Rule P: make writing a Priority

Linda’s Rules of Writing

Inspiration can come from anywhere, and we don’t have to wait for it.

We’re onto the letter P in Linda’s Rules of Writing for the A to Z Challenge, and on the importance of priorities.

I used to wait for inspiration to come, and then I’d write.  What invariably happened was I didn’t do much writing.

In fact, it wasn’t until I had a fight with my former cowriter that I understood that I needed to make it a priority.  We were in submission to agents of our cowritten novel, and I was a little concerned about us learning how to make the tight deadlines publishers have.  I’d been seeing deadlines of a year to write an entire book, and it had taken us a lot longer to do that.

He dismissed it, saying, “Everything is negotiable.”  I had this immediate horrifying vision that I would be the one crashing on the deadline and doing all the work while he blew it off and got half the money and credit.

It made me realize I couldn’t wait for inspiration. I had to make inspiration.

It’s easy to find other things do, so writing has to be at the top of the priority list.

What do you make time for writing?

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Rule D – Discipline yourself to write

Linda’s Rules of Writing

Laptop? Beach? Oh, yeah, I could write here.  Maybe that’s a goal for this summer.

We’re onto the letter D in Linda’s Rules of Writing of the A to Z Challenge, Discipline yourself to write.

I could give you link after link after like “Butt chair” or “write every day.”

But honestly, a book doesn’t get written unless you discipline yourself to actually sit down and do the writing on a regular basis. It doesn’t have to be every day, because, honestly, some people have schedules where that’s difficult. But regular is important because it’s awfully easy to have other priorities and end up not writing at all.

It starts with making an effort.  How do you discipline yourself to write?  What times do you like writing at?  Any favorite spots like my beach photo above?  Do you have any rituals?

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Writerly Adventuring

Cover: The Darkness Within

 

Some of the discipline I learned came from being in the army for 12 years.  I served in Desert Storm, when it was still strange and new for women to be at war.  My story “A Soldier’s Magic” comes from some of those experiences, blending magic, modern day military, and women soldiers.  The Darkness Within.
Caption: A to Z Challenge Logo

 

Top 10 Blog Posts for May

In case you missed any, here are the top 10 posts for May.

1. Moleskine Hacks for Fiction Writers:  I never go anywhere without my Moleskine to take notes.

2. Is There a Strong Woman Character or Are We Being Fooled?:  We have tons of books with women protagonists.  But do we have strong women characters?

3. Engaging Readers with Social Media:  Check out the discussion in the comments on whether writers should do writer blogs.

4. 5 Lessons I Learned on Finding Time to Write:  ”How do you find time to write?” is one of the most common things writers ask.  Find out what I do.

5. 5 Links on Time Management for Writers:  Check out what other writers are doing to manage their time.  There are some great links in here.

6. Writing with the Jellyfish:  On my journey to embracing being a pantser and working with my unique writing process.

7. Technology Hacks for Dealing with Twitter Spammers:  Check out some of the great tools that are available to keep spam out of your Twitter feed.

8. Should You Write with a Cowriter?  The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly:  It sounds like a great idea, but is it?  Check out what I did wrong.

9. Triberr Review: Useful Tool or Shiny Toy:   The Triberr owner dropped in for a few comments, so check it out what he says!

10. Balancing Writing and Social Media [UNLEADED]: It’s easy to get locked into “promote, promote, promote” and forget to write the book.

For you:  What subjects would you like to see?  Post in the comments below.

 

Moleskine Hacks for Fiction Writers

Have you run into a situation where using technology made more work instead of simplifying it?

That’s one of the reasons I started using Moleskin notebooks.  You’ve probably seen them in Barnes and Noble, or even Target.  Rows of simple notebooks in different colors, itching to be picked up.  There’s an artistic feel to them, a special kind of magic.    Other notebooks like the one below feel like homework.

But what would you use it for?  Here’s a few hacks to try:

Ideas 

Ideas often come in spurts, and it seems like never at convenient times!  How do you record them?  I’m always scrabbling around for a piece of paper.  Recording them all in one place sure makes it a lot easier!  During Ravencon, I was getting such good information during the workshops that I was getting ideas, so I added them right there in my notebook.  I know exactly where they are, and I don’t have to go hunting for scraps of paper or files.

Research Notes

Have you ever stumbled across an article in a newspaper that has something you know is perfect for your story?  Usually it’s at the worst time — no paper to write on.   I’m always tearing the articles out and stuffing them in my pockets, but then I forget to take them out and record the information.  But a Moleskine is small enough to bring everywhere, and it only takes a second to pull it out and add a quick note.  You can’t even do that with a cell phone in that time!

