focus

Surrendering to the Call

Published on by Kristi Holl

The post below was written almost four years ago, when I was struggling with this question. I was pleased to see that I no longer struggle with it. In fact, after a full surrender, things shifted for me in a wonderful way. Not only do I have as many contracts as I can handle, I’m having a chance to write the kind of books I have always loved to read. What made the difference in four years? Read below, and you’ll see…

Do you believe you are called to write? Or do you suspect you are?

If that’s true, why aren’t you pursuing your calling?

Food for Thought

This weekend I started reading Callings by Gregg Levoy, the author of a very practical book for writers called This Business of Writing. In Callings, he said some thought-provoking things that gave me pause.

I started writing thirty years ago, and until six months ago, there were many reasons why I couldn’t give my all-out devotion to writing: a full-time day job of teaching, raising four children, multiple jobs in the church and community, serious health problems and surgeries, etc. But last fall I retired from teaching, my children are grown, and I can decide how much I babysit grandchildren and how much volunteer work I do. It’s a time I’ve been anticipating for three decades.

So…am I pursuing my writer’s calling with full devotion? I want to. I dream about it. I can almost taste it sometimes. But do I do it? No.

Why?

I’m not sure, but these quotes from Callings are helping me ask the right questions. Maybe these ideas will help you too.

  • “Although we have the choice not to follow  a call, if we do not do so,..we’ll feel alienated from ourselves, listless and frustrated, and fitful with boredom, the common  cold of the soul. Life will feel so penetratingly dull and pointless that we may become angry, and turn the anger inward against ourselves (one definition of depression).”
  • “Generally, people won’t pursue their callings until the fear of doing so is finally exceeded by the pain of not doing so.”
  • “Perhaps the main reason that we ignore calls is that we instinctively know the price they’ll exact.”
  • “All calls lead to some sacrifice because even just one choice closes the door on another, and some calls lead to much sacrifice, which may feel anything but blissful.”
  • “At some level we need to devote everything, our whole selves. A part-time effort, a sorta-kinda commitment, an untested promise, won’t  suffice. You must know that you mean business, that you’re going to jump into it up to your eye sockets and not turn back at the last minute.”

Will the Rubber Meet the Road Now?

I’ve had thirty years of (by necessity) a “part-time effort” and “an untested promise.” Now that I have the time and could choose to do so, will I “jump into it up to [my] eye sockets”?

Is the pain of not doing so finally more than the fear of trying? Yes, I think so.

How about you?

2015: Chapter One

Published on by Kristi Holl

Beginning the new year is much like writing a new book. We have an idea, and we’re working out the details. There’s excitement, high hopes, blank pages, and a sense that anything can happen. This could be our best year ever! This could be our breakout (or “break in”) year! This could well be our year where we reach escape velocity.

But…

Are you afraid to get your hopes up? Do you remember past years–maybe many past years–where you also had high hopes, but not much resulted from it?

This happens especially when you’ve tried hard. You’ve learned how to set goals. You’ve written them down because you’ve had it drilled into your head that writing goals down can almost make them magically happen! You’ve joined challenges, signed up for writing prompts, found accountability partners, become active in critique groups…you’ve “been there, done that.”

And yet, despite producing some good writing and making headway on your Internet presence and perhaps selling some and speaking some, 2014 fell far short of your goal list. In fact, you may have fallen short on lists from the last five years.

Thinking Back Before Going Forward

At the beginning of December, when I took time off from the blog, one of the things I did was go through 2014 and analyze why I succeeded with some things and failed with others. I kept backing up and asking myself, “What caused this?” I asked over and over, repeating the question for each failed goal, until I got to the bottom of it. [This would prove to be invaluable in my 2015 planning later.]

Here’s an example:

  • Why did you quit on Book X when you were 2/3 finished? Answer: I got sick.
  • What caused this? Answer: sleep deprivation mostly.
  • What caused this? Answer: getting to bed too late.
  • What caused this? Answer: being too tired to work, so I Web-surfed instead; hours used up during my daytime working hours because I couldn’t say ‘no’ when I should have; dealing with another adult’s personal problem brought on by herself which I should have handed right back.

