THE MIRACLE MORNING FOR WRITERS

Copyright © 2016 by Hal Elrod International, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cover Copyright © 2016 by Hal Elrod International, Inc.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
mechanical or electronic, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage
and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author or publisher (except by a
reviewer, who may quote brief passages and/or show brief video clips in a review).

Disclaimer: The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation.
This work is sold with the understanding that the Author and Publisher are not engaged in
rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. Neither the Author nor the Publisher
shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or website is referred
to in this work as a citation or a potential source of further information does not mean that the
Author or the Publisher endorses the information that the organization or website may provide
or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet websites listed
in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when
it is read.

Interior Design: Christina Culbertson, 3CsBooks.com

A SPECIAL INVITATION FROM HAL
 CONTENTS
Foreword by James Altucher .............................................................................xii
Introduction: My Miracle Morning .....................................................................xv

DEDICATION 1. Why Mornings Matter (More Than You Think) .....................................................1

2. It Only Takes Five Minutes to Become a Morning Person ...................................6

HAL 3. The Life S.A.V.E.R.S. for Writers .........................................................................15

4. Not-So-Obvious Writing Principle #1: Building the Routine ............................42

STEVE

5. Not-So-Obvious Writing Principle #2: Treat Your Writing Like a Job ..............60

6. Not-So-Obvious Writing Principle #3: Tracking Your Brilliant Ideas ...............81

7. Not-So-Obvious Writing Principle #4: Creating Consistent Content That

Readers Love ......................................................................................................95
8. Not-So-Obvious Writing Principle #5: Monetizing Your Words ......................123

9. Not-So-Obvious Writing Principle #6: Building a Writer Platform.................157

10. The Miracle Equation ........................................................................................175

A Special Invitation: (In Case You Missed It the First Time) ...........................184
FOREWORD
BY JAMES ALTUCHER
INTRODUCTION
BY STEVE SCOTT
From Night Owl to Early Bird
 It’s Your Turn

The Miracle Morning for Writers

 —1—
WHY MORNINGS MATTER
(MORE THAN YOU THINK)

Why Mornings Matter So Much

Mornings? Really?
 —2—
IT ONLY TAKES FIVE MINUTES
TO BECOME A MORNING
PERSON
The Challenge with Waking Up The Five-Minute Snooze-Proof Wake-Up Strategy
Miracle Morning Bonus Wake-Up Tips
 Phase One: Unbearable (Days 1–10)

Phase Two: Uncomfortable (Days 11–20)

How to Go from Unbearable to Unstoppable (In 30 Days)

 Phase Three: Unstoppable (Days 21–30)

What Do I DO With My Morning?

Taking Immediate Action:

 —3—
THE LIFE S.A.V.E.R.S.
SIX PRACTICES GUARANTEED TO SAVE YOU
FROM A LIFE OF UNFULFILLED POTENTIAL

S is for Silence

Why the Life S.A.V.E.R.S. Work

The Bene ts of Silence
Guided Meditations and Meditation Apps
Miracle Morning (Individual) Meditation
 Why the Old Way of Doing Af rmations Doesn’t Work

A is for Af rmations

Lying to Yourself Doesn’t Work

Passive Language Doesn’t Produce Results

4 Steps to Create Af rmations That Improve Your Writing
Business

Step 1: The Extraordinary Result You Are Committed to and

Why

Step 3: Recite Your Af rmations Every Morning with Emotion

 Step 4: Constantly Update and Evolve Your Af rmations

Af rmations to Become a Proli c Writer

V is for Visualization

3 Simple Steps for Miracle Morning Visualization

What Do You Visualize?

Step 1: Get Ready

 Step 2: Visualize What You Really Want

E is for Exercise

Step 3: Visualize Who You Need To Be and What You Need To Do

Final Thoughts on Visualization

 Final Thoughts on Exercise

Exercise for Your Brain

R is for Reading
 On Mindset:

On the Craft of Writing:

How Much Should You Read?

Final Thoughts on Reading

S is for Scribing
Effective Journaling
 Final Thoughts on the Life S.A.V.E.R.S.

Customizing the Life S.A.V.E.R.S.

 —4—

BUILDING THE ROUTINE

“Argue for your limitations, and sure enough

they’re yours.”
—RICHARD BACH, New York Times Best-
Selling Author
The Routines of Famous Writers
The Reality of Writer’s Block

2. Build the Idea-Generation Habit

1. Separate “Both” Brains into Two Activities

 4. Avoid and Prevent Distractions

3. Stop Comparing Yourself to Famous Authors

How to Eliminate the “I Don’t Feel Like Writing” Attitude

Ego Depletion (The Obstacle for Building the Writing Habit)
Mini Habits: A Pain-Free Way to Consistent Writing
How to Write Daily (Even if You Don’t Have the Time)
Eliminate Limiting Beliefs about Writing

Limiting Belief #1: “Fast writing is bad writing.”

