Life Goes On

by Janis Susan May/Janis Patterson

Okay, take a deep breath. We have survived the Christmas crazies and the New Year's excesses; since it's after Twelfth Night, all the Christmas decorations should be packed away for next December and probably most of us have already broken the ambitious New Year's Resolutions we have made.

It's time for normal (whatever that is!) life to begin again. Some of us have already returned to our jobs. 2019 is a blank slate, ready for us to fill in for good or for ill.

The prospect is terrifying. There is only so much time and yet so many things that cry to be done. We have families who must be attended to and enjoyed. We have jobs that need to be done, whether day jobs in the business world or the job of running a home or whatever. We have civic duties. We have.... You get the idea; everyone's life is different in details, but the same in so many ways.

So how do we do it all? The answer to that is as individual as we are. Speaking only of the writing part of our lives, we must write. And edit. And re-write, sometimes ad nauseam. Add to that research, and the necessity of giving some thought to our next project, and that bête noir of every writer I know, publicity. All the above apply - in various proportions - whether we are traditionally, self or hybrid published, whether we are a full time or a part time writer.

I read on one of the writers' chat loops that several writers spend up to 50% of their writing time on publicity. Somehow that seems so wrong. We should be writers, not publicity hacks. I know that If I wanted to spend that much time dealing with publicity and such I would have stayed in advertising - and be making a lot more money!

I know there are loads of publicity services available, all with different pricing structures. Most - dare I say all? - are out of my price range. I have a stubborn refusal to spend more on publicity than I am making. It is illogical, to quote Mr. Spock.

It's late for making Christmas wishes, but if I were allowed one it would be that some enterprising person would start a publicity service that even those of us who don't have a lot of money - read 'very little' - could afford. Think of what we could do with all that creative time! And even if the prices were kept quite low, think of how much money that publicity person could make. It would be a win-win situation.

As for the writing itself, I have long said that writers work pretty much 24/7. Even if we go days without touching a keyboard, somewhere in our brains there is a part that whirrs and thumps and wrestles with storylines - even if we are sometimes totally unaware of it. Ideas and wording and plots don't come from thin air; they are lured into the open air by hard work, creativity and skill. There is no magic shortcut, darn it.

Neither is there a magic formula. Some writers write a set number of words or hours every day in rigid discipline. Others write only when their 'muse' dictates. Others write in unbelievable multi-day explosions of creativity, putting aside every other consideration. There is no absolutely 'correct' way. Neither is there a completely consistent way, no matter what style of writing one chooses. There is family, there is illness, there are unexpected emergencies... all commonly called 'life,' and writers must work around them. And somehow we all manage.

It's called life, and life does go on.

Writing Schedules and Other Fictions

by Janis Patterson

There are those who say that the success to writing lies only in following a strict schedule. So many words per day, every day, or writing X number of hours without deviation, or... whatever. On the other hand, there are an equal number of equally fervid writers who are convinced that no good writing ever comes from being forced. One should wait for the magic touch of the muse, as anything which is worked at, which happens without fiery and flowing inspiration is unnatural and bad writing. 

Give me a break. Or two.

That said, I will admit that my writing is easier when I am in the throes of inspiration, and that I do try to write a certain number of words every day. Keywords here are 'easier' and 'try.'

Like all of life writing is uncertain. You can vow that you will write a minimum of 5,000 words a day, every single day without fail. If you can, good on you. The rest of us have lives. We have families, cars, homes, jobs... all of which seem to go maniacally wonky just at the worst times. There are things in life that should come before writing - family comes to mind first.

So - you've set a schedule and stuck to it pretty well, then something overwhelming happens and until it is resolved the writing goes out the window. Then what? Your rhythm is off. You haven't kept your word, and if you're so unreliable why go on? Obviously you aren't a real writer unless you .... whatever.

Yes, there are people who actually believe that. I look at writing schedules sort of like I do at a diet. They can be wonderful things from which you can benefit greatly. Depending on your attitude, they can also make your life miserable. If you break a diet, you don't just give up and wallow in a slough of chocolate (however delightful that might seem), you admit what happened, then pick up and go on. Or at least you should. At least, I do. Most of the time.

