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W R I T I N G W O R L D
A World of Writing Information - For Writers Around the World
http://www.writing-world.com
Issue 7:08 16,300 subscribers August 2, 2007
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CONTENTS
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The Editor's Desk
The Publisher's Desk: "I'm Back!"
NEWS from the World of Writing
THE INQUIRING WRITER: Using Your Holidays, by Dawn Copeman
FEATURE: I Could be a Writer -- If I Only Had the Time
by Roberta Roesch
The Write Sites -- Online Resources for Writers
JUST FOR FUN: Get Paid to Write!! by Scott M. Sandridge
WHAT'S NEW at Writing World
WRITING CONTESTS with no entry fees
The Author's Bookshelf
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FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK
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Can I have a 30 hour day please?
--------------------------------
This month's feature article on finding the time to write came in
at just the right time for me. It's the great school holidays
(summer vacation to our American readers) and because my daughter
is on holiday, so am I (or so she believes!).
So I'm back to fitting my writing into fifteen-minute slots, in
between playing fairies or princesses or vets or Doctor Who. I've
reluctantly become re-acquainted with the idea of working late into
the evening or early in the morning to get my work done.
But every now and then we need a refresher on how to approach our
writing. Thanks to Roberta's article I've managed to approach my
work in a new way, and all of the 'busy' work I usually do has been
sacrificed for real writing. Well, writing and working on the next
stage of the Writing-World revamp. Yes, the site revamp continues,
even though Moira has been without an Internet connection for
almost three months! She does, now, thankfully, have access again
and is striving to catch up with a three-month backlog of emails!
Moira and I have got a brand new look and a brand new feature
coming to the site. The look may be up even now; as for the
feature, I'll just say that it will add another dimension to the
site and help us to achieve our goal of being the ultimate source
of writing information. It will also help us to cover a more
diverse range of styles and ensure you are getting advice from
experts in their fields.
And whilst we're on the topic of covering a diverse range of
genres, I'm delighted to say that on the website we've got a new
article on poetry, our first since 2004. For those of you who are
enjoying our new commercial corner, it will return next month.
Remember, we already have a number of articles on this topic, they
can be found at: http://www.writing-world.com/tech/index.shtml
Okay, a short editorial this month, what with a proper vacation to
fit in and deadlines to meet. And besides, I've got to go now and
help my daughter fix K9!
-- Dawn Copeman, Editor
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FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESK
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I'm Back!
---------
When I packed up my home office on April 30, I confidently imagined
that I would soon be seeing it all again. Two weeks, I thought, or
three, tops, and I'd be sitting in a new home office somewhere in
England, getting back in touch with the rest of the world via the
miracle of the Internet...
If you're one of our British readers, you're already rolling on the
floor laughing. "Two weeks!" I can hear you spluttering, wiping
tears of mirth from your eyes. "She thought she'd have broadband
hooked up in two weeks!"
Slowly the reality began to sink in: I wouldn't be seeing my home
office, my books, my clothes (other than what I had in the
suitcase), or my e-mail for quite awhile. When my husband came
over for his job interview last October, houses to let were thick
on the ground. Not so by May! Houses that would accommodate
his-and-hers "home offices" were rare indeed. We also discovered
that the term "available immediately" doesn't mean what one might
think; here, it seems to mean, "or rather, whenever the current
tenant decides to leave."
To make a long story short, it took us nearly a month to find a
place to live, and it was nearly another month before the previous
tenant moved out. We then discovered that computer desks, when
ordered, take at least three weeks to arrive, if you're lucky and
they really meant "in stock" when they SAID "in stock." (Another
British term: "In stock" means "we sure hope
so...")
Then there's British Telecom, from whom one must order a phone
line, which, they explain, should take about two weeks. Or so. Or
perhaps a bit more. Or perhaps your order will disappear from the
system entirely. I'd like to complain about how long one must
spend on hold at BT, but really it's no worse than AT&T in the
States. The only problem is that no matter what button you push on
the menu, eventually you will get re-routed to the broadband
department, which will inform you that they can't help you with
getting your line set up, and will put you back in the Endless
Queue of Doom... Which, BTW, you're paying for, as (without a BT
line to begin with), you must, of necessity, make this call from
your "mobile" (cellphone). My only consolation, after spending an
hour on hold one day, was that at least my 20P per minute was going
to Tesco and not to BT!
