Category: Uncategorized

I put the ‘versus’ in the title because I always feel like promoting and writing are competing with each other for time out of my day.

We’ve gotten to the point where promo takes up a large amount of a published author’s day.

Even if you’re not yet published, building a platform for yourself is still highly recommended for a strong web presence and to be a more attractive candidate to agents and editors. If you have a large imprint on the online community and you can reach a lot of people through Twitter, Facebook, and blogging, it definitely makes a difference—because those contacts represent potential sales.

A typical writer (and this is just my personal observation, looking at the writers in my Google Reader) will blog at least once a week and interacts on either Facebook or Twitter (sometimes both.) Being active on these applications means writing blog posts, reading and responding to comments, visiting other blogs, updating a Facebook status, reading and responding to the Facebook news feed….you get the idea. Usually this means about an hour out of the day—at the minimum.

But the writing still comes first—otherwise, there’s no need for the platform or the promo. But squeezing this writing time in around our online time can be really challenging.

We all have the same number of ours in our day, so there’s only so much we can do with this problem.

I’ve got Finger Lickin’ Dead releasing June 7, but I’ve also got a couple of different deadlines (for different projects) coming up at almost the same time.

For me, it has meant becoming more flexible (and I’m not usually the most flexible person in the world when it comes to my schedule.)

I used to have a very set schedule for blogging, and social media (writing is something I’ve always been flexible about). But with increased need for promo, I’ve had to learn to go with the flow a little more.

This is what I’ve been doing, which has been pretty successful so far:

Decrease the times each day that I check email—and have dedicated times that I look at it.

When my phone rings, I check to see who is calling before picking up (I always pick up for my family…friends I’ll sometimes need to call back during a break.)

Write more than one blog post at a time. Brainstorm blog posts for a week.

Timer: Y’all must be sick of hearing me talk about timers, but they really do help reel you in when you’re on social media too much.

Blog visiting: Divide the blogs you visit into days of the week (either by using Google Reader, or by jotting down the blogs on your calendar.)

Remember to prioritize writing. This might mean staying up 15-20 minutes later at night or getting up 15-20 minutes earlier in the morning.

How do you balance your online time and your writing time?

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Cristi Craig wrote a great post for the Write it Sideways blog called “The Dilemma of the Mother Writer.” In it, she gave an illustration of the tug of war she feels between writing and motherhood:

When I flipped through pictures that my four year old daughter took recently, I saw a heartbreaking pattern: me, wearing reading glasses while I worked on my laptop; me, at the island in the kitchen typing away on my laptop; me, serving as backdrop behind a portrait of her doll, sporting my laptop. It was a painful truth and a testament to the life of a mother writer. I am always stealing time to write.

I’m sure this is a story that resonates with any parent who feels that tug between work and family time.

I’m lucky that I’m able to stay at home and write. But I do have a lot to accomplish—both writing and promo. My goal each day is to finish everything on the computer by 2:00 (which is when my younger child gets off the school bus.) Sometimes I can accomplish this goal…sometimes not.

Over the years, I’ve developed strategies that I hope work for both the children and me:

I’ve noticed that sometimes the laptop creates a wall between me and the children. Sometimes I’ll be working in the same room with kids…they’re doing homework, I’m writing. If I sense that they might want to talk about their day or open up to me about something during their homework time, I’ll write on paper. Otherwise, the laptop seems to stop them in their tracks.

I try to share with them what I’m doing. I spend so much time on the laptop that I realized they must wonder what it was that I was so busy doing. I talk to them about my books, about promo, about blogging, etc. I try to involve them a little in the process by asking their opinions about different things—do they like a character’s name? What do they think about the book’s setting?

When the children are talking to me, I don’t look at the laptop. It makes it look like I think my writing is more important than they are…and I definitely don’t want to give that impression.

When I’m talking with them, I try not to think about anything other than our conversation. (And this is a tough one, because I’m easily distracted.) I do this by asking intelligent follow-up questions for what they’re telling me…instead of going “mmm.”

