Many new writers think of writing as a hobby, something they do in their spare time to entertain themselves. And that’s okay. But if you want to take your writing to the next level — the level that earns readers and money — you must look at writing as a business. Even if you hold down a full-time job doing something else and want to build a part-time writing career, you must approach writing as a for-profit business. You need to be a Working Writer — just like most of the authors you enjoy and want to emulate. I’ve been a Working Writer for more than 50 years and I am most happy to share what I’ve learned with you through this blog and my Working Writer books.

One of the best tips I’ve received over the years is on how to approach a topic to write about it. Where do you start? Writing fiction and non-fiction books, articles, blog posts, and even ad copy, I’ve use the POWER Formula. Here it is: Prewrite, Outline, Write, Edit, Review. This simple acronym reminds me of the steps required to write most any document and has worked well when I approach a new topic or a new media. Let me explain it a little further.

Prewrite means to consider the topic or character situation, think about it, list out the considerations or process, do some research. Then put the points into a logical order as an Outline. You can use pad and pencil, MS Word, or outlining software as you prefer. To Write is obvious, using resources and craft to develop the document. Edit means revise the entire document as needed for clarity and to conform to grammar and punctuation rules. Review means you set aside the edited document for a while (a few hours, a day, whatever), then come back and read it as a reader would.

The next time you decide to write something, remember this simple process and write with POWER.

–Dan Ramsey, The Working Writer™
“The world needs more Working Writers!”