Resolve to Write - 11 Ways to Find the Time

It's a new year and the perfect time to resolve to start a few good habits or get rid of some bad ones. But since this blog is all about getting your stories written down, I thought I'd tackle the most common thing that stops most people; time.

11 Ways to Find the Time to Write

1. Get up a little earlier.
2. Stay up a little later.
3. Carry a small notebook with you and write down any ideas that pop into your head. 4. Write while waiting (doctors office, dentist, picking kids up etc)
5. Write during your lunch hour (or half-hour).
6. Take your kids or elderly parent to their care provider a half-hour early a few days a week and use that time to write - in the parking lot of your employer or at your desk at work.
7. Take yourself to coffee and bring along your laptop.
8. Give up a favorite television show and write during it instead.
9. Let your significant other do the bedtime routine with the kids a day or two a week.
10. Take your friends up on their offer to exchange play dates.
11. Pay a responsible teen or adult to watch the kids, make dinner, do the laundry or attend to any other task that will free you up to write.

If you resolve to do it, you will. Remember that.

June Goals

Last month I really worked almost solely on my children's book, Huey and the Summer Snowball. It was quite a struggle but I won't bore you with the details. Suffice to say that the version I thought was so ready for publication, was not. So instead of simply finding agents and publishers to send it to and sending it out, I spent much of the month working on it. I did manage to get it out to twelve places-publishers, agents, and magazines. That was last month.

So what do I do now? I love writing books but haven't had any publishing success with it YET. I love freelancing and I'm building a successful career. Combining the two is difficult. In fact, it's far more difficult than I could have imagined. So I'm going to practice what I believe. What is that, you might ask? I believe that you CAN have it all. You just can't have it all at the same time. Working on my book for a month really reinforced this belief. But now that one of my books is in good shape to send out there into the publishing world, I can go back to working at freelancing. Many of the agents and publishers had online guidelines which said the wait is 3-6 months for a response. In the meantime, I'll keep freelancing. And I'll continue to send my book to more publishers. Hopefully in September, October, and November, I'll have great news to share here on Write Now! Happy Goal Setting! ~Karen

May Goals - Time to find a balance

Hi Friends- Wow. Has it been that long since I've been here? Yep, guess it has. Well here's what's on my mind; Every month for the past 12 months, I've made monthly goals. Most of them have to do with freelancing. And I've had some success with it too, which is fun. But what I miss is writing books.

So this month, my goal is to dedicate the majority of my time to editing/rewriting and marketing my books. I have several that are finished. One in particular, a children's book called, The Summer Snowball, has been on my mind lately. I know there's a place for it somewhere and I intend to find it.

I want to continue freelancing, especially since I'm finally making some money at it...Ah success! But I want to find a balance. I don't want to give up on my books just because the publishing industry is so huge. I don't want to give up just because I don't get the (near) instant gratification of publication, as I do with magazines. And I especially don't want to give up just because it's hard and seems impossible, that my little manuscript would happen to land on the right desk at the perfect moment in an agent or publisher's day.

I'll post more specific goals after giving this some more thought. Do you make monthly goals? What are they? ~Karen

Finding Your Path

Each month for the past 10 months I've posted monthly goals on the Absolute Write website. There is something about knowing I'll have to post them at the beginning of each month, that makes me think hard.

My writing has been all over the place in the last ten months. I have often read that you should figure out what you're good at, what you know a lot about, and specialize. The problem is that if I look at my professional life, and go solely by that, I would go one direction. And sometimes that's not enough.

I taught special needs children for 15 years. That would be the most obvious choice. And it is an area of specialty for me. It's an area that I am absolutely passionate about. But as I have sent out queries and articles, I have found some unusual specialties. I've found that I love writing travel articles. For an example, go to the Mid-Columbian website http://www.mid-columbian.com/ where my article is on page 17 and beyond. I found that I love photography, as in taking my own photographs. Now, I can tell you, I am not an expert at either of these things. There is nothing in my past that presents itself as a foundation for this kind of writing, except maybe curiosity.

