A quote attributed to various authors reads, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”

Regardless of who wrote that, there’s truth in it.

Writing is hard. It’s hard to develop ideas. It’s hard to develop the discipline to sit down and write. It’s hard to finish what you started and it’s hard to go back and edit what you’ve written. But it’s worth all the work, and here are some tips to make writing a little less difficult.

Read

Good writers read voraciously. Read newspapers. Read magazines. Read the backs of cereal boxes. Just read everything you can. Reading helps give you ideas to write about. For example, I wrote “How to Promote Yourself by Writing Media Releases” because in my former employment I read thousands of releases and saw that almost all were poorly written.

Write in your head

When I worked as a newspaper editor, I wrote a once-a-week 700-word column. This responsibility took hardly any time, not because I type fast or didn’t work hard, but because I did most of the work in my head. I thought about the column for several days, and by the time I started writing, I knew 75 percent or more of what I wanted to say. So writing the column was easy. Tip: as you think about what you’re going to write later, be sure to note your ideas. Write your thoughts down or use a smartphone app to either compose a document or record an audio file.

Develop your general knowledge

A news organization I worked at gave all prospective employees a general knowledge test. One question was “Name the last five U.S. presidents.” An applicant for my department included “Washington” in her answer.

She didn’t get the job.

Apart from its use in getting a job, possessing general knowledge as diverse as what submarine was the first to go under the North Pole to what year CNN began will give you possible topics and save time. Holding facts in your head instead of having to look them up also helps avoid the “Look! A squirrel!” syndrome that distracts you from the task of writing. Later, in the editing process, you’ll double check your facts, but possessing a broad general knowledge facilitates the writing process.

Develop a writing habit

When I go to bed, I invariably follow the same practice—after getting comfortable in my preferred sleeping position I turn on a tablet and read one of my favorite books. When I do this, my mind and body know it’s bedtime, and rarely does it take me more than a few minutes to fall asleep.

Develop the same kind of habit when it’s time to write. Get a cup of coffee, sit at your computer, and listen to music. You’ll be telling your mind “It’s time to write.”

Following these tips won’t mean it’s easy to write, but at least you’ll beat some of the most common obstacles to getting the work done.