organization

Want a 40% Increase in Your Writing Energy NOW?

Published on by Kristi Holl

Lately, I’ve been short on energy, even when I had enough time to write.

Like most “modern” writers, I take short (unproductive, but frequent) breaks to check email or social media posts.

In a word, I multitask.

Multitasking: the Energy Drain

Yes, I’d heard that multitasking was bad, but I figured I must be the exception to that rule. (I mean, really, haven’t all working moms had to multitask with expertise just to survive?)

Then I saw these statistics in a Flourish Writers presentation! Take a look…

Focusing on one thing at a time = 100% of your productive time and energy.

 

Juggling two tasks at a time = 40% of your productive time and energy to each task. 20% is lost in task switching.

 

Juggling three tasks at a time = only 20% of your productive time and energy goes to each task, while 40% is lost in task switching.

GULP

I routinely lose 40 PERCENT of my available writing energy every time I sit down to write! It was a no-brainer as to why I was behind on my goals. A 40% increase in time and energy during every writing session would move me AHEAD of my goals (like in the “good old days” before the Internet when I had my first books published.)

Time to take action! I deleted social media apps on the phone, powered up my Pomodoro app for focused writing periods, turned on my white noise machine, and got in the writing zone—and STAYED there!

I’m Overwhelmed! Where Do I Start?

Published on by Kristi Holl

I got home from England late Sunday night after being gone a month. I don’t sleep on planes, plus I ended up delayed in London overnight because of fog. So by the time I got home, I was still operating on UK time and had had only ten hours sleep total in three nights.

The following morning, as I surveyed the month’s worth of mail (mine filled a large grocery bag), plus the suitcases, the boxes I’d mailed ahead, a calendar filled with events and appointments this week, and the cleaning that beckoned for attention (my husband had returned three weeks earlier to go back to work) . . .  well, overwhelmed was a good descriptor for my sluggish brain.

Back to the Real World

So I did what every good writer does at times like these. I checked email. While this has not been terribly helpful in the past, this time I discovered an unread blog post that cleared my mental fog. It pointed me in the right direction and set me on a productive course for the day. It was called “A Better Life Begins With Clarity,” written by the mini-habits authority, Stephen Guise.

Cut to the Chase

In the article, Guise asks one pertinent and powerful question that will help anyone who is overwhelmed. (I won’t tell you what it is, in the I hopes that you’ll click over and read his entire short article.) The question cut through my mental fog immediately! As he suggested, I asked myself the question throughout the day as I tackled one thing after another—and also when it was time to rest periodically. It broke the log jam of overwhelmed thoughts.

In coming posts, I will share some things I learned and did the three weeks of my research trip when I was alone in England. It turned out to be even better than my hopes and expectations, which were plenty high. But that’s for my next several posts. In the meantime, as the picture indicates above, I need to close some more “open tabs” today. [By the way, I couldn’t find an attribution for the image above, nor could I find if it was copyrighted. If any of you know, please pass along that information in the comments.]

The Gift of Time

Published on by Kristi Holl

It isn’t my birthday or Christmas or Mother’s Day, but it feels like it today. Why? Because I’ve decided to give myself a wonderful gift now.

The gift of time.

I’ve been writing and publishing since my kids were babies. They’re in their thirties now, with their own children ranging from toddlers to teenagers. During many of my children’s growing-up years, I was either single parenting or the family relied heavily on my income. Slowing down to study my craft was a dream I put on my yearly goals list, but it was rarely an option. The 50+ hours of work per week needed to generate income: writing books, teaching writing, speaking, writing test questions, and doing private critiques.

Always Running, Faster, FASTER!

Whenever I thought about studying more, reading more, taking more time to grow as a writer (versus making every hour a billable hour), I would promise myself, Later, when things slow down and the cash flow eases up.

Even when that day came where I could cut back, I found that the very idea panicked me. I had drummed into my head for so many years that freelancer warning, “If you don’t work, you don’t eat.” You learn to go without paid sick days or paid vacations–let alone time to study one’s craft.

If Not NOW, When?

For several years, I’ve been having a discussion with a dear writing friend about slowing down and spending time to improve our writing. I took motivational workshops, learned how to “work smarter, not harder,” streamlined my work habits, and multi-tasked until I met myself coming and going. And what did I do with the time freed up by all this smarter working? Took on more projects, learned how to blog, Facebook and Twitter…but rarely studied. Oh, I bought craft books, but the books that got my full attention seemed to focus on time management.