Limiting Belief #2: “Nobody is interested in what I have to say.”

 Limiting Belief #5: “My writing isn’t good enough.”

Using Af rmations to Eliminate Limiting Beliefs

Limiting Belief #3: “I can never gure out what to say.”

Limiting Belief #4: “I will never make any money from writing.”
 —5—

TREAT YOUR WRITING LIKE A

JOB
How to Schedule Time for Writing

Consideration #1: How should you write?

Consideration #2: When should you write?

Consideration #3: Where should you write?

Home or Away?
 How to Minimize Distractions and Interruptions

Consideration #4: How can you create a distraction-free envi-

ronment?
Tracking Your Word Count

Flow State: A De nition Step 1: Work on Fun Writing Projects

Flow state commonly occurs when you:

Step 2: Create the perfect ow-state environment

Step 3: Work in time blocks

The Importance of Tracking Your Writing Habit
How to Create Your Tracking Form
 Two Ways to Increase Word Count
A Lesson on NOT Breaking the Chain
Option #1: Increase Your Typing Speed

Option #2: Dictate Your Writing

Enroll in a Typing Class?

 How to Dictate Your Writing

More on Dictation

6 Tools to Improve Your Writing Skills

 —6—

TRACKING YOUR BRILLIANT The Bene t of the Idea Capture Habit

IDEAS

―
Two Examples of Million-Dollar Ideas
Reading = Million-Dollar Thoughts
How to Get Inspiration from the Outside World Where to Capture Your Ideas
 The Evernote File Structure for Writers

Using Evernote to Organize Ideas

Seven Steps for Building Your Evernote System
How to Research Your Writing Project
 —7—
Lessons from Successful Authors

CREATING CONSISTENT
CONTENT THAT READERS LOVE
Step #1: Focus on One Project at a Time
Step #2: Work on Your Belief System How to Create a Reader Avatar

Step #3: Craft a Reader Avatar

Journalist James

Step #4: Identify Your Logline

Step #5: Survey Potential Readers
How to Run a Survey
Four Tools for Running Surveys

Book Recommendation

Step #6a: Create an Outline (Non ction)

Step #6b: Create Your Beats (Fiction)

Combining All Three

Step 6: Write Your “Crappy” First Draft

How to Silence the “Editor Brain”

Step 7: Revise with a Second Draft
 #1: Tighten the Text

#2: Read the Narrative Aloud

#3: Add the Extra Material

Step 8: Proofread the Third Draft

Step 9: Work with an Editor
Three Types of Editing

Step 10: Publish Your Manuscript

 —8—

MONETIZING YOUR WORDS

Writing Opportunity #1: Freelance Writing

 Step 2: Specialize in a Type of Freelance Work

Step #1: Create a Simple Website

Step 3: Maintain a Client Email List

 Writing Opportunity #2: Blogging

Step 4: Focus on Client Acquisition

Step #1 Pick a Niche

Step #2: Create Great Content

Step #3: Build Relationships

Step #4: Explore Monetization Methods II. Af liate Marketing

I. Display Advertising
III. Coaching, Consulting, or Freelancing

IV. Online Courses

How to Get Started with Authority Sites

Traditional Publishing Cons

Writing Opportunity #3: Traditional Publishing

Traditional Publishing Pros

Step #1. Write the Book

Step #3: Find an Agent

Step #2: Buy (or Download) Writer’s Market

Step #4: Write the Query Letter.

Step #5: Keep Submitting Your Work.

Step #6: Send the Full Manuscript

Step #8: Play the Waiting Game

Step #7: Meet with Your Prospective Agent

Step #9: Land Your Book Deal!

Step #10: Working with a Publisher

Writing Opportunity #4: Self-Publishing

Step #1: Write Your Book

Step #2: Hire Professional Talent

Step #3: Publish Your Book
Step #4: Get Started with Self-Publishing
Podcasts

Websites
Books
 —9—

BUILDING A WRITER PLATFORM

Component #1: Start an Email List

 Option #2: Podcasting as a Platform

Component #2: Pick a Content Platform

Option #1: Blogging as a Platform

 Option #3: YouTube as a Platform Option 1: Detailed, How-To Information

Option 2: Regular, Bite-Sized Content

Component #3: Create Epic Content
Component #4: Build a Social Media Presence
Component #5: Drive Traf c to Your Platform

Component #6: Leverage Your Books

 Facebook Groups

Forums

Component #7: Network with Other Authors and Authorities

Component #8: Focus on Your 80-20 Activities

Why is it important to focus on the 80-20 rule?

 — 10 —
THE MIRACLE EQUATION
BY HAL ELROD

Two Decisions
The First Decision: Unwavering Faith
 The Miracle Equation

The Second Decision: Extraordinary Effort

Bonus Lesson
 Closing Remarks

Putting It into Action:

 A SPECIAL INVITATION FROM HAL

Taking Action: The 30-Day Miracle Morning Challenge

ABOUT THE AUTHORS