Time management by Hettie Ashwin

When your brain is bursting with ideas it seems hard to get anything done. You may plot, think, take notes, make sketches, busy yourself with all manner of 'work' but nothing gets completed, nothing gets a result. So how do you manage your time to write "THE END"  when it is all done and dusted.

1. Set a goal.
 Whether it be 100 words a night or a page a day edit. Set a realistic target for your lifestyle and STICK TO IT. If it is realistic then you still have time to dabble in other things ie. competitions, postings, twitter, facebook etc. Don't make it to the exclusion of everything else unless you know you have that stickability to carry it out.

2. Motivate yourself.
 This can be with a treat at the end of the week/month/word count or what ever.
Tell yourself that if you finish the set task you will allow yourself a two day stint of nothing but reading. Make the treat something you yearn to do, but never find the time. One hour to plot out that short story, surf the net for competitions, scan twitter for fun or just eat that chocolate. If you know you have something waiting at the end of your writing stint then finishing will be even more delicious.

3. Schedule your time.

 This is a vital tool and one you should learn and put in practice. If you have little in the way of self control and get distracted easily then schedule every 10 minutes. Write the increments down and fill every box on what you plan to do. Then as the minutes tick off just think how good you will feel. They soon add up. If you have willpower in baskets then your schedule might be for a few days or even a week. The idea is that if you see it all written down and then don't complete it the guilt will make you try harder to get your procrastination under control.

4. Value your work
This may sound like self affirmation rubbish, but if you don't believe in what you are doing and treat it with the respect it deserves then how do you expect anyone else will. You are carrying on the business of writing. It is a job, albeit a very enjoyable past-time. Don't say 'it is just a short story, a bit of writing, a dumb manuscript. It is your work. It took time, dedication and skill. These attributes will shine through your writing. I liken it to smiling on the radio. When I was reading the news on radio I used to smile. The tone changes and the listener can feel it too. If you value your work it will show. All your effort won't be for nought. The buzz you get from seeing your words take shape will spur you on to complete your writing.

5. Don't sweat it
Don't try and flog yourself if it isn't working. Go and write something else, do a crossword or take a walk. The laboured effort involved in trying to write when it won't work will show in your work. Write a bit of poetry, flash fiction, a tweet, a facebook post or a short monologue a vignette. Those creative urges will return. There will be times... don't beat yourself up about it but realise the hiatus for what it is and get on with something else using the tips above. I often have two or three projects on the go and then if I become stale I can flit to something else.

6. Just do it
It is the incurable itch, so go scratch.

Writing advice from Chuck

click here for some really interesting articles about the craft of writing. Writing is an individual pursuit but we all have the desire to progress our craft.  

inspiration

What do you see in the picture. What does it say. What does it invoke.
take a pen and write.
sometimes a picture can say a thousand words, and a thousand words is better than none.

pitching a query letter advice.

Thanks to the surfing abilities of members, the blog is a hive of links and activities.
this latest comes from Robyn our far away correspondent.

This is an excellent post from an agent in the US, Kristen, who keeps a regular blog about publishing. Kristen’s blog is so well written.
In this particular post, Kristen has given a detailed account of the pitch from the query letter of one of her clients, and her response to the pitch. This pitch landed the writer the agent, which led to the book being published. It is an excellent example of the sort of query letter that will catch an agent’s eye (and presumably the eye of a publisher too).
In her next post she promises to include an extract from the letter she (the agent) sent to the publisher about this book.
http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2009/04/janice-hardys-query-pitch-blurb.html
thanks Robyn, and keep up the spotting.

WITS NoWriMo - Plotting & Research

If you're participating in the WITS NoWriMo challenge in April (or even if you're not), the following links to articles on plotting and research might prove useful:

• Your Novel Blueprint - by Karen S. Wiesner
• Plot Planner Exercise - Writer's Digest
• Plotting your Novel - by Stella Cameron
• How to plot your novel from start to finish - by Callan Souza
• Plotting your Novel - Creative Portal
• 8 ways Research can Kill your Novel - by Lisa Gardner
• Research that Novel - by John T. Jones
• Starting your Research - by Cybele (there is a great list of links on this page)

Remember Witties, if you would like to participate in WITS NoWriMo your time is running out to sign up. Just send an email to witsnq@gmail.com or have a chat to us at Wednesdays meeting.

e-Books and self-promotion

With the recent release of T'ville as an electronic download, it's perhaps timely to look at how you as the author can increase the number of people reading - and buying! - your e-Book.

