writing

Find Your Focus: Stick to the ONE Thing

Published on by Kristi Holl

“Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there.” ~Josh Billings

This quote comes from a book I love called The ONE Thing: the Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller. As I mentioned last week, after a number of back-to-back setbacks, I needed to relaunch my writing habits. It has been harder than I expected for a number of reasons.

For one thing, I had waited several months to be able to see again and also to move my right hand. So, I didn’t just get behind on my writing. In addition, I “lost sight” of a few other important goals. I was in enough pain that exercising just made the pain worse. So, I quit for a short season (which turned into a loooong season). Because I couldn’t see to drive at night for months, some events with friends and family members were canceled. 

So when I finally felt well enough to write again, I wasn’t just behind with the writing. I had gained some weight I wanted to lose and was breathless and out of shape. And, of course, I wanted to re-schedule important events with friends and family. AND THERE WASN’T TIME TO DO EVERYTHING.

Juggling MANY Things

Life is a juggling act in the best of times. But when we’re knocked out of commission for a while, due to health or family or job crises, we are eager to get caught up in all areas of our lives. In the past, I tried to ramp up performance in all areas simultaneously, becoming a writer running on adrenaline. After all, most of our dearest goals are truly important! You want to catch up on them all. And that, in turn, makes us feel overwhelmed and stuck.

The author of The ONE Thing was in a similar situation. He finally realized he couldn’t do it all, at least not at one time. He couldn’t do five things, or four, or even two–and do them really well. Not with full focus. Not with enough focus to be successful. The question he learned to ask himself repeatedly, in every situation, turned his entire life around.

What was that question?

“What’s the ONE Thing you can do, such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”

Sorting It All Out

According to the1thing.com website, “Gary Keller has identified that behind every successful person is their ONE Thing. No matter how success is measured, personal or professional, only the ability to dismiss distractions and concentrate on your ONE Thing stands between you and your goals. The ONE Thing is about getting extraordinary results in every situation.” Not only does this strategy help you really focus so you can succeed, it also cuts your stress. 

To me, there’s nothing quite as stressful as jumping back and forth from one task to another on my “to do” list. I didn’t focus on my major goal—in this case, writing a book. Instead I put out fires and crossed items off my list that were either the easiest or the quickest. Many items led down rabbit trails, since answering one email usually leads to several more. Adding a short update to your Facebook page leads to scrolling, reading, commenting and liking your friends’ posts. Time is lost, and you haven’t even started your most important project.

If you’re like me, you might be saying, “But I have several very important goals. I can’t choose just one!” I understand that feeling. But focusing on one main thing is a skill we can learn. If learning how to focus on one main goal FIRST is important to you, give this book a try. In addition to much practical help in the book, the author provides free downloads, podcasts, and teachings for their “ONE Thing” method at their Resources page. 

Choosing The ONE Thing

Yes, right now I am taking small steps with an exercise program. I’ve also rescheduled smaller events with friends and family. However, I decided that my ONE thing to focus “all in” during the rest of the summer was re-establishing my writing habit and finishing a book I started months ago. To accomplish this, I am using what the author calls time blocking. So far, it’s working really well. 

In past years, my “one thing” was dealing with health issues that had stopped me cold in my writing. Once I got the autoimmune disease in remission, my “one thing” could be something else. Other years I have had 6-9 months where my “one thing” had to be working on a particular relationship that was impacting everything else in my life.   

Focusing On the Right One Thing

Usually we sense which goal is our most important one. But we can be wrong! Don’t automatically assume you know what your “one thing” is. Suppose you want to lose weight, so it seems obvious that your goal is to eat less and exercise more. But when you ask yourself the book’s key question (What’s the ONE Thing you can do, such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?), you might discover that actually it’s your lack of sufficient sleep leading you to not exercise, want comfort carbs at all hours, and be depressed. So, your “one thing” that would make everything easier might be going to bed every night by 10:00. It could fix a host of problems causing you to gain weight.

