writing advice

Spiral UP? Or spiral DOWN? Your choice!

Published on by Kristi Holl

For over a year, I’ve been dealing with three difficult circumstances that impacted everything, causing one downward spiral after another. Since I tend to handle things privately, I disappeared from social media. 

But this fall, I felt the urge to get back to thriving instead of simply surviving.

Easy to say, but hard to do!

Self-Examination

I had picked up some escapist survival habits that were more engrained than I first believed. I had great intentions at the beginning of the day; however, failure to follow through happened with regularity (like many times daily). One or two poor choices flipped me into that excuse of “I’ve ruined today, so I’ll start again tomorrow.”

I don’t think I’ve had a perfect day yet where I made good eating choices, writing choices, and relationship choices without fail. And my lightning quick brain finally realized perfection wasn’t EVER going to be possible. Not this side of heaven anyway. But I finally learned something critical that improved every area that needed healing:

Every poor choice is the beginning of a spiral. Like a circular staircase, you can either spiral up or down. You always have two options, and you get to choose.”

Spiral Down Fast

Each day contains at least one poor choice we make. (Often it is several.) A poor choice is one that doesn’t fit your goals. It could be a writing goal, a health goal, a time management goal, or a relationship goal.

A poor choice could be

  • scrolling social media during your writing time,
  • eating two sugary donuts,
  • binge watching TV till midnight, or
  • snapping at your child.

Your first poor choice is your critical choice moment. 

You can make a poor choice and SPIRAL DOWNWARD FAST. Imagine yourself at the top of this twisty slide. One push, and down you go, around and around until you hit bottom.

Practically speaking, what might that look like?

  • You can decide that the day is already ruined when you eat a donut for breakfast. So, you eat junk food and sugar bombs the rest of the day.
  • You feel guilty, so you add binge watching a favorite TV series until you are blotto.
  • You put away your manuscript again to tend to your headache, and
  • give the obstinate child the silent treatment for good measure.

Choice #2: Spiral Up (Slowly but Steadily)

On the other hand, you can make THE VERY SAME POOR CHOICE, then decide to SPIRAL UP SLOWLY, STEP BY TINY STEP, instead. 

You can stop the downward trajectory immediately by taking a small step UP.

  • After your donut, you might brush your teeth or plan a healthy lunch.
  • You might close all the live streaming tabs on your laptop.
  • You might turn to where you left off during your last writing session and re-read the page.
  • You might apologize to the child and hold her on your lap for a minute.
  • You might take a slow, five-minute walk to interrupt your negative thinking.

Continual Choices

Yes, the upward spiral is a slower path, but it’s a steady path of growth. The steps up don’t have to be big at all. And you can take lots of pauses to refresh with a stretch or walk around the yard or enjoy some planned treat with a favorite book.

The downward spiral that comes with several poor choices is a slippery, speedy easy path that comes with a hard landing. But even then, it’s not all over.

Pick yourself up at the bottom of the slide. Choose the upward spiral staircase right away, and just focus on the smallest step right in front of you. And after a pause, when you’re ready, take another step up. And eventually another. 

Every single poor choice throughout your week is just the beginning of a spiral. But whether you spiral up or down is entirely up to you. It really is. Pause. Relax. Breathe deeply. (And if you’re like me, pray for help.)

REMEMBER: the poor choice is the first step in both sequences. The direction (of your day, your week, and ultimately your life) is your CHOICE.

 

Living the 5-Minute Life

Published on by Kristi Holl

I’m too old, I’m too tired, I can’t write for hours anymore… But something won’t let me quit writing! Is there a solution?

Through a lot of trial and error, I found the solution for me: the 5-Minute Life. It didn’t just revolutionize my writing. You can also break a bad habit, or start a good habit, or rest when you’re weary—all in 5-Minute slices of your day.

Solving Problems, 5 Minutes at a Time 

Want to break a habit of overeating at a meal and not stopping when you’ve had enough? After your meal, set your kitchen timer for 5 minutes and do something else. Maybe you’ll still eat more when the timer dings, but many times you won’t. The craving actually disappears in about 90 seconds, according to “habit experts.”