After your phone line is installed, you can then choose a Broadband
provider. My experiences with BT inclined me to look elsewhere, so
I chose Sky, which only took another ten days to get set up...
Fortunately I was able to run over to Dawn's house every so often
to use her Internet connection and stay more or less caught up. The
one item that fell through the cracks, however, was our mailing
list account. Apparently the credit card on file had expired, and
since I was not checking that particularly e-mail account, our list
got shut down. But this is one of those clouds with the proverbial
silver lining: Dawn and I had been talking about switching to the
(much cheaper) Aweber service. She already uses it and said it
worked great, so this seemed like the ideal time to switch (saving
about $75 per month!).
And that is why this newsletter is late! We discovered last week
that Listbox had cancelled us, so on Monday Dawn began the process
of setting up our new Aweber account. We then learned that you are
only allowed to upload 2000 addresses to your list per day -- and
we have more than 16,000. Pleas to the management finally caused
them to relent (I think) and they agreed that once we had 10,000
addresses loaded, assuming that we didn't get a bunch of complaints
about spam, they'd let us load the other 6000. As I write this,
we're still hoping this will happen tomorrow.
So Where Am I?
--------------
We are now living in Hastings, as in "1066 Battle of." I knew, of
course, that England wouldn't be the romantic place that I would
have liked to imagine, but Hastings is surely one of the least
romantic corners of the country. (Dawn keeps telling me, "We
WARNED you!") But it's where Pat's job is, so we have little
choice!
Hastings also has one huge advantage over many other, more idyllic
parts of the country just now: It's dry! That isn't to say that it
hasn't been raining; I doubt, during the entire month of July, that
there was a single 24-hour period without rain. But at least we
don't have our own moat, like many parts of the country. In the
Midlands, among other places, rivers have flooded their banks,
power stations have shut down, railways have been disrupted, roads
have been closed, and thousands of homes have been damaged.
Hastings, however, perches on the coast, from whence it rises
rather steeply to a ridge (known as "The Ridge"). Our new home
perches just a short distance below that ridge, from which we can
see all the way across the town to the English Channel, and the
lights of Beachy Head twinkling at night. We're definitely on the
high ground! In fact, I chose the room that is now my office for
its lovely view, which I've now blocked with drapes and shades, as
the afternoon sun (when we have any) makes it impossible to see my
computer screen!
And Speaking of Computers...
----------------------------
Which brings me back to the mutually entwined topics of having an
Internet connection, Dawn's mention of our site revamp, and her
"Inquiring Writer" topic of "busywork." Yes, they are related!
While we've gotten out and seen some sights, during the week
Patrick has been working, and so for much of our time here I've
found myself "stuck" in a holiday cottage withi nothing but a
laptop and British TV for entertainment. British TV consists of
five channels of talk shows, reality shows and game shows. That
left the laptop.
We had begun the "site revamp" before I left, but the person who
promised to redesign the site never came through. I therefore came
up with a "new look" of my own (hope you like it!), but hadn't
progressed much farther than that. This seemed the perfect time to
start tweaking the articles into their new format
-- and checking to see whether any articles on the site had become
outdated or otherwise needed to be removed. It proved to be a more
time-consuming task than I had expected, what with all the HTML'ing
and tweaking and... and....
And BUSYWORK. Not that I don't think it needed doing, and I do
think it's an improvement. But after about three weeks of this, I
had a long talk with myself. I had decided that once I moved to
England, I would start focusing more on WRITING and less on
"busywork" (and if you've followed my editorials, you've probably
heard this before!). I finally had to look in the mirror and ask
myself, "If you're not able to 'find time to write' when you're
stuck in a holiday cottage with no Internet, no TV, and no
transportation, when WILL you find time?"
So I put the busywork on hold, sat down, and started to write. I'd
already been keeping a journal of our "adventures in moving," but
now I decided it was time to tackle a short story I'd wanted to
write for, oh, about two years. I'd even roughed out an outline
before leaving. Now it was time to apply butt to chair and
actually WRITE the darn thing.
Which I did. It wasn't easy, and it wasn't fast (it took about six
weeks), but it was fun, and more importantly, it was WRITING.
It is now written. It needs a final edit, and then it is going
out the door. And then I'll start the next one. And maybe the
next. And maybe, after that, the novel I began back in 2002...