Take time alone to think, pray, journal, and listen for guidance when choosing your ONE thing. If you need help to identify your focused goal right now, The1Thing website has some helpful articles. Read “How to Identify What Matters Most.” Then for help implementing your plan, see “Revisiting Your System for Time Blocking.” 

Then you’ll be like a postage stamp. You’ll stick to one thing until you successfully get there.

From Panic to Focus: Save Your Writing Project

Published on by Kristi Holl

In the fall of 2019 I spent several weeks researching a mystery series set in a small village in the North Yorkshire Dales. The locals who own the shops depend on tourist trade from daily bus tours and mountain bike groups.  In early 2020 villagers sent out a plea for the tourists to please stay home during the coronavirus scare. Students and parents (now working and learning from home) were coming to the villages in droves on their unexpected “vacations.”

They posed a threat to two distinct groups: the high number of older at-risk people living in the villages—and the sheep.

At-Risk Sheep?

Yes, but it has nothing to do with the virus. It’s lambing time in the Yorkshire Dales. Hiking groups climb up through the pastures. Bikers race down the trails on the other side of the stone fences marking the fields. Their dogs, often loose, bark at the sheep. The sheep startle easily, then panic and run. With pregnant ewes, the mere running can make them abort their lambs.

We writers can also react to fearful circumstances with panic. There are good reasons the Bible compares us to sheep needing a shepherd. We don’t lose lambs if we panic, but before our writing dreams come to fruition, we can lose the work we are carrying that God gave us to do.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Being terribly unsettled by COVID-19 is totally normal. Our families, regardless of age or situation, have faced huge changes these past weeks. As time passes, and people we know come down with the virus, the temptation to panic grows. Panic allowed to settle in (fed by constant exposure to the media) can derail our writing schedules for months.

Panic is nothing new for followers of God. Imagine the Israelites as they faced the Red Sea before them and the chariots pursuing from behind. The people cried out in terror at what was about to overtake them. And what was Moses’ response to them? “‘Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and watch God do his work of salvation for you today. . . God will fight the battle for you. And you? You keep your mouths shut!’” (Exodus 14:13-14 MSG)

In other words, when faced with impending doom and disaster, you should:

  • Fear not,
  • stand firm,
  • watch God work,
  • and stop spreading panic with your words.

Still great advice today.

Human Sheep at Risk Today

Most people in the world feel a similar panic at the virus situation. Specifically, for writers, book deadlines are right in front of us, but the coronavirus bears down from behind like those Egyptian chariots. How can we possibly write? Moses’ words are as applicable to us as they were to the panicked Israelites.

Remember that the Lord is still our Good Shepherd. We are still His sheep. We hear His voice. He knows us. We can still follow Him. We are trying to birth our stories during this time, but if we panic instead of trusting God, we are likely to abort the work He has given us to do.

Stay close to the shepherd. Do your part to keep yourself and others safe. Encourage one another instead of using your words to spread panic. Be calm and peaceful, and ready to account to non-believers for the hope that is within you. (1 Peter 3:15) Then, even in these times, you will be able to give “birth” to your writing projects.

We’re All in This Together

My mystery writer friend runs daily in the Yorkshire Dales, and she took this photo on the top of the fells. There were few tourists hiking or biking, and she was encouraged by the cooperation with the villagers.

Even the sheep practiced social distancing!

[First published on the ACFW American Christian Fiction Writers blog.]

Follow-up trips to the UK have been cancelled (twice), but God willing, I will return there near the end of September.

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.

Put Out to Pasture—Or Not?

Published on by Kristi Holl

(Published on the ACFW blog page October 31, 2019)

I just returned from a research trip in the Yorkshire Dales in northern England, the setting of my historical work-in-progress. It was my second time to stay in this small village, whose buildings date back to the 1600’s. I wrote, I visited museums, and I hiked the hills two or three times each day. I will never get tired of the beauty of this area. Both years I especially loved the sheep. Fluffy white ewes dotted the high green fells and stared at me from beyond dry stone walls.

