My Life Coach and Me

When I won a week's worth of life coaching with Susan Duncan in a raffle, I thought I was helping out a friend jumpstart her new business  Turns out that I, a queen of organizing, goal setting and doing, needed the help instead.

At the start of the coaching session, I hadn't gotten any writing done in several weeks, due to other family activities. So I figured it would be best to work on that aspect of my life. During those first coaching sessions, I was reminded that planning is all good, but if it isn't set on realistic goals, heartache is an unintended consequence.

How many times can I set and not reach the goal of querying my story by the end of the year, and not see the flaw? Quite a few, particularly since I want to get to the other part of being an writer... published.

That's where Coach put her hands up and asked me to calculate, yes calculate, given my current rate of revision, a realistic date to send out the story queries. When the calculation came out to week 52 of 2014, I won't lie, that depressed me. But now I knew, and knowing is half the battle. Thanks to Susan, I realized I was too close, and impatient, to see how I was setting myself up for heartache. 

Which brings up something else Coach is helping me set up, an opposite of heartache: a reward system. This system includes a little rewards at set intervals if I complete my writing goals for a week. (I'm looking forward to some new music soon.) She also encouraged me to get the whole family involved, as they are my primary support system. So, the hubby, kids, and I have agreed to give High Fives and Family Hugs when anyone, not just me, meets interim goals as well as the regular celebrations when the big goals are achieved.

Another aspect Susan is working with me is to readjust my mindset when my daily writing goals are interrupted. It's sounds easy: reset the daily goal and mindset to see something positive of the situation. Operative words, sounds easy. Not so much, especially when that end of 2014 goal gets pushed into 2015. That is why she asked me to place the inspirational/motivational poster she asked me to make right next to my computer. A cheerleader always present and ready to encourage.

Just like with my decision to contract with my editor, I'm glad that I engaged with Susan on my writing life. I look forward to what else Susan has up her sleeve to help me to setup my success. Thanks, Coach!

Status and More

Life has been hectic with the holidays, NaNoWriMo, kids' activities and the like but I've kept with the writing. Here's the latest.

I won NaNoWriMo 2012. Here's the web badge to prove it. But, that doesn't mean that I finished the story. Eleven scenes still await my attention. My goal: finish the story by the end of the month. I would love to finish it all in a week, ala NaNoWriMo pacing, but with the holiday and kids' programs, I think taking the rest of the month is more realistic.

Last week, I listened to a free Writer's Digest webinar, Novel Revision: Craft a Story Readers Can't Put Down, by James Scott Bell. A high level overview of considerations/tips for the revision process. I was looking for tips on how to get through the process, given my hate/hate relationship with revision. I got enough out of the one hour event to tempt me into purchasing his Revision and Self Editing for Publication: Techniques for Transforming Your First Draft into a Novel that Sells. His "death overhanging" concept, as in does the story have a death (be it physical, professional, or emotional) looming, helped me see the "what are the stakes?" in a new light. After I've read the book, I'll let you know what I thought and what I plan to add to my revision process.

Which brings me back to revision. After I finish "Winter's Tango," I'll get back to revising Angie's ID theft story. After that, I'll pick another story to revise. How to pick from the other stories that need so much help, I don't know.

Maybe, I'll spring for some professional help. (Ha, ha. I heard that.) I'm at that stage where I need some guidance ... a strengths and weaknesses assessment of my craft. And as I've still not looked for a critique group, I've been thinking of a particular writer/editor/consultant, Rosina Lippi, to give it to me straight. 

Because of the various writers' blogs and a book that a family member sent me, I've also thought about blogging-a-book. Jury is still out on that idea, but if I do, I'll use my time travel/romance story as my vehicle. Excerpts from that story can be found here. If your interested in more of Akeva's story, let me know in the comments.

Until next time, I'm off to a crippling ice age and looming death.

Resurfacing to Roll With It

Resurfacing. Finally.

Despite the evidence to the contrary, with my last post back in June, I didn't forget about my blog or my writing. I just let other things take precedence ... kids, summer vacation, trips, cleaning, laziness. After a summer off, I'm ready to get back to work. I've cleaned and rearranged my office. All three kids are in school. A new writing plan is in place. So now I can get busy writing/revising. As a matter of fact, I've already reconnected with a few writer comrades, revised two scenes, and written this blog post. And it's only Tuesday. Can you tell I'm rejuvenated, pumped, ready to get this revision behind me?

It's because I took the summer off. Rather than carry the guilt and frustration of not keeping my writing schedule with the kids out of school, I gave up trying to shoehorn everything into my days and rolled with it. Yup, me. I rolled with it.