Back in January, The Shack listed a link to an article on the blog The Urban Elitist called How to get your e-Book read. This article has a whole heap of great pointers including:

• Create compelling advertisements - put something on YouTube that people will want to watch for its own sake
• Use merchandise like a musician - iPhone / iPod covers, hats, buttons, whatever. Give a free t-shirt to everyone who buys your e-Book!
• Get a great cover design - readers will always judge a book by its cover
• Make the first sentence a great one - when a potential buyer can get to the first page with a single click of their mouse, you better make sure what they read is good

The Writers Guide argues that having an online presence is one of the most important methods of marketing and promotion for writers - both e-Books and traditional print - in the digital age. Chapter 7 is an excellent starting point for learning how to optimise sales through the use of social media, banner ads, virtual launches and tours, trailers and more. This chapter also gives some links to organisations that offer professional development opportunities in digital marketing and distribution.

For many more great online resources for digital marketing, see The Writers Guide marketing_howto bookmarks on delicious.

The Shack

Have you visited The Shack yet? In the words of it's founder and WITS member Nikesh Murali:

The Shack is a forum, a discussion space, a pool of resources, a portal to share contacts and links that will lead to greater success in the publishing arena for all of us struggling writers!

So till you sign that million dollar book deal and move into that superfluously luxurious chateau on the banks of Lake Como, this is the place to be. So come all ye faithful, let's shack up and do some sharing, writing, bitching and supporting!

Dealing with distractions

Novelist Cory Doctorow wrote a great article about how to deal with distractions (family, internet, research) when writing. It's full of great ideas that are both practical and do-able.

Cory talks about keeping a short (20 min) regular work schedule; leaving a 'rough edge'; suggests that you don't research when you should be writing (and includes a great idea for replacing 'the facts' with a marker in your text that's easy to find and replace later); advises not to be 'ceremonious'; not to use a word processor and to to turn off your real-time communication tools (emails, instant messaging etc) during your writing time.

Well worth a read!

Sound familiar? Nikesh talked about this article at the knowledge sharing night on January 14th; find it and many other useful articles at The Shack.

Writers up north

The QWC communications and publicity officer Lisette Ogg recently wrote a post about literature in north Queensland and how climate and country can affect the way a person writes. Very relevant to those of us scribbling away with pen and paper or typing madly at our keyboards while the mosquitoes buzz past and the rain pelts down on the roof! This is a really interesting post and for those of you who don't already read the Queensland Writers Centre blog The Empty Page, I recommend you take a look. It's a great way to keep up to date with what's going on in the QLD writers community while also giving you the opportunity to participate in discussions about a variety of issues.

North Queensland has a rich, diverse history full of stories of hardship and triumph, beauty and tragedy. Imagine if you will, an English gentleman and his family packing their bags and taking the long journey to Australia in the mid 1800's. They settle in north Queensland and spend their lives trying to wrest a living from a harsh land. In a memoir written many years later that same gentleman writes a dedication:

To the women who forsook the pleasures of city life to follow their husbands out to a life of ineffable loneliness in the bush...to the women to whom a debt is owed that could never be assessed or compared with the trials that attended the efforts of their husbands to win a living from the soil, I dedicate this book.

Why not take the time to research your favourite historical figure or event and be inspired to write something wonderful.

Our First meeting for 2009!

What a night! We hit the road running so to speak with Nikesh Murali leaving us with some serious questions to ponder about our craft. Hit the spot for me and I am all fired up. The answers to the questions are within you and you'll know what to do with your findings. See below.
Kerry Ashwin filled us in on how to get our foot in the door with editors and publishers with regards to getting our work published. It all takes time and creative effort which Kerry demonstrates admirably with her go get 'em attitude. So...I ask you to get that journal out and clear those blocks.
It was a great night to start the year. The room was buzzing; almost bursting at the seams. That may have been the apple pie, the caramel tart or the choccie biscuits. It was NOT the ham sandwiches that Lori left home!
If you check out Kerry's and Nikesh's sites you will find links to all sorts of wonderful places to play and learn. See the links in members links list to the right of this......
Those questions to ponder....

• Are you serious about writing? Conviction, interest .
• Are you willing to learn? Read heaps of everything to broaden your scope.
• Are you ready to commit? 300 words a day.
• Are you willing to share and show your work? Get it out there.
• Are you ready to self promote? Sell your work. Can't expect anyone else to sell it as convincingly as you. Which means having confidence!
• Are you willing to embrace the future? Go for it...what else have you got planned?

What to where

So you want to say something.
Or
You have something to say.

Well just follow the prompts for comments. You can comment on anything that has been posted, & after we look at the content, these will be published .
If you want to submit.
Easy... just email your masterpiece to witsnq@gmail.com and we will publish it( so long as it conforms to normal tastes, and standards.)

Remember,

Whatever you submit will be for the world to see, so follow a few simple rules,

Edit and check then,

make it the best you can. You never know; you may be discovered!.