And, oddly enough, God spoke to me through those sheep. (Or maybe not so odd. The Lord spoke to Balaam through a donkey.)

A New Season of Life

Since passing 65, I’ve had several inquiries about when I might retire. I had never considered it until I dealt with a number of health issues, among them breaking my left wrist in four places and after that, my right hand. There was plenty of time to think about it while in casts, doing rehab, and learning to type again. I was afraid God might be telling me to stop pressuring myself over deadlines and retire. Oh, how I hoped that that was not what God was trying to tell me. (See also “Does Age Matter for Writers?” by Rachelle Gardner)

If you’ve ever wondered if you’re getting too old for the writing game, I want to share a lesson I learned from a shepherd last year.

Past Her Prime

A ewe can have two lambs per year (because of five-month pregnancies). Since there are many occasions of twins, a healthy ewe may produce more than two lambs per year. After four or five years, these mama ewes are worn out. Most of the older ewes simply can’t carry a lamb full-term anymore, or their lambs are no longer born healthy. So what happens to a ewe when she can no longer fulfill her purpose?

It all depends on the quality of what she’s produced up to that time. If this ewe has produced many lambs that are very healthy and strong, it means she has good genes. She is singled out for special treatment. Rather than killing her for mutton and lanolin, she is given a season of extra nutritious food and extra rest. This is to restore her to vibrant health after being depleted by giving birth to all those lambs. The ewe could then live and reproduce another five years, and sometimes much more.

Do you identify with these older, tired ewes? I did. We can feel depleted after giving birth to one novel after another, year after year, and need some definite renewal. Instead of retiring, I sensed that I also needed a super healthy diet and a more restful (and less stressful) season. The Lord showed me (step by step) how to do both, which eventually restored my energy to a level that a working writer needs.

The Lord is My Shepherd

Seeing how the older ewes were restored to full function wasn’t as dramatic as Moses’ burning bush, but it spoke volumes to me. Instead of taking my health scares as signs that I should retire, I sensed strongly that I also needed to submit to two things. I must upgrade my nutritional choices and deal with my lack of sleep, if I wanted to keep writing as the years go by.

Are you a writer who secretly wonders if you can keep going, even though you are at the peak of your writing craft? If so, pray about it before you quit writing. You may well be one of the Lord’s worn-out sheep whom He wants to restore, so you can continue to do the work He created for you to do.

ENGLAND RESEARCH TRIP: Oct. 21

Published on by Kristi Holl

England, Oct. 21: My last week in Settle already! It has gone so very fast! Learned so much about the railroad today from the man running the shop in the station.(And bought more books to mail home.)

Photos include the train station, the station master’s house beside it, the old coal house, and the old signal box. Also photos of my favorite breakfast (farm fresh eggs–complete with little feathers–and funny-looking bacon called “rashers,” which tastes great.)

 

ENGLAND RESEARCH TRIP: October 11-12

Published on by Kristi Holl

England, Oct. 11-12

Images from the local church yard research, lots of walks, fields of new streams from all the rain, fall color, cows and sheep who ignore you as you travel public foot paths right beside them, and more.

I watched part of a 10-mile foot race, people of all ages RUNNING up and down these hills to raise money for a good cause.

I thought I was doing well just to WALK up the hills without stopping now.

Really divides the locals from us visitors.

 

 

ENGLAND RESEARCH TRIP: October 9-11

Published on by Kristi Holl

England, Oct. 9-11: The last three days have been fun for me, but writing 15,000+ words and researching at a museum isn’t everybody’s idea of a thrilling trip. But it sure is mine!

It has rained a lot the last few days, so I wrote, walked when it quit raining, then repeated over and over.

If you like pictures of England, friend me on Facebook. I post many more photos there.

