Nano (National Novel Writing Month) runs from November 1^st-30^th. It’s the writing frenzy where you kick out a large number of words to hopefully finish a novel in record time. Many people start the challenge and end up with a sizable number of pages by the end.

Some are inspired to start writing for the first time. Others are inspired to finish something for the first time. Some, like me, find that writing at breakneck speed produces a lower quality of work that doesn’t reflect what is normally produced when writing within your own timing.

There are ways to make speed writing more effective. The overall goal, is to produce more in a shorter period of time. If you keep this up, who knows, speed writing may become a habit.

Prepare for it

When you set out to write a novel in a short period of time, outlining is your friend. Take a few weeks to write a detailed outline of the story. It will help to work out most of the kinks before you even sit down to write. Create character profiles of the main characters and review outline before the start of your writing marathon.

Plan it

If you are going to focus on spitting out as many words as possible a day, then plan it. Block out your writing time for the month. Figure out when you are most productive. Is it in the morning, at night or midday? Make a rule – no sleep unless you have kicked out a minimum of a certain amount of words. Make sure you schedule extra time for working out of corners or temporary writer’s blocks. Make your schedule somewhat flexible so that you don’t get burned out and give up.

Write it

With a printout of your outline next to you and a bullet list of your character profile – start the race. Follow your outline. If you want to go rogue, go ahead, write until the roadblock. If you reach a road block – write anything, take some time off to think on it, then re-work your outline and get back to it. Whatever you do – don’t stop writing. Remember, you will always have to edit it.

Don’t look back

Whatever you do, don’t read over what you’ve written until you are finished. That is an easy way to get distracted. Remember, you’ll have to edit the thing many times before your piece of art is perfected. Just write forward, don’t make corrections, don’t read over it, just push forward and write.

by: LM Preston, author of The Pack and Explorer X – Alpha, www.lmpreston.com and http://lmpreston.blogspot.com

Thought leaders are experts who are recognized among their peers as an authority on innovative ideas within a particular industry. Thought leaders confidently promote their ideas. Most importantly, thought leaders have earned respect from the outside world for their deep understanding of their business, the needs of their clients and the broader marketplace in which they operate.

You can become a thought leader just by writing articles – just like I have. Because I’m found on top websites like About.com Home Business, SiteProNews.com, IMNewswatch and in ezines like John Kremer’s BookMarket.com ezine, I…

* Have gained recognition from around the world. For example, I have customers and clients from Australia, Israel, France, Thailand, Taiwan, UK and Greece – and I’m based in the United States.

* Get booked for speaking engagements.

* Have people coming to me asking if I can do article writing and article marketing training programs.

* Have my articles published in hard cover books like “Calling All Authors.”

I’m getting all this attention because I’m publishing free content that makes me the authority on article marketing. And, I’m getting these articles published on top, credible websites and not just article directories where anyone can get published as long as you follow the guidelines.

With that being said, are you ready to start writing articles that make you the “authority” in your industry?

Here Are 5 Article Templates to Help You Become a Thought Leader Fast

1. Case Study Article Template – With this template, you prove to your prospects that you are a true expert who has already gotten results using the formula you share within your article. By writing an article that a) explains a problem that your prospects are experiencing b) gives a step-by-step solution and c) reveals an outcome that your prospects desperately want — you will become the expert in their eyes. You will give prospects no choice but to want to go to your website and get on your list so they can get even more information. For an example of my of a case study article, check out my article: ” How to Promote Your Book to the Top of the New York Times Best Sellers List” .

Go to: http://tinyurl.com/yc7caq6

2. Top Mistakes Article Template – With this article template, you take a stand against what others in your industry are doing. For example, one of my new article marketing clients, James Sinclair who runs a restaurant consulting firm recently wrote an article titled: ” Restaurant Marketing: How $5 Promotions Are Killing Casual Dining Restaurants’ Profits.” Using TGI Friday’s and some other big name restaurants as examples, he proves to restaurant owners that you should not compete with Quick Serve restaurants by offering the same kinds of promotions that they use! Find out what mistakes are being made in your industry and let your prospects know what is going on, why it’s a mistake and what they should be doing instead.

3. Controversy Article Template – One of the best ways to achieve market “thought leadership” status is to stir up the market by taking some gray issues and make them black and white. This is a good opportunity to take current events and provide your expert analysis and supporting reasons why certain issues are good or bad for the market, economy and world.

4. Differentiation Article Template – If you want to be a thought leader then you must show you are different. When we first started ArticleMarketingExperts.com we set our prices at premium levels unseen in the article marketing industry. If we wanted people to invest in our services, we had to show prospects that we are thought leaders in the industry and that we have a different approach when it comes to article submission. That’s why we wrote the article: ” Choosing an Article Submission Service: 10 Questions You Must Ask Before You Spend Your Hard Earned Dollars.”

