sure you have some leg room to stand in front of it. Have a pen handy, and a thick black marker (or different colored highlighters) to underline important concepts.Get to work. Write an outline of the most important points in the chapter you just covered, then go over the concepts aloud one by one. Make your “lecture” come alive by drawing diagrams on the side and by providing a few examples. At the end, summarize the key parts of your lecture and highlight these sections with your thick marker, which can help you recall details better and solidify what you’ve learned.Tip #9. Set aside some time in the evening for strategic thinking.This is typically the time of day when the brain slows down, doesn't go at top speed to adhere to deadlines, so it has space for more creative thinking. Use this time to focus on strategic activities. For example:Set your study goals for the week so you’re always thinking two steps ahead.Strategize ways to optimize your learning by finding new learning tools, resources or apps that can help you study smarter.Review your schedule for the next day so you know what’s coming up.Contemplate the big picture with questions such as:Where you would like to be once you’re done with your exams?What are your long-term goals?What is the career you want for yourself?What are the steps you’ll need to take to get started on the next phase of your professional development?Tip #10. Plan for getting enough sleep to help your brain organize what you’ve learned.What are the benefits of sleep? Neuroscientists believe that sleep can help us learn and memorize better, and also give our brain time to get rid of unnecessary waste. Conversely, chronic sleep deprivation can reduce our cognitive abilities, can impact our concentration, and can even reduce IQ.How can you optimize your sleep? Adjust your sleeping position so that you sleep on your side. According to a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the brain’s glymphatic pathway (the exchange of two fluids, the cerebrospinal fluid in your brain and the interstitial fluid in your body) helps to eliminate “brain junk,” and this process of elimination is most effective when we sleep on our side. The result? You wake up more refreshed the next day with a clear mind.What helps to unwind faster in the evening? There are things you can do each evening to make the transition from study time to sleep time easier. Step away from electronics (mainly your computer and TV screens), because the light may be keeping you alert without you even being aware of it. Have a cup of herbal tea, some warm milk with honey, or a magnesium supplement (in tablet or powder form). Then, do something relaxing 15–20 minutes before bedtime: listen to some music, read a chapter of that book you’ve wanted to start, or just close your eyes and breathe deeply for 10 counts before you brush your teeth and get ready for bed.And here’s a bonus tip: read books that empower you as a student!They can be books that teach you how to simplify your studying strategy, help you learn tools so you can focus better, and show you how much your success lies in the mindset that you cultivate about what you are studying.Here are my top 3 picks:How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less by Cal Newport. This book is a practical guide to studying smarter instead of harder. You can find out how to conquer procrastination, what’s the difference between pseudo work and real work, as well as how, when, and where it’s best to study. If you’ve often found yourself sitting at your desk for days getting frustrated because you’re not making the progress you need to pass your exams in order to graduate, start with this book.Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck. It explains in detail how we adopt a certain mindset about our abilities very early in life, due to the messages we receive from parents and teachers when we are still very young. These messages are then “baked in” to our understanding of what and how we “should” study, what our strengths and weaknesses are, and what to avoid. You will learn the difference between a fixed mindset (believing that your affinities and talents are set in stone) and a growth mindset (believing that you can grow and cultivate your skills through continuous efforts). The former can be detrimental to your studying, but the latter can be incredibly empowering!Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World also by Cal Newport. This book explains the importance of deep work: the ability to focus on cognitively demanding tasks in order to achieve more in less time. Newport uses many real-life examples to explain why this is a challenge in the 21st century that revolves around distractions, mainly emails and social media. He also provides practical suggestions how to deal with distractions and how you can master your deep work so that you can excel in your chosen field of study or expertise.