Critique Groups

I’ll bet you’ve been doing critiques, and probably getting critiqued.  A Moleskine is a great place to note comments on another writer’s work, and also to note comments on your own.  It’s all in one place, so it’s easy to refer back to it at a later date for that one comment that didn’t seem important at the time but now makes sense.  I like the aspect of writing it down, rather than trying to type because there’s going to be a temptation of trying to capture it all.  Writing forces me to hit the points that catch my attention, because are usually the ones I need to pay attention to.

Workshops

Right along with the critiques are online workshops.  If you’ve tried one of them, it’s a lot more work than reading the lessons.  There are exercises that have to be completed.  The Moleskine is a great option for working through the lesson and having everything in one place.  At the convention workshops, all I had to do was carry around one small notebook and a pen, and I was set.

For you:  What are you using your Moleskine for?  What kind of hacks do you have that you’ve found work?  Post your comments below.

 

5 Links on Time Management for Fiction Writers

I’m wrapping up the week with 5 time management links.  Most of the topics on time management are for freelancers or for management, not fiction writers.   We have special needs, and these writers provide a wide variety of tips on how to work with the challenges of writing fiction.

1. Jody Headland’s Busy Writer’s Guide to Time Management.  My father worked at home before teleworking was called teleworking.  I think my brother and I did this what she describes to him all the time!  By the way, check it out for the cute puppy picture.
2. Laura Eno’s Time Management — Insecure Writer’s Support Group.  This one appealed to me because we both participated in the A to Z Challenge.  I finally stopped because I was getting overwhelmed.  There’s some interesting discussion in the comments.
3. Emerging Writers Studio’s Why Time Management Doesn’t Work for Writers Like Me and What I Finally Did About It.  This hits my own point of making writing a priority.  Though I’m still not doing the early morning thing.  No, no, and no.
4. 18 Tips from Kicked, Cornered, Bitten, and Chased.  There’s a lot of good stuff here, including on how to minimize distractions.  She’s an animal trainer in Alaska, so some cool pictures of animals.
5. The Editor’s Blog on Using Time Wisely.  There are some great tips on dealing with emergencies that creep up and how to work around them.

And since it’s Friday, don’t you just hate it when the instructions are badly written?

Your turn:  What’s the biggest change you’ve made to managing your time and your writing?  How has it impacted other areas of your life?  Post your comments below.

 

Balancing Writing and Social Media

Writing a novel takes an incredible amount of time — often more time than I like!  But of the bigger challenges I’ve found is balancing my writing with social media.  Social media is becoming an essential tool of promotion for writers, both traditional and indie alike — and yet, what would be the point without a book to sell?

When I first got my feet wet with Twitter, I lasted … Check out the rest of my post on Unleaded Fuel for Writers.  Don’t forget to check out the other writers there, too!

 

5 Lessons I Learned on Finding Time to Write

Do you ever find it a challenge to make time to write?  Between work, writing, social media, and the need to get away occasionally, there doesn’t seem to be enough timeto do everything!  I don’t suppose anyone has a time travel machine where we could add a few hours to the day?

Photo Courtesy of ClipArt.com

Barring time travel, these are some things I’ve discovered:

1. Make writing a priority.  I used to wait for inspiration to write.  Consequently, I didn’t always get much done.  Then I worked with another writer who didn’t put any priority on writing — everything else was more important.  I envisioned myself making a mad dash to finish a book for a publisher at the last minute because I wasn’t making it a priority either, and I didn’t like it.  So I started writing more regularly.
2. Commit to hitting the keyboard regularly.  It doesn’t matter what time, as long as it works for you.  Some writers wake up an hour earlier to write.  After getting up at 4:30 in the morning for the Army, no, I just can’t do that.  Besides, I’m still half asleep.  So I try for every night around the same time.  One of the members of my critique group has been setting the goal of writing for fifteen minutes.  It’s whatever gets words on the page.
3. Set doable goals. I admit it.  I hate word count goals.  When I’ve tried them, I end up at a point where I’m paying attention to the word count and not producing good writing.  That wastes my time because then I have to fix it.  My goals are often much more simple, sometimes as simple as just getting something done.  I’ve also used story goals like “Develop relationship between Keymas and Olive.”  The goals have to be something where you can do them in a sitting and feel satisfied.
4. Grab time where available.  I bought a netbook so I could take it to places where all I’m doing is sitting — doctor’s office, mechanic, airport.  Then I have the option of doing some writing while I’m waiting.  I still haven’t worked up to doing it on a flight yet — it’s just too cramped and uncomfortable.  But I have taken the netbook with me to science fiction conventions and gotten a bit of writing in at odd times.
5. Take time off.  Just as important as writing regularly is, it’s even more important to take a vacation to let the muse recover.  Garrison Keillor notes that you can lose “touch with the beautiful world” by not taking time off.  When I was trying to break into screenwriting, I wrote so much that I burned myself out.  I never realized how important it was to take breaks!

