self-discipline

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!

Talent, Passion, and Discipline: a Balancing Act

Published on by Kristi Holl

As a writer, don’t ever underestimate the power of self-discipline. Talent, passion, and discipline are needed—but the greatest of these is discipline.

Best-selling author Elizabeth George speaks to this point on the first day she faces her students in her creative writing classes. Study this quote from her book, Write Away—and read through to the zinger at the end. This multi-published, mega award-winning author tells them:

“You will be published if you possess three qualities—talent, passion, and discipline.

 

You will probably be published if you possess two of the three qualities in either combination—either talent and discipline, or passion and discipline.

 

You will likely be published if you possess neither talent nor passion, but still have discipline. Just go the bookstore and pick up a few ‘notable’ titles and you’ll see what I mean.

 

But if all you possess is talent or passion, if all you possess is talent and passion, you will not be published. The likelihood is you will never be published. And if by some miracle you are published, it will probably never happen again.”

Be Encouraged!

This is great news for all writers, I believe. We worry sometimes that we don’t have enough talent, that we have nothing original to say, that our voices won’t attract today’s readers. But as Ms. George says above—and after writing and teaching for thirty years, I totally agree–discipline is what will make you or break you as a writer.

Why is this good news? Because self-discipline can be mastered, bit by bit, day by day, until it’s a habit. Talent is a gift over which we have no control, and passion comes and goes with our feelings and circumstances. But your necessary ingredient to success—discipline—can belong to anyone.

Do whatever you have to do to develop the writing habit. Let that be your focus, and see if the writing—and publishing—doesn’t take care of itself!

100% Is a Cinch!

Published on by Kristi Holl

“There is a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.”

(Ken Blanchard, author of the best seller The One Minute Manager) 

Without a 100% commitment to anything, you spend so much time (and energy!) every day deciding whether or not to keep the commitment. If you’re truly interested in writing–but not 100% committed–you probably fight with yourself nearly every day over whether or not to stick to your writing disciplines.

I fought that for more than twenty years. Long enough! It was high time the writing and marketing (necessary these days if you want to have a writing career) became absolute non-negotiables.

No Matter What?

What if we lived the rest of our lives the way we live our writing life? Instead of the “should I write today, or shouldn’t I write?” daily hassle, we’d be fighting nearly everything! But we don’t. We make 100% decisions all the time. Examples:

  • I never pass a bank or gas station and fight with myself about whether to pull in and rob them. I don’t steal. Ever. And I don’t intend to. So I don’t have to waste time and energy thinking about it.
  • I don’t agonize over spending money I don’t have. I hate debt–always have. I don’t take on payments, and I don’t intend to. So I don’t have to waste time and energy thinking about it.
  • I don’t agonize over whether to brush my teeth after I eat breakfast. I don’t want my teeth to rot. Ever. And I don’t waste time and energy thinking about it.

Make That 100% Commitment

We all have things we’ve made 100% commitments to: exercise programs, drinking water, tucking our kids into bed every night, not swearing, getting to bed by eleven, praying…you name it. Isn’t it time we made our writing commitments 100% too?

And you know the kicker? Studies have proven that it’s actually far easier to keep a 100% commitment than a partial commitment.

Try it and see for yourself!

Getting Your Ducks in a Row: Organization or Procrastination?

Published on by Kristi Holl

Some time ago one of Suzanne Lieurance’s email “Morning Nudges” hit me between the eyes, and I printed it out as a reminder.

I see this week that I need the same nudge again.

Maybe you do too.

Ducks on Parade

“People will tell you that before you start on any new venture it’s a good idea to get all your ducks in a row,” Suzanne said. “And that is good advice. However, have you ever known people who spend ALL their time getting their ducks in a row? Heck, they spend so much time doing this, they end up getting OTHER people’s ducks in a row, too. It’s as if they feel they’ll never be ready to start something new, something really BIG, something wonderful! They need to spend just a bit more time getting those ducks in a row, and THEN they’ll be ready. Yet, that time just never seems to come.”

Does that describe you? Sometimes it describes me.

Ducks Out of Control

Like these past months…I met two nonfiction book deadlines, finished a novel rough draft, taught a workshop, and did several critiques. Now I’m facing a massive revision of a novel that grew all out of proportion. I hardly know where to start. So in order to clear the decks for some serious writing, I decided to take a week to get all my miscellaneous ducks in a row.