So my 2015 goals don’t center around solving the problem of “don’t get sick–take more vitamins, go for a walk.” Instead I found ways to stay offline or lock myself offline, had talks with a couple of people about how much I could be available, and learned how to discern which responsibilities belonged to whom, and then only deal with my own. All of those issues contributed to not finishing that novel during the free time I had in 2014. I plan to finish it this year.

Your Best Year Ever

I decided this year that I would look for help from someone who had their act together more than I did! I signed up (with a 30-day money back guarantee) for Michael Hyatt’s“Your Best Year Ever” program. It’s certainly what I wanted (to have my best year ever), and with the three novel deadlines I have so far this year, I absolutely have to be more productive. 

The program is a five-step process for creating goals, including motivation and accountability for achieving the steps. I won’t know if it works for a while yet, nor am I promoting his program. But I’ve had too many years in a row where I only accomplished about half my goals. I want and need this year to be different.

When I signed up for the program, it came with several freebies that I have found just as useful as the program itself. One was a video and workbook on “morning rituals,” specifics on how to set up your days for success. Another extremely valuable idea was a video/workbook plan for finding your “push goal.” A push goal is one that influences all your other goals and makes them much more likely to be accomplished.

What About Your Goals?

If you want to have a different kind of writing year, you will need to do some things differently. What will they be?

Maybe, like me, you want some personal coaching in setting up goals this time, in the hope that you’ll accomplish most (or all) of them this year. Other writers do it! Why not you and me?

Maybe you write very clear goals already, are already 100% motivated, but lack support. Your first goal may be to find a writing group, online or in your hometown library or bookstore.

Maybe, like one very successful writing friend of mine, you feel your need is more focus if you’re to attain your goals. She’s reading books on focus to find ideas. Another writer is changing genres and feels a real need for intensive study again in order to succeed in his goals.

Your Assignment

Whatever your goals for 2015, take time now to figure out (1) why you didn’t meet some of your goals last year, and (2) what specific thing you need in order to boost your chances that 2015 will be a lot more productive.

Then aggressively hunt for a suitable solution, make it a priority, and set yourself up for huge success. Happy writing in 2015!

Finding Writing Freedom

Published on by Kristi Holl

Within the last month, I’ve switched over from XP to a Windows 8 laptop with wireless Internet. It has been a wonderful, eye-opening change!

YouTube videos and movies no longer stick, break up, or freeze. I can access the Internet in any room of the house—or even when away on trips. I can check frequently on Facebook to see new videos and photos of my beautiful grandkids. And I could decide to answer “just one more email question” before going to bed.

Therein lies the problem.

Addicted? Who, Me?

I never had a tremendous amount of sympathy for writers who couldn’t seem to stay off the Internet long enough to get their reading, writing, and studying done. How hard could it be really? Well, this past month I found that it’s a lot harder to leave alone than I thought! Having dinosaur dial-up and then a pokey DSL line had been my biggest productivity friend, I think.

While I love the new computer—and it would have been so welcome when writing a couple of nonfiction books that required much research—its high-tech capabilities are causing trouble.

Enter Freedom!

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have so much willpower to spare that I want to spend it fighting the Internet. And yet computers—with Internet access—are here to stay. So I did what my youngest daughter grilled into my head. Her answer to everything is “Google it!” So I did.

And I found a fabulous “block the Internet” download called Freedom. For a mere ten dollars (and there’s a free trial if you’d like to try it first), you get instant willpower. It buys you freedom to focus by blocking your Internet access! You can set the “block” for any amount of time, from fifteen minutes to 24 hours. You can set schedules for different days of the week if you like, and then you write.

I love the app. I would pay more for it, if necessary. (And I don’t part with my money easily!) I noticed this morning as I set the timer (on both my computers) for three hours of blocking, there was a wonderful sense of peace. There wasn’t the withdrawal I expected. Instead—and this will sound so anti-social—there was such a feeling of “no one can get to me for three hours—it’s my time to just write!”

And so I did.

Success!