Want to start a new habit? Maybe lift weights, floss your teeth, write on your work-in-progress daily? Set your kitchen timer for 5 minutes, and when it dings, you can quit! Or, if you feel like going longer, you can and often will. (Getting started is usually more than half the battle, and you conquered that. Staying in motion is immeasurably easier.)

What about weariness or those pesky aches and pains? When you realize that your body is protesting, stop and set your timer for 5 minutes. Close your eyes and do deep breathing. Listen to uplifting music, something that soothes your soul. Wander around your back yard and see what’s blooming. You’ll be amazed how much 5 minutes can refresh you. (Just don’t waste it on your phone, email or social media. You’ll feel worse instead.)

“It doesn’t make sense to continue wanting something if you’re not willing to do what it takes to get it. If you don’t want to live the lifestyle, then release yourself from the desire. To crave the result but not the process, is to guarantee disappointment.” ~~James Clear, author of Atomic Habits

WELL, YES . . . AND NO.

Live the 5-Minute Life? How?

“To crave the result [the finished manuscript] but not the process [your writing habits, or eating habits, or sleeping habits, etc.] is to guarantee disappointment.”

I had a suspicion that something was wrong with my process. After floundering, I would have wonderful energetic re-starts, but the older I got, the amount of time I could stick to my writing schedule grew smaller. No matter how you take care of your health, age happens (if you’re lucky) and energy declines a bit each year.

I was sick and tired of giving up, getting depressed over NOT writing, then reading motivational books, praying hard, making check charts for the closet door to keep track of my work hours…and after a week or so, quitting again.

When younger, I could keep a rigorous writing schedule while teaching and raising kids, but not now at 71. I wanted to live the process and love it, but I found myself no longer able. [And it still bugs me to admit this.] Did that mean I had to quit writing books? It was beginning to seem so. 

But, but, but…

What if I could invent a writing process that I COULD fall in love with all over again? When I started writing and publishing in 1983, I had to work my writing around a newborn, a toddler, and a newly adopted boy from Korea who spoke no English. But I found a writing process (writing in bits and pieces) that worked for me then, so I launched my career (while we added yet another baby.) Many of those experiences became my two writing books, Writer’s First Aid and More Writer’s First Aid.

The More Things Change…

. . . the more they stay the same.

I’m no longer scrambling for bits of time in the same way. But getting started writing when not feeling well or when busy with volunteer and grandchildren activities still takes some grit. However, writing or marketing for five minutes is doable for anyone.

Yes, more than half the time, my 5-minute chunks of writing or marketing stretched into 30-45 minutes. Even when it didn’t, though, I was astounded by how much I could do in 5 minutes–just like I had trained myself to do during the baby years. I started giving myself high fives for every bit I wrote. Silly maybe, but it worked!

Where There’s a Will

I stop for different reasons now, of course. It’s not because a toddler fell and cut her lip or a baby needs changing. It is more often the aches in my wrists [shattered left wrist in 2017 and broken right hand in 2019] that crawl up my arms. But while stopping is different, starting is remarkably similar.

Give it a shot and see! Live the 5-Minute Writing Life!

Getting Unstuck after 2020

Published on by Kristi Holl

After losing two family members in the pandemic, I had a month-long severe reaction this spring to my second Covid shot. When I resurfaced, feeling practically comatose, I was behind on one Christmas mystery book deadline and a novel (set in 1850s England.) None of my decades-old “get started” techniques worked, which induced a near panic.

But one day I heard a podcast. (Details are included at the end.) Did you know that we have 60,000-70,000 thoughts per day? Roughly 95% of the thoughts are repetitive and unconscious. Only 5% of our daily thoughts are conscious and new. The negative ones, both conscious and unconscious, keep us stuck.

“Be transformed by the renewal of your mind,” the Bible urges. To do that, we need to first notice the conscious negative thoughts that keep us stuck. (Mine included “I’m too old for this.” “There’s not enough time.” “I’m too tired to even start.”) Then you grab a pencil and paper and ask yourself the following questions.

