New Year's Resolutions? Meh...

This is the first year in a long time that I haven’t made any resolutions.  My typical resolutions are the following:

• Write xxx # of words per day.
• Start an exercise program.
• Make xxxx $ in freelance income this year.
• Post 7 blog posts each week.
• Finish and publish the next book by October 1st.
• Etc...

You get the idea.  I set lofty goals and then feel like absolute shit when I fail to reach them for whatever reason.

Now granted, it helps to have SOMETHING written down and something to work towards.  And considering that I’m STILL unemployed and have just a little freelance work trickling in, maybe I SHOULD make a few resolutions, but I’m trying something a bit different this year.

I’m going to create new habits and only focus on one habit at a time.  This month, I’m getting addicted to writing.  You heard me right.  Get myself addicted to a GOOD thing.  I’m going to force myself to set a timer at least once a day and just write for 15 minutes.  Even if I have no idea where I’m taking it, I’m going to do it.  I signed up for an online flash fiction that requires that I critique at least 4 stories a month and (suggests) that I write at least one.  I have 3 blogs of which I'm trying to grow and build traffic for.  I have Tweets to my (currently) 215 followers to create and find.  I have an outline of a book project to work on. I have freelance work to find and produce.  There is plenty of substance for this addiction.

Courtesy of Matt via Flickr

So whether it is a freelance assignment, a blog post or creative work on one of my many incomplete projects, I’m going to force myself out of the box occasionally, ignore whatever crises seem to be on hand, and take that time to write something outside of the box.  I'm going to stop being obsessed with one problem at a time.  Stop retreating into distractions such as Words with Friends tournaments with my buddies, seeking the top Bejeweled Blitz score of all of my Facebook friends, or obsessive TV series watching.  December featured a run of the last 3 seasons of Dr. Who on Netflix...

In addition, December had the death of a close friend, a washing machine that could not be repaired and needed to be replaced, a gas furnace that, was too expensive to repair, also needed to be replaced, and, of course, the holidays.  So the 30-Day Writing Challenge was a miserable, epic FAIL.

This is always the darkest part of the year for me. After the holidays are over, here in Ohio winter usually bites down hard… with gray skies and a deep, painful cold that makes you just want to roll yourself up in quilts and hibernate until the sun comes back.

But I’m going to fight this. I have to.

So what do you do to chase away the mid-winter blues?  How do you keep productive during stressful, busy times?  And what are your New Year's Resolutions (if you have any)?  Comment below.

The One Thing You Must Know About Writing

This is the one thing that I just wish I could remember when I have those dark days where I lose faith in myself.  Those days where I wonder why I bother doing this at all, this writing thing.  Those days where I loathe myself for not getting the writing done, ensnared in resistance and full of excuses (sometimes even good ones) about why it isn’t happening.

Yes, I’m unemployed.  Yes there are challenges, doctor’s appointments, band practice, sick kids and the never ending time-consuming tasks of eating, sleeping, laundry and the occasional home repair project… but everyone has them. And what they are is the sneaky way that resistance or the Inner Critic slip into your life and sabotage your efforts.

Courtesy of Eddie Van 3000 via Flickr

I’ve been fighting and losing the battle the last couple of months. I have good intentions, but get sidelined and manage to put off the writing for just a little while longer, or tell myself that this cover letter is the most important thing I have to do today, when, in truth, there is plenty of time for both.

Maybe I don’t like the particular project I’m working on. Maybe I’m just not in the mood to draft the copy for the sales page on my website right now, but the fact of the matter is: It is important and not having it done is preventing me from completing other tasks that depend on it. 

Maybe I’m not in a mood to write a blog post, because who’s going to read it anyway… at least that is what the critic is telling me right before I open Microsoft Word and begin typing… then decide to check my Twitter feed instead.

But if I decide to sit down and set a timer and write for just 15 minutes, and vow not to check email for that period of time, act on a random thought that occurs during that time (such is the power of the web) and focus on just getting something down, I often find myself resetting that timer for another 15 minutes and then another, and soon enough, the dreaded project is done and I FEEL GREAT!  Even if I only do 15-minutes, my brain lets me relax because it has checked writing off of today's must-do list.

That is the part that I always forget about. The guilt-free, anxious feeling erased from the rest of my day which allows me to enjoy watching some Walking Dead, stupid videos on YouTube, or reading for pleasure without that timer that seems to always be ticking in my head.