Being a writer is a life and career choice - it shouldn't be a sentence. Yes, we have deadlines, and yes, if we've given our word that so-and-so will be done by such-and-such a time, we should honor it, no matter what it takes. That's a sprint, though, not a way of life.

So am I advocating heedlessness, hedonism, laziness? No. If you are a writer, you must write. But... if you are a human, you must also live. As the Facebook meme (am I using that weird word correctly?) says, Eat the chocolate, drink the wine, smell the roses.

It's all about balance. I am a firm advocate that family comes first. Yes, you owe dedication to your craft, but you also owe dedication to your Self. And your family. And your life, however you choose to live it. But you must also be disciplined and productive in the way that is right for you.

Besides, there is a extra - if rather naughty - benefit to having a writing schedule. When something comes up that you should do, but don't really want to, but can't say no gracefully, you can always say, "I'd love to, but I haven't made my word count for today." Works every time.

Now for something that has nothing to do with writing - I wish all of you the Merriest of Christmases and the Happiest of New Years!

Too Much To Do--Not Enough Time

by Fran McNabb

It’s that time of the year again—shopping, baking, holiday parties, traveling, wrapping gifts—that

time of the year when the mind becomes a blur and down-time is nonexistent. Is there a way to get through it and still find the enjoyment that is meant to be?

When I was a working mom, I seemed to handle the stress of the holidays much better. Maybe I was more organized. Let’s face it. When a person has the responsibility of work and family, organization is essential. Now that I’m retired, you’d think there would be more time to do the things that I want to do and things that need to be done and less stress associated with it. Nope. Not true.

Now that I am no longer a fulltime teacher and a mom with growing boys, I do cherish my time at home, but that doesn’t mean I’m any more organized and ready for the holidays. Why is that? Do other women (and men) experience the same frenzy that I find myself in during the holidays?

Is it because we try to do too much because we have the time to do it? Is it because others expect more of us? I think it’s because my brain is still active (that’s a good thing) and thinks my body is still young and able to do all it wants to do. I’ll make a confession: I’m at the end of my sixth decade, but I do sometimes forget that. I’m an author and I still have all these wonderful plans for more books to write, contests to enter, blogs to write, edits to do, and on and on, but when it comes down to it, I can’t do it all, or maybe I just don’t have the energy to do it all.

So at this time of the year when everyone is rushing around, I think we all need to take inventory of the things in our lives that need to be done or want to do. Whether it’s finishing that next manuscript or actually having our Christmas list finished early, maybe a little organization and realization of what we can do is needed.

Can’t finish something? Don’t stress. Decide what's important. Rewrite your list of to-do-chores and do only those things that are necessary. Christmas is a time of joy. Don’t let stress take that joy away.

FRAN MCNABB writes sweet romance, with eight books available and four “searching for a home.” Her first book, A LIGHT IN THE DARK , is a Christmas themed story set in the mountains of W. Virginia. It was published in 2006 by Avalon Publishing and is now available through Montlake Publishing. http://a.co/cqVPhQO .Visit Fran at www.FranMcNabb.com or at mcnabbf@bellsouth.net.

 

The Value of Time

by Janis Susan May/Janis Patterson

Sometimes we continue to love our friends not for what they are, but in spite of what they are. I have a dear friend, one who I’ve known for a dozen years or more, one who has always been there for me, one who is just a good person in general. She is kind, funny and unfailingly generous, and I am blessed to have her in my life and want to keep her as a friend for as long as I live. Best of all, our husbands even like each other!

Except...

She has absoutely no concept of time. None. She has several beautiful watches, but I’m not quite sure she knows how to use any of them. She has never made any appointment on time. Any. Her late mother once confided in me that she was even born ten days late. After the first year or two - after I realized her tardyness was totally incurable - I stopped trying to change her, as she refused to accept that she had any kind of problem, saying that time didn’t matter that much. Well, maybe not to her, but I live on such a tight schedule that it was very important to me. I didn’t want to lose her friendship, and we had several arguments about the problem. So… I just lied. If we were to meet at lunch at 12 noon, I told her that we would meet at 11:30, and thus she nearly always manages to show up no later than 12:10 or 12:15. It’s a system that works well for both of us,... as long as she doesn’t know I’ve jiggered the time.