View the article here: http://tinyurl.com/ydgynb9

5. Your Questions Answered Article Template – If you want to be a thought leader than you have to be willing to provide top, unique information. And, you have to be willing to answer questions that everyone else is afraid to answer. If you can provide the information that your targeted prospects want that is found nowhere else, guess who will be the expert in their eyes. Guess whose sites they will want to visit so they can get even more information. And, guess whose products and services they will buy. So seek out the questions that your audience is asking that no one is answering. Then answer the questions in a Q & A article template.

If you write thought leadership articles using these article templates, you will become the “expert” in the eyes of your prospects, clients and the media (both online and offline.)

To see how you should organize your articles using these templates, check out my Instant Article Writing Templates Kit at StartWritingArticlesFaster.com

Article Marketing Expert Eric Gruber uses the power of articles to create online opportunities for Internet marketers, small business owners and entrepreneurs who want to experience the benefits of becoming a thought leader in their prospects’ eyes. Now, you can get his instant article writing templates that will help you write thought leader type articles in 30 minutes or less. Just for going to http://www.StartWritingArticlesFaster.com, he’s going to give you 3 of his favorite article templates for free!

Instant article writing templates such as those found at Start WritingArticlesFaster.com can help you overcome writer’s block. In many cases, with the right article templates, you can write your articles in 30 minutes or less.

Notice the keywords there – “with the right article templates.”

If you do a Google search for “instant article writing templates”, “instant article templates”, “article writing templates”, “free article templates” and “article templates”- underneath my websites and my articles you find hundreds of other resources. Some sites even give you free article templates.

Heck, I even give you 3 free article templates at TryMyFreeArticleTemplates.com

Here’s the problem… most article templates are not designed to help you write better articles faster. Now, the creators of these article templates had good intentions. However, if you use the wrong article templates, you will find yourself even more confused.

The 3 Biggest Problems with Most Instant Article Writing Templates

1. Most article templates do not give you the structure and organization you need. In fact, here’s a sampling of what one article template provider offers…

Article Writing Template – What I Learned From….

This one is simply a bulleted list of what you have learned from any number of things or events such as what I learned from my parents, my sister, my brother, my son, my daughter, from my third grade teacher, from September 11th, from watching a TV show, etc.

Bullet 1-

Bullet 2-

Bullet 3-

And, so on…

Now, to me this is not a workable template. Templates are supposed to be worksheets that guide you throughout the process. For example, I put my “Instant Article Writing Templates” in MS Word format. Each template is in chart format. All you have to do is put the information that’s in your head and put it exactly where I ask you to. Once the template is complete, all you have to do is copy each section and paste it into a new document – and you’ll have a finished article.

2. Most article templates don’t keep you, the article writer, focused. If I don’t use my article templates, I find myself rambling, going from one topic to another. And, I’m the article writing and article marketing expert. When you have a workable template that provides you with structure and organization, your copy will automatically become more focused. It becomes an easier, better read for your readers. However, most templates like the example I showed you above do not give you a structure and organization to follow. And, they allow you to bounce from one idea to another without any kind of transition.

3. Most article template resources do not provide real article examples from a wide number of industries. If there are any article examples provided along with the article templates, you’ll just find articles that the creator wrote. So, you’ll just find Internet marketing articles that promote the creator’s other products and services. You want to look for article resources that provide actual article examples of those in your niche. For example, in my Instant Article Writing Templates Kit, I not only share with you some of my own articles, but I share with articles that are written by my clients who are authors, speakers and entrepreneurs dealing with a wide number of business, finance, relationship and parenting issues.

Again, I do not mean to mock or offend those in my industry. I just want to help you write your articles faster. Now, that you aware of the problems that most instant article writing templates have – you can choose wisely.

Article Marketing Expert Eric Gruber uses the power of articles to create online opportunities for Internet marketers, small business owners, authors, entrepreneurs and speakers who want more publicity, prospects and profits. Now, you can get 3 of his favorite his instant article writing templates that will help you overcome writer’s block and write your articles in 30 minutes or less. Get your free article templates now: http://www.TryMyFreeArticleTemplates.com

I was recently asked by one of my Instant Article Writing Templates Kit customers:

“Eric, I am amazed by how many different formats and formulas you have created to help us write articles faster. Now, I want to get started in a BIG way. What instant article writing templates should I focus on first?”

Here’s Your Article Marketing Expert’s Answer to Which Article Templates You Should Try First…

It’s hard for me to answer this question and tell you which article templates you should start off with as everyone has his or her own, unique writing style. If you want to find true article writing and marketing success then you need to decide for yourself which article templates, which formats and which writing styles work best for you.

