August 31, 2009

Did you ever wish you could magically transfer some good habits from one area of your life and apply them to your writing? You probably can!

“But I don’t have self-discipline in anything!” you might say. You may feel that way, but it’s probably not true. Don’t believe me? Think about something you’re especially good at. Next, write down five or six habits you practice regularly that make you successful in this area. (Can be anything: running races, keeping a clean house, raising children who like vegetables, keeping your weight stable through the holidays…anything.)

I Don’t Think About It

Perhaps you’re thinking, “Well, I was a good student” or “I learned to play the piano,” but you’re not sure what habits made you successful. If that’s the case, pretend that someone approached you and said, “I’d love to be as self-disciplined as you are with your (fitness, music, housekeeping, whatever). Tell me how you do it!” Then make a list of what you do. Which of those habits can you transfer over to your writing life and make them work for you?

The habits that help you lose weight or be fit or run a business might include:

• having a support system
• keeping a written record (of food eaten, miles run, income/expenses)
• setting small, sustainable goals
• journaling through successes and failures
• monitoring self-talk to counter-act negative thoughts and beliefs

Borrow Those Habits!

The next time you can’t seem to make yourself write or blog or do market research (or whatever is on your “to do” list for the writing day), think about areas where you are successful. Borrow those habits–they’re habits you already have under your belt in one area–and simply apply them to your writing.

Does having a support group help you lose weight? Then maybe a support/critique group would help you be accountable for your writing. Does keeping written records help you balance your budget? Then maybe keeping records of pages or words written and marketing progress would help your writing. Did setting small daily goals help you get your closets and garage clean? Then would setting small daily goals help you get your book written?

Build on Past Success

Good habits free up our time and attention so we can focus on more important things than overcoming procrastination. Chances are very good that you have had success in at least one or two other areas of your life. Take time to analyze those habits that work for your particular personality–and try applying them to your writing life.

August 28, 2009

I’ve noticed one amazing thing about myself and other writers who claim to want to write more than anything else. Something odd takes over, and we fill the free time of our lives with all kinds of non-writing activities. We reach for things that make us feel good, that quell any anxiety we might be feeling, or at least keep us occupied.

What fills our lives–what quells our anxiety–can be either positive or negative. The activity we choose can be either a pacifier or a catalyst.

What’s the Outcome?

Activities that fall under the heading of “pacifiers” are things like mindless TV viewing, complaining about the sad state of publishing to all your writing friends, eating mass amounts of comfort food, surfing the Net, playing video games, or shopping till you drop.

Nothing good (for your writing career) comes from any of those activities. They serve simply as pacifiers, something to make the whining, fretful baby in us be quiet. But are we then any closer to our writing goals? No, not at all. We’ve simply passed some time–writing time that we can’t get back.

Positive Time Fillers

What if you’re tired of your non-writing rut, but you can’t seem to crawl out of it either? What can you fill your free time with instead of a pacifier activity? Why not try a catalyst instead? A catalyst is a springboard for change, something that nudges you in a better direction. The next time you feel anxious about your writing and want to fill your time with something to soothe the fear, why not try a positive change agent?

Activities that fall into the catalyst category might include:

• watching an inspiring movie
• spending time with a writing mentor or coach
• reading an inspirational book or self-help writing book
• listening to motivational tapes on a Playaway or MP3 player
• reading a biography or watching a documentary about someone you admire (especially another writer)
• reading a current copy of The Writer or Writer’s Digest
• attending a writing conference, retreat or workshop

Think Ahead–Then Choose

We all feel anxious sometimes to the point of being stuck. That’s okay. Just be aware that there are activities that only pacify the fear (and waste your time)–but there are also enjoyable activities that can act as catalysts to get you writing. Choose the activity that is going to propel you forward, not help you stagnate even further.

We all have our favorite catalysts. Mine include reading inspirational writing books or writing articles I’ve saved over the years, Skyping with another author about writing issues, or watching a movie about authors (like Becoming Jane, Cross Creek, Finding Forrester, Finding Neverland, or Miss Potter).