Unstuck with Five Magical Questions

  1. If I feel overloaded, what would it take for this task to be easy? What would have to change for this situation to be simplified? I asked this when I felt overwhelmed, whether I needed to outline my cozy mystery or put away Christmas decorations. Sometimes the answer was to cut the goal into tiny pieces to make it easy. Or I deleted the task, or delegated it, or postponed it because it wasn’t critical. Sometimes I  rearranged my schedule to eliminate overload. (I felt every bit as overloaded as this sheep!)
  2. What is an improvement I’m willing to make? The smaller, the better, if you want to get moving quickly. Maybe I can’t write for an hour, but I’m willing to write ten minutes. I can’t walk three miles today, but I’m willing to walk around the block. I don’t want to stick to my diet today, but I’m willing to cut this candy bar in half. Small steps lead to larger ones.
  3. What perspective would I need in order to feel different? I use this question when I want to change my fearful, doubtful, or pessimistic mood. My change in perspective often includes a particular Bible verse that speaks to my need. Then I can look at my situation from a better point of view instead of my own limited one.
  4. In this particular situation, where do I need to be a little more patient, and where do I need to push a little harder? I ask the question, sit quietly, and listen. You’ll know if you need to rest more and be patient with healing, or if you actually are loafing and need to push yourself a bit.
  5. What is the difference between a true solution and a distraction? When I’m tired or discouraged, what actually renews my energy, a nap or a pint of ice cream? When I’m behind on a deadline and fighting panic, is watching a British movie a solution, or is it a distraction? The real self-care task isn’t always the most appealing choice. But it will be a true solution.

Questions for Every Season of Your Life

These powerful questions turned out to be so helpful that I taped the list in several places: beside my computer, in my daily planner, and in my prayer journal. They help me every day—not just in my writing, but in my food choices, exercise, home care, and when my grandkids are here.

Questions are a great way to use the 5% of our thoughts we have control over! Bring God into the process. Then the answers you receive will fit your personality, goals, and season in life.

More Help to Get Unstuck

(Taken in part from “Ten Questions that Change Everything” by Primal Potential podcaster, Elizabeth Benton; my post was first published on the National ACFW blog.)

Writing in the Yoke: Become an Easy Writer

Published on by Kristi Holl

We are invited to get into the yoke with Jesus to do the writing God has called us to do. (Matthew 11:28-30) This way of working promises ease and rest for our souls. However, writing with ease and a light burden was not my writing experience for 35 years (not since writing changed from hobby-writing in a closet painted orange to a means of keeping a roof over our heads). 

I had my time-tested, never-fail method to meet deadlines (claim Bible verses about strength, grit teeth, white knuckle it and “just do it!” ) However, almost a year ago, my method stopped working. There were many factors. Even before dealing with Covid, life had become one thing piled on top of another to the point that, unless I discovered a much easier writing method, I would need to quit. Retire. Pack it in.

I couldn’t stand the idea. I loved the project I was working on, but something would have to change. One morning I was reading some familiar verses when they suddenly took on new meaning.  

Writing Made Easy

yoke“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For MY yoke is easy to bear, and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

If His yoke was easy to carry, then whose heavy yoke was I in? I needed a new working style. Could I manage to switch yokes? I needed to learn more about yokes.

Equally or Unequally Yoked?

equal yoke

Farmers know that two animals yoked together must be suited to work in tandem.  If one is big and stronger than the other, injury or failure is certain. Deuteronomy 22:10 says, “Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.” They are different both in strength and temperament.

So, at first glance, the invitation to get into the yoke with Jesus seems unworkable. None of us imagines that we are equally powerful! Actually, Jesus had in mind a different kind of yoke. They were hand-carved to fit the animals perfectly so the yoke didn’t rub and cause irritation, no matter how different the animals were in size or strength.

unequal yokeSo, in Jerusalem at the time Jesus was speaking, a yoke often did join two unequal animals for a specific purpose; one was older or stronger or wiser, and the other was young and inexperienced. The animals were yoked together so that the more experienced animal could teach the younger, weaker animal how to do the work without strain, injury and being burdened down. (A perfect description of Matt. 11:28-30.)

