A question that every writer is bound to face sooner or later is,”What is the best time to write?”

The politically correct answer would be: “When inspiration strikes” or even a, “When you feel like it.”

But if you write on a regular basis, or have a regularly updated blog, I am sure, you are aware that waiting for inspiration to strike you is a definite recipe for not getting anything written. Sometimes, you are so far from being inspired that you are actually looking for excuses to do anything but write. How can you get yourself to write during such times?

If you want to be taken seriously as a writer, or a blogger, you have to meet deadlines and, more likely than not, write according to a schedule. Also, if you want to make money as a writer, writing to a schedule becomes even more important.

When runner Roger Bannister (now Sir Roger Bannister) propelled his body across an Oxford track finish line on a blustery day in May 1954, he was reasonably confident he had achieved a four-minute mile.

The rest of the universe, however, was stunned. The world record (until then, 4:01.4) had stood for nine years and sportswriters of the day had created an enormous mystique around the four-minute mark. They convinced a willing-to-believe public that it was an unreachable, unrealistic and possibly even dangerous goal.

So what does this have to do with writing? Well, the Bannister story sprang to my mind this week as I was coaching a client who was thoroughly convinced that she could not write quickly. She’s not alone in her passionately-held belief.

Web content writing and website promotion is the first niche that I started breaking into. I am still learning about writing different types of web pages and I have experience in writing SEO articles and article marketing. Here is an overview of this niche and some tips regarding how to get started with this type of writing and how to do it well.

Different Types of Web Content

Blogs. For freelance writers, blogging is an important tool. Maintaining a blog with high quality posts is an easy and free way to self-publish, build your portfolio, establish credibility on certain subjects, and market yourself as a writer. Blogging can also open doors for your writing career. Writing blog posts for other people or companies can become a regular paying job in itself if you write for enough clients.

SEO Writing. Search Engine Optimization includes the methods used to raise the ranking of a website. SEO writing is basically preparing content that is rich with popular keywords or phrases and links. There is an increasing demand for writing website pages, articles, and blog posts that will attract search engines and place websites among the top links on the first page of the search results on popular search engines. It is not as complicated as it sounds, and it is actually one of the quickest ways to start earning money when freelancing online.

Successful writers share one common trait—they market themselves using very easy-to-implement tactics. Yet even as demand for writers is skyrocketing, many freelancers would rather spend their time walking the dog or washing the dishes.

“What we’ve got here is a major disconnect. Never before in the history of words has the demand for freelance writers been so high. Yet I constantly hear from copywriters, journalists, technical writers and copyeditors that ‘marketing’ is a four-letter word,” says Michael A. Stelzner, one of America’s top-paid freelance writers.

There’s plenty of work for the taking. According to a recent Junta42 study, 6 in 10 businesses are spending more for content production. The need for case studies, ebooks, newsletters, articles, websites, white papers and press releases is growing at an unprecedented rate.

Journalism is, in most respects, the backbone of the media industry. Therefore many media jobs require some aspect of journalism. The type of writing a journalist does depends largely on the subject they cover. Another thing which affects a journalist’s job is the outlet they produce news for: TV, the Internet, a newspaper, etc.

That being said, a “traditional” journalist reports the news. What does that mean? Well it can mean various things. The standard image of a journalist, and one often portrayed in movies, is of someone working a beat for a newspaper and finding stories. Which begs the question: What is a beat?

Working a Beat

A beat is a media term for the area, or topic, a journalist covers. So a beat could be anything from local crime, to national news to Hollywood movies. Beats can be very specific, or broader, depending on the kind of publication you’re working for. A mid-size daily newspaper, for example, will have reporters covering everything from local police goings-on to local sports.

Thomas Alva Edison once said that genius was one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Over the years many writers and writing instructors have borrowed that Edisonian quote rephrasing it to read “Writing is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Gene Fowler put it this way, “Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” Only the stout hearted that are ready to labor long and hard need apply here. Becoming a successful freelance writer is extremely hard work. For most it’s a mental labor equivalent to the physical labor involved in digging a ditch using pick ax and shovel.

Many years ago, more years than I care to recall, when I first became involved with sales, my trainer told me that the only way one really learns to sell is by selling. The same thing applies to writing, one can only learn the art and craft of writing by writing. One can learn the mechanics of writing by reading books, taking online courses, by attending courses on campus or by taking correspondence courses. Understanding the mechanics of writing is essential to becoming a good writer but understanding the mechanics of writing will not make a successful, published writer, only long hours of hard labor and persistence will accomplish that goal.

Read! Read! Read! Read everything but study the types of publications that you want to write for and learn their editorial style. Study how successful writers write. Learn how they approach their audience because you must write for your audience if you are to become successful. If there are certain genre magazines that you hope to write for on a regular bases, subscribe to them and try to develop a relationship with their editorial staff.