I had a marketing duck, a website update duck, a critique duck, a newsletter, and a research duck. (I also had several grandchild visits–very cute ducklings.) The writing ducks popped out of line repeatedly, but after fifty hours I got them lined up.

And now I’m facing next Monday with no excuses. The ducks are in a row. There is time to write. Now what? I find myself noticing other little ducks  swimming out of line. (e.g. I really should clean my office first because I work much better in a clean office. I really should go to the gym for my stiff back and the eye doctor for new computer glasses. I really should visit the scene of my novel again and take better photos. So many ducks–so little time!)

The Procrastination Duck

I’m sure you know where I’m going with this. Yes, it’s important to get your ducks in a row. You don’t want to dive into a project half prepared. You waste precious time that way–and turn out shoddy writing.

But when does organizing cross the line into procrastination? There’s a point where we’re just putting off the inevitable–that blank page or revision that panics us. Only you can tell for yourself. What signs let you know that you’re crossing the line–and it’s time to bite the bullet?

Quack, Quack!

Before we can sit down and write, we all have certain ducks we need to have lined up. For some, it’s a super clean desk. For others, it’s doing the dishes and starting the laundry. For still others, it’s certain rituals that need to be in place.

At what point, though, do you tell yourself that “enough is enough”? I’d love to hear what works for you!

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?

NaNoWriMo Accountability Challenge: Sign Up Now!

Published on by Kristi Holl

Last week I posted some links and information about the National Novel Writing Month (November). I mentioned that I would do a November accountability challenge if enough interest was shown.

I heard from plenty of you to have a good-sized group!

Modified Children’s Writers NaNoWriMo

As many of you know, NaNoWriMo has its own website with its own competition and qualifications. To be considered a NaNoWriMo winner, you must write 50,000 new words in the month of November.  There have been many years that I wanted to participate, but I was working on smaller projects than that. Other times, like last year, I had a deadline that demanded a lengthy book revision during November.

So, to accommodate children’s writers who would like to be part of a November “writing frenzy,” but they don’t plan to write a 50,000-word novel, I am going to run a challenge in November through email. This will be for a modified NaNoWriMo experience. [Sign-up instructions are at the end. Even if you have already expressed a desire to be part of this challenge, I need to have you sign up officially now.]

Can You Do Both?

You can certainly sign up to participate at the NaNoWriMo website, plus participate in this email daily check-in with the group. That’s up to you. (I will probably do that myself this year.) But to participate in my email challenge group, you only need to sign up below.

Think about what BIG project you want to work on for NaNoWriMo. What project during November would you dearly love to accomplish? Maybe it’s something you’ve dreamed about writing for years. Maybe it’s a novel you actually outlined at some point, but never got any further. Whatever you choose, it should be a big challenge for you. (Keep in mind that what is “big” for one writer isn’t going to be big for someone else. It’s personal to you and your current circumstances.)

Remember: because it is Nation Novel Writing Month, your project needs to be fiction. Novels, multiple picture books or short stories, a poetry collection: some fiction project that is challenging for you. [We will NOT be posting manuscripts to prove how much you wrote. I will take your word for it.]

So do not sign up for this particular challenge if you plan to write a nonfiction e-book or thirty blog entries, for example. Yes, that is definitely writing, but it’s not for this fiction-writing challenge.

How to Sign Up

I will collect all the email addresses that come to me with the correct subject line. Email it to me at kristi.holl@gmail.com.

Subject line: NaNoWriMo Challenge

Body of email: Tell me what kind of fiction you plan to write. And specify your goal, so will know if you achieve it. (e.g. write MG rough draft novel about 25,000 words; write a poetry collection about the holidays, at least a dozen three-stanza poems; write two easy reader mysteries, about 10,000 words each)

That’s all! I will collect your emails, and then you will hear from me again on November 1 for the first check-in.

Anchors for the Writer's Life

Published on by Kristi Holl

“Habits are the little anchors that keep us from straying very far from the lifestyle to which we’ve become accustomed, whether that lifestyle makes us happy or miserable,” says Karen Scalf Linamen in her book Only Nuns Change Habits Overnight.

Help or Hindrance?

We all have habits that either support or hinder our writing lives. Habits are simply the ways we repeatedly do some things. Positive habits include daily writing practice, telling ourselves positive things about our abilities, and keeping current with publishers’ requirements.