What is your favorite pacifier–and what’s the effect on your writing? On the positive side, what is your most helpful catalyst and its effect on your writing? Please share some ideas that work best for you.

August 26, 2009

In my book Writer’s First Aid, I talk a lot about dealing with interruptions and distractions because I began writing when I had a newborn (ten days old), a todder (two) and a preschooler. If I couldn’t write through interruptions, I couldn’t write at all most days.

People protest all the time that they can’t write with continual interruptions, and I never had much of a response beyond “just do it!” I knew it was possible if they’d really try it. Then recently I heard about someone who’d led a workshop dealing with this very thing–and she taught the participants a valuable lesson.

Start! Stop! Start Again!

The speaker was ostensibly talking about “carving out time to write.” She suddenly stopped and said, “You may choose to write on your current project or a new one, but decide on something, even if it is just an account of your day. Pick up your pencil and paper and write when I say go.”

She timed the group of writers for three minutes and said, “Put your pencils down” and continued her talk for several minutes. She then repeated the interruption and her instructions. They wrote for three more minutes. The speaker interrupted her talk four different times during the hour and had them write.

At the end of her workshop the participants compared notes. They had all written at least one page, many had more, despite being interrupted four times in only twelve minutes of actual writing! Each time they’d been able go back and pick up a thought and continue. The speaker ended with, ”You can revise bad writing, but you cannot revise a blank page. Give yourself permission to write junk, then fix it.”

Change Your Mind

I know this sounds awfully simple, but I encourage you to change your mind about being able to write despite interruptions. So few of us live on a deserted island. Most writers–probably 90% or more–have to deal with distractions and interruptions.

If you need to prove to yourself that you can get back to your writing after an interruption, try that workshop experiment. Either try it alone or with your writing group. See what happens.

It just may turn out that you’ve been believing a lie all this time. Writing may not be as enjoyable when you’re interrupted, but it can be done.

August 24, 2009

“Habits are the little anchors that keep us from straying very far from the lifestyle to which we’ve become accustomed, whether that lifestyle makes us happy or miserable,” says Karen Scalf Linamen in her book Only Nuns Change Habits Overnight.

Habits: Help or Hindrance?

We all have habits that either support or hinder our writing lives. Habits are simply the ways we repeatedly do some things. Positive habits include daily writing practice, telling ourselves positive things about our abilities, and keeping current with publishers’ requirements.

Negative writing habits run the gamut from playing computer games and surfing the Internet during our writing time, to not keeping track of submissions and not studying to improve our craft.

Do you see any consistent patterns in your writing life? Which positive habits help you? Which habits detract from your ability to pursue your writing dreams consistently?

Habits from Scratch

If you could redesign your writing life from scratch, which patterns would you reestablish? Which habits would you drop, if you could break them? Can you even identify the habits that are getting in your way? Do you wonder where your time is going, why you can’t seem to get around to working on the project that is so dear to your heart? Try journaling about it.

“Keeping a journal can help you identify hidden habits that are interfering with your life,” says Linamen. “You can embrace the changes you want to embrace–and getting a handle on what’s really going on is a great way to begin!”

The Art of Change

A good writing life–a productive writing life–is built on good writing habits.  They keep you anchored to the writing life you want to have, both now and in the future. Building good writing habits may not sound very exciting, but discipline now will give you a lot of freedom later on–and a writing life worth having!

August 21, 2009

Like many of you–especially those with kids and visiting grandkids–I’m wondering where the summer went. Lots of trips, company, overnights with grandkids, picnics–fun! But now it’s time, since school is back in session, for writers to settle down to a routine as well.

Revisit Your Goals

Last December I set for myself a “Self-Study Advanced Writing Program.” It consisted of studying certain writing books, reading many good books in my genre, and being critiqued weekly. Until school got out for the summer, our critique group and children’s book club met weekly.

However, because of summer schedules, both those things went by the wayside. We will be starting again in September. So now I’m “Dealing with Delayed Goals”. I intend this weekend to re-read everything I’ve blogged about on goals and remind myself of a few important strategies.