Still, I need to get work done. Instead of writing in the same room as the children (when I really need to write), and possibly getting irritated with interruptions—I just go write behind a closed door. I preface the writing session by telling the kids, “I’ve got to get some work done. I’m going to write for 25 minutes, then I can play cards/talk/read a book with you.” Then they know I haven’t just disappeared for hours (honestly, I can’t write for hours anyway.) When they were younger, I set a timer outside my door so they could see how much longer I was going to be unavailable.

Although this post is on juggling parenting and writing, it also applies to writing around other family members, too. (Well, to some degree. I can only imagine the look on my husband’s face, if I put a timer outside the door and told him to be quiet for 25 minutes!) How do you set parameters for your writing—respecting your writing time, but also respecting your family time and obligations?

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Below are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter in the last week.

The Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine, designed by software engineer and writer Mike Fleming, makes all these links searchable—try it for searches on plotting, characterization, querying, book promo, and more.

Anyone signing up for the free Writer’s Knowledge Base newsletter this month (and current subscribers) will be automatically entered in a June drawing to receive K.M. Weiland’s CD (or MP3) Conquering Writer’s Block and Summoning Inspiration CD . Sign up here for the web’s best writing links and interviews: http://bit.ly/gx7hg1 . (You can unsubscribe at any time, and your email information is never shared.)

The Small-Scale Approach to Achieving Great Things: http://bit.ly/mbHFNs

5 Ways To Sell Your Next Book Before It’s Written: http://bit.ly/iAeLkx

Primary Characteristics: http://bit.ly/kEpnf6

Dos and Don’ts for Prologues and Epilogues: http://bit.ly/jWTcrm @Sarafurlong

Bullying in crime fiction: http://bit.ly/lBxIFz @mkinberg

The A to Z of Excellent Copywriting: http://bit.ly/ikONn4

Using Tarot in Writing: http://bit.ly/iNbvvL @raelynbarclay

Tips for Selecting Your Story’s Narrative Style: http://bit.ly/jek6ui

The Mean, the Bad, and the Nasty—Writing Villains: http://bit.ly/jV0ojo

Lessons from an Old Panasonic: Read out loud: http://bit.ly/kBpkYt @Christi_Craig

Tips for growing your social media following: http://bit.ly/kJZrlq

For those last-minute shoppers: 10 Lists of Book Gift Ideas for Mother’s Day: http://bit.ly/jNqhyY @galleycat

How Plot Development Is Like Navigating a Maze: http://bit.ly/k1aB5a

The 20 minute workout for your manuscript: http://bit.ly/mHJpGy

Raising the Tension in Your Scenes: http://bit.ly/mEyAGj

Best Articles This Week for Writers 5/6/11: http://bit.ly/lsiKJD

Including symbolism in your story: http://bit.ly/kXWmAS

A few helpful Word tips: http://bit.ly/ll7wpD

Here’s A Guaranteed Way To Generate A Backlog Of Post Ideas: http://bit.ly/ifz1wq

How to Escalate the Suck Factor, Star Wars Style: http://bit.ly/mc366J

A rhyming tool for poets: http://bit.ly/mQfUjV

Mistakes We Make With Middles: http://bit.ly/meinRO

Be fearless as a writer: http://bit.ly/k3GEwj

An agent says: .doc is not .docx: http://bit.ly/kTSx2E

Now with over 7000 links to help #writers find resources: http://bit.ly/dYRayA

Proper use of the comma: http://bit.ly/klFCWx

The Top 3 Daily Time-Wasters & How To Tame Them: http://bit.ly/j4AofU

Literary Magazines Are Learning to Surf (Poets and Writers): http://bit.ly/mKPP8S

Art of the Fantasy Genre: The Fighter: http://bit.ly/m7AEuw

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Chocolate Angel Food Cake http://bit.ly/kLRFLu

Reading in the Cloud: “Spotify for Books” from The Publisher’s Standpoint: http://bit.ly/ijxsim