You are never going to feel that the time is right to write.  It never happens. There is always something more important, more urgent to do. You will never feel less tired, in the mood, or more inspired than you do right now.

Make a promise to yourself to write just 15 minutes a day. Mark it on your calendar, your to-do list or put it on a post it note that you carry with you everywhere, and do it.  Write for at least 15 minutes a day, during the entire month of December with no excuses and see how you feel at the end of the month.

Who's going to join me? With apologies to Tom Petty: "Sometimes the starting is the hardest part..."

Weekly Word Count – August 15th through August 21st 2011

I know I sound like a broken record, but this week I have a good excuse for the lack of output.  I built a TREE HOUSE. 

Actually, I didn’t build it, I just helped. My Dad visited for a couple of days and created a plan out of my vague idea of what I wanted for the kids.  The first thing we had to do was “fix-up” phase one of the plan, which was the deck that took me all of last summer to build.  A pretty good effort according to my Dad, who is a certified expert in such things, except for the fact that it needed to be reinforced in order to make it safer.  Then once he figured out all of the angles for the construction so it would have a sloped roof, we constructed the frame of the house. 

So day one of the process consisted of, looking at the deck, figuring out how large the tree house was going to be (5’ by 7’), what design we wanted (doors, windows, type of roof) and then creating a shopping list.

Then it was off to Menard's where we purchased 40 2x4x8’s, 10 sheets of plywood, one roll of roofing material, 3 additional 4x4x8’s to reinforce the deck, some aluminum screen, door hinges and hardware and we were ready to roll.  By noon we had everything that we needed and began construction.

As Dad and I reinforced the deck, the boys unloaded the lumber out of the van.  One the deck was properly reinforced, we began cutting and constructing the sides of the house on the ground.  It is amazing how easy a construction project can be when you have the right tools.  With my dad’s saw and nail gun, the sides were assembled and good to go by 7pm on the first day.

On Day 2, we lifted the walls up onto the deck, clamped them together, nailed them in place and then began cutting the plywood sides for the house. While this was going on, I laid the roof beams in place and settled the plywood for the roof in place. This was completed by lunchtime.

After a quick lunch of Nick’s Pizza and sweet corn from Neely’s farm I worked on nailing the plywood for the room in place while Dad and Ben marked and cut out the door for the house.  Once I had the first part of the roof in place, I was “trapped” on the roof while screwing the entire roof down tight from on top.  While Dad and Leah cut out the windows for the house, I nailed the rolled roofing into place on the roof.  A very hot job.

And by 5pm, all that is left to do is painting and putting the screens for the door and windows in place.  I am amazed what a difference that 2 days can make.

In addition almost another day was sucked up by taking Addie to Cincinnati for an appointment with a specialist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.  Figure in the 2 hour drive each way, the 2 hours for the appointment itself, and then (of course) lunch at a Chinese restaurant afterwards and the day is pretty much shot.

What does this have to do with the Weekly Word Count? Not a lot, other than giving me a tale to tell to pad the word count at the end of the week with some nifty pictures to boot, and a couple of lessons about the project  that can be translated over from the construction realm to writing.  Word Count for the Week: 1,789.

I’m not going to bother breaking it down for you… Next week will be better I promise. Next Week: Lessons I Learned About Writing from Building a Tree House!

Great Writing Means Nothing If You Don't "Ship" It

I finished up Seth Godin’s Linchpin on a week ago on Friday and a couple of the concepts within the book have been with me all week. One of which is the importance of deadlines.

I have a huge problem with deadlines.  I always have. I’m not good at setting them or keeping them.  But Seth has an interesting perspective on them.  Bottom line: You can have great ideas and great products but they mean nothing if they don’t “ship.”  You have to have a deadline or a drop dead ship date in order to force yourself to get the item out the door. It is tempting to hang onto an project wanting to tweak it a bit more, make one more revision or find that perfect window when the stars align perfectly and the time is right for you to release your book.

Do you want to write a novel?  Set a deadline for completion. Feel crazy?  Tell people about that deadline. Tell a LOT of people about it. And then… remind them about it. OFTEN. 

So what have you been avoiding shipping? A novel to an agent? Submitting a short story or article to a magazine? Just getting a regular writing practice started?  Showing your work to a local writing group? Set a date. Make it a reasonable one, but make the date. Write it down somewhere where you can see it every day. Tell people about it.  And no matter what happens… you “ship” that product on that day. No matter what.  If you don’t think it is good enough, don’t worry about it.  You can always make a few revisions later. Even big publishers have made corrections before printing another edition of a book. Remember no one and nothing is perfect. Perfection is a tool of control for your Inner Critic.

