My writing productivity has exploded in the past two years. My work ethic isn't the reason. Nor can it be attributed to my personality type. Sure, I'm self-motivated, which is good, but I also get locked into a one project mindset, meaning I tend to focus exclusively on the most…
It’s been over a decade since I submitted my first proposal to an editor who’d requested it. Back then I wrote in our living room, where I had a small folding chair and a tiny table for a desk. I didn’t care! I was so excited to finally be taking the plunge and sending out my work.
Over the years, everything got more complicated. Between digital drafts, contracts, author copies of my books, income/expense reports and all the other million and one items I need to be able to access easily, there was no way a tiny table was going to cut it. I had to come up with a system.
Thankfully, I adore systems!
When you wake up on Monday, do you have a general idea of what you want to accomplish? This is typically how my thoughts run... Keep writing the new book. Put together the guest blog. Create graphics for the new release. Oh, and write my blog post. And what about…
Last weekend I was blessed to speak at Maumee Valley Romance Writers, Inc. Every January we have our annual goals discussion. The first half of my talk was about basic goal-setting: taking time to think about professional, health, emotional and personal goals for the year and deciding how and when…
Creative Sessions = Dedicated time to problem solve, plot, explore ideas. In the past two weeks I've read two nonfiction books that made a big impact on me. The first was The Wright Brothers by David McCullough and the second was Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal…
On Saturday I was blessed to speak at Maumee Valley Romance Authors, Inc. My presentation was on how to create a production plan. I came up with these steps through trial and error last year. Since implementing my plan, I've blown away my personal deadlines, and for the first time I'm successfully…
As many of you know, I'm a pretty organized person. I'm not obsessive, and I often let things slide, but overall I feel good about how I run my business and household. That being said, it's often difficult for me to schedule the icky tasks when I have a deadline…
We recently took a lovely vacation full of sunshine and relaxation. I came home with a pocket of anxiety about the upcoming school year, though. August is notorious for being full of things I generally don't enjoy such as school registration, back-to-school shopping, daily sports' practices, dentist appointments, parent meetings and…
Symptoms of writer's brain: 1. Overwhelming desire to drop everything and explore a new idea. 2. Inability to focus because five things are clamoring for attention. 3. Disconnect with the world around us due to immersion in whatever we're working on. I didn't always have writer's brain. In fact…
I have always struggled with disruptions to my routine. My dedicated writing hours during the school year dwindle to snatched minutes with the kids home for summer. My kids aren't even young! It's just different having them home. They have places to be, stomachs to feed and various activities during…