Thoughts on creating endings: http://bit.ly/jBn1uf

Democratizing the tools of production has made creation of great literature easier: http://bit.ly/lSBmQ9

Thoughts on protagonist creation: http://bit.ly/kDHp4C

Make Your Antagonist a Force for Good: http://bit.ly/m9ZKma @jamigold

Self-editing checklist–show and tell: http://bit.ly/jTgRAy

The Premise that Sells: http://bit.ly/myZSne

How to Get LinkedIn Famous in 15 Minutes a Day: http://bit.ly/k4bMBt

Ebook or Print Book? Why Do You Have to Choose? http://bit.ly/mM2XIk @thecreativepenn

Combat writer’s block and unleash your creativity with the first WKB giveaway! http://bit.ly/mqBVzq

Am I Writing YA or MG? http://bit.ly/li8P26

Creating Characters in Poetry: http://bit.ly/j47TAu

Cutting the Flab: Eliminate Extraneous Words: http://bit.ly/jnkwm0

Social Media for Authors: Forever in Search of Buzz (Poets and Writers): http://bit.ly/lZLmJd

How to Make a Zombie Plague: http://bit.ly/k4MPOy

Thicken your skin: http://bit.ly/iVUueG

How to search Google like a pro: http://bit.ly/jWBko8

Subtle ways to come out of the writing closet: http://bit.ly/lU3noW

DRM vs. piracy, and the future of e-books: http://bit.ly/kq4NRy

Why Creative People Need to Be Eccentric: http://bit.ly/mJvGhV

@KristenLambTX ‘s new twibe for writers wanting to build a platform & connect to other writers: #MyWANA http://bit.ly/lQkbWO

Is Blogger Copyright Dead? http://bit.ly/mg56wA

Tips for Writing Picture Books: http://bit.ly/mBh3QV

The Inherent Falseness of Memoir: http://bit.ly/ive0iR

Are literary agents dinosaurs? http://bit.ly/jr93zU

Blog Commenting Flops: Do These to Lose Traffic and Links: http://bit.ly/kLt3vv

Improv [Writing] Tip #7: Keep It Real: http://bit.ly/ikMOqM

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: I love fondue, do you? http://bit.ly/kGvsL5

Why We Write: In the Presence of Living: http://bit.ly/impwsw

Tools for writers: http://bit.ly/jvUMBF

Select precise nouns and verbs: http://bit.ly/kWM49Y

10 Nontraditional Ways To Promote Your Book: http://bit.ly/jLcaJh

15 Purposes for Parentheses: http://bit.ly/l4OMQ5

The Realities of Getting Real: http://bit.ly/lMEzut

Going to a convention? Tips for newbies: http://bit.ly/kG5v8Z @kbowenwriter

4 reasons you may be missing deadlines: http://bit.ly/kmGXG7

Nathan Bransford’s editing process: http://bit.ly/ikIef0

5 ways to ruin a good story: http://bit.ly/imjXUh

Key Story Elements: Inner And Outer Desire: http://bit.ly/lbm2Nb

How Mundane Routines Produce Creative Magic: http://bit.ly/iZOfMr

Top 5 Band-Aids to Apply Before Querying: http://bit.ly/lH39Om

Being Prepared—as a Writer: http://bit.ly/mUvZ19

10 Cool Things on the Web (for screenwriters, fans, and other literary types): http://bit.ly/itB9WR

Affect Is (Usually) a Verb: http://bit.ly/jQAttK

Query Letter Mad Libs: http://bit.ly/jXtZae

Sign up for the monthly WKB newsletter for the web’s best writing links and interviews: http://bit.ly/gx7hg1

A tool for finding in-person crit groups. Type in “critique group” and your location: http://bit.ly/lSed7B