Set Up Your Schedule

Hopefully you at least journaled through the summer, but now it’s time to get serious again about your writing schedule. I intend to go back to using the highly effective (for me, anyway) “unschedule.” I will also remember the power of writing things down and keep track of my writing accomplishments–and celebrate them! This time I won’t forget to make the writing fun!

My ideal schedule includes two hours of writing time, two hours of teaching time, two hours of marketing (social networking and blogging), and two hours of study time. My schedule doesn’t always allow for my ideal day, but it’s what I strive for.

Stock Up on School Supplies

Don’t you just LOVE the displays of school supplies in every store this time of year? Every August I buy a year’s worth of supplies (well, actually, judging by the state of my office closet, I buy about two years’ worth every summer.) I just can’t pass up packages of college-ruled paper for fifty cents, Bic pens ten for a dollar, bottles of glue for a quarter, and pocket folders covered with psychedelic frogs and fish. I actually feel myself hyperventilating when I get near the school supplies.

The back-to-college supply sections are equally important. This year I got two new flash drives for only $9.00 each! And my new desk lamp, organizer and clock (all brilliant orange) only cost $5.00 each. Looks like I have a new office.

Set Your Alarm Again

Now to the least fun thing about “back to school”… If you’ve developed the habit this summer of sleeping in, reading a novel after breakfast, then taking the kids to the pool, you’re in for the same shock your school age children are feeling. Bite the bullet and set your alarm again. Get up early. Get the kids off to school with smiles on their faces. Pick up the worst of the clutter, then head to your office.

Not to your email. Not to your Facebook or to post some Tweets. Head to your writing desk. Stay off the Internet until you’ve put in some serious writing time. Take time to reward yourself a bit, but then return to your desk for as long as you can.

I know it’s a shock to the system at first, but even for writers, it’s time to get back to school!

August 19, 2009

As a writer, don’t ever under-estimate the power of self-discipline. Talent, passion, and discipline are needed–but the greatest of these is discipline.

Best-selling author Elizabeth George speaks to this point on the first day she faces her students in her creative writing classes. Study this quote from her book, Write Away–and read through to the zinger at the end.

“You will be published if you possess three qualities–talent, passion, and discipline.

You will probably be published if you possess two of the three qualities in either combination–either talent and discipline, or passion and discipline.

You will likely be published if you possess neither talent nor passion, but still have discipline. Just go the bookstore and pick up a few ‘notable’ titles and you’ll see what I mean.

But if all you possess is talent or passion, if all you possess is talent and passion, you will not be published. The likelihood is you will never be published. And if by some miracle you are published, it will probably never happen again.”

Be Encouraged!

This is great news for all writers, I believe. We worry sometimes that we don’t have enough talent, that we have nothing original to say, that our voices won’t attract today’s readers. But as Ms. George says above–and after writing and teaching for thirty years, I totally agree–discipline is what will make you or break you as a writer.

Why is this good news? Because self-discipline can be mastered, bit by bit, day by day, until it’s a habit. Talent is a gift over which we have no control, and passion comes and goes with our feelings and circumstances. But your necessary ingredient to success–discipline–can belong to anyone.

Do whatever you have to do to develop the writing habit. Let that be your focus, and see if the writing–and publishing–doesn’t take care of itself!

August 17, 2009

Since social networking is apparently here to stay (and actually a lot of fun), the main concern for most busy writers is the time factor. How do you make the best use of social networking time? Are there ways to streamline the process?

Yes, and there’s no need to re-invent the wheel at all. Today let’s talk about one of the most popular networking sites, Twitter–and how to simplify its use.

Too Many Tweets!

Once you set up a Twitter account and begin following people’s posts, you are flooded with hundreds of those 140-character “tweets” every day. How do you sort through it all? How do you keep track of your own posts, new followers, private messages sent to you, and public responses?

Thankfully, smarter people than I have gone before–and invented dozens of Twitter applications you can use for free. Here are a few of the most popular ones to get you started:

• Tweetdeck: your personal browser that shows you everything at once–easy way to keep updated, all in one place.
• Digsby: organizes your social networking, instant messaging, and email, all in one place.
• TwitterCounter: keeps track of your statistics on Twitter.
• Twitterfeed: automatically posts your blog to your Twitter account. 
• TwitPic: allows you to share photos on Twitter.