Nothing makes us feel like writers more than writing. And nothing makes me feel like a successful writer more than having a very productive writing day. Freedom gives me that!

How about you? Do you need some writing freedom too? And do you have a favorite time-saving or willpower-producing tip?

Shifting Focus: a Critical Writer’s Skill

Published on by Kristi Holl

When driving a car, you need to focus on the distance so you don’t run a red light that is coming up or miss your exit sign. But you also have to focus up close, paying attention to your speedometer or the car in the next lane. You won’t successfully reach your destination if you don’t have both long-range focus and short-range focus.

The same holds true for your writing career, and this shifting back and forth in focus seems to be where writers often fall short.

Long-Term Focus

LONG-TERM FOCUS: bypassing instant gratification in favor of achieving your goal.

Long-term focus means taking the long view, like seeing the exit sign in the distance. It marks where you’re headed, and it keeps you on target whether you have to change lanes, stop for gas, speed up or slow down.

Long-term focus for your writing does the same thing. If your long-range goal is publishing a book, that’s where you need to keep your long-range focus. It will keep you moving in the right direction whether you have to stop for illness, speed up to meet a request from an agent, or slow down to do extensive revisions.

“Focus helps you eliminate the mental clutter that keeps getting in the way of your ultimate goals. To remain focused, you need to take time out each and every day to make sure you’re still focused on the things in life that are important to you.” (Self-Discipline: Unlock the Power of Self-Control by M. T. Anderson)

Perils of Long-Term Focusing

So when you’re focused on your long-term goals—really keeping them in sight and heading with determination toward them—what’s the problem? It’s one I can fully identify with.

“If you focus in on a single area of your life with laser-focus, all the other areas will begin to suffer,” says Anderson.

Hasn’t this happened to you? Whether through desire to complete a project or necessity (a deadline bearing down on you), haven’t other areas of your life suffered? Mine do. I don’t care much if my house gets dirty—it can be cleaned fairly quickly when I have time. I’m talking about more important stuff that suffers or gets neglected: exercise, taking time to cook healthy meals, going to bed on time, and other health-related things. I might finish 50,000 words during NaNoWriMo, but did I end up with back and neck pain, plus ten extra pounds?

It doesn’t have to be that way, but you must keep a watchful eye on important daily routines. You must learn to shift focus–and usually many times a day.

Short-Term Focus

SHORT-TERM FOCUS: activities that contain all the habits that will get you to your long-term goal (just like your careful driving habits of observing speed laws and filling your gas tank will get you to your destination.)

Short-term focus mostly has to do with your daily writing routines and how you accomplish your daily writing tasks. It also means not letting distractions lure you away from writing or cause you to get lost or off track. 

Most of us know the tips:

  • Find a quiet place to work, preferably one with a door.
  • Close your e-mail and social networking sites while you work.
  • Turn off your cell phone; turn on the answering machine.

You have to focus up close on your driving (writing) habits. The Internet is still a big problem for people. And it might be bigger than you imagine in your own writing life. If you want to find out, check out the time tracking software (FREE) called Rescue Time. It will tell you how you are spending your time online, let you set goals, track for you how you’re doing, and send you a weekly report. It has helped me waste less time after giving me weekly reality checks on where my time is really going!

Also, Anderson says “there are free browser extensions for all of the major browsers that will either block the sites you tell them to or will limit the amount of time you spend on the site. Install one and use it during the hours you’re supposed to be working.”  I use StayFocused for Google Chrome. See these 51 Productivity Extensions for more great ideas to help you.

Slippage

Look at your priorities, then see if you’re really headed that way based on what you’re doing on a daily basis. Focus tends to slip a little at a time. It’s easier to change focus slippage early on while the problem is minor.

If you don’t find a way to have daily short-term focus, it won’t matter if you set long-term goals or not. And vice versa. If you stare at your speedometer without looking down the road, you’ll probably crash. If you stare at the exit sign a mile away without bothering to note the cars behind and beside you, you’ll probably crash. Either way, you won’t make it to your destination.