I’ve had several projects in my queue for years.  I have them in various states of completion, but I never seem to push through that wall to get the product to the shipment date.

Case in point:  My Fantasy Sci-Fi JumpStart Jar.  I have the supplies.  The label has been designed, finalized and printed.  The content for the jar was 90% completed when I lost my source files stored on my flash drive.  And guess what?  I never backed up the files.  This totally deflated any enthusiasm I had for the project. Essentially, I had to start over from scratch.  This happened almost 2 years ago, and I’ve worked my way back up having it about 60% complete right now. Very slowly.  I work on it for a couple of days here and there, but have not made a continuous effort to get it done. Sometimes these efforts are months apart.  With that amount of time passing you lose focus. You forget where you left off.  You forget how far along you are in the project, and it takes a lot more energy to get focused and push it forward. 

So here is my bold statement:  The Fantasy Sci-Fi JumpStart Jar will ship on June 30^th.  Order it now. It will be completed and good to go on that very day. No matter what.

Getting that Writing Project Started

Every writing project is overwhelming. When I finally decide to start a new project, no matter what it is, I have a moment where I feel my stomach flutter and a heaviness in my chest.  The closest feeling I can compare to it is the anxiousness before the first day of school as a child; a mixture of excitement and dread.  The thrill of learning new things, mixed with regret for the loss of freedom.   

There is nothing harder than staring at a blank screen in your word processor wondering to yourself, "What the hell was I going to write about?"  This always gives your Inner Critic a place to slither a few doubts into your head, and start the negative chattering: "Why are you doing this?  Don't you have to steam clean the hall carpet? Wouldn't you rather read the next chapter in The Hunger Games instead? You don't have a clue what you are doing, do you?  The words will never make it what it is in your head... so why bother?"  And on and on.

Any time you take on a new project, whether it is a technical magazine article involving a lot of research and interviews, starting a novel, or even weeding all of the flowerbeds and planting flowers in them, when you face the enormity of the task... your Inner Critic is ALWAYS going to advise you to procrastinate.

Take a deep breath, and take 15 minutes to list of every single task you need to do in order to complete the project.  Items on the list can be as big as conducting an interview with a the premiere expert in the field or as small as going to the post office to buy stamps to send out query letters with SASEs.  Do not stop writing until the 15 minutes are up. If you are running out of ideas for more tasks, look at the existing ones on your list and see if you can break them into even SMALLER tasks.

If you look at it as one huge project, it is daunting. But if you tackle just one of the little tasks on the list, and work on it until you are finished, it is not so bad.  You might even feel inspired to start another. You might become addicted to the feeling of sweet victory when you cross another task off.

Pretty soon you notice that you have a chapter done, then two, then ten, and then you have a first draft completed, then a second, then a final, and the next thing you know, you are shopping around for agents and publishers. 

This is at the heart of what this blog is about: The 15-Minute Writer: How to Achieve Your Creative Writing Dreams in 15 Minutes a Day.  This blog helps you develop the skills necessary to become an excellent writer, teachs you how to break down these huge writing tasks into manageable 15-minute tasks, and shows you how to manage your time to get these tasks done.  

Get a timer, or use a timer app on your iPod, smartphone, or the web, set it for 15 minutes and begin chasing that dream today!

8 Ways Reorganizing Your Writing Space Benefits You

Sorry for my absence from posting here last week.  I was busy cleaning and reorganizing my office.  Yes, the office. It probably hasn't been cleaned and organized thoroughly.. .well ever.  I spent at least 15 hours last week emptying, sorting, purging, rearranging, sweeping, vacuuming, recycling and discovering things that have been missing for years.  And I haven't even BEGUN to deal with my Brazil-sized rain-forest-worth of paper yet...

Also, there needs to be some examination in the near future about WHY I decided to do this right now...

