I tell my friends that all writers are a little bit crazy.

What about me? Shit, are you kidding! Of course I am. That’s the best part about being a writer.

I have a special chair – called The Throne – that I sit in when I write. No matter where I go in the world, I must buy this specific type of chair to work.

And everyone knows not to park their arse in The Throne. Except my 4-year old. She’s got an intense creative streak like me. So she gets to share The Throne during her painting sessions.

My other crazy quirk… I talk to a little doll baby that sits on my desk. She’s like my little mascot/muse.

Of course she doesn’t answer back (but wouldn’t THAT would make an awesome blog post).

But she listens. And sometimes that’s all I need to solve a mental block.

Perhaps it is an unusual habit. But I’m not the only one in the club.

Rubber Ducking is a activity that programmers (yeah programmers) partake in as well.

You describe a problem in great detail, and in doing so you find the solution to your problem.

I’m currently finishing up my new ebooks, and it was Rubber Ducking that helped me breakthrough some major obstacles.

What types of questions can writers ask their inanimate object friend? Well as a how-to author, here are derivatives of questions I ask:

* What would make customer get on the Internet and look for information on x topic? Describe a scenario.

* How does an ebook compete effectively when there’s lots of competition? Do you write an ebook, or create another type of information product?

* How can I discover the core deficiencies/wants of an audience when I don’t know a lot about them?

Some food for thought.

Alexis Dawes

Filed under: YOU are the Revolution

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