You are driving your writing career, and it is primarily up to you if you reach your destination. Your writing—like your driving—needs both a long-term view and a short-term view. Taken together, this way to focus on your goals will help many more of them come to completion.

Writer Imaging (Part 3)

Published on by Kristi Holl

(First read “Writer Imaging” Part 1 and Part 2.) Here are the final attributes of a happy writing life…

4. Staying focused on the positive. View your writing life as a series of opportunities and growth experiences, even though some experiences (like rejection slips) may involve pain.

Daily there are good things to focus on though. Focus on the excitement of finding a good idea, or researching a fascinating subject, or working in a quiet library where you can still smell the stacks of books.

In the same vein, avoid worry, anger and depression wherever possible, and if it’s a part of your life, stop and deal with it. In The Right to Write, Julia Cameron says: “the truth is that too much torment and too much depression can make it as difficult to write as to make the bed, wash the dishes, do the laundry. To the depressed person, writing may present itself as one more chore. For this reason, we are actually working on our writing when we directly address the larger issue of our happiness.”

5. Spending time socializing with other writers. Form writing and critique groups. One word of caution, though: choose WORKING writers, not just people who like to talk about writing someday or go to workshops. Choose writing friends who actually are committed to writing consistently and trying to improve.

Iron sharpens iron. You need writers who will hold you accountable, not for sales, but for trying, for studying the markets, for revising, for doing thorough research, for your daily journaling, or whatever writing activities you’ve chosen for your growth. And if the writers you meet with stop writing, don’t feel compelled to remain in the group. Drop out and find other working writers to socialize with. You will help each other along.

The Whole Truth and Nothing But 
Believe it or not, winning an award or being on the bestseller list would NOT change your writing life, either for better or for worse. That’s because fame and fortune (both which are fleeting, I’m told) are not the elements of a good writing life any more than being thin guarantees happiness for women.

Incorporating the above five elements in your life will do a lot more for creating a happy writer. The best part about this news is, of course, that these five attributes are totally under your control. They don’t depend on the shifting markets, changing times, or fickle public taste.

Each attribute of a happy writer’s life is attainable by every writer. So start today. Right now. Change your perceptions of what a successful writer’s life entails. (It’s probably better than you’ve imagined.) Then go out and make it happen for yourself.

Attention, Writers! (It's a Choice)

Published on by Kristi Holl

If you’re traveling west, you’ll end up in California. Go East, and you might land in New York instead. The direction you choose determines your destination.

But what makes you choose one direction over the other? For most people, it’s whatever grabs your attention. If warm beaches and surfing snag your attention, you’re more likely to head west than east. As your attention goes, so goes your life.

What does that mean for your writing life? It means that when distractions come along–and they will–these distractions can snag your attention, pull you off course and change your direction if you’re not careful.

The Formula

Whatever grabs your attention (internally or externally) determines the direction you head. And the direction you head determines where you end up. This is true for everyone. For every area of your life, the formula is the same:

Attention –> Direction –> Destination

How can you make this “principle of the path” work for you instead of against you in your writing life?

This? Or This?

You can remember that we have choices. We don’t have to be ruled by the things that initially grab our attention. (Attention-grabbers include pop-up ads when you surf the web, commercials for food on TV, new cars as you drive by a car lot, a fight with your teenager, and being snapped at by your boss. Attention-grabbers can be those worrisome thoughts that flit through your brain like mosquitoes, about family or money issues which have nothing to do with writing.) We can choose to give our attention to these things. Or we can remove or disentangle our attention from something and deliberately place it somewhere else.

According to Andy Stanley in The Principle of the Path, “Whereas emotion fuels the things that grab our attention, intentionality fuels our decision to give certain things our attention.” In other words, distractions excite our emotions and snag us almost against our will, but we can intentionally choose to give our attention to something else, like a goal.

Death to Distractions

This is good news for writers! We all need a strategy for dealing with things that distract us from our writing goals. Distractions do more than rob us of our writing time that day or that week. They can set us on a path that will lead us to a destination we don’t want.