And my friend? Except for having grandchildren, she was as busy as I was. Yet she got her MFA in children’s writing (traveling half-way around the world to do it), and is now working on her Ph.D. While I don’t have the money for either of those things, I could certainly be studying more. And that’s where I decided to apply my gift of time.

Spending Vs. Investing Time

Starting today, I am giving myself the gift of time to study. I think if I do four or five hours of writing (the moneymaking activities) in the morning, then I could surely study for an hour every afternoon. To survive in the changing publishing times, we will all need to become better writers. And if not now, when? (By the way, it isn’t something I feel I should do. It’s something I want to do. I honestly do love to study.)

Maybe you can’t afford to work part-time yet. (I’m not positive that I can either. I’ll find out!) I know that situation is a reality for many of us. But if you can squeeze out even a daily hour to read current books in your field and study a writing craft book, I encourage you to do it. I’ve signed up for a writing course online which takes an hour per day, and I can’t wait to be a student again! It’s my gift to me.

The Working Stage

Published on by Kristi Holl

(Last week we started talking about the seven specific stages you go through from beginning to end with a writing project, and the potential for both growth and failure at each stage. First read about the preparation stage, then the germination stage.)

The Work-Out

Next we have the working stage, the one we’re probably most familiar with. During this phase we begin our rough draft, build on it, flesh it out, develop our plots and characters, and often fly by the seat of our pants to cross the finish line.

Sometimes we see our way clear through this phrase, especially if we are voracious outliners. If you hate outlines, this working stage may be more nebulous as you discover your story. You may get lost and have to start over a few times. But eventually you’ll have a rough draft, a completed draft with a beginning, middle, climax and end.

You might get the draft critiqued at this point, or you might revise your draft first, smoothing out rough spots, fleshing out the cardboard characters, and building the tension at the climax scene. The working stage is a longer stage, an exciting stage.

Danger! Danger! Warning! Warning!

What are the dangers during the working stage, the attitudes and behaviors that can derail our writing projects? There are many! Depending on your personality and favored way of working, you may do some of the following:

  • You may slavishly follow your outline instead of your instincts and creative impulses that encourage you to take detours.
  • You may derail during the working stage if you work zealously and with high anxiety. Working at a fever pitch, without taking time for relaxation, will cause burn-out and writer’s block just from exhaustion.
  • If you don’t learn to push through the confusion of this stage, you may abandon your project. All rough drafts and early revisions are confusing as you figure out what you’re really trying to say, where to put certain scenes and information, and what to do with the new characters and incidents that seem to spring full-blown from your unconscious mind.
  • If you are writing your rough draft with your Editorial Mind in gear, you will eventually give up. Editorial Mind is critical, which is an important trait later, but judging your work during your rough draft working stage can be lethal.
  • If you spend time thinking about the finished product (selling, publishing) when you’re trying to write, you won’t enjoy the process, and you’ll be very critical of everything you write. Instead, focus on enjoying the writing process and leave the “product” work until the last stage (the going-public stage).

“Sometimes,” author Louise de Salvo says in Writing as a Way of Healing, “writers mistakenly assume the work is finished when the working stage is over. But for us to do our finest, most authentic work, we must proceed further.”

We’ll discuss those deepening and shaping stages next.

Germination Phase

Published on by Kristi Holl

[Read about the first phase here: preparing to write.]

The second stage, called the germination stage by Louise De Salvo Ph.D. in Writing as a Way of Healing, is a time “during which we gather and work on fragments of ideas, images, phrases, scenes, moments, lines, possibilities for plots, characters, settings. Sometimes we don’t quite know what we’re doing or where all this is leading. Sometimes we feel like we’re working haphazardly. Sometimes, though, we have a clearer conception.”

Know Your Own Personality

During the germination stage, my Type A personality wants to organize, and yet so much of what occurs to us during this time isn’t “organizable” yet. I used to follow advice I’d read to write down ideas on scraps of paper and stick them in a folder, but I soon found that my own personality hated that. I would open the file folder, see all those scribbled scraps on paper napkins and file cards and the backs of receipts—and it looked like chaos.

Chaos of any kind has never been conducive to writing for me. And yet, if you push yourself to organize during the germination phase, you are almost sure to derail any creative impulses trying to emerge.