So how would that work for my writing? Could I learn to “write in the yoke” for the rest of my career? These promises gave me hope: “I will give you rest…you will find rest for your souls… my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

So, I have been experimenting with a writing method based on those verses. Could I write without stress and pressure and drama, but still have a peaceful rested soul?Happily, I am learning that the answer can be yes.

Types of Days in the Yoke

For me, writing in the yoke means responding to the Lord’s gentle tug or slight inner pressure to get moving—or to stop. This means writing at the Lord’s pace, because He knows what schedule works best for my health and writing.

There is a learning curve to this. I have three distinct types of “days in the yoke.” Some days my “stubborn donkey” wants to procrastinate, ignoring the tug to get writing. Resisting the gentle pull, I sometimes dig my feet in with determination. I write either with reluctance or downright resistance.

Other days my donkey over-reacts in the opposite direction. I am behind schedule, so letting the bigger animal set the pace feels too risky. I worry that the gentle steady pace can’t possibly produce the words on time! So I try to hurry Him along, push and strain, and check my watch and word count continuously.

Glorious Writing in the Yoke

Thankfully, there is a third type of day, which happens more frequently the longer you practice. These I call the Glorious Writing Days, when I get in the yoke early in the day, stay in it, and start and stop when I feel the gentle tugs and nudges. I don’t clock watch, and I don’t count words till the end of the day. Amazingly, I produce more writing (often lots of it!) but with no ill effects of physical pain or emotional exhaustion. I even quit by 5:00, something I hadn’t done in years! It produces a satisfying, contented tired feeling from being productive without hurting myself.

My experiment with “writing in the yoke” seems to be working. Slowly but surely, I am transforming from a hard-working, burned-out writer to a productive writer who can work with ease. I had prayed for years about improving my health and stamina so I would never have to retire simply because I couldn’t physically do the job anymore. Becoming an “easy writer” appears to be a very big piece of that answer.

[First published August 23, 2020 on the ACFW National website]

Begin as You Mean to Go On

Published on by Kristi Holl

I’ve been home from my England research trip for six weeks now. My cottage writing table next to my fireplace is such a fond memory!

I was determined to carry on with my good writing and health habits as soon as I got home. I had felt so well in England, while also accomplishing so much writing, and it was important to me to carry those lessons home.

Since being home, I had some wonderful wins, and a few spectacular fails. As is usual in real life, the fails taught me more than the wins. It didn’t teach me that I couldn’t replicate my time overseas–far from it–but it sure revealed where my structure was the weakest.

Begin as You Mean to Go On

I was determined to do four things when I got home that I had decided were my biggest “wins” while in England. [See my ten blog posts with photos from October beginning with this one.]

  1. I would get up very early every day, by 5:00 a.m. I would start my day with my tea and quiet time.
  2. I would begin writing by 6:00, before talking to anyone. (I have it easier than many people here. My husband works nights, so he is asleep until 9:00 or so.) But I used to get that early when my children were young too.
  3. I would exercise throughout the morning, either with short walking breaks or five-minute weights routines or stretches. [I need it for my back and posture, but at the end of the working day, I just don’t want to do it.]
  4. I would go to bed early so I got a good night’s sleep before getting up at 5:00. I would get off ALL screens (including phone) after 8:00.

It was fairly easy to get up at 5 and begin writing by 6 for the first week. But it got harder and harder, which first surprised me. I had had no trouble for three weeks in England getting up that early without an alarm clock.

What Went Wrong? A Vicious Cycle

So I looked at calendar and my list of meetings and doctors’ appointments, and that was a big part of the problem. I had meetings and appointments several days in a row that took my prime writing time, and so I struggled to write in the afternoon which bled over into the evening because days are full of distractions and interruptions. I found very early that one hour of writing in the morning before talking to anyone was worth at least three hours of writing time later in the day. And because I am slow during the afternoons, it ran over into the evening. So, then I ate late, got to bed too late, and couldn’t get up at 5:00 a.m. anymore.