ISBN Decoded: http://bit.ly/lGNjOr

How to Minimize Interruptions When You’re Working: http://bit.ly/lyBEXs

20 Ways to Rejuvenate Your Writing Life This Spring: http://bit.ly/kCRiWo

For crime writers–12 Legal Warrant-less Searches: http://bit.ly/lffrpJ

Does the Pitch Tail Wag The Novel Dog? http://bit.ly/kUssJT

How to keep doubts at bay: http://bit.ly/kpoqq3

Overcome Resistance and Get Out of Your Own Way: http://bit.ly/l31ie8

Jane Friedman, Former ‘Writer’s Digest’ Publisher, Tells All: http://bit.ly/iJaxGJ

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Buttermilk Banana Bread http://bit.ly/lZd48z

An insider’s guide to book fairs (Guardian): http://bit.ly/kYF0xM

Don’t be an uptight tweeter: http://bit.ly/kDjLXN

Putting the suspense puzzle together: http://bit.ly/jRrj8M

Keep ’em guessing: http://bit.ly/jWPUJE @juliemusil

Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Freelance Writer: http://bit.ly/j6W31U

Learning to Disconnect: http://bit.ly/l3FLsA

10 steps for dealing effectively with rejection: http://bit.ly/iIWS0K @douglascorleone

How to figure out when a chapter isn’t working: http://bit.ly/iNvVIl

Is your book’s setting ho-hum? http://bit.ly/gByyLa

Build A Writing Network With LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/iFTxoj @jhansenwrites

Why companions and sidekicks are so important in books: http://bit.ly/m1cH2m

Need Some Bling for Your Title? Try PRISM: http://bit.ly/jiTJOf @4kidlit

1-step websites for writers: http://bit.ly/jrnGPT @janefriedman

Passionate writing: http://bit.ly/iCDGvx

Every individual, and character, is their own unique thread: http://bit.ly/ivdhu3 @RavenRequiem13

The art of creative abundance: http://bit.ly/kD9LIg

4 Advantages of Re-Reading: http://bit.ly/lxFTvP @victoriamixon

Don’t Write the Bland and the Boring: http://bit.ly/lM8jAW

How to Focus with Pomodoro Technique: http://bit.ly/kjdbXj

Tips for Treating Titles of People: http://bit.ly/lFx53D

3 Powerful Blog Post Formulas That Most Bloggers Overlook: http://bit.ly/lk6AJ0

24 Ways to Enhance Your Creativity: http://bit.ly/mHedXU

Teaching Fantasy Part 1: Rewards, Backfires, Escapes: http://bit.ly/ktBtBw

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: A Killer Quiche to Celebrate the Release of Avery’s LOST and FONDUE! http://bit.ly/m8tADm

Grammar ABCs: A is for Appositive: http://bit.ly/ka7iIf

35 Weird Traits Your Characters May Have: http://bit.ly/lj4c8N

10 Most Popular Professions for Romance Novel Heroes: http://bit.ly/mh9xAe @galleycat

How To Write Memorable Characters: http://bit.ly/maYQad

The 3 stages of querying: http://bit.ly/msA8Fe

Writing Copy That Sells–The Dirty Little Secret to Seducing Your Readers: http://bit.ly/is5OaM

When to end a series: http://bit.ly/jH9nQm

Take a Chance with Your Writing: http://bit.ly/iUt4om

The Stigma Of Writing Horror: How The Genre You Write Matters As Much As The Story: http://bit.ly/lRvsNY @thecreativepenn

The One Right Way to Write a Query: http://bit.ly/lo1mHW

Up Your (Story) Game: 7 Tips: http://bit.ly/kvjen9 @CherylRWrites

When writing is your day job, summer vacation for the kids can turn your schedule upside down: http://bit.ly/lKtH2R

Get Your E-Book Noticed: Presentation, Promotion & Patience: http://bit.ly/lad78A

Keep a file copy of every book and story you write on your computer: http://bit.ly/lBZI6L

Fantasy settings: The Wastelands: http://bit.ly/k6NkQl

7 things about the business of writing that one author has learned: http://bit.ly/letuTv

A self-publishing scale to help categorize authors: http://bit.ly/m9nGjX

A definition of Deep POV and tips for writing it: http://bit.ly/jqj10x @authorterryo