Dawn asked for a definition of "busy work" in her column. Here's
mine: "Busywork is work that appears to be worthwhile and
important, but that does not contribute to and/or distracts from
the pursuit of one's long-term goals and dreams." It is work that
provides a false sense of achievement: You certainly accomplish
SOMETHING, but it's not your primary goal.
The key to identifying busywork is that, generally, you DO know it
when you see it. It's the work that you turn to when you know,
deep down, that you ought to be tackling something more
challenging, more important, and quite probably more frightening.
It's like comfort food: It feels good, but it doesn't really
resolve anything. It's not meaningless work -- it's a step above
cleaning one's desk or organizing one's sock drawer. But it is
still "avoidance."
That doesn't mean that one can never choose the "easy" task over
the hard task, and sometimes the easy task IS the one that really
does need to get done. The peril of busywork, however, is that it
is seductive: There is ALWAYS more of it. One can keep at it
forever, and indeed get a lot done by many standards. But it
doesn't bring one any closer to one's dreams.
Being cut off from the Internet for three months has been a
reminder to me that one can accomplish a great deal with denied the
distractions of e-mail and web-surfing. The world did not end
simply because I couldn't answer my e-mail. I don't regret
"revamping" Writing-World.com, but the real feeling of
accomplishment comes, not from knowing that I've made someone
else's article slightly easier to read, but that I've completed a
story I've dreamed of writing for years. I hope that, in the
months to come, it's a feeling I experience often!
I hope that you experience it too!
-- Moira Allen (editors@writing-world.com)
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HIRE EX-MACMILLAN EDITOR http://www.AnitaMcClellan.com. Fiction,
nonfiction for all ages: Get the big picture from in-depth editing,
evaluations, synopsis & proposal critiques. Email
adm@AnitaMcClellan.com Subject "DeptWWorld".
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NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF WRITING
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POTTER MANIA HITS LIBRARIES
---------------------------
Dallas Public Library has done its best to ensure it can meet the
demand of those Harry Potter fans who have not bought the last in
the series. The library has ordered 430 copies of Harry Potter and
the Deathly Hallows, its largest order ever for a single book.
Even so, the books are all currently on loan, as are all 500 copies
from Fort Worth's library too. The high loan rates for the last
Harry Potter book might surprise book stores: 8.3 million copies of
the book were sold in the US and 2.65 million in the UK in the
first 24 hours of its release. Amazon has reported that pre-order
sales for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows reached a new
record total of $2.2 million -- 47% higher than for the last
record-breaking book: 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'.
However, it has not all been plain sailing for Scholastic, the US
Publishers of Harry Potter: 33 pages have disappeared from several
hundred copies of the book! Scholastic says that printing errors
are inevitable in such a large print run. For more information
visit: http://tinyurl.com/3xj86m or http://tinyurl.com/37ech5
GOOGLE DEVELOPS SPAM-FREE ALTERNATIVE TO EMAILS
-----------------------------------------------
Google has developed what it believes to be the successor to
emails. Google eLerts are a new way of getting information to users
of Google Desktop. They are also automatically published in the
increasingly popular RSS format, further widening the exposure for
publishers, especially as the latest cell phones are automatically
fitted with RSS readers. Under the system, Google users will visit
the eLibrary and choose which eLerts they wish to receive; users
then grant these providers 'permission' to contact them. As there
are no open avenues of communication, eLert Gadget users are not
vulnerable to indiscriminate mailings from spammers. According to
Paul Tranter of Business Development: "You'll never see eLert
Gadget user ids for sale by the million - you simply can't contact
a Google eLert Gadget user without their compliance; they no longer
have to delete the junk ... they just don't allow it in the first
instance!" Google envisages eLerts being used in a similar way to
emails, but with added protection for users. Each eLert publisher
will receive feedback from their subscribers; Google eLert Gadget
developers programmed this as a safeguard to maintain quality. They
widely promote the fact that if a publisher does not comply with
the high quality information ethics, they will be highlighted and
remedial action will be taken. "So watch out Junk mailers!" says
Paul Tranter. For more information visit: http://tinyurl.com/2nqfbd
PUBLISHERS FAIL TO RECOGNISE AUSTEN CLASSICS
---------------------------------------------
When he failed to sell his own novel to publishers, British writer,
David Lassman, decided to test whether any publishers actually knew
what they were doing. So, he decided to test them by submitting
the first chapters of several of Jane Austen's works, to see how
well they would fare in today's publishing world. He retyped the
first chapters of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", named the
work "First Impressions" (the original title of the work) and
submitted it to eighteen publishers under the name Allison Laydee.