Tips for a Successful Germination Phase

So is there a solution to getting through this phase and gleaning from it everything you need to start working on your novel or project? I suspect this is an individual matter, but for me, this is what works to keep me from derailing during this phrase:

1. Follow your urges to read. They will come at such odd moments. You’ll be sorting through junk mail or paying bills, and suddenly you see a flyer on how to save on your water bill. Although ninety-nine percent of the time you pitch this junk unread, today you feel the nudge to read it. Pay attention to your urges to read. I have thus found careers for certain characters, plot twists and whole subplots, and clues for mysteries. The germination stage is a wonderful time to browse in museums, art galleries, antique shops, flea markets, and other places where you can let your mind and eyes roam. Watch what snags your attention and make note of it.

2. If you feel you must organize (like I do), get a three-ring notebook and those colored divider tabs. (This method has served me well through forty-seven books.) Make sections for book and chapter titles, character, plot ideas, setting, dialogue, and whatever else you’re collecting. Continue to write things on scraps of paper as they come to you, but after you have several scraps, sit down with your notebook and add the information behind the correct colored tab. (Scotch taping the scrap to a page is quick and easy.) Is it a snippet of dialogue you overheard on the bus that is just perfect? Transfer it to the dialogue section. Did you find an odd fact about 1940s mail carriers? Put it in the character section. Is it a bizarre thing that someone did that you saw in the newspaper? Add it to the plot section. None of this is written down in any order, but as your sections fatten with ideas, your mind will (quite unconsciously) start to sort it out and make connections. In a later stage, when you go through the various sections of notes, you’ll be amazed at the ideas that will have begun to gel. (That’s in the working stage, which we’ll talk about next.)

The germination stage can be such an exciting, fun time, but it comes with some frustrations. Look at the purpose of this stage, then balance it against your own personality and way of working. After some time–and it’s different for every person and every project–you’ll be ready to move on to the next stage.

[By the way, I’m skimming the surface of the material in De Salvo’s book. If this rings true for you, I’d encourage you to get her book.]

Writer Imaging (Part 2)

Published on by Kristi Holl

First read Writer Imaging: Your Vision of Success.
According to our most reliable sources—happy writers—the “good writing life” is actually dependent on the following conditions:

1. Staying active, writing every day, even if it’s only a journal entry or your Morning Pages, as promoted by Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way.

2. Staying organized. Many writers claim that they’re better parents, spouses and friends when they’re writing. I can attest to that myself. This is where being organized comes in. When our offices overflow with stacks of unanswered mail, unread newsletters, and scraps of paper everywhere, the messiness often makes us depressed and antsy, unable to sit down and work.

On the other hand, being organized calms us and makes us want to write. This becomes a daily “happiness” habit after a while. Elaine Fantle Shimberg, in her book Write Where You Live, says organization builds routines. And “routines created to fit your personal schedule and time commitments can quickly become work habits. These habits help you to assume the professional persona as soon as you enter your office space… Routines help you prevent sliding into procrastination,” a nasty habit that can make us unproductive and miserable.

If you need more help with this, get my free e-book at the top of this blog: Rx for Writers: Managing Your Writing Space and Your Writing Time.

3. Staying productive with meaningful work. When we’re working on a project that feels important, that we know will benefit our readers in some way, we’re happier writers. These tend to be stories and books we need to write, such as the book that “in some way speaks profoundly to the core of his [the writer’s] beliefs, the emotional and spiritual and intellectual center of his life” (from Philip Gerard’s Writing a Book that makes a Difference). When your work is meaningful to you and touches others’ lives, you’re a happy writer, whether it ever makes you rich and famous or not.

(We’ll talk about the last two requirements for a satisfying writing life next time.)

How to Take Charge of Your Writing Life

Published on by Kristi Holl

Welcome! I’m glad to see that you found me at my new “home.”

As promised, starting today I’m giving away a free e-book for frustrated writers.

Rx for Writers: Managing Your Writing Space and Your Writing Time is short, but it contains solid advice for three of a writer’s biggest problems:

1. following through on our goals
2. organization of our writing space
3. lack of good writing habits

While the e-book is only thirteen pages long, I can guarantee you more success in your writing life if you follow the advice.

After You Download the E-Book…

Please update this new URL address (http://kristiholl.net/writers-blog/) in any location you have the current blog address.

  • your RSS feed (wherever you read blogs…I read mine through my Gmail Reader)
  • your Favorites folder
  • your blog (if you have Writer’s First Aid listed in your links)
  • any other places you may have linked to my blog

Posting Schedule

I still plan to post on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Jan Fields will still give you the “What’s New at Kristi’s” in the Institute newsletter.