This is just about the only point on which we disagree; she feels that time is an artificial construct to which one should not be enslaved. I feel that to ignore time - especially when it wastes another’s time - is to show disrespect for the other person, in effect saying that their time is unimportant. Of course, I was trained by my father, who was a martinet about time and manners.

Most of my life my parents owed a well-respected advertising agency. I started working for them when I was nine. Deadlines are an important part of any media-based business (actually of any business) and I was raised that to miss a deadline was a sin, if not just about the worst sin one could commit. That training served me well in my subsequent careers in journalism and writing novels, and drove me crazy the decade I worked with actors. (It is amazing that some of  the flakier ones of them survived!) I would sooner commit a felony than miss a deadline.

Of course, as I live in a very large city where the bad traffic is legendary, sometimes even if you build in time for travel something happens and you’re stuck for X amount of time. That’s part of life in the big city and you accept it. It just doesn’t happen every time you meet someone for lunch, though! (And that’s where cell phones are a blessing.)

If my friend were this consistently tardy just with me, I wouldn’t call her a friend, no matter how sweet or funny she was. She is this way with everyone and everything. Her husband says she was even late for their wedding, and quite honestly I don’t know if he’s kidding or not!

So, being a believer that you play with what you’re dealt, I go on lying about our meeting times and, since I bought a tablet that fits cozily in my purse, have managed to get a good deal of writing done while waiting. So much so, in fact, that I might start considering telling her the actual lunch times!

(You might have noticed that I'm blogging on a different day. A re-scheduling of our Classic and Cozy blog roster has moved me from first Wednesday to first Thursday. So - look for me here every month at this same time.)

When Life Gets in the Way

What happened to April?

I swear an hour ago it was April 1 and I was making a list of all the things I had to do before the end of the month:

     do the taxes

     get the Hub's trucking business invoices out and get the March books on the computer

     Schedule time for a major yard clean up

     turn the clocks ahead - all of them this time

     change the sheets

     recharge the Clarisonic and the toothbrushes

     refill the prescriptions
     car is due for inspection
     make a list of people needing greeting cards sent to them in April and try not to forget to mail them
     YIKES - Easter is in April - the family brouhaha approaches
     schedule a hair appointmen - gray is showing
     Lose weight - in other words, begin your 4th diet this year

And don;t forget the usual  - job (two night meetings a month normally, but this month I have 4 becasue we have to adopt a budget for 2014), laundry - wash the clothes, dry the clothes, fold the cloths. (note - there is no iron the clothes.  If it wrinkles, it does not live here), food shopping (Question - why is the food market with the best organic produce so far away?  Answer - Becasue it is.  Quit whining and drive), load the dishwasher, unload the dishwasher, clean, cook, reserve Sunday night for Game of Thrones

And the unexpected.  Sis said the Newsboys are in town for a concert.  Let's see now - hear Michael Tait and company sing and lift my spirits or clean the dead leaves out of the mulch?  No contest.  Michael, here I come.  And I do hope he does hit the Restart so I can get back on track..      

So what am I forgetting?  I know there's something - Oh yeah -  make time to write.

For me, that last entry is getting harder and harder ro do, the older I get.  When I was  a child, a year lasted forever.  Now it's over in a blink.  By the time I get home from work and do what needs to be done before I can relax, it's 9PM.  I rationalize away the writing by asking myself something like "Who can be creative when she is this tired?" But I know the answer.  We all know the answer.  The successful multi-published, award winning, NY Tiemes best selling authors can be creative anytime day or night.  It is the only answer that makes sense and brings success.

There is one of those authors inside each one of us.  I know that becasue it can feel her trying to claw her way through the guilt when I realize that a month has gone by and I haven't made a dent in my WIP.

I met Janet Evanoxich at a writers conference many years back and we talked about just this sort of thing.  Her advice was to write at least 3 pages a day.  3 pages a day is about 100 pages (give or take) a month.  In three months you have a book.  Brilliant!!!  If one would only listen, that is.

So it's now May (give or take).  I will write 3 pages a day and in 3 months I will have the book that the editor from Berkely wants to see thanks to the New Jersey Fiction Writers Conference in March.    That will be July.  One month to self edit - August.  Then a contract by the end of the year (give or take).

3 pags a day.  I can do that.

     

Oh and I did go to the Newsboys concert.  Here's proof.