A memory from Arthur's Seat

I may have mentioned before that I can be stringent regarding my schedule, so this was a hard concept for me. As my family can attest, I get very cranky if things don't go just as I've planned. But being cranky, guilty, and frustrated got in the way of being with my husband and kids. Rather than ruin a perfectly good summer with my rigidness, I figured writing would come with the new school year. Besides, being there for the kids and creating life-lasting memories with my family are things I'd rather carry with me.

And really, my number one priority is my family. I chose writing as something to work on because I could fit the activity in the interstices of our schedules and lives, and hopefully earn a little something along the way. I forget that fact from time to time in wanting something for myself and to maintain my writing momentum. I'll keep forging time for my writing, but work on being flexible and appreciative of what I accomplish.

Which brings me to what I hope to work on for the rest of the year.

1. Finish revising Angie's story and start the query process by mid-October.
2. By the first of November, complete a story outline that I started in June, so I can participate in NaNoWriMo.
3. In December, pick up where I left off on revising Akeva's story.
4. Work on story prompts throughout the year to hone the craft and keep my writing fresh.

Ambitious, I know, but something to roll with.

PS - Rolling with it worked extremely well on our big vacation to Scotland ... left to my own devices we wouldn't have seen half the things we did or gotten some excellent story fodder along the way.

List of Late

Yes, a list of Late.

• January is half over and this is my first post in the new year. Late.
• Other author/writer blogs have listed, discussed, advised, commented on how they are/aren't meeting their resolutions. Late on this too.
• Still working on the 1st draft of my 2010 NaNoWriMo novel. Yep, late.
• Online courses not complete. Late.

Late. Late. Late. Late.

I hate it when people are late. I despise it when I'm late. So, yeah, I'm a little edgy about being late on so many things.

Fortunately, I don't have external deadlines to meet, just my own goals. And this years goals include to finish the revision course, finish my Think Sideways course, find a crit partner, and finally start the query process for at least one of my stories. I know, I know. These goals sound awfully familiar ... like my goals from last year. You guessed it: Late.

But I haven't quit. I'm still reading, learning, thinking, typing. Still working. 

And you know what? I'll keep my list of Late, thank you very much, over a list of Never.

Thanks NaNoWriMo 2010

NaNoWriMo 2010 has come and gone, and we are a household of winners. My two oldest kids won, and so did I. Yes, I wrote my 50,000 words during November. And I'm still writing.

Part of why I haven't blogged about my progress yet is I'd hoped to be done with my story by now. I foresee lots of rearranging and deleting coming to this story, but I'll keep writing to the end before even thinking too much about any of that stuff.

Instead, I thought I'd share a few things I learned this time around in NaNoWriMo.

• Setting a word count, then striving for it, helped keep me at the keyboard getting those words onto the screen. So, now I have a daily word count for first drafts. I'll figure something out for revisions and how to move through those later.
• Life intrudes. Or in my case, writing intrudes on life, when time allows. So, even if I don't meet my word count, thinking of my story counts, even it's just writing a quick something on sticky note to follow up on later. Something is better than nothing. That said ...
• I can schedule mini-vacations from writing. Taking a break from writing to read that juicy/thrilling/suspenseful/favorite-author novel, or doing some other creative endeavor, is ok, even needed. I write this here to remind myself to not feel guilty if I don't write everyday.
• It's time to reach out to other writers. Not just the little notes via Twitter, Facebook, and blogs, but getting in the trenches with folks about manuscripts, revision, setbacks, milestones and the business of writing. It's time to learn, commiserate, and celebrate with other writers.

I'm sure if I thought about it, I'd find other things that I learned or enjoyed, but that's enough for me to be working on at the moment. If you participated in NaNoWriMo, I hope you got something out of it, no matter what it was.

So, thanks for the memories, NaNoWriMo 2010, and for the lessons learned. Here's to meeting you, NaNoWriMo 2011, next November.

My Goals for the Year

I know, I know ... Yet another blog post about resolutions, or goals, for the year. Nearly everyone is doing this type of post. It'll be quick, I promise.

I normally don't make goals, but this year, I've actually got something I'm doing for myself - my writing.

So here are my writing related goals ...

• I'll keep my peeks at the non-productive parts of the internet throughout the day to a minimum. I'll check the social networks, blogs, email at specific times of day (instead of checking constantly like the internet addict that I am).
  
• Have both stories ready for the query stage by the end of the year.
  
• Exercise daily to keep illnesses away (like that Type II Diabetes that runs in the family) and generally be healthy. (Really, being healthy is part of writing.)
  
• Engage in more music activities like playing the keyboard/piano and listening music more often Writing makes me want to hear and play music, while playing and listening to music makes me want to write.

So like I said, quick. I'll post from time to time how I am doing on achieving these goals.

And if you made any resolutions, let me know in the comments.