(When Jane Austen first submitted her work, she did so under the
pseudonym A Lady.) Seventeen of the eighteen publishers rejected
the works outright, but did not spot the deception. The only
publisher to recognise the work as Austen was Alex Bowler, at
Jonathan Cape. For further information and to read the publishers'
comments on Ms Austen's works visit:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/6906799.stm
ONLINE NEWSPAPERS SEE RISE IN READERS
-------------------------------------
Just under 40% of internet users said they read an online newspaper
in the second quarter of 2007, an increase of almost 8% compared
with the same period last year. In May 60 million people visited a
newspaper site -- the highest number ever. Not only are more people
visiting newspaper sites, they are spending longer there. According
to Nielsen/NetRatings, who carried out the survey, visitors spent a
combined total of 7.2 billion minutes on newspaper sites in the
second quarter of 2007. For more information visit:
http://tinyurl.com/36u3mq
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visit http://www.StephenGeez.com, then see the Fresh Ink umbrella
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We're not pitching services, just looking for readers seeking great
authors, and great authors seeking good readers. Share ideas, build
mailing lists, swap links, commiserate, brag!
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promotions plan is weak. But it may not be too late to experience
publishing success. How? Follow Patricia Fry's free guide to
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report today. PLFry620@yahoo.com.
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THE INQUIRING WRITER
=================================================================
by Dawn Copeman
Last month I asked what you intend to do over your vacation. Was it
your major writing-fest, two weeks to devote entirely to your
masterpiece or to cram in as any queries as you can? Or, if you
write full-time for a living is this the time you work on your
novel, or take a complete break?
One part-time writer who would seriously like to use her holiday
for a write and read fest is Shauna Hess Viele. She writes: "My
family doesn't quite seem to grasp the idea that I happen to want
to catch up on reading and writing when I am torn away from my day
job as an RN. I find it difficult to concentrate in snatches of
time (30 minutes here and there), so when I see a possibility of
actually spending some time on my favorite activity, I tend to be a
pack rat. My husband laughs as I drag along a tote full of books
(at least 2) and my journal and a notepad (I prefer long-hand
writing, incidentally). Case in point: we recently travelled by
car from our home in the Midwest to Boston, Massachusetts. (We
like to sightsee, and there are limited
opportunities from a plane.) Of the 3 books I took, I managed
to get one read (at least I finished it!) I did do some
journaling, but between acting as navigator through some VERY
stressful, busy cities and being interrupted mid-thought at least
50 times a day, I did not get much else accomplished writing-wise.
Just when I thought both of our daughters were occupied, I would
pull out my notebook and try to jot some things down for
inspiration, only to hear 'Mom? Mom? Mom?' I never was very good
at shutting out distractions, and my youngest is especially adept
at getting to me. I sure wish other people would let me know how
they maintain their level of concentration
-- at any time, not just vacations!"
I know how she feels! Someone who doesn't seem to have any problem
in balancing her writing/vacation time is full-time freelancer
Roberta Beach Jacobson, despite the fact she never takes a day off!
She explains: "It seems I never leave my writing. Do I ever skip a
day? Nope. I write every day, though fewer hours on weekends and
big holidays.
"Both my husband and I freelance from home. For time out, we go for
a swim or a stroll along the beach -- one of the benefits of living
on a Greek island. We also putter around in the garden or walk the
dogs. After a couple of hours away, it's time to get back to work!"
Karen Wormald seems to have the right idea when it comes to
vacations. She writes: "I'm a full-time freelance commercial
writer/editor who also turns out magazine articles, three regular
columns, and a book now and then. My ideal vacation is on a cruise
ship, far from computer, phone, and fax machine. I always pack a
lovely, brand-new notebook and my favorite pens. Every day, I spend
a few hours recording details of my journey and ideas for new
projects. Filling a notebook in longhand with my thoughts is my
idea of 'getting away from it all.'"