But what to do?!?! The doctors’ appointments were the important kind where they are booked up months in advance, and if you don’t take the available choices the receptionist gives you, you have to wait several more months. And I’m not in charge of the volunteer group I work with the most, so I’m not in charge of calling the times for the work days. (Our leader always wants them first thing in the morning.) So I fumed through a couple of those days as I wasted my best writing hours doing non-brain chores instead.

An Experiment With Boundaries (Done Pleasantly)

So I tried an experiment, just to see if I had more choices than I thought. After the lung scan I had, the receptionist needed to set up an appointment for me to see the results. Of course, her choice was at 9 a.m. When I asked for a later time, she said her next available choice was in February, three months away. (I was always an “automatic yes” before when faced with this kind of choice.) This time, though, I said that the February date was fine as I didn’t particularly care when I got the results. She said nothing, then went back to her computer and offered me a choice in two weeks for 3 p.m. Aha! (I have done this twice now with the same results.)

Boundaries With Helping Others

The first week I was home, I fulfilled both of my agreed volunteer times, but during all the sorting, packing, etc. I did for two mornings, I was thinking! I love this volunteer project, but I could do most of the work even brain dead. So when the leader called for the next morning meeting, I said mornings no longer worked for me. I offered to take the boxes of stuff home to sort in the evenings, or I offered to come to the work room at 3 and work for several hours. She said no. I said (pleasantly) that I understood her position, but I would need to resign and find another organization that fit my work hours better. Very short pause before she changed her mind and said I could take the work home, then bring it back some afternoon. Bingo again!

Home Health Habits

One more failure and fix: I also stopped exercising when I got home, resulting in some terrific backaches from sitting too long. Admittedly, the English countryside and Victorian buildings were such a wonderful enticement to get out frequently and walk. And coming home to Texas temperatures and cactus countryside wasn’t that appealing.

But I hunted for another system that would work for me and discovered a new book called Elastic Habits, which I will definitely blog about soon. The system outlined has worked for me to get back to the intermittent exercise I found so helpful when away. So, bit by bit, I am re-creating my English cottage experience in my Texas office (which looks like England now actually, with all my souvenirs and photos.)

Bring Home Your Retreat

Way too often, we give up on our writing retreat experience, whether one that lasts a weekend or two weeks. But with enough determination to FIND A WAY to replicate it, you can in so many ways. Find out what works best for YOU as a writer. Your body rhythms may recoil at the idea of working so early. That’s fine. This is just what I found worked really well when I had the freedom to choose my own eating/sleeping/writing/exercising schedule. Yours will undoubtedly be different.

But do your best to find and implement it. Don’t assume, like I always have, that you have few or no choices. Give your writing more importance in your schedule, and you’ll reap so many rewards, including loving your writing process again.

Blasting Off: Reclaiming a Daily Writing Habit

Published on by Kristi Holl

I launched my writing rocket 35 years ago. With a daily writing habit, it took off and kept my career orbiting, despite getting off-course sometimes and necessitating a re-calculation. In theory, a re-launch would never be required. 

But the last couple of years have wreaked havoc with my writing routine. Breaking my left wrist in four places, learning to type again, losing my mom, breaking my right hand in two places, two eye surgeries (one of which went awry), and a couple other major life “events” meant that I have spent the last few years learning how to start again . . . and again . . . and yet again. 

Why So EXHAUSTING?

Thank you to each one of you who wrote to ask if I were okay. I really appreciated that. I knew that I both needed and wanted to get back to blogging. First, I needed to face the fact that I’d replaced my iron-clad writing routine with a “maybe I will, I’m so tired, maybe I won’t write today” attitude. That needed fixing first. I had succumbed to Newton’s first law where objects at rest tended to stay at rest!

I tried to get back into my former writing routine (devotions early in the morning, followed by a time block of four hours for writing). Even with my mental flogging, I could only manage that routine for a few days. Then I cut back to two hours, then half an hour, and then gave up altogether for three or four days.

I had no energy for it! But why? I was happy when writing, but instead of energizing me again, it wore me out now! That really worried me.