My research has involved how navvies built the largest viaduct (picture above) in England which is nearby, and the five shanty towns that sprung up for seven years while the bricks were being made and viaduct built.

 

Then I researched the next phase, when the viaduct made it possible to bring the railroad here to Settle. I love train stations and riding the trains!

The eye test equipment was for testing people working in the signal boxes on the railroad. (You had to be able to distinguish red from green, plus see in straight lines.)

Stay tuned for the next installment!

A Writer’s Perfect Week

Published on by Kristi Holl
Writer friends from our local ACFW

It has been a writer’s perfect week. I wish I had a word for it! A perfect storm (of which I’ve experienced many over the years) is a “particularly bad state of affairs, arising from a number of negative  factors,” according to the dictionary. But this week was the opposite: a writer’s perfect week.

While I don’t believe a picture is worth a thousand words (or I wouldn’t be in this business), I love photos that tell stories too, so they’re sprinkled throughout.

Two Big Events

Two things made this such a great week: a national writers’ conference last weekend, and my research trip to England tomorrow!

Hyatt Regency

I’m president of our local branch of ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers), and this past week was our National ACFW conference. We met downtown at the Riverwalk. (That is a view from my room.) As host city, we were responsible for a few things, like transportation for VIPs. (Thank you again, Bruce Judisch!)

 

Milestone Pin award

On Thursday night I was surprised before the dinner by receiving a “Milestone Pin” for having had more than 50 books published with traditional publishers. My friend’s photo caught us as we left the stage. 

Incredible Speakers

Frank Peretti

The speakers this year were superb, and it was an honor to sit under the teaching of authors I had admired and read for decades. They were all so generous with their time and “secrets of the trade.” One special time for me was meeting Frank Peretti, author of two books I read in the 80s (This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness) that made a huge impact on me (as well as the other 3.5 million people who bought the books.) He was hilarious and deep, a rare combination, and such a kind man. He was our keynote speaker for the weekend, plus he shared in workshops, and I came as close to being a groupie fangirl as I have ever come in my life.

Other speakers who were favorites were Allen Arnold, James Scott Bell, Robert Dugoni, and Susie May Warren. They all shared deeply moving stories about their lives as well as teaching on writing.

One especially encouraging thing happened with the pitches for my new series idea set in the Yorkshire Dales in England. The agent I spoke with, and both editors I “pitched” the idea to, were very interested and want to see it. I am so grateful for this encouraging “shot in the arm.” It doesn’t mean a sale, but it’s the next step in that direction.

Perfect Timing

The Old Brewhouse flat

So, I head back to England tomorrow, to a small flat in Settle, England, to work hard on Book 1 and finish research for Books 2 and 3. My head is practically bursting with ideas after sitting in 16-18 hours of excellent teaching. My next three weeks will be filled with writing, reading, museum visits, talking to the sheep on my hikes…and then starting the cycle over again. I can’t wait! I’ll post some photos and news throughout the time I’ll be there.

And if anyone knows a word for the opposite of “a perfect storm,” let me know!

 

 

Books for Discouraged or Overwhelmed Writers

Published on by Kristi Holl
Young overwhelmed woman.

During the summer, when trying to stay above the health issues and do things with my grandkids and keep up with a few strict publishing deadlines, I read two books that were especially helpful.

I found I was fighting on a regular basis two discouraging ideas.

One: what had happened to my “dream” novel, the novel of my heart, while dealing with all these other urgent things? It had floundered.

Two: how could I get a handle on everything that had piled up and still get back to my dream novel? [I had a conference coming up where I had signed up to pitch my novel to an editor and agent. If “life” hadn’t interfered for months, I could have easily had it finished.]

As so often happens with me, my prayers for help led me to a book. Or, in this case, two books. One fed my soul with encouragement. The other gave me the practical help and coaching that I needed to get perspective. I don’t believe in re-inventing the wheel if someone else has already solved a problem and written about it. Maybe one or both of these books will help you too.