Eric Schneider was confused as to what "holidays" I meant and
wondered if there was a huge UK holiday he was unaware of. When I
told him I meant the long school summer holidays, he replied with
the following words of wisdom: "Enjoy your children. Sooner than
you think, you will be irrelevant to them."
So, I fully intend to make the most of the holidays and the time I
have with my little girl, whilst she is little and contented to
play for hours with her Disney princesses and her many little
ponies.
But before I devote myself to resting up and not doing much. I want
to ask you about 'busy' work. I mentioned busy work in my
editorial as something I'm trying to give up or at least cut down
on. 'Busy' work cuts into my writing time, not only now in these
time squeezed summer holidays, but all year round.
In fact, Moira and I were discussing it recently. We were chatting
about other freelancer writers we know and how prolific they are.
How they always seem to be publishing a new book, setting up new
websites, generally being very busy. I wondered how they found the
time, when I've found that running Writing-World and Newbie-writers
more or less takes up all my time. I asked Moira how on earth she
managed to run Writing-World and still have the time to write so
many articles and books and Moira just turned to me and said
"you're doing 'busy' work."
It turns out Moira is just as prone to attacks of 'busy' work as I
am. But how about you? before I give you my description of 'busy'
work, I want to know if this is a widespread problem. Is this
villain attacking other writers and preventing them from working?
Have you seen it? Have you suffered an attack of 'busy' work? If
so, how does it disguise itself when it hijacks you? We need to
know. We must warn other writers so they can avoid being hit by it
too.
Email me with your responses with the subject line "busy work" to
editorial@writing-world.com
Till next time (when I will have felt the benefit of a vacation!),
Dawn
For ideas on how to plan for a writing vacation visit
http://www.writing-world.com/basics/vacation.shtml
Or if you quite fancy going on a writing retreat, try
http://www.writing-world.com/freelance/retreats.shtml
>>-----------------------------------------<<
Dawn Copeman is a freelance writer based in England. She is the
author of over 100 articles and is the editor of Writing World and
also of Newbie Writers, http://www.newbie-writers.com, a site for
new and aspiring writers. Dawn is also a copywriter as well as a
contributing editor and columnist at
http://www.timetravel-britain.com. Visit her website at
http://www.write-away.biz
Copyright (c) 2007 by Dawn Copeman
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I COULD BE A WRITER -- IF I ONLY HAD THE TIME!
=================================================================
by Roberta Roesch
As a writer, editor, college writing instructor and author of time
management books, I've heard that phrase a thousand times, and
that's a conservative guess. So how do writers find time to write
and how do they make the most of that time once they're able to
find it?
Whether you're a beginner, or a seasoned writer facing "If only"
when you want to start new projects, here are ten tips for finding
time and avoiding the unproductive "If I only had the time."
Over and above these tips for writers there are the evergreen tips
we've all heard again and again -- Use "To Do" Lists, Avoid The
Telephone Trap, Learn To Say "No" -- and other constants. All are
important and timeless, but since they're repeated so often we'll
bypass them for specific "If onlys" that give you more writing time.
1. Write yourself a mission statement
------------------------------------
Businesses write a mission statement that empowers them to move
ahead, so when you want your name on the cover of your first or
latest book or a magazine article or story, take a lesson from
businesses and write a mission statement. Yours might be: During
the next 12 months I will study the current magazine market, write
a short story that matches the needs of the market, revise it until
it is of publishable quality and do a blitz submission to editors
without giving up. I will also start a file of ideas for a novel
and put everything I think of or find that pertains to the idea in
that file. I will read books on writing, take a course and attend
a writers' conference. At the end of 12 months I will evaluate my
progress and determine what I need to do next.
2. Put your writing first once you know your mission
--------------------------------------
Yes, you've heard that one before, so it's not like a bolt of
lightning that scares you into action. But it's something that has
to be reckoned with to get your writing off the ground, so during
your writing-first time get to work immediately and refuse to let
things that appear to be urgent (but really aren't that crucial)
interfere with your writing time. Spend as little time as possible
on, or eliminate altogether, less-important- than-writing tasks you
could do in non-writing time without shaking up the universe. If at
all possible find a place to write where you can close a door (or
put up a screen) with a "Do Not Disturb" sign. Eventually people
will get the message not to interrupt with distractions that can
wait.