Pull of Inertia Vs. Lift-Off

The answer came when I was listening to a podcast last week. Someone mentioned how much energy a rocket needed for lift-off. Did you know that 70% of the fuel on board a rocket is used up during take-off, trying to escape the pull of the earth’s gravity? Seventy percent! The rest, a measly 30%, is all that is needed to get to the moon and back (or wherever the rocket is headed) once the rocket is up to speed.

A light bulb went on when I heard that. Getting started with my writing routine again seemed to take so much energy each time. Apparently it wasn’t my imagination either. I always knew that getting started was the hardest part, but now it made sense why. It took more than half of my energy! I was in the habit now of sitting, not writing, or watching Britbox mysteries, not writing.

So it was no wonder that, after overcoming my inertia, I had little energy left for writing.

Blast Off? Who’s Kidding Who?

Did you ever notice how S-L-O-W those rockets lift off? They don’t blast off! They make lots of noise, raise lots of dust and smoke, shake and shimmy, and barely move an inch or two. Then more noise and dust, and they lift off six inches, then a foot. But it takes a lot of noise and effort and time to reach any kind of speed or escape velocity.

And that is exactly how we “lift off” again when our daily writing habit has been disturbed a few times. We shake and shimmy, make noise and smoke, burn more than half our energy, and lift off an inch at a time. But we DO lift off!

A Daily Writing Habit: Give It Time

If my theory was right, I knew what to do. I tried something new.  I granted myself the grace to admit how much energy it took to get started again. If actually sitting down and creating words out of thin air again was going to take 70% of my energy, then I wouldn’t expect my remaining 30% to produce four solid hours of writing.

No.

Instead, I expected to write one full hour with my remaining energy. That mini goal equaled a very successful day. I’ve followed that routine all week, and I’ve succeeded five days in a row so far. Actually, today I went beyond the hour because I still had some energy left. I doubled my daily word count, in fact, but was no more tired than yesterday after one hour.

THIS IS THE POWER OF HABITS, in my opinion. That is why I aim to write daily from now on. I never want to get back to the place where simply attaining “lift off” takes 70% of my energy. With a daily writing habit, you slip into it almost without effort. That leaves about 95% of your energy–NOT 30%–for your writing.

And that’s the kind of magical writing day that leaves you more energized than you began.

A No-Guilt Writing Life

Published on by Kristi Holl

Does taking time to write make you feel guilty? In her book Writing as a Way of Healing, Louise DeSalvo said, “Many people…have told me that taking time to write seems so, well, self-indulgent, self-involved, frivolous even.”

Does that describe you? Do you fight your own guilty feelings that say you should be doing something more productive? Does writing–especially if you haven’t sold much or aren’t making piles of money from it–feel selfish to you? Do the real (or imagined) opinions of others keep you from spending time writing or making it more of a priority?

The Stages of Guilt

When our children are small, we fight the guilt that comes with motherhood. Are we taking too much time away from the kids? is it really good that they’ve learned to entertain themselves so well? Is it really the responsible thing that my kids are the only ones on the block who know how to run the washing machine and cook meals? Will the children remember Mom as someone without a face, only a hunched back and tapping fingers?

I used to wonder all those things when my kids were small. But we needed the money from the book contracts I was receiving, and at least I was home. (Only technically, it felt sometimes.) You may know the feeling. When you’re writing, you feel like you should be doing crafts or baking with the kids. When you’re making the umpteenth finger painting, you long to be writing.

This Too Shall Pass…or Will It?

Once my children were grown and on their own, I thought the guilt would stop. But I really identified with Carol Rottman in Writers in the Spirit when she said:

“Now all I have to do is quell my guilt over the things I displace because of my indulgence in writing. There are so many worthy causes that regularly tempt me to leave the desk. A sister describes me as ‘driven’ when I am so serious about my work, and friends wonder why I don’t join them for lunch. My children and young grandchildren, all within a twenty-mile radius, can use as much time as I can give.”

The Cure for Guilt

As in so many cases, the cure for guilt seems to be in finding the right balance. Balance between time for writing and time for family/job/home/church/community. Have you found the balance that works for you and your family? It will look different if your children are babies than if they’re teens or adults.