I am forever curious. When a new bird visited my bird feeder recently, I didn't just say, "Oh how nice." No. I asked everyone I knew what kind of bird it was (nobody knew). I went online and did searches, often getting distracted by learning about birds that have not visited me yet. I am an information seeker. I've often said that if I could figure out a way to be paid to go to school, I'd be a professional student. What fun that would be. Now ten months ago when I read that you need to specialize, figure out what you know a lot about and focus all of your writing there, travel writing and photography wouldn't have even been on the list. But here it is. So I guess what I'm saying is that it is good to read, research and follow advice, but not at the exclusion of listening to yourself and following the path that appears before you pebble by pebble.

I didn't find the kind of writing I love, or the kind of writing I'm good at by following a formula. I found it by putting one foot in front of the other, sometimes taking a path that lead nowhere, and sometimes twisting my ankle and sitting it out for a while. But find it I did. What kind of path are you on? Does it feel right to you? ~Karen

Letting Go - Aiming High

It's time. I've been freelance writing for 9 months. In that time, my pay has ranged from $10 to $200 per project. The other day, I found myself writing for one of my low-paying gigs. I was working my tail off despite the fact that they promised to publish one of my articles in January and then decided against it. So I had sat on this article for four months, only to be told they wouldn't be publishing it afterall and it was too late to send it elsewhere. But to their credit, they had paid me for other articles. So there I was working hard.

But then something, I don't know what, clicked. I realized that I don't have to do this anymore. I do have editors who love my writing and pay more. Why am I scrounging for pennies when I don't have to? I believe it's a poverty mentality. I don't know where it comes from, but it sends me begging for jobs and working for less than I deserve. Why? I have no idea. So today I am making a conscious decision.

I will only work for publications which honor my work. I will only work for those who believe in me and publications that I believe in. Now understand, there are other publications that do pay little, but which offer a different, non-monetary payoff, and for those I'll continue. What I'm saying is why should I shoot so low.

It reminds me of parenting and how many parents believe that if their child isn't pregnant, taking drugs, or drinking, they've done a great job. Wrong! That is the very lowest of the standard. And that's true of embarking on a career as a writer. It's time to move on, time to move up! ~Karen

New Years Goals

In my writing circles, many are talking about their New Years Resolutions and New Years Goals. I don't care what you call it, we all need goals. When I was teaching special education, I wrote, what is called an Individual Educational Plan (IEP). This multi-page document was to be sure that the student had clear and concise goals. With the document in hand, a teacher had a guide that would help to move the student toward success. The goals had to be specific to the child's abilities, had to have a timeline and be measureable. Could it be more perfect for our writing goals?

Using this criteria, instead of writing, "I'm gonna write more," you write, "I am going to send out 100 queries by January 31, 2008."

Some goals are not entirely in your hands. For example, my book is ready to be sent to publishers/agents. Of course, in my mind, my goal is to get a book deal this year. But if I make that the goal, there is nothing for me to do to make that happen. So one of my goals is to send it out to 26 publishers and agents. That simple (ok, not so simple, but you get the idea) step, propels me toward my goal of getting a book deal.

When I wrote goals for my students I often broke them down into three month segments. That way, we could all see the progress in increments that came sooner than 365 days. So, here's to it! Here's to writing and to goals and to another year filled with accomplishments.

Happy New Year Friends...Happy New Year! ~Karen

Destiny Matters

I absolutely love watching biographies on A & E. I don't care if it's someone I'm a fan of or not. I don't even care if I have never heard of the person. There's just something about hearing about what someone's life was like before they were considered successful. Well, this morning, it was country singer, Toby Keith. Very interesting and not hard on the eyes either. And he said something that was really interesting to me, which relates to writing.The interviewer read a very positive review to him. Apparently he hadn't read it or even heard about it. He smiled and chuckled and was genuinely pleased. So she asked him what reviews meant to him. He said he doesn't give his critics any weight at all. Why? Because he reasoned, if he gives merit to the good ones, he has to do the same for the bad ones. And he added, "nobody's that good and nobody's that bad." Hmmm...pretty good, huh?