3. Keep a time journal to show you how you spend your time
------------------------------------------
For a workable and easy-to-keep time journal, divide each day of
the week into Morning, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekend segments
like this:
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Weekend
Morning
Afternoon
Evening
Set up as much space as you need for this chart and beside each
time segment, and under each day, write in what you do and have to
do in that time frame. Obviously there will be many things that
have to be done in certain timeframes: your job, family life,
personal care, home chores, errands, volunteer work, exercise,
appointments, whatever. But you'll still see things you can
minimize, consolidate, or cut out altogether to fit in more writing
time.
4. Avoid wasting too much time thinking instead of writing
-----------------------------------------
Since all writing begins with thinking, thinking time is essential.
But too much prolonged thinking steals time from actual writing.
Rather than doing all of your thinking while you stare at a yellow
pad or blank computer screen train yourself to do preliminary
thinking while you're involved in other things - for example,
routine chores, commuting, gardening, exercising, waiting at
appointments, and stuck in traffic while driving. Thinking time
will always serve you well, but rather than letting it become an
"If only," know when it's time to stop thinking and begin to write.
5. Stop using "If only" as a postponement
-----------------------------
There isn't a person who's publishing today who hasn't experienced
the fear of failure. For all of us, until we start developing an
idea, we're safe from risking failure and can envision the joy of
success if we had the time to work on the idea. But instead of
holding yourself back with such haunting questions as "Is this idea
really good enough?" or "Will it be rejected?" evaluate and work on
your idea until you know it's good and has potential. Then put fear
of failure behind you and refuse to let negatives (and the
inevitable rejections every idea receives one time or another) get
in the way of keeping you from what you want to do.
6. Start and keep going
----------------
Writing something is better than staring at that blank computer
screen or yellow pad, so use a "Just begin" approach and take
whatever is on your mind about a piece -- whether it's a setting,
description of a person, dialogue, whatever -- and write it
regardless of how off-the-wall it seems at the moment. It will
start the juices going and may lead to material, or partial
material, that you can eventually move to a beginning that will get
you started.
If "Just begin" doesn't work for you, another approach that helps
some writers is outlining plans for a piece. Admittedly, whether
or not to outline gets mixed reviews from writers, but for many
planning is the way to go. After all, coaches don't go into games
without a game plan, pilots don't leave the ground without a flight
plan, and surgeons don't cut without a plan.
7. Focus totally on the project in front of you
--------------------------------
Avoid letting your thoughts wander to other things you want to
write or do "when you have the time." If you're the type who does
this and who must jot down notes not relevant to what you're
working on, keep a pad beside you and do your jotting fast. In
non-writing time file your jottings for whatever you want to do in
see-through containers with tight lids. Lids that are hard to get
off will discourage you from checking on other things when you need
to stay focused on what's in front of you.
8. Remember that technology isn't always your friend
--------------------------------------
Most writers would never want to return to pre-computer days, but
technology isn't always user-friendly when, during your writing
time, computers tempt you to check e-mail, read the latest online
news or participate in forums or chat room discussions. To help
yourself avoid this, set up your desktop with a screensaver that
says "The Business of a Writer Is To Write." Then take this
message to heart when you turn on your computer. Be equally
disciplined about turning off the tube and boycotting TV during
writing hours -- unless you're the kind of writer who needs the
background noise and can work uninterruptedly without getting
hooked by the pictures on the screen. [Editor's note: Another
option, if you can afford two computers, is to have one computer
that is NOT connected to the Internet, but is reserved solely for
writing. When you sit down at this computer, you will immediately
be reminded that your purpose here is only to WRITE, and you can't
even be tempted to check e-mail or surf the web.]
9. Train yourself to produce
--------------------
While you strive for quality as well as quantity in your writing,
develop and practice skills for working quickly by allotting
yourself a certain amount of time to do a job. Set a minute timer
for that allotted time. You won't always complete a job before the
bell rings, but even when you have to go overtime, the timer will
keep you from dawdling.
Along with your regular writing schedule, increase your
productivity by making good use of in between times. Write "15
Minutes is 15 Minutes" on a colorful post-it and stick the post-it
on your computer or on the desk where you write. Even writing one
paragraph during that 15 minutes moves your writing further ahead.
