Motivation and the Writing Life

9 Lessons from Book Signings

January 5, 2018November 27, 2017Motivation and the Writing Life

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Book signings come in different shapes and sizes. Signing books after a conference panel is one thing. Signing them in a bookstore is something else. Signing them after a luncheon or book club meeting is again a different animal entirely.

Unless you have a large local network, signings in bookstores can be tricky. I’ve found that signings at conferences are mediocre, too. The times I’ve done best were signings right after book clubs or book-related luncheons/events.

Here are my tips for a better book signing:

Make sure there will be books there. While this sounds like a no-brainer, you’d be amazed how much miscommunication can happen between bookstores/conference organizers and the writer. Who is responsible for making sure books are there? If it’s the bookstore, you might want to remind them again in enough time to ensure the books are ordered and at the store.Continue reading

Calendars for Productivity

January 1, 2018December 23, 2017Motivation and the Writing Life, Uncategorized

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Happy 2018!

I’m never much of a fan of resolutions, but I do like making sure at the beginning of each year that I’m organized.

With that in mind, here are the calendars that help me stay organized and on top of everything for the year. Since a writer’s life intersects with their homelife, there are also calendars listed that help organize my personal life. If both parts of my life are organized, there’s a hope of retaining writing life-personal life balance.

Production calendar for publishing

You don’t have to overthink this, and it can always be changed! Plan what you want to accomplish for the year: one book? More? Then pencil in those dates on your calendar for completion. Even better, get on your cover designer’s, freelance editor’s, and formatter’s calendars. Now you have something to work toward.

My cover designer always designs a book ahead for me. This ensures that I don’t run into any scheduling snags. (I do have to write back cover copy for a book that I haven’t written yet.)

Editorial calendar for blog (I use OneNote)

I used to put my blog’s editorial calendar on my Google calendar, but I found it more difficult to see upcoming posts and to make date changes. Now I use a page in OneNote (you could just as easily use Word).

Again, try not to overthink this. This is simply a place where I can list ideas for posts and resources to write them (or at least a note as to where my mind was going when I came up with the idea in the first place). I list all the dates that I blog and then put the ideas/blog titles beside them. This way I never feel as if I’m at a loss for what to post.Continue reading

Sleep Better with a Shutdown Routine

December 11, 2017October 29, 2017Motivation and the Writing Life

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I am a horrible sleeper, and I always have been. One of my earliest memories is of watching a backlit, analog clock for hours and hours waiting for the little hand to get to seven and the big hand to twelve (my parents didn’t want me running around the house before then). I must have been three.

One of the reasons I sleep poorly is that my mind is spinning with things that need to get done. I’m frequently so busy during the day that my brain doesn’t have time to process upcoming tasks until I’m finally lying down.

I’ve realized for a while that I sleep better if I review my calendar before going to bed (making sure that I won’t wake up in the middle of the night wondering if my dental appointment was for the morning or the next day). I also sleep better if I do a brain dump of upcoming tasks: everything from errands to housework to writing to promo. Then I organize those tasks into a to-do list (more on my to-do lists in this post).

I hadn’t thought of a name for this process, but author assistant Mel Jolly recently referred to it in her newsletter as a ‘shutdown routine.’

What I especially like about Mel’s approach is that she has instituted a sort of ‘office hours’ setup at her house. She’s not always available nor always working on something. I’ve found that one of the troubles of being a working writer is that I might still be playing around with something at nine o’clock at night.

Mel states:

(You need) something to tell your brain that it’s time to rest now and that there’s no need to keep thinking about work. You’re on top of everything, even if things didn’t get done, they’re on the list. You’ve checked your calendar and you know what’s coming up next.

I like the thought of the last check of email, the last look at the calendar. I like feeling that I’m on top of everything and that I can pick up where I leave off the next day.

As an additional part of my shutdown routine, I shift anything that didn’t get finished that day to the next day’s to-do list. That way I make sure that nothing falls through the cracks.

Do you have a shutdown routine? How’s your sleeping? :)

[bctt tweet=”Use a shutdown routine for a better sleep habit: ” username=”elizabethscraig”

Photo via VisualHunt

Tips for Making Writing a Habit

December 8, 2017October 23, 2017Motivation and the Writing Life, Uncategorized

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

One of the hardest things about writing is the sitting down and doing it. Usually, once you start, it gets a little easier from there.

Building a habit of writing is one way to be more productive. When writing becomes a natural part of your day, it makes the process that much easier.

At this point, writing has become almost like muscle memory to me. The stories are all different, but the process is the same. I may not feel an ounce of inspiration when I sit down at my computer, but soon I’m getting caught up in my story again.Continue reading

How to be a #NaNoWriMo Rebel

October 20, 2017October 19, 2017Motivation and the Writing Life, Uncategorized

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’ve never officially been part of National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo: more about the event here. If you’re interested in signing up, here’s how). Wikipedia’s NaNoWriMo entry explains how to ‘win’ at the event:

To win NaNoWriMo, participants must write an average of approximately 1,667 words per day in November to reach the goal of 50,000 words written toward a novel. Organizers of the event say that the aim is to get people to start writing, using the deadline as an incentive to get the story going and to put words to paper….NaNoWriMo focuses on the length of a work rather than the quality, encouraging writers to finish their first draft so that it can later be edited at the author’s discretion.

To be a regular participant, you are to start on a brand-new manuscript on November 1. I’m always in the middle of a project at that point. Besides, there’s Thanksgiving to think about. It’s never been the most convenient time for me. (If you’re like me, there’s also Camp NaNo, in April and July).

But I’ve always fed off of the energy and the writing sprints of the NaNoWriMo community. I lurk in the forums and get motivated.

I also tend to beat my usual writing goal…by a huge amount.

I’ve also, in the past, looked at it as an opportunity to get other writing-related things done.

NaNoWriMo is well-aware that there are rebels among them. :) They have a special forum for rebels that states:

NaNo Rebels

You’re writing a memoir, an essay, a comic, or something else that’s not a novel. Come join the NaNo Rebels and converse with your fellow outlaws here.