Not my desk, but this gives you the idea of what I'm dealing with

Here are 8 ways that reorganizing your writing workspace can benefit you:

1. Change your perspective on your work -- For so long now, I've been limited by the way I set up my desk.  My monitor was smashed up against the wall and I was not able to position it as I would like, and it wasted a lot of space. The light was also poor in the area, not horribly so, but bad enough.  After turning the desk around 90 degrees, it freed up where I could place the monitor and allowed plenty of desk space to fit my laptop and the old 20" CRT monitor as well as some additional workspace. A better layout makes it more appealing to work there and probably will encourage me to spend more time there.
2. Free up space -- I have this affliction.  I don't like to throw out things that are "still good." That is things that will be useful for someone at some point, not in a freaky Hoarder kind of way, just in a I hate to waste money kind of way.  Case in point, a sealed package of thank you cards for "my daughters baby shower gift."  My baby daughter just turned 16 and is driving.  I don't think I'll be sending them out anytime soon, but they took up space in my desk drawer because I saw them as being still useful.
3. Limit choices -- I had a complete desk drawer full of pens, pencils, markers, dry-erase markers that was difficult to open it was so packed. I also had 4 pen/pencil holder cups on my desk. I never have to buy another writing instrument again... ever.  That is if I liked ball-point pens or pencils, (which I don't) so I kept a few of each type of instrument and packed the rest up to donate to the schools in the area.
4. Make it easier to find stuff -- When you organize in piles, it is quite easy to lose important stuff under the gun.  When looking for one thing, I often pile other things on top of more things... which often results in other important stuff getting buried.
5. Find untold caches of office supplies -- Buried in my desk drawers and in several other areas of the office were Post-It Notes and index cards of all sizes and colors.  When I have a hard time finding these things, I just bought more. Now I have enough Post-Its and index cards to last me for the next 3 years... 
6. Get rid of stuff that's not relevant to your work -- Some organization tip I read stated to keep the items you use most frequently in the easiest to reach storage area in your work space. Here are some of the things that I pulled out of my upper left-hand desk drawer: two decks of playing cards, old customs forms that are no longer used by the post office, a broken Sony Digital camera (I've had 2 cameras since then), 3 AC adapters for unknown electronic devices, 5 plastic kid's meal toys that I kept on my desk for some reason at one point, a 160GB external hard drive (not currently in use) a large velour bag of dice from my Dungeons & Dragons role-playing days (I haven't played in almost 20 years), manuals from my bosses OfficeJet from 10 years ago (the printer died at least 4 years ago and was trashed), several Cleveland Indians Topps baseball cards from 1986 (none of them good players or memorable to anyone other than a Cleveland Indians fan), and the usual crap mentioned above: Post-Its in a rainbow of colors, pens, push pins (loose - OUCH!), binder clips, index cards, envelopes, etc.)  Just imagine what I pulled out of the bigger drawers!
   
   Also, my desk had a credenza which provided 3 more drawers of junk space, as well as additional square footage on the desktop.  The drawback: It wasn't working for me, the height of it was about 6 inches shorter than the desk which made the space hard to use (I had to bend over to write on it, so it just became more area to pile up more clutter). I removed it and consolidated all of the crap in those drawers into the 3 remaining drawers. Guess what? It has been almost a week and I don't miss any of it!  It wasn't relevant, so I removed it! 
7. Provide plenty of goods  -- For the church youth mission trip indoor "yard sale" in May.
8. Create a better view of the door -- Never sit with your back to a door. Ever.

Next: Stay tuned for my attack on "paper mountain."

Vacation

I broke one of the rules that so many writers live by this past week: Write everyday. On some types of vacations it is nearly impossible to write. It is not that I can’t find the time to write, I usually can, it’s just that the situation just isn’t quite right for writing.

The reasons (excuses)

• Even when you are not driving, you are either navigating or, at least in my case, drifting off to sleep. And to help keep the driver awake and motivated, we always listen to books on CD which is always distraction.
• Hotel room, 2 double beds, 3 kids… you do the math.
• Our vacations usually involve a lot of sightseeing and a lot of walking, so you don’t always have a lot of energy left over at the end of the day to write, and you are usually up early to be there when the museum/park/tourist trap opens.
• It takes a lot of time and energy to feed yourself on the road.
• Laptops are hard to use unless you have an uncluttered flat surface to set them on. And with 3 kids in a single hotel room, how much uncluttered flat surface do you think you have??
• I hate writing in my notebook on my lap… the only place you can write on in a car or crowded room

So I’m not a Stephen King or Walter Mosley and don’t do well writing anywhere at anytime. I need a consistent place and routine to make it work for me. I also still prefer to have no one else in the room when I write. I can do it with others there, but prefer to be alone. And I’m sure Mr. King and Mr. Mosley can afford a condo or at least an extra hotel room when traveling on vacation.