It's true, isn't it? Nobody is THAT good and nobody is THAT bad. All we can hope, is to be who we were meant to be. If we can do that, nothing outside of our destiny will matter.

Be who you are!

Karen

Great News!

My name is in print! I am beyond excited. In the mail today was a copy of Bleech magazine http://www.bleechmagazine.com. And in the magazine is my article, "Take Back the Night." It's the very first time my name has appeared in a print magazine. I suppose I should play it cool in case an editor or publisher reads this, but I'm too excited to pretend! And maybe it's good for an editor or publisher to know what this means to a writer!

The article is one that I really believed in, and not just the writing itself but the idea. When my daughter was in high school I made a deal with her. If she didn't get invited to a dance, then I'd let her have a girls-only party at our house for her and her girlfriends. This article is an extension of that idea.

And this is a milestone for me too. It just feels right all the way around.

Karen

Old Experiences-New Eyes

I went on an adventure today. I walked my dog to the campus of our local liberal arts college. It is a beautiful old college with breath-taking grounds. I'd forgotten that. I drive by all the time. But driving isn't the same. I brought my camera along and took a couple of photos. When you have a camera in your hand, you begin to see things differently. You are looking for something to take a picture of. I saw things I'd passed by often. I took pictures of common things that are always there, but which have become so much a background of my life, that I didn't see them anymore.

So on my quest to have new experiences, I've learned that looking at things with new eyes also creates a new experience. And I plan to have many more of them!

Write Now,

Karen

New Experiences

Something that I love about freelance writing is the opportunity to learn new things. Whether I am researching the body's ability to absorb anything through the skin within 20 minutes (Amazing huh?) or I'm interviewing local business owners, it's all a new learning experience. But truth be told, I'd prefer to sit in my comfortable box, in a comfortable room, in a comfortable house with comfortable people than put myself out there. I don't know what I'm afraid of. Maybe it's not fear at all. Maybe it's human nature to strive for the common, the known...the comfortable and predictable. This month I made a goal of creating opportunities for four new experiences.

And as I've thought about what those experiences might be, I've realized just how ordered my life has become. I'm not a hermit or anything, and yet when I go for a walk, I tend to only go one route. Why? When I shop, I only shop at certain places. Why? When I go out to eat, I frequent two or three places. Why? I don't really know why. I just do it and I bet I'm not alone. So beyond the four experiences I'm creating this month, I am also becoming very conscious of what I regularly do...and changing it.

If it is true that we are only three people away from someone who can change our lives, how will I ever meet them if I keep cycling through the same experiences over and over. One of my experiences this month was a visit to an organic farm which has only been in operation since March of this year. I went to possibly write an article about it but it became so much more than that.

It became a glimpse at a life I know nothing about. Though I am surrounded by farmland, I know nothing about farms. And this farm is striving to be completely sustainable. I touched a horse and met a small pig, the runt of the litter. I was introduced to a chicken named, "Ike." I walked around on the land and felt a part of what its owners must feel. "It just feels good to be doing this." the owner said.

And I agreed. It does.



photo: welcome table farm

Karen

Sharing Goals with Strangers

Hi Friends- It's the first day of a new month (October-in case you didn't know). And time to set my monthly goals. Over at Absolute Write, there is a thread for freelancing goals each month. I don't know why it works for me, but it does. I mean, how can complete strangers motivate me? How can I be propelled forward, writing and submitting more, just because I know I can go brag about it on the thread? It makes no sense. I could do the same with my family or my friends, people I have actually seen in real-live flesh-and-blood.

Maybe it's the writer thing. You know, we writers tend to think alike. It would take volumes for me to explain myself and my writerly experiences with my family, but with writers, it takes just a few sentences. So each month I post goals to complete strangers and I work hard to meet those goals. And it works. Why?

I don't have a clue. Any ideas?

Write Now,

Karen