The Dream Giver

This book inspired me at a time I needed to know that my dream of the last five years wasn’t dead or dying, but meant to be. The Dream Giver: Following Your God-Given Destiny by Bruce Wilkinson has been a bestseller for many years. Here’s the back blurb (and yes, it’s a Christian book.)

“Are you living your dream? Or just living your life? Welcome to a little story about a very big idea. This compelling modern-day parable tells the story of Ordinary, who dares to leave the Land of Familiar to pursue his Big Dream. [Note: it follows the ups and downs of achieving his dream. I could identify with all the stages!] You, too, have been give a Big Dream. One that can change your life. One that the Dream Giver wants you to achieve. Does your Big Dream seem hopelessly out of reach? Are you waiting for something or someone to make your dream happen? Then you’re ready for The Dream Giver.”

Growing Gills

This book was recommended to me by a blog reader who gave such a rave review of this book that I had to check it out. I’m so glad I did! Growing Gills: How to Find Creative Focus When You’re Drowning in Your Daily Life by Jessica Abel is so very good. Don’t you love that title? Jessica also has a great blog. ( Click and scroll down.) Growing Gills comes with a free workbook you can download and print out, which I did, and then work through the exercises to do what her title promises. Here’s part of  the blurb:

“Go from overwhelmed, anxious, and stuck, to consistent, clear, and in control of your creative life. If you feel like you’re floundering in the deep end (Not waving, drowning!), and anxiety over the complexity and enormousness of your creative projects overwhelms you, stop scrambling to fit everything in and feeling stretched thin.

Dive Deep and Swim

  • Sustain the energy you feel when thinking of how awesome your projects could be.
  • Value your own creative work as highly as work you do for other people.
  • Build a reusable structure and process that will consistently get you to the finish line.
  • Blast through your stuck-ness.
  • Finish. Move on to the next project.

You’re a creative person. Even if you have a hard time calling yourself a “writer” or an “artist” in public, making your creative work is core to who you are and how you see the world. You may be harboring a big, ambitious idea for a project. Possibly a lot of them. And it’s killing you.

You lie awake thinking about it…and hating yourself for not doing more to make it real. And then in the morning you’re exhausted, and you can’t believe you “wasted” more time on this stupid idea. Whoever told you that you were creative anyway? You try to shove your idea away, to forget it. But your creative work is what keeps you sane. You can’t not do this. So you live with guilt and anxiety all the time.” [If you follow the workbook as you read her book, this can be a thing of the past.]

 

Health Update: All is Well!

Published on by Kristi Holl

I appreciate SO VERY MUCH all the emails over the past few months inquiring about my health.

It was a long summer, but all is well now. In lieu of personal responses, I hope you’ll accept this post. Each question and concern and prayer meant the world to me.

So, in summary:   

My eyes… 

I had my third eye surgery in July, and it did the trick! The surgeries back in February and May weren’t as simple as we expected, so I couldn’t see for a while, but the corrective surgery in July fixed the issue. How grateful I am to live in a country and a time in history when these things can be corrected. 

My broken right hand …

My pinkie finger still isn’t in the right place, but it is moving closer to its correct position with regular rehab. I make fewer typing mistakes now! When walking, I probably look like a helicopter about to take off as I rotate my (formerly) broken right hand and (formerly) broken left wrist. The trick is to keep moving! 

My head, brain, and arteries…

The severe infection in my face and jaw in May was corrected, but it sent doctors on a hunt to see if there was a bigger problem than I thought. (I have had chronic pain in my face for 33 years since a trigeminal nerve was cut during a surgery.) Anyway, long story short, they worried that the pain might be coming from a brain tumor or blocked carotid artery. Four brain scans later, I have confirmed reports of NO tumors and CLEAR arteries everywhere! So full steam ahead now.   

Again, thank you for your notes and prayers. I really appreciated every single one!