You don’t think so? Does it sound melodramatic? Well, look back on your life. Are there areas you now wish you’d given more attention to? Maybe you wish you’d paid more attention to your health or your marriage or the way your handle money. Things might be better for you now if you’d given more  attention to those areas then.

Fork in the Road

The same thing is true of your writing career. If you are consistently turning away from unwanted distractions and choosing instead to give your attention to writing and writing-related activities (reading, studying, networking with other writers), you’re heading in a good direction. You will end up at a different destination five, ten or fifteen years from now.

Each time a distraction tempts you to veer away from your writing, you’re at a fork in the road. You will choose one path or the other. I hope you choose the writing path!

Frustration and the Serenity Prayer for Writers

Published on by Kristi Holl

This has been a frustrating week on several levels.

When I’m frustrated, it’s usually a sign that I’m trying to control something I can’t control. This can be a person or a situation or an event. The process can churn your mind into mush until you can’t think.

On the other hand, making a 180-degree switch and focusing on the things I can control (self-control) is the fastest way out of frustration. This concept certainly applies to your writing life.

Words of Wisdom

Remember the Serenity Prayer? It goes like this: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

How about reducing frustration with your writing life by applying that wisdom to your career? Here are some things to accept that you cannot change:

  • How long it takes to get a response from editors and agents
  • Rejections
  • Editors moving before buying the manuscript they asked to see
  • Size of print runs
  • Reviews (print or online)
  • Publisher’s budget for your book’s publicity and promotion
  • How much promotion is expected of the author
  • Publishers going out of business

Trying to change anything on the above list is a sure-fire route to frustration and wanting to quit.

However, do you have courage to change the things you can? Here are some:

  • Giving yourself positive feedback and affirmations
  • Reading positive books on the writing life
  • Studying writing craft books and applying what you learn
  • Writing more hours (write/rest/write/rest/write/rest)
  • Reading more current books in the genre where you want to publish
  • Attending local, state, regional and national conferences you can afford
  • Joining or forming a critique group
  • Blocking out set times to do your promotional work

Wisdom to Know the Difference

If you’re battling frustration and discouragement with the writing life, chances are good that you’re trying to control something beyond your control. It will make you crazy! The fastest way back to sanity is to concentrate on what you can control about the writing life.

Choose anything from that second list–or share an additional idea in the comments below–and get on with becoming a better writer. In the end, that’s all you can do–and it will be enough.

How to Fix A Writer's Fragmented Life

Published on by Kristi Holl

I always blog on Tuesdays. Except yesterday.

My grandkids had been here for a couple of days of hiking, water fights, reading and laughing. I had planned to blog last night, but I had a meeting at my house to plan and clean for. BUT the air conditioning went out (a big deal in summertime Texas), and several elderly committee members would have fainted in my oven of a living room. In the midst of rescheduling the meeting, a storm blew in, and I shut down all the computers…so no blog yesterday.

A very fragmented day.

This morning when I got up early to blog, I saw the article below in my Inbox. I laughed aloud. It’s on trying to write with fragmented lives, written by Randy Ingermanson. If you don’t get his newsletter, you should. Contact info is at the end of this wonderful article (reprinted with permission.) Enjoy!

“Organization: Your Fragmented Life” by Randy Ingermanson

So your life is fragmented beyond belief, right?

  • You need to research foods they ate in the 1880s in France for your novel.
  • And the repair guy is coming at 10 AM to fix the busted washing machine.
  • And you have a blog that needs feeding.
  • There’s a storm coming and it might be time to clear the gunk out of the rain gutters before they overflow.
  • Did you remember to sign up for that writing conference that’s going to have that agent you’ve been mooning over?
  • The cat is way overdue to be spayed and she’s acting much too friendly with your teddy bear.
  • You haven’t Facebooked in ages and you’re not sure it matters anymore because you hate it anyway.
  • Your boss wants that report on his desk tomorrow.
  • You’re supposed to be writing your novel.

All of the above, and more, is on your plate for today.

Most of these tasks have been festering on your plate for days or weeks already. You hate your plate. You want all those tasks to just go away. They’re all important. Quick — which do you do first?