10. Proceed one step at a time
---------------------
Along with being productive, be realistic about how much you'll be
able to do in each writing session and know the difference between
the ideal and the possible. Rather than looking at the total of
what you want to do and feeling you must draft a whole story,
article, or book chapter in one or two writing sessions, focus on
achievable tasks and be satisfied with one or two pages. At the
end of your day's writing session, prepare ahead for the next day
by leaving things in order so everything is set up for starting to
write. Finally, talk to other writers about how they find and use
time and discuss your ideas with them. Just talking about these
things with others can motivate you to start writing and avoid the
unproductive "If I only had the time."
>>-----------------------------------------<<
Roberta Roesch is the author of 12 books and numerous magazine and
newspaper Articles, having been published in Reader's Digest, Good
Housekeeping, Family Circle, McCall's, Parents, Glamour,
Mademoiselle, Working Woman, Us, New Woman, New Choices, Success,
Travel & Leisure, Kiwanis, American Legion, Woman's World, The
Writer, Consumer's Digest, USA Weekend, and many others. A former
daily & Sunday columnist, King Features Syndicate and The
(Bergen) Record, she is a contributor to United Features Syndicate,
Copley News Service, Los Angeles Times Syndicate, World Press
Network and Columbia Features Syndicate. Roesch is a member of the
American Society Of Authors as well as the Journalists/Authors
Guild.
Copyright 2007 Roberta Roesch
For more information on finding the time to write visit:
http://www.writing-world.com/basics/time.shtml or
http://www.writing-world.com/basics/campbell.shtml
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RomanticTimes.com
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PlayWriting101
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Lightning Bug
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An online writing partner for young authors.
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The AA Independent Press Guide
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Jobrapido
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WHAT'S NEW AT WRITING-WORLD.COM
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AUGUST COLUMNS:
------------------
Writing for Young Readers, by Eugie Foster
An Interview with Tansy Rayner Roberts of Shiny
http://www.writing-world.com/foster/foster14.shtml
NEW ARTICLES:
-------------
Whose Rhyme is it Anyway? by Dana Mitchells
http://www.writing-world.com/poetry/whose.shtml
Where Oh Where Are All the Good Article Ideas?
by Patricia L Fry http://www.writing-world.com/basics/where.shtml
Commercial Corner: Resume Writing, by Mandy Hougland
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RECOMMENDED WRITING CLASSES
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Freelancing for Newspapers, by Sue Fagalde Lick. 8 weeks, $100;
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Fundamentals of Fiction, by Marg Gilks. 8 weeks, $150; enroll at
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WRITING CONTESTS
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This section lists contests that charge no entry fees. Unless
otherwise indicated, competitions are open to all adult writers.
For more contests, check our contests database.
http://www.writing-world.com/contests/index.shtml
FEEDBACK MAGAZINE'S "SO YOU THINK YOU CAN WRITE?" ESSAY CONTEST
----------------------------------------------------
DEADLINE: August 15, 2007
GENRE: Nonfiction
DETAILS: 1000-1500 word magazine articles.
OPEN TO: Writers aged 18 and over
PRIZE: $250, $150 $75
URL: http://www.feedbackmagazineonline.net/feedback.html
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-------------------------
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-----------------------------------
DEADLINE: August 20, 2007
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FAMILY CIRCLE FICTION CONTEST
-----------------------------
DEADLINE: August 31, 2007
GENRE: Short Stories
THEME: 2500 words short story by US citizens aged over 21
PRIZE: $750
URL: http://www.familycircle.com
FUNNY-BUT-TRUE ANTHOLOGY
-----------------------------
DEADLINE: September 1, 2007
GENRE: Nonfiction
THEME: Short, funny, true misadventures from weddings/honeymoons,
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anthologies. Up to 800 words.
PRIZE: $125 and publication
URL: http://www.meadowbrookpress.com
WRITER'S DIGEST "YOUR STORY" CONTEST
-----------------------------------------
DEADLINE: September 10, 2007
GENRE: Short Stories
THEME: One story, maximum 750 words in response to prompt at
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PRIZE: $100
URL: http://writersdigest.com/contests/your_story_display.asp?id=245
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AUTHOR'S BOOKSHELF: Books by Our Readers
=================================================================
Partially Human, by Dwayne G Anderson
Accidental Cowgirl, by Mary Lynn Archibald
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Copyright 2007 Moira Allen
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