Even so, I always feel like I need to do better.  I read about people writing 2,000 words a day, and I’m stuck on a scene that takes several weeks to write.  I have to constantly push myself to do better.

Your turn:  What kinds of challenges have you found in finding time to write?  How have you worked it into your schedule?  I want to hear what you’ve tried.  Please post your comments below.

 

Word Count Goals

James Scott Bell has a great post on word count goals over at the Kill Zone.  This is one thing I want to do better with, but I’ve had difficulty with daily goals.  Many years ago, I tried to break into Hollywood.  A well-meaning individual told me I had to learn how to write a script a week.  A TV script is 50-60 pages, and a movie script is 120 pages.  I did both versions, one a week and burned myself completely out.  The goal was admittedly very aggressive, and I did not take time out to recharge between writing projects.  I probably wrote 30-50 scripts, none which got any agent interest.

Even setting a low goal of 250 words (from Holly Lisle’s site) was difficult for me because there were days where it just wasn’t possible to write, so I’m instantly behind.  JSB notes the problems with daily goals and why he changed it to a weekly goal:

I used to advocate a daily quota, but I changed it to weekly because inevitably you miss days, or life intrudes, and you can run yourself down for “missing” your quota. So set up a weekly quota, divide it by days, and if you miss one day make it up on the others).

I set mine at 1,800 a week, which is 300 a day if I write for 6 days a week.  But, I did one more thing.  When I note the current word count, I add 300 to the total to get a starter goal.  Then I round it up to the nearest hundred, so I always have a few extra words built in.  So, if I have 28, 228 words, I add 300 to it.  That’s 28,528.  Round it up to the nearest 100 and that’s 28,600.

 

How to Stay Sane Organizing Novel Files

When I first took an organization seminar–you know those one day things where they say “Find out the five secrets of organizing”–I thought organization wasn’t for me because I couldn’t use ticklers or planners.  I’ve since learned not every method of organizing works for everyone.  Plus, organizing a novel project is different than standard business files.  I thought I’d come up with a great method of keeping track of everything when I started MAGIC STUD, but it fell apart when the revisions started.  I’m still trying to think what will work best for the next book so that I don’t spend time trying to find things once I start revising.  But these are some things that will start out making the writing a lot easier.

1.  Establish a naming convention and use it.  Sometimes I get lazy and name a file Doc1, which is the default in Word.  Bad idea.  The name doesn’t tell me anything about the file, and that’s the file I’ll need later–which I won’t be able to find because of the name.  What I use: 2008-11-29_NovelTitle4.doc.  The date comes first so that it will sort chronologically if I need to search for something.  The four is the draft number.

2.  Make backups.  I resave the file every day, in case I get a corrupted file.  You can never have too many backups.

3. Don’t keep your backups in the same folder as your primary document.  Because I do make regular backups, I end up with a lot of files. which can make it hard to find the current file.  In each draft’s folder, I create a subfolder called Backups.  About once a week or so, I move the backups into the folder and out of sight.

4.  Avoid folder overlap.   It’s very easy to create a file structure that encourages overlap of folders.  For example, Antiques folder and Collectibles folder.  There will be some research notes that could fit into either one, and that creates a problem because it can be in two different places.  Make sure your folders are set up so there is only one logical place.

I’ll be posting more on this topic this week.  What are your methods of organizing your novel’s files?

 

The Writing Process

A nice post from Devon Ellington on Staying on Track for Non-Deadlined Projects (the reason I’m posting word count progress here). 

A few years back, I saw an advertisement for an anthology, so I emailed the editor asking if it was still open.  She said it was closing in two days, so I wrote a non-fiction article, revised it, and got it in by the deadline.

With the novels, I haven’t had the same speed.  My last one had long periods where not a lot of writing happened, so I’ve worked hard to correct that with MAGIC STUD.  Of course, with MAGIC STUD, I’ve had so many places where I’ve gotten stuck.  It’s been a lot of effort to find the right path.

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Wordage report:

For MAGIC STUD: 1,000 words (Four pages).  Up to 58K.  I’m hopping around a bit, working on the sequence of chapters with one set of characters and will jump back to pick up the other characters.

For SAND DOLLAR MAGIC: 500 words (2 pages) and some change, bringing my total word count to 1K.  This story is in first person, which felt right for the story.  I’m still not comfortable with the viewpoint.  That’s odd, isn’t it?  A lot of writers gravitate straight to first person because it feels like it makes the story easier.  Other than SAND DOLLAR MAGIC, I’ve only written one story in first.  Everything else has been in third.  Even my very first story, written when I was eight, was in third.  Most of the books I read were in third, so I just followed along with what I read.