Does any of this sound remotely familiar?

Good, you’re human. If your life isn’t fragmented, you might be a robot. Or God. Or deceased.

So how do you deal with it all?

I can’t tell you how you SHOULD deal with it all. But I can tell you how I deal with it. If it sounds like it might work for you, then try it.

There are really three basic steps here:

  1. Keep lists for the main Big Chunks of your life. All tasks go on a list for one of your Big Chunks, or else they go on the Miscellaneous list.
  2. Every day, pick a few of the Big Chunk lists to work on. Assign a priority for each list for the day. Set a fixed amount of time that you’re going to work exclusively on each list, when you’ll be totally focused on that list.
  3. When it’s time to work on a given list, work on that for the assigned amount of time and then stop. Ignore all interruptions if you possibly can.

Does this work? Yes, it works for me. It might work for you too. Let’s see how it plays out in real life:

Today, I have a boatload of things to get done. A lot more than I could possibly do in one day. All of them are important.

They fall into four Big Chunks, and for today, I put them in this order:

  1. My novel. I’m proofing it for publication. Yay!
  2. My business. I’ve got a ton of small tasks and one big task.
  3. This e-zine. I’ve got three articles to write in the next few days, plus editing.
  4. A giveaway campaign on Goodreads that I just started, and which I need to check up on.

Each of these Big Chunks has a bunch of tasks that all need to get done. So on each list, I’ve got the tasks in the rough order I want to do them.

This morning when I looked at my lists, it was pretty overwhelming. That’s normal. I can’t remember when my lists didn’t look overwhelming. Yours look overwhelming too. That doesn’t mean we need to be overwhelmed.

What we need is focus.

When I started work this morning, I assigned myself 90 minutes to work on the novel, 60 minutes to work on my business, 90 minutes to work on this e-zine, and 60 minutes to deal with the Goodreads campaign.

That works out to 5 hours total, which in my experience is a good day’s work, because there is also email to be answered, small breaks to be taken, water to be drunk, exercise to be had, cats to be coddled, and crises to be managed.

The little things never go away, but you manage them by wedging them into the cracks between the Big Chunks in your day.

The point is that 5 hours of my day is scheduled for the Big Chunks in my life.

I began with Big Chunk #1 — working on my novel. I had only 90 minutes assigned to it, which meant there was no time to mess around. I dived right in and got cranking. 90 minutes goes fast.

When my 90 minutes were up, I was on a roll and didn’t want to stop. So I kept on going until I reached 160 minutes. That was cheating, but my novel was my top priority for the day, so I wanted to run with it. I’m happy to cheat on behalf of the high priority things in my life.

I felt pretty good when I finished, so I took a break and did some e-mail. Not all of it, but enough to knock down the in-box a bit. That burned 15 minutes.

Then I moved into Big Chunk #2, my business work. There is an infinite amount of work on that plate, but I had budgeted only 60 minutes for the day. Which meant there was no time to mess around. I took the most important task, which really NEEDS to be done today, and started work.

There were some interruptions. Urgent phone calls from my boss which I really can’t ignore. That happens. But I was pretty focused anyway, because I really wanted to get this one task done. It took two full hours. I had only one hour budgeted, but when you’re halfway through, you really don’t want to stop. So I got it finished.

Fact is, there are a dozen other important tasks I need to do for my business. I did only one. But I finished it. I could whine about the other eleven left undone, or I could be happy about the one that I did. I’ll take the one. Some days, I don’t get even one done. That’s just reality.

I’m right now working on Big Chunk #3, this e-zine. I have 90 minutes budgeted for this, AND I have a crisis to deal with from my boss which I have set aside to ferment for a bit.

My theory on crises is you either kill them right away or let them take their turn with all the other crises in the world. This one is going to take its turn. I just don’t think I can solve it today, so why should I let it interfere with the Big Chunks in my life? No reason to do that. Not going to.

I have three articles for my e-zine I’d love to write today. Not going to happen in the 90 minutes I have budgeted. I’ll be doing very well to get this one done in that amount of time.

