December 31, 2008

What’s preventing your success? Thoughts? Behavior? Low energy? Procrastination? Perfectionism? Overdoing? Counter-productivity? Negative self-talk? Disorganization? Time mismanagement? Unrealistic expectations? Defeat your self-defeating behaviors with this one-month mental boot-camp. (from Margie Lawson’s class on “Defeat Self-Defeating Behaviors: Allow Writing Productivity and Creativity to Soar.”

Jumpstart 2009 with a Mental Boost

Last week, I mentioned that I would be studying Margie Lawson’s lecture packet on character emotions.  I also wanted to pass along information about a January on-line class she’s teaching that starts Friday, Jan. 2 and runs till Jan. 30.

Here’s the rundown on the class taken from her class description page. (You can register for her class at the bottom of that page.)

• Address the three fears that paralyze writers
• Analyze yourself: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
• Challenge your internal dialogue
• Redirect resistance and manage your moods
• Duct-tape your Inner Critic
• Protect your priorities
• Practice Conscious Competence
• Apply Margie’s DUH Plan

On-line Class vs. Teaching Packet

You can register for the on-line class for $30 or buy the teaching packet/lectures on this topic for $20. (For lecture packets, go to Margie’s website and click on “lecture packets” on the left-hand side.) You can study the lecture packet at your own speed and any month of the year, while the “self-defeating behaviors” class is only taught in January. I asked Margie what a writer would gain for paying that extra $10–I’m always making sure there is plenty of bang for my buck!

Her email answer included this important information: “Writers taking my Defeat Self-Defeating Behaviors (DSDB) course on-line can post their assignments, get feedback, get support, ask questions, get answers. Some class members are active on the class loop, others lurk and learn from what their classmates post. In DSDB, writers also work with a CHANGE COACH throughout the month-long on-line course.  Many of the Change Coach pairs continue working together after the course is over.  They keep those self-defeating dragons from making any sneak attacks. The camaraderie in the on-line class is amazing.  It’s a powerful bond. An amazing force.”

Slay the Dragons!

I can’t personally recommend the course because I haven’t taken it yet (although I plan to register today), but I’ve heard excellent comments about Margie’s other courses. I also know (from 25 years of teaching and from writing my Writer’s First Aid book) that these behaviors are what most often derail writers. As our lives change, the dragons change, but they’re always there, breathing fire down our necks.

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to defeat mine–once and for all!

(If you also register for the class, let me know. It would be fun to share on the blog the things we’re learning.)

December 29, 2008

Will this be the year your writing dreams come true?

Last Friday I shared one goal for 2009, a three-pronged “Self-Study Advanced Writing Program” that I designed for myself. Ten days ago I talked about “Setting Goals NOW for 2009,” about moving from where you are to the greater success and fulfillment that you desire.

Now What?

If you did the writing exercises in that post, you now have a clear, detailed, written description of your current writing life. You also have a detailed image of your future perfect writing life. And you know some projects you’d love to work on—your writing dreams. Now what?

To go from where you are to where you want to be as a writer, two things are critical. One has to do with your feelings, and the other has to do with your will.

Two Requirements

First, you need an overwhelming desire to change something in your life. (Perhaps you want to get on a regular writing schedule. Maybe you want to submit the finished stories hidden in your desk. Possibly you’re ready to find an agent.) Whatever your goals, the more specific, the better.

Second, you must be determined to move from wishing and hoping to taking action. It’s as simple as cause and effect: you must do something different (cause) in order to develop the writing life of your dreams (effect). This determination will also involve developing good habits to support, nurture, and sustain your changes. (These habits might include eating right, getting sufficient exercise and sleep, and curtailing time wasters like too much TV and Web surfing. I’ve been working on such a list this past week myself, organized in a 3-ring notebook. So many habits to change!)

Time to Take Action

This week, think about what habits you may need to implement–and which ones you may need to eliminate–to support your writing goals for 2009. If you feel inclined, please share some of the goals and habits you hope to create.

November 28, 2008

With the economic downturn, news from the publishing world has been pretty grim this past week. A major publisher has told its acquisitions editors to stop acquiring new manuscripts for the time being. Publishing lists are being slashed. Down-sizing and reshuffling have hit editors too. So, during this Thanksgiving week, is there anything to be thankful for if you’re a writer? YES!

Most Thankful For…

I’ve been writing seriously for 28 years, and there are many things I’ve loved about writing. I’ve been thankful for being able to work at home, make a living at something I love to do, spending my days immersed in words, having a job requiring lots of reading, not having to drive in traffic to my office down the hall, wearing fuzzy slippers to work, not dealing with office bullies, and the list goes on. But the one thing over the years that has been a consistent HUGE asset about the writing life is its flexibility.

Only Pretzels Need Apply

Why has flexibility won the contest for the thing I’m most thankful for about the writing life? Because, like the photo shows, life has a way of twisting itself into a pretzel. Your well-planned life (and those of loved ones) take many unexpected twists and turns. It happens to everyone sooner or later. And the writing life allows you to be flexible as well, so you can keep your career and your sanity both.

Over the years, I’ve needed to be flexible in many areas:

• children, from infancy to adulthood, plus grandchildren now
• moving, from farm to various towns and across the country
• finances, from flush to broke (several cycles of this!)
• health changes, including multiple surgeries, a chronic pain condition, and aging issues

Children: I wrote longhand in doctors’ waiting rooms, bleachers during basketball practice, and while nursing babies. I wrote early morning before toddlers woke up,  while preschoolers watched “Sesame Street,” during school hours, late night waiting for teens on dates, while traveling to see grown children, while grandkids nap, and when I couldn’t sleep during my daughter’s Iraq deployments. Challenges changed every year with the children, but the flexibility of writing let me keep on being an author.