Twitterpated?

Remember when Bambi and Thumper became twitterpated in the spring? They were obsessed with the pretty girl fawn and bunny, respectively, losing all track of time. That’s one danger with Twitter and other social networking sites: losing track of time.

Hopefully, though, with a few organizational tools like those above, you can simplify the experience–and get the most for your online marketing time.

If you want to check out more Twitter applications, let me know which ones you especially like. I think these organizational tools can help calm that overwhelmed feeling many of us have–and let the networking be fun again!

August 14, 2009

I’ve immersed myself in social networking this week, and it’s been an experience! Thanks to all of you who have befriended me on Facebook! I look forward to getting to know everyone better.

The comments and emails about my post on “How Much Marketing Is Enough?” echoed my own main concerns. When your life is already full to overflowing, how do you find time to do the necessary Facebook posts, Twittering, website updating, blogging, and commenting on other people’s blogs?

Fabulous Find

I needed to set up some kind of schedule to make sure the marketing got done in a timely manner, but I couldn’t figure out how to find the necessary time. Then I happened to see Rachelle Gardner’s post this week on “Social Networking in 15 Minutes a Day.” She gives a lot of time-saving tips for blogging, Twittering, Facebook, and commenting on others’ blogs.

While I can’t use all of her suggestions, I can use most of them! She gives some practical tips for condensing the writing time needed. Her article gave me a great jumping-off spot to make my social networking schedule.

What are some of your time-saving tips?

August 12, 2009

According to an article in the May/June 2009 Writer’s Digest (”The Must-Have Online Marketing Plan” by M.J. Rose), “Ultimately, no matter what you do, careers are made on the book, not on the marketing.” That’s very true. Just as true is this statement from the same article: “Someone–either you or your publisher–is going to have to get the word out about the book.”

More and more, today’s author is expected to do his part in the marketing. It includes creating a website, maybe a blog, making video trailers, doing blog tours, getting your book reviewed online, commenting on others’ blogs–and the one thing I’ve been dragging my feet on: social networking.

Why Social Networking?

Until I heard several speakers last week at a leadership conference, I’d been avoiding most social networking because of the time it takes. (I Twittered for a while, then I’m afraid I let it slide, other than using it to post new blog entries.) But these leaders mentioned that a high percentage of people now are checking Facebook accounts four times more often than their email. Social networking appears to be the new way to connect with people. 

I’ve actually had an active Facebook account–but I only have eight “friends” (all relatives). We all joined Facebook the first time my daughter was deployed as a way to connect the family. It’s very personal–both the content and the family photos. It wasn’t anything I wanted to share with the world–and most of the world probably wouldn’t find umpteen photos of my grandkids half as entertaining as I do.

Lately, though, I’ve had so many people (including an editor) ask why I wasn’t on Facebook or LinkedIn. I told them I was, but my site was very personal. They suggested I create a separate Facebook account, just for my writing. (I hadn’t known you could have two accounts. Sometimes I’m not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree.)

Join Me on Facebook

So the last couple days I set up a Facebook page, and I’m launching it today. One thing you might enjoy are the fifty photos I uploaded of my trip to England, including visits to the homes of Jane Austen and C.S. Lewis. It was hard choosing fifty pictures out of the 950!

I hope you’ll come to Facebook, join for free if you don’t already have an account there, then do a search for “Kristi Holl.” There’s more than one–I’m the one in the red shirt. Just ask to join my friends group. It will be a fun way to keep in touch and hopefully learn more about you as well.

If you have time, leave a comment below about your own social networking experiences. Which avenues have worked best for you? What are the pluses  and minuses you’ve encountered? Looking forward to your ideas!

August 10, 2009

Have you ever had a wake-up call that was loud enough to make you change your lifestyle? Have you ever procrastinated about changing (maybe for years) and then suddenly been able to make that change–and make it stick?