But in fact, the first draft is almost done. I’m pretty focused right now. I’ve given myself permission to be focused for this 90 minute block.

After the 90 minutes are up, I’ll need to go check the mail. And deal with the e-mail that’s reproducing in my in-box. And pay obeisance to the cat, who has not been fed in two whole hours. And think about my boss-induced crisis.

I don’t know if I’ll get to the Goodreads task list today. It would be wonderful if I do, but the fact is that it was #4 on my list of Big Chunks.

On different days, I choose different Big Chunks. My life has several Big Chunks. Probably six or seven of them. On any given day, I can generally get something significant done on three or possibly four of them.

That’s my life.

I bet yours is similar.

I bet yours is totally out of control.

Just like mine.

You will never get your life under control, if by “control” you mean that all your lists are finished.

Not going to happen until you die. Because things keeping adding themselves to your lists. Crises happen. Cats select you to be their humble servant. Yikes, my friend is Skyping me right now. I’ll allow myself a couple of quick responses to be polite. Got to stay focused on what I’m doing.

Every day you can budget time on the Big Chunks of your life. 60 minutes for this. 90 minutes for that. If you get some actual work done, one or more tasks crossed off the list, on each of three Big Chunks every day, well that’s progress.

Yes, we all want to get it all done.

No, none of us are ever going to do it.

Sure, your life is fragmented beyond all belief. But you can defrag it a bit, right now, today, tomorrow, and forever. By budgeting time for the Big Chunks.

Which Big Chunk is most important for today? (On a good day, your most important Big Chunk might be your novel, but it probably won’t be every day.)

How much time can you realistically spend on each of your Big Chunks? (Remember that the little pieces of life are going to intrude, so the time you spend on your Big Chunks is not going to be 100% of your day.)

Now go work on the first Big Chunk for the time allotted. Ignore all interruptions if you possibly can, until the time is up. Then deal with the interruptions, the crises, the incidental e-mail for a few minutes.

Then on to the next Big Chunk, and the next.

For me, three Big Chunks is a good day, and four is spectacular.

Divide and conquer. It worked for Julius Caesar. It can work for you.

One Big Chunk at a time

****This article is reprinted by permission of the author.

Award-winning novelist Randy Ingermanson, “the Snowflake Guy,” publishes the free monthly Advanced Fiction Writing E-zine, with more than 32,000 readers. If you want to learn the craft and marketing of fiction, AND make your writing more valuable to editors, AND have FUN doing it, visit http://www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com.

Download your free Special Report on Tiger Marketing and get a free 5-Day Course by e-mail in How To Publish a Novel.

 

 

Warning: Stop Shifting and Drifting

Published on by Kristi Holl

driftingHave you ever noticed that we never drift in good directions?

If you want to accomplish anything, it has to be by choice. “Drift” is our default setting when we allow outside distractions to capture our attention.

Have you drifted away from your writing goals set earlier this year?

Looking Back

Recall the last time you set some writing goals. Did your goals include X number of hours of writing per week, or X number of pages produced monthly? Did you sign up for one of the 30-day writing challenges? Did you perhaps start out with great gusto? Have you continued to consistently write and produce those pages?

If not, it’s because you stopped actively making choices. You let yourself drift.

When the Thrill Wears Off

I love canoeing. Paddling is great exercise for the arms, and gliding across a sparkling blue lake is heavenly. However, when the first thrill of being on the water gives way to tired, cramping shoulder muscles, the tendency is to stop paddling. We rest a bit, and that’s okay, letting our attention wander to the shoreline or herons gliding overhead.

But if you stay focused too long watching the wildlife or the cook-out on the shore, your forward motion stops. You begin to drift off course, whichever way the wind is blowing or the current is flowing.

Lost Momentum

Drifting occurs when we stop the forward momentum, and it never takes us the direction we want to go. With that fact in mind, consider the direction of your writing career.

When you made your writing goals, your writing had your attention. You were focused. You paid the price of giving up other distractions. You logged in writing hours and watched the new pages pile up.

But at some point, you got a bit tired. We all do! Something–or someone–caught your attention. And kept your attention too long. Now you’re drifting away from the writing career of your dreams.