But how do you find that balance and banish the guilt? Take some time on your own and prayerfully answer the following questions:

  1. What/who pushes your guilt buttons when you’re trying to write?
  2. How do you choose whether to keep writing or not?
  3. What questions do you ask yourself in order to find the right balance and keep your priorities straight?
  4. What are you willing to give up of your own in order to make time to write?

Once you’ve decided, make a schedule for your writing, inform friends and family, and then make a firm commitment to banish the guilt. Trust me on this. Even if you now prioritize your days according to guilt (like I did for decades), you can do this. And in a surprisingly short amount of time, when you see the world goes on functioning while you’re writing, the guilt will fade away.

Jane Austen and Me

Published on by Kristi Holl

I got some news last Tuesday that took my breath away.

In the past two years, I’ve written (among other things) four mysteries for adults. Three were part of a historical series. One novel featured Jane Austen.

This week I got an email from a woman in charge of collections at the Jane Austen House Museum in Chawton, England.

It was about my Austen novel, A Dangerous Tide, and her decision to add it to the museum’s Reading Room.

Felt Like a Dream

Sue Dell, from the museum, said the following: “Having reviewed your book we have decided we will place your book on our public shelves in the Reading Room at Jane Austen’s House. It will remain on the shelves for 12 months. We like to show the public that Jane still inspires writers today, and your story is a lovely example of this.”

I read the email several times before it sank in. My novel featuring my all-time favorite author, Jane Austen, is sitting on a shelf in Jane’s house in England, just down the short hallway from the dining room where Jane sat at her tiny, twelve-sided table and wrote Pride and Prejudice,Sense and Sensibility, and others.

I was more thrilled by her email–and my book being placed in their Reading Room–than any award I ever received for a book.

 

Below is a photo of one side of the reading room, and the other photo shows Sue Dell adding A Dangerous Tide to the shelves. [And below that, I’ll share a dozen photos of places in Jane’s house that appear in the book.]

Jane Austen House Museum Reading Room

 

Sue Dell, Collections Volunteer

The Fun of Onsite Research

The events in the book were purely fictional, but the historical setting is accurate, the historical events of the time are real, and the Austen family is based on a lot of research done over the years of enjoying her books and movies and biographies.

For those of you who subscribe to the series (and for my friends who’ve read the book), I thought I’d share some photos of my trip to Jane’s house last September. I have included photos of places featured in the book’s story.

In no particular order then…

Jane Austen House Museum, Chawton, England
Jane’s pony cart
outdoor bakehouse
kitchen hearth
Jane’s upstairs bedroom overlooking court
seeing Jane’s view from her bedroom window
courtyard below Jane’s bedroom; bakehouse opposite
relaxing in the Austen garden

 

How the Chunky Method Saved My Life

Published on by Kristi Holl

A couple of months ago, after being sick and traveling and meeting two book deadlines, I stalled when given some unwelcome health news which required tests and more tests. I got really, really behind on an adult mystery, and for hours I would struggle to write, only to throw it all out at the end of the day.

I was used to writing in 90-minute or two-hour blocks, taking a break, then doing it all again. I’d used that schedule for years, since I no longer have small children living with me. But sickness and burn-out had taken their toll, and I wouldn’t make my deadline at the rate I was going.

Enter the Chunky Method!

I had signed up to attend a Saturday writing workshop, and I was eager to be around other writers t. The speaker, Allie Pleiter, was to talk about her book, The Chunky Method Handbook: Your Step-By-Step Plan to Write That Book Even When Life Gets in the Way. To be honest, I didn’t expect to learn anything really new. I just wanted to be encouraged.

I got so much more!

In a Nutshell

Based on our personalities, our lifestyles, our season of life (small children, day job, retired empty nester) and our health, we all write in different “chunks.” By Allie’s definition, a chunk of writing is what you can comfortably do in one sitting, stopping when you pass the point of “this writing is good” into “the writing I’m doing now will have to be tossed out because it stinks.” She had a test for determining the length of your natural chunk. Big and little chunks are equally valuable.