Negative writing habits run the gamut from playing computer games and surfing the Internet during our writing time, to not keeping track of submissions and not studying to improve our craft.

Do you see any consistent patterns in your writing life? Which positive habits help you? Which habits detract from your ability to pursue your writing dreams consistently?

Habits from Scratch

If you could redesign your writing life from scratch, which patterns would you reestablish? Which habits would you drop, if you could break them? Can you even identify the habits that are getting in your way? Do you wonder where your time is going, why you can’t seem to get around to working on the project that is so dear to your heart? Try journaling about it.

“Keeping a journal can help you identify hidden habits that are interfering with your life,” says Linamen. “You can embrace the changes you want to embrace–and getting a handle on what’s really going on is a great way to begin!”

The Art of Change

A good writing life–a productive writing life–is built on good writing habits.  They keep you anchored to the writing life you want to have, both now and in the future. Building good writing habits may not sound very exciting, but discipline now will give you a lot of freedom later on–and a writing life worth having!

For Your Holiday Weekend

Published on by Kristi Holl

When you take a break on this hot Fourth of July weekend, try some of these articles. They’ll keep you in a writing frame of mind!

What If You Think You Might Be a Mediocre Fiction Writer? Every novelist hits the point, sooner or later, where they think they just might not actually have any talent. What do you do in that case? Should you just throw in the towel? Or muddle forward? How do you know if you’re any good?

Book Marketing Methods That Don’t Work (from Writer Beware! blog) For any author, whether self-, small press-, or big house-published, getting noticed is one of the primary challenges. Larger publishers provide marketing support for their authors (yes, they really do, despite popular wisdom to the contrary), but with smaller publishers, and if you’ve self-published, you may be mostly or entirely on your own.

The Internet and Procrastination If you have trouble wasting time on the Internet when you want to be writing instead, read this article. Some good tips–as well as information about a program called “Freedom”–just might get you past this modern-day obstruction–and back to writing!

Do Publishers Market Books? Do publishers still market books? Or don’t they? Should you go ahead and self-publish since you’ll just have to do the marketing yourself anyway? Before you go that route, read this article. It’s true! And are you willing and able to do all those things for your book? Pays thinking about. 

Tension on the Page, or Micro-Tension Tension! Tension! Tension! Great books have tension that keep us involved in the story. Micro-tension involves a diverse set of techniques.

Uncommon Perseverance

Published on by Kristi Holl

The last two weeks we’ve talked about the stages of success. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the one quality that is a “must have”: perseverance.

According to the dictionary, “perseverance” is steady persistence in a course of action, especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.

This year I worked with a young writer who embodies this quality and has inspired me not to quit when things get difficult.

Uncommon Obstacles

It started last year when he wrote and asked me to critique his first YA novel of about 60,000 words, the first in a trilogy. I had an opening and told him to send it. He asked if I could print it off on my printer as he was a soldier deployed in Iraq and without a printer. He’d written the book there. (It was a very good and suspenseful story.)

Last month I heard from him again. The second book in the trilogy was finished. Could I look at it? And yes, he was deployed again and was sending the manuscript from Iraq.

Lessons Learned

I thought about the whining I had done over the years about being tired, the excuses I gave for being too busy to write every day, and the lack of support of a weekly writers’ group. And then…there’s a young soldier with a wife and two little ones back home who is deployed in a war zone–who grabs his spare minutes and writes two lengthy novels! I know he gets little sleep, I know he’s busy, and I’ll bet my bottom dollar he doesn’t have a weekly writing group!

But he writes.

Today I considered skipping my writing stint because my back is really hurting. Then I thought about the obstacles Kevin overcomes to write–and I sat down to write anyway. Time to develop some of his uncommon perseverance. (Enjoy today’s art, also courtesy of this young soldier. Love that frog!)

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NOTE:  For those of you in the San Antonio, TX, area, I wanted to give a little plug for our fall conference: Southwest Texas SCBWI Fall Conference It’s Saturday, September 17, 2011 from 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM (CT)

The SCBWI event is featuring:

  • Andrea Welch – Editor, Beach Lane Press (Simon & Schuster)
  • Elena Mechlin- Agent, Pippin Agency (HarperCollins)
  • Kristin Daly Rens – Editor, Balzer and Bray
  • Author Diane Gonzales Bertrand
  • Kim Murray, Online Media Specialist with Piccolo Media
  • Richard Johnson, InteractBooks

Check it out!