Self-Assessment Time

Be honest with yourself about this. Has anything in the past six months or year captured your attention or affection in a way that is distracting you from your goal? Is there a distraction that started out small but has grown so that it takes up way too much of your time? (This could be a hobby or pastime, something that looks harmless or even good. It could also be a friendship that started out fine, but has somehow taken over your life.)

Is there anything (or anyone) you need to stop (or drop) from your life so you can pick up your paddle and get your canoe moving again?

Time for Action

If you’ve drifted from your writing goals, don’t keep on hoping that you’ll somehow magically drift back. You won’t. Drift doesn’t work that way. Drift takes the path of least resistance.

As a reminder: attention –> direction –> destination.

If you want your destination to read “successful writing career,” then you need to be headed in that direction. And in order to head that direction, you must choose to pay attention to your writing. This will probably require you to stop paying attention to something else.

An Honest Look

Be honest with yourself. What shifts in attention do you need to make in order to stop the drift and turn things around? Bite the bullet and make the changes. Start today!

And once you’re headed in the right direction again, guard against drift. Notice the things that compete for your attention. Pause. Take a step back before giving your attention to something. Remind yourself of the destination you want to arrive at. Then make the choice that will get you there.

If drift is a problem for you, scroll back up to the top right of this blog page and give me your email address. I’ll send you a free copy of my ebook Rx for Writers: Managing Your Writing Space and Your Writing Time. Its time-tested writing tips will help you get back on track ASAP.

Focus: Are You Centered Or Are You Fragmented?

Published on by Kristi Holl

Any writing day can feel overwhelming if you’re trying to juggle several projects. Right now, I’m proofing a book due next week, finishing one not due for a while, and plotting a novel to get ready for NaNoWriMo. I blog and Twitter and do Facebook. I have a novel critique to do. EEEEEEEEEEEK!

Bouncing Off the Office Walls

My own writer’s personality prefers working on one project at a time. I like to fully immerse myself in the characters and plot, writing and rewriting, rethinking and editing, polishing and submitting. In the early years, before it was my career, I could do it that way. Everything was written and submitted “on spec,” and no one was waiting for my prose, so I could take my time–and do one thing at a time.

Just thinking about what needed to be done today put my brain in a cramp. I could almost feel the neurons short-circuit.

Is It Possible to Focus?

First, today and every day, I need to accept the fact that (except for the critique), none of the other things will get finished today. I need to make my “to do” list reflect this, and yet move each project closer to completion. (I’ve tried just working on one thing at a time before, but I found I lost mental contact with my fiction characters and had to keep starting over. Working on the books daily helps me “remember” who everyone is and what comes next.)

I’ve discovered that if I make a “to do” list that says I will write for one hour on each project that needs to be moved along, then I will do that. I set my kitchen timer for one hour, get my project papers out and ready to go, put on blinders, start the timer, and then focus on that one project for an hour.

I don’t get up during that time or think about any of the other projects (which are out of sight–very important). I work on the computer that will NOT connect to the Internet, so there is no temptation to check email. I let my answering machine take calls. [NOTE: This is me on a good day like today. The “yesterday” me made the mistake of getting online early in the morning, and it was downhill from there! Will I never learn?]

Just One Hour?

Can you get much accomplished in an hour? An amazing amount! In fact, I am constantly surprised how much just fifteen minutes of concentrated writing time can produce. At the end of a writing day where I’ve focused one hour on each project, they all have moved along significantly toward the finish line.

Do I like writing this way? Not really. But there’s one big plus: I’ve discovered that I can write many more hours in a day when I change projects–six or eight hours, as long as I stretch frequently. Writing on the same novel, I am fairly burned out in three of four hours of writing (four hours total, usually a couple of two-hour sessions.) So productivity is higher when I have to work on multiple projects with multiple deadlines.

Maybe–in the end–I’ll enjoy working this way for that very reason. In the meantime, it’s a good way to get the work done.

Just curious… What is your own preferred way to write? One project at a time? Multiple projects?