Writer’s New Year Plans

Well, we made it through another apocalypse. Not that I worried at all; I don’t believe in end-of-the-world fear-mongering, and already understood that the Mayan ‘prophecy’ meant a new era- not the end of the world.

That being said, this means we still need to plan for the year ahead.

My 2013 Writing Goals;

1. Write Daily. I’ll be taking the first moments of the early a.m., sipping my Hazelnut coffee, while plotting to take over the world new storylines. I’ve since given up on the idea that I need evenings to write. I can do strive for evening writing moments, but I recognize the goal is to get words to page and do whatever it takes to get there.
2. Write productively. What I mean by this goal is to focus on writing-for-publication. My writing needs to lead me somewhere, not just entertainment value. This might mean less blogging and journaling, and more writing stories and articles.
3. Less time wasting. Pinterest and Facebook are biggest time suckers in my life right now. I intend on using them in small increments, using a timer, if necessary, and to  limit my time on them (and other sites).
4. Learn and implement marketing. As authors, we need to understand marketing, whether we print publish or publish electronically. Getting oneself read should be as important as producing a book.

What are your goals for 2013? Post in comments.

Source: Google.cz via Almara Shop on Pinterest

Prompt: If you could re-do a New Year’s Eve resolution, what changes would you make? How do you suppose successful resolutions impacts our lives? Write about past versus future goals.

 

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Merry Christmas, to my readers

I wanted to add a quick post, via my IPhone, typed with lightning fast thumbs, a very merry Christmas to all, and a happy holiday season.

I’m still getting used to new forms of blogging (via iPhone) and finding I’m suddenly busy with work.

The holiday season is somewhat stressful, but I’m finding the conflicts and drama tends to help shape me into a stronger character in my story. It just goes to show you how writing finds inspiration anywhere.

Productivity Hack Gone Awry

 I found this well-intentioned article on Lifehacker.com that gives some tips of having a more productive day; Spend the first 30 minutes of the day reading news and email, and make a checklist for the day.

Okay, so this might work for some people, but for me, I find reading news takes longer than 30 minutes, and has nothing to do with being productive in my day. Neither is checking email. It only takes me a few minutes anyway, but it’s sites like Facebook and Pinterest that snatches away hours of my time.

So here are my tips to offer to the Internet;

Get the worst thing done first. Once its out of the way, the rest of your ‘to do’ list will be easy.

Plan the night before what you’ll do the next day. The article suggests planning that morning; I say plan the night before if not the week before. I often plan on Sunday for the week ahead, so that saves me oodles of time. All I have to do is check my list to see what to expect in appointments, chores, writing assignments, and anything else I find important. I sometimes include word counts for each day.

Don’t find motivation, just get it done. You don’t need motivation as much as resolve in getting it done.  If you put it on your ‘to do’ list, you must have deemed the task important enough to just get it done.

Get up a little earlier in the morning. If you can’t find the time in the morning to get everything done, get to bed earlier to waken earlier, and get it done then.

Although I agree that getting things done first and foremost in the morning hours works best, being productive means getting it all out of the way first thing.

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Chased by zombies

I homeschool and I write, which doesn’t give me much of an active life. I own a cattle dog, so you’d think that alone would offer me something of activity to burn calories and be fit. Alas, no. I’m also lazy.

I have plans on getting this Iphone app entitled Zombies! Run! The concept intrigues me;

The goal of the game is to rebuild civilization after a zombie apocalypse. To do this, you actually have to go out and run around in the real world where you can collect ammo, medicine, batteries, and spare parts that will let you build up and expand your base. You’ll get clues, orders, and stories through your headphones. You can even pretend you’re running around at night avoiding zombies when you’re actually running on the safety of your gym’s treadmill. You’ll get to hear the frightening moans and gurgles of the zombies that are right on your heels, making sure you keep running for your life. by Jennifer Bergan at geek.com

Talk about motivation! The downside is that it’s a $7 app! I’m also not keen about running away from zombies every time I go for a jog. I can see me panicking at some point, and bolting for home. My neighbors would think I’m a nut.

The idea is cool, though; games you play in the physical world. I started wondering about the possible stories bubbling in my head if I had to run, imagining the undead at my heels, with only the sound of strangers in my ears to connect me to the living. (shudders)

This touches upon the whole idea of play and creativity. I remember feeling terrified when playing ‘hunt monster’ with my dad. The tension was so bad at one point, with dimmed lights and only flashlights to defend myself, so when my father lunged at me from the darkness of a closet, I clobbered the ‘monster’ with all my might!

My dad said later I nearly knocked him out. I think I was 7 at the time. He knew I could defend myself after that.

Storytelling touches upon the fears, passions, and even insecurities we have to mesh into a storyline that speaks to the reader. They may also have those same fears. I often wonder if I’m alone in clobbering closet monsters.

I’m sure there’s a story there somewhere.

Prompt: Take a fear you had (or have) as a child, and write, from the POV of the child, a situation where you face that fear. Add all the imagined terror you think a child of that age would have, but put the story in first person.

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Writing exercise- Deciding on your project

When you get more than one story or article idea bubbling up from the recesses of the creative space of your brain, it can be tough to decide on which one to write about, so try this;

Use a freewriting technique as a means to converse with yourself (your inner muse) as to which story or project you want to focus on.

Freewriting is the marvelous tool of breaking away from the rigid inner editor.

-Set a timer for 10 minutes.

-Get your notebook or computer and prepare to write.

-Start the timer.

-Do not stop writing or even pause. Ignore spelling mistakes and punctuation. The idea here is to focus on the pure flow of creativity.

-Stop when the timer goes off.

I used this method to argue between writing a non-fiction piece and a fiction piece I had rattling around in my head. By the end of the ten minutes, I was clearly arguing for the fiction piece. Decision made!

This works for many issues you might find yourself in conflict.

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A Writer’s Christmas Wishlist

Here is what I want for Christmas:

1. I want my muse to stop abandoning me at her whim.

2. My inner editor to STFU and chill until its time to edit the draft. His job is to sit back and wait until I’m done with the first draft before he’s allowed to critique my work.

3. Time- lots and lots of time to write.

4. My characters to move along with MY plot instead of taking over the story and doing their own thing.

5. An immediate acceptance of a publishing company to publish my book. (I’m sure Santa can manage this, right?)

6. A wordcount bar for Openoffice. Recently I’ve had some issues on my MS Word, so I’ve wanted to get back to using OpenOffice (which includes a handy ‘export to PDF’ button too). Oddly, they have no wordcount toolbar.

7. Little or no technical issues. I know Santa might have issues with that, I mean, he can’t work the impossible, but it would still be nice to not have to worry about losing hours of work over some program or computer glitch.

What are you wishing for, as a writer, for Christmas?

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