Moving: We lived on a peaceful, isolated Iowa farm when I started writing. Moving to town was a shock, both in the noise level and dealing with neighbors and neighbors’ kids. Later, moving across country to be near kids and grandkids meant living in an apartment for several years, and learning to write in the middle of the night because I had two teenage girls living above me who had reverted to infancy and had their days and nights turned around. But my office was open all hours, so during those years I could continue being an author.

Finances: For various reasons (more kids, surgeries, single parenting years) there were times when the money coming in was less than the money needing to go out. Flexibility with the writing life counted there too. Some years I took on more writing than I “comfortably” wanted to do, including articles for online publications and work-for-hire series writing. I also said “yes” to more school visits per year than I ever hope to do again. Was it fun working those 60-hour weeks? No, but it turned the cash flow from red to black. A traditional employer doesn’t let you decide when you’re going to work overtime and when you’re not. Writing does.

Health Changes: Starting in my twenties, when the kids were small, I had more than a dozen total surgeries on my neck, face and jaw, ending with nerve damage and a chronic pain condition that saps a lot of energy. For many years, I could not have held down a traditional job. Even today, I need the flexibility of working when I feel well, whether it’s in the middle of the night or on Saturday or holidays. Writing has allowed me to keep my job when sick. Yes, I might write for three hours in the middle of the night, but later in the day when I fold up, I can take a long nap. It’s a rare employer who allows a two-hour nap mid-day.

Turning Pain into Gain

People ask why I wrote the book for writers, Writer’s First Aid: Getting Organized, Getting Inspired, and Sticking to It. I realized today that it could also be subtitled “how to stay flexible in order to keep writing.” My writing students weren’t abandoning their writing dreams because they couldn’t learn to plot or punctuate dialogue. They were quitting because of day jobs, divorces, caring for babies/kids/aging parents, and other life issues. Writing allows you to be flexible in all these life situations.

And don’t forget: surviving life’s pretzel times always give you something to write about!

October 17, 2008

January 12, 2008

This post comes with a warning. If you’ve completed all the mini “assignments” in the previous posts in this series on setting goals, counting the cost (Part 1 and Part 2), finding energy, and finding time (Part 1 and Part 2), you should be close to living the writing life of your dreams. And that’s good! But…

Be Warned!
Just as it’s easy to regain weight you’ve lost, it’s also easy to slip back into the old habits that left you with no time or energy to write. It’s oh-so-easy to slowly slide backwards. You’ve made a lot of gains—but you also must maintain. How? Ultimately, the answer lies in how you think.

Single-Minded Focus
“There are approximately 5 percent of people in any country, in any nation, who will always raise the quality of their life above others. They so do because they choose how to think, day in, day out,” says Richard Bisiker, author of Unlock Your Personal Potential. In other words, where the mind (or thinking) goes, the man follows. Raise the quality of your thinking, and raise the quality of your life.

It’s important to keep your mind focused daily on your new beliefs, your new boundaries, and your new time-saving policies. Why is monitoring your thinking so important? As psychologist William James said, “That which holds our attention determines our action.” So, at least until all your new behaviors and attitudes are rock solid habits, pay attention daily to your new beliefs and goals. Each morning, plan ahead daily for interruptions and how to divert them. (“No, I can’t discuss that right now. I’ll phone you back at 5:00 p.m. and set up a time to talk.”) Or better yet, use your answering machine to avoid being pressured into snap decisions.

Review
Also, weekly and monthly, study your schedule of how you actually spent your time and compare it to your goals and policies. Is there slippage? Where did the writing time go? Did you get guilted into one more volunteer job or another home decorating party? Did you rescue someone again from consequences of their own actions, using your time to fix their self-created problem? Be ruthless as you examine how you actually spent your time.

Learn from both your successes and mistakes. What things worked that you’d like to repeat? What things would you like to change? Calendars and journals remind you of how you spent your time, show you whether your activities match your priorities, and help you see whether you are making progress. If you’re not sure you’ll do this essential checking up, find an accountability partner (writer or nonwriter) who will ask you the hard questions every week. The accountability check-in for time spent writing will prevent bad habits from sneaking back in unnoticed.

Setbacks
Sometimes interruptions occur that no one can help or avoid. You need to drop everything and attend to your sick child. Or there’s been a car accident, or in-laws have arrived for the holidays. The key to rebounding from these necessary interruptions is to view them as one-time events—not your new lifestyle. The events have a beginning, a middle, and an ending. Then you go back to your previous writing schedule. You do not stay stuck in the familiar people-pleasing role. See unavoidable interruptions as temporary.

A New Routine
In order to maintain your new writing life—and keep on gaining—certain things need to be done daily. Every day you will need to reflect on your life and chart your course. Every day you will need to renew the promise you made to yourself to make time to create. Every day you will need to seek out solitude where you can create. Every day you will need to take some action—small, medium or large—in the creation of your writing life. Every day you must plan how to spend your time that day—then follow that plan.

Be vigilant. Be diligent to put these habits into practice daily–and watch your creativity flourish. You’ll no longer dream of having a writing life. You’ll be living it.

December 28, 2007

A writer from my critique group sent me a link to an excellent article today, and I want to pass it along to you. As we think about writing more in 2008, we need to consider the new habits we should develop–and probably a few old ones we need to drop. Daphne Gray-Grant’s article on “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Writers” will give you a lot of food for thought.

Read the article–study it–journal about it. Then make your own list of habits you want to develop in 2008 to further your writing career.