I have. So why can’t I do the same thing with writing? And marketing? Instead, I find myself making excuses like ”My back and neck hurt” or “I don’t have anything worthwhile to say” or “I can’t write when I’m emotionally upset.”

What is it that motivates us to make a permanent lifestyle change?

Scares and Slave Drivers

Sometimes the motivator/wake-up call is a big scare of some kind. I have a friend who is now motivated to lose 140 pounds because his last complication–a brain vessel breaking–was painful enough to get his attention. Four months ago, I got my own wake-up call. A check-up revealed a high cholesterol reading, and I was told I had three months to get it down with diet, or I’d have to take drugs. Drugs and I don’t mix well at all, and that was enough to motivate me to eat a very low fat diet (and only cheat once in three months.)

Both my friend and I have known for years that we needed to make changes. And we’d both tried–and failed–and tried–and quit. (Many times.) And yet, when faced with dire consequences, we were able to do what needed to be done–and make the necessary once-and-for-all lifestyle change.

Sometimes the motivator for a lifestyle is some kind of slave driver. I remember working in an office for seven months where I actually had three bosses. I hated that boring job. My neck and back hurt then too. But I was at my desk by 8:30 daily, I never took longer than my allotted 15-minute break, and I didn’t take personal calls or play on the Internet when I was supposed to be working. Why not? I wanted to keep my job–and at least one of the bosses was always looking over my shoulder.

Or what about all those boring high school and college classes? For me, it was the world history or economics classes that put me to sleep. Or tried to. However, bored as I was, I found a way to stay awake and sit in my chair until the 55 minutes were over. How? I somehow always ended up sitting near the front of the class, under someone’s piercing eye. They pounced on you with questions if they suspected you were sleeping with your eyes open. I used all the tricks I could muster to stay alert. Why? I wanted the grade. It didn’t matter if my stomach hurt or I’d had a big fight with my boyfriend. I showed up for class–and I did the work.

Can’t Do It–Or Won’t?

As I thought about the above scenarios, I realized that it was a blatant lie to tell myself I couldn’t write for longer periods of time. I’ve had to work for long periods before. It was a lie to tell myself that I couldn’t sit still that long, that I needed constant breaks and rewards and bribes to keep writing. I never had a boss or a teacher dangle carrots before me, whispering, “You can do it! You can stick it out! Just ten more minutes and you’ll be done!”

Heavens, no.

What’s the Answer?

If we want to make a lifestyle writing change, one where we write daily for longer periods of time without all the procrastination, what can we use as a similar motivator? What can substitute now for the boss watching from his desk? What is a wake-up call for writing equivalent to a health scare?

What incentive can we use to smack ourselves up the side of the head so we stop this incessant messing around, once and for all, and get to work daily? How can we make that permanent lifestyle writing change?

Sometimes a desperate need for income will do it. When I was the fulltime writer who was also the sole breadwinner for my family, the slave driver was built in automatically. Work daily and work hard, or your family won’t eat or have a place to live.

That isn’t the case anymore. My kids are grown, and my income only contributes to the household. No one will starve if I stop writing. So I’m looking for something to motivate me to stop the constant waffling between my disciplined writing days and my procrastination days (which effectively cancel out those disciplined days.)

Tired of the Drama

All this writing angst, year after year, is starting to strike me as rather…well…silly. Drama queen kind of stuff. I wonder if the lifestyle change will involve nothing more than telling myself to just “stop it!”

This morning when I sat down at my writing desk and looked at my blank writing paper, I closed my eyes and pictured my boring econ class, then my boring secretarial job, and how many hours I’d forced myself to work in both cases. Then I looked at my story–something I’m excited about and enjoy working on (once I get into it.)

Just for today, I tried telling myself “I can” statements. I said, “I can sit here for an hour without a break” and “I can write for two hours this morning” and “I can focus regardless of my physical health” and “I’ve done lots harder things than this before!” and a few other true statements (based on my past behavior.)

And guess what? I wrote for two hours, with a short break in the middle, before turning to this blog and other marketing and critiquing I need to do today. I wrote about 2,650 new words, and it felt wonderfully productive.

Do you have a secret that gets you to your writing desk daily? What works for you?

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