See, I have more than 40 different instant article templates at http://www.StartWritingArticlesFaster.com that my clients could follow so they can write articles faster. But they very rarely have success using all 40 of those templates. That’s why I offer a large variety of article templates for you to choose from, so you can see for yourself, which ones work best for you.

Why Every Article Template Won’t Work For You?

Regardless of experience, aptitude, or willingness – everyone has a writing style that works better for him or her that may not work with another person.

Some clients worked better creating a list. Ex. Top 10 Things All Article Marketers Must

Others worked better with the How-to formula. Ex. How to Write Articles in Less Than 30 Minutes

Some do better with the problem/solution format, and so on and so on.

The key is to find article templates and article writing formulas that work best for you and use those templates as much as your heart’s content. There is no rule out there that you have to use a million different types of writing formats or styles. There is no law that says that every one of your articles cannot be a how-to or a list. That may be the way that you think an organize ideas. Some people design and live their whole lives based around “to do” lists. That may work best for you, and results show that readers love lists.

It is a much better idea to take the article templates that you can implement easily and run with it then to be “stuck” for days or weeks without writing a single word because you want to write differently. The goal of my article templates is to help you overcome writer’s block – not make it worse.

I want to help you write articles faster. Remember, article marketing is a numbers game. While I strive for high quality content with every article that I write, I know that it is more important that I write and publish articles on a consistent basis. And for many article marketers out there – the key is to stick to what you know!

Your Article Marketing Challenge!

So, now I challenge you to go to http://www.StartWritingArticlesFaster.com, get my instant article writing templates that can help you write articles in 30 minutes or less and choose which templates work best for you. Then start writing and submitting your articles online.

Article Marketing Expert Eric Gruber uses the power of articles to create online opportunities for Internet marketers, small business owners, authors, entrepreneurs and speakers who want more publicity, prospects and profits. Now, you can get (FOR FREE) 3 of his favorite his instant article writing templates that will help you write your articles in 30 minutes or less at: http://www.TryMyFreeArticleTemplates.com

When you write articles, if you don’t keep your audience in mind then you are insulting them. Let me show you an example (unrelated to article marketing) of what happens if you don’t keep your targeted audience in mind.

Recently my girlfriend, Kristina Jaramillo, attended one of the worst bridal showers ever. I’ve never heard of a bridal shower where more than 75% of the guests left insulted, have you?

Here’s one of the reasons for the total disaster…

The bridesmaids thought it would be funny to put on a clothesline the different types of underwear to represent the different phases of life and marriage ending with Depends. Now this would have been a perfect gag for a bachelorette party, where all the guests would have been in their 20′s and 30′s. But not a bridal shower, where at least 75% of the guests were ages 55 to 75.

The bridesmaids totally forgot who their target audience was.

Out of respect for the bride, the guests did not leave, even though they were disgruntled. However, if you write articles or website content that’s not geared for your targeted audience, people will leave.

Keep reading this article below to find out if you’re insulting your targeted audience – without even realizing it.

3 Mistakes Most Article Marketers Make That Insult Their Audience

If you’re making any of the mistakes, then you are insulting publishers, prospects and readers alike.

Mistake #1: Failure to identify your audience.

I search the Internet all time for articles that can help me build my different online businesses. There are many times that I won’t open an article because I don’t know if it’s for me. And, because my time is valuable, I don’t want to waste it on an article that isn’t for me. That’s a slap in my face. So identify your audience in the title, in the introduction and in the bio box.

Mistake #2: Failure to use examples that resonate with your targeted audience.

Let’s say you write a sales article titled, “How to Double Your Sales in the Next 60 Days.” And, let’s say you use examples from the financial services sector to reinforce your points. Then, you target an online publication that’s specifically for IT sales professionals. And, although your tips, tools, information, systems and products may work for a broad variety of industries, if you don’t tweak your article examples, to show that you understand my industry – you lose instant credibility. It’s an insult to think that you can connect with me, even though you don’t show me that you have experience with my particular industry.

Mistake #3: Giving the wrong level of information to the wrong audience

One of my article marketing clients is a career coach who would love to get more 100K+ executive clients. The problem is that every article he writes has basic information that recent college graduates need – not executives who have been through the job searching process many times. If he wants to attract higher-level clients, then he has to stop insulting their intelligence and start writing articles with information that resonate with that specific audience. When you write, you have to keep your audience in mind and write to their needs, wants and desires.

That’s why it’s important that you write a variety of articles.