Frankly, I was going to skip the test when I got home and move on to the rest of her book. I had to get busy! Anyway, my natural chunk for years had been about 90 minutes, or about 1500 words. I knew that already. But was it anymore? My writing life was certainly no longer working.

Back to the Drawing Board

I decided to do the chunky test. (You’re supposed to do this five days in a row, one chunk per day.) I didn’t have five days to use for this, so I did four chunks spread throughout a day. I was careful to stop when I felt too tired to keep going productively. Big discovery!

My chunk had shrunk!

I wasn’t able to comfortably write 1500 words at a sitting. My four chunks averaged only 500 words, and my sitting was only 45 minutes. At first I was really dismayed. I was too far behind to write the novel in 500-word chunks. Or so I thought.

I had nothing to lose by trying this method of writing my “comfortable chunk,” then resting a good while, then doing another “comfortable chunk,” and so on throughout the day.

Changing It Up

It worked! Before the Chunky Method workshop, my struggles had only produced about 1200 words per day, and sometimes not that much. Using the Chunky Method, I was able to average about 5,000 words per day rough draft, and some days nearly 8,000 words. And with the rest breaks between the chunks, where I walked or just went outside, I wasn’t stiff and sore or even very tired in the evenings. [NOTE: Determining your “chunk” is just the first step in the Chunky Method. I would tell you more, but I don’t want to plagiarize her book.]

Because I was writing so close to the deadline, I followed my own advice and got a paid critique from a writer I know and trust who has written award-winning mysteries. (Thank you, Mary Blount Christian!) After revising according to her excellent critique, I was able to turn in the manuscript on time. (And very little revision was requested by the editor this time too.)

So, in case you’re stuck, or you’re trying to write in the midst of stressful circumstances, I’d encourage you to buy The Chunky Method. It could change your writing life. It sure did mine!

Jane Austen and Me

Published on by Kristi Holl

I’ve been thinking about Jane Austen a lot since visiting her home in Chawton, England, in September.

Another time and another place, but some lessons to learn that apply to me as a writer today.

Kinship of Writers

Jane’s home in Chawton was where she revised Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice for publication. Here she also wrote Emma, Persuasion, Mansfield Park and part of another novel before becoming ill. After visiting Jane’s house in Chawton, I felt a kinship with her. She lived in the kind of home I would have loved (see below): several hundred years old, two stories, cozy fireplaces in every room, big flower and vegetable gardens, set on a cobblestone street lined with tiny shops and thatched-roof cottages.

Her writing desk (above) was tiny. I was struck by the contrast between her small desk, just big enough for her paper and ink well, and my two desks back home covered with computers, printers, books, notebooks, and assorted junk. Jane had no shelves of how-to writing books, no writing room of her own, no Internet or cell phone.

Routines

She wrote in the mornings, after breakfast, before helping her mother and sister with household tasks or visiting or entertaining numerous nieces and nephews. She put her writing first in her day, before it got taken over by friends or family or other obligations. There was a lesson for me!

She also wrote about what she knew and experienced–and what interested her–despite pressure from her publisher to write what would make more money. They wanted gothic and historical romances, not her “simple little stories” about her everyday village life and how several families affected each other. (Remember: although her books are historical to her present-day fans, she was writing contemporary fiction.) Her heroes and heroines who learned about their character flaws and overcame them–like Darcy’s pride and Lizzie’s tendency toward hasty judgments–were considered too tame for the reading public.

Write Your Passion

I loved reading Jane’s responses to the publisher’s pressure. Her replies (there were photocopies of her letters) basically said that she could only write what they wanted if she were literally starving, and even though historical romances might be more popular or profitable than her “domestic stories of country villages…I would hang myself before I could finish the first chapter…No, I must keep to my own style and go on in my own way, though I may never succeed again.” Wouldn’t that same publisher be astounded today to see the thousands of fans who still flock to the Jane Austen walking tours in Bath, the Jane Austen Centre, and her home in Chawton, who buy her books and watch movies made of them? Isn’t there a lesson for all writers here?

Perhaps this is what Jane was thinking when she wrote (in Mansfield Park):

“We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be.”