Getting Your E-Book

The form to get your e-book is on the right-hand side at the top of the page. After you sign up, it will send a confirmation email to your Inbox.

After you confirm, you’ll be taken to where you’ll get Rx for Writers: Managing Your Writing Space and Your Writing Time.

NOTE: I’m not starting a newsletter at this time, nor do I send out sales letters. I won’t abuse your email addresses. Very occasionally, when I post a new report in my Resource area, I will let you know that. And, of course, you’ll be free to unsubscribe at any time.

Three Reasons Your Writing Life Isn't Working–and What To Do

Published on by Kristi Holl
What's the problem?

What’s wrong with me? you wonder. Why doesn’t this writing advice work?

A third worrisome thought nibbles at the back of your brain: Maybe I’m not a writer after all. 

Not to worry.

I’ve identified three of the most common reasons why writers don’t get their writing done. And I’ve put together an overall solution for you.

Reason #1: No Overall Strategy

You dream of being a novelist. You’ve taken a writing course. You read writing blogs.

And you write. Daily!

But you’re no closer to writing that novel than you were a year ago. Why?

It’s true that you write every day, using exercises and prompts. And you faithfully journal.

But there’s no overall plan or strategy for writing the novel, no measurable goals and sub-goals.

Reason #2: Forcing Square Pegs into Round Holes

Maybe you diligently follow writing advice found in magazines or tips you hear from published writers.

You set your alarm to write at 5 a.m. but fall asleep on your keyboard because you’re a night owl.

You join a weekly critique group, but their need to socialize irritates you because you came there to work.

You set up your laptop to work in a coffee shop with a writing friend. She gets to work and churns out ten pages! You can’t focus, even with ear plugs in.

The problem? You don’t match writing advice to your personality.

Reason #3: Writing Habits That Don’t Help

You have less than two hours of time alone while your child is in preschool. You use that time to do a low-energy job instead of writing on your novel (a high energy job).

You’re on a roll, half way to making your writing quota for the day. Your sister calls. You could let the answering machine or voice mail get it…but you answer instead. When she asks, “Are you busy?” you say, “Not really.”

You have alerts turned on so when you’re on the computer or near your phone, you hear beeps and buzzes every five minutes. New email! A new text! A new “have to see this” YouTube video!

The problem? Sometimes we develop writing habits that are detrimental to our ability to concentrate and thus to our productivity.

Help is Here for Your Writing Life: Free E-Book

As I said above, I’ve put together an e-book dealing with these very issues.

It’s called “Rx for Writers: Managing Your Writing Space and Your Writing Time.”

I’ll be giving it away this Friday as a kick-off to some changes that are coming.

See you back here on Friday. And if you know any writers with these issues, please pass the word. I’d love to have them check in here on Friday for their free e-book.

What's Hindering You?

Published on by Kristi Holl

Are you dragging around excess baggage?

 

Is there “stuff” taking up space that you need to dump overboard so you can pick up some speed?

Chasing Dreams

I’ve been struggling with this issue lately, and it reminded me of a period in our country’s history.

Each spring from 1841-1861 Independence, Missouri, was crowded with thousands of emigrants preparing for the 2170-mile trek we now call the Oregon Trail.

Here merchants competed for the opportunity to furnish emigrants with supplies and equipment for their journey west.

A family of four would need over a thousand pounds of food to sustain them on the five-month trip to Oregon.

Loaded Down or Overloaded?

Most emigrants loaded their covered wagons to the brim with food, farm implements, and furniture.

The journey began, but within a few miles most emigrants realized they had overloaded their wagons. Unless their loads were lightened, they would never be able to make the arduous journey across the plains.

Their only choice–if they wanted to go the distance and attain their dream destination–was to start throwing things out.

What’s Hindering You?

Do you identify with these emigrants? Have you overloaded YOUR wagon?

Are there things (activities, hobbies, interests, bad habits) that you need to dump if you’re going to make a successful journey as a writer in 2013?

Remember, those pioneers weren’t throwing out things that didn’t matter. They were giving up precious possessions in order to fulfill their dreams.

What have you given up for your writing? Fulfilling our dreams usually requires sacrifice.

  • What have you “tossed overboard” in order to devote some time to your writing?
  • What was the easiest to let go of?
  • What was hardest?
  • What is still hindering you that needs to go?

Take a moment and share!