Article Marketing Expert Eric Gruber teaches experts, authors, small business owners, entrepreneurs, speakers and internet marketers who want more publicity, prospects and profits how to write articles that persuade and motivate prospects to take immediate action. Now, you can get 3 of his favorite instant article writing templates that will help you write your articles in 30 minutes or less at: http://www.TryMyFreeArticleTemplates.com

Do you ever find yourself staring at a blank screen or a blank sheet of paper when you’re supposed to be writing articles for your blog, for your ezine or newsletter and for article submission so you can promote your books, products or services?

How would you like to find ways to tap into a limitless supply of article ideas?

Yes, our imaginations run thin every now and then, and no, it isn’t easy to come up with article ideas sometimes. But, I promise you that there are ways to tap into a limitless supply of article ideas. No matter what your expertise lies in, you can always generate new and interesting ideas for articles IF you follow these guidelines…

5 Ways to Never Run Out of Article Ideas

1) Get inspiration from magazines covers.

Find a magazine that is as close as you can get to your niche and look at the titles on the magazine cover. Look at the titles that jump out at you and make you say, “That looks like it would be a good article–I want to read that!”

Many times you can bounce an article off of a title you see on a magazine cover. Can you convert that title to apply to something in your specific niche?

Now, notice I’m saying, “find a magazine that is somewhat in your niche.” Many of us have websites that are in niches that do not have their own magazines. For example, there is no magazine that I know of about Article Marketing.

But I sashay a short distance from my specific niche and look in related niches, such as Writing, Creativity, Productivity, and possibly even SEO. These are all issues that lie at the heart of article marketing, so they work as inspiration launching pads.

2) Don’t forget about the newbies.

When we’re writing on our area of expertise, sometimes we can overlook the obvious. We want to write helpful, educational articles, and our minds quite often go to topics that are more advanced.

Have you ever considered that someone reading your article might not even understand the basics of what you’re talking about?

I have to remind myself of this all the time–not everyone knows what article marketing is, and not everyone even knows the reasons why it’s a popular online marketing tool.

Could the same thing be true in your niche?

Think about it–although our articles are not sales oriented or promotional in any way, when we educate our readers on some aspect of our niche, we are increasing the likelihood that they will one day be our customers.

So, don’t forget about the newbies who are in your target market but aren’t knowledgeable about what you do. Try to think back to questions you had when you were first starting out. Think about what confused you. Think about the very basic things that you wish someone had explained to you before you became the expert.

3) Think about: “What are the 10 questions that my customers (or potential customers) most frequently ask me?”

Write those questions down and address each one of them in a separate article.

By completing this writing exercise, you’re letting your target market tell you what to write about. This makes perfect sense since you’re trying to appeal to them anyway.

4) Use template titles and fill in the blanks.

Here are some of mine:

• 10 Great Reasons Why ____
• How To ____ in 7 Easy Steps
• 3 Secret Tricks For _____
• How To Conquer ______
• The Top 10 Mistakes People Make When ____
• Reader Question: “[insert question here]”

You may notice that these titles are all List articles (any article that has a 1,2,3 etc list in it), How-To articles, and Question articles (articles that answer a question that is stated in the title).

These are my go-to article topic stimulators. Just seeing the format for the title gets the wheels of my brain moving (which helps creativity!)

Try filling in the blanks for the template titles listed above, and I bet you can come up with a compelling title to base a new article on.

5) Use Instant Article Writing Templates

You want to model proven article writing formats, such as those found in my Instant Article Writing Templates Kit. I did the hard work for you and identified more than 40 different formulas that will help you write your articles in 30 minutes or less – even if you think you can’t write articles.

Here are some of the article-writing templates that will help you…

• Myth Buster
• Top 10…
• How-To…
• Quiz
• Failure to Success
• Timeline
• 7 Things You Need
• What’s Hot, What’s Not
• 3 Stages
• Problem/Solution
• Differentiate Yourself – this template made PR Leads more than $10,000
• Plus many, many more

You can try three (3) of my favorite instant article writing templates at: http://www.TryMyFreeArticleTemplates.com – Click this link

By following the five strategies above, you will:

• Gain the confidence to write articles whenever you want
• Banish writer’s block forever
• Remove all the frustration out of writing articles
• Develop ALL THE CONTENT you will ever need for your website, for your blog, for your newsletter and for article submission

So, are you ready to start writing your articles faster so you can get maximum exposure for your books, products and services?

Article Marketing Expert Eric Gruber uses the power of articles to create online opportunities for Internet marketers, small business owners, authors, entrepreneurs and speakers who want more publicity, prospects and profits. Now, you can get his instant article writing templates that will help you write your articles in 30 minutes or less. Get 3 of his favorite article writing templates for free at: http://www.TryMyFreeArticleTemplates.com