Understanding—and Accepting—the Reasons You Write: http://bit.ly/me23L2

Getting More Links to Your Blog – Things That Make People Link: http://bit.ly/kBXu22

Creativity: the Least Important, Most Important Thing There Is: http://bit.ly/kvSQoz #amwwriting

The secret life of libraries: http://bit.ly/lTPeRd

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Agatha Winners! http://bit.ly/lfDarw

Why you need to give it away (to be a successful creative): http://bit.ly/mctvqh

Authors should create “error logs” for their books & ebooks: http://bit.ly/l7TNCd

Freelancers: 6 foolproof ways to unstick stuck writing and thinking: http://bit.ly/lXewAn @janodaniel

7 Survival Secrets for Independent Bookstores: http://bit.ly/mzzLi8 @galleycat

Is the happy ending making a comeback? (Guardian): http://bit.ly/kqNryk

Best Tweets for Writers (week ending 4/29/11): http://bit.ly/jhjNUJ

Formatting posts and pages on your new WordPress blog: http://bit.ly/llAqiV @storiestorm

An agent asks, “WTF is up with cursing in YA?” http://bit.ly/j7nk9W

Using Google calendar to stay organized: http://bit.ly/ilRZ3C

Want to create vibrant characters that pop off the page? http://bit.ly/hoxTo9

Can Our Own eBooks Become More Interactive? http://bit.ly/kwAyyk

Modern Fantasy Sub-Genre Bingo: http://bit.ly/iZ4qEz

The Elegant and Inescapable Semicolon: http://bit.ly/kEbsMx

Words, words, and more words: http://bit.ly/iR0i7j

6 Directions for Visual Display of Content: http://bit.ly/kFWhgh

2 Extremes Writers Take & How To Avoid Them: http://bit.ly/kTitXV

Delving in Details: http://bit.ly/kKeoM7 @RavenRequiem13

The Dilemma of The Mother Writer: http://bit.ly/jF01UO

Punctuating Quotations: http://bit.ly/kZeKXw

Why Do We Think Talent Ought to Be Rewarded? http://bit.ly/lHYdzk

Your 10 Step Plan for Becoming a Twitter Star: http://bit.ly/mzct9n

Who Cares About “Whom” Anymore? http://bit.ly/kejGdb

Approach your book idea thoughtfully: http://bit.ly/ln9Dil

Semicolons and Other Signs of Savvy Writing: http://bit.ly/kJdoqD

Overediting: Sucking the Life Out of Your Story: http://bit.ly/ig2Z1B

5 Pieces of Well-Meaning Writing Advice That One Writer is Glad She Didn’t Take: http://bit.ly/kHRVRW

I was in Anderson, SC, on Friday morning, visiting my parents after talking to the Sisters in Crime’s Greenville chapter on Thursday night.

My mother likes to listen to a local talk radio show in the mornings. I didn’t pay any attention at all to it, so it was a sort of white noise in the background for me as I read the newspaper.

Suddenly my mother turned up the volume a little. “Let’s see what Pork Chop has to say,” she said, under her breath.

“Excuse me?” I asked. “What did you say?”

“I said that I wanted to listen to Pork Chop.”

“His name is Pork Chop?” It was hard to wrap my head around.

“Well, that’s what he goes by.”

Yes, I am a Southerner. Yes, there are names like Pork Chop here in the Southern US. I come across them all the time. They are not made up. You can’t make stuff like this up.

I also come across amazing names almost every day—first names and surnames. I got a truly incredibly surname the other day from someone who emailed me. I added it to my collection. I love my name collection Word file. Some of the names immediately evoke a particular image.

Sometimes? I get caught.

“Is that my name in your book?” I’ll be asked.

Well, it’s a name they share with the character, I’ll tell them. Sometimes I can’t even remember where I collected the name….TV? Radio? Newspaper? An acquaintance mentioned the name?

And I need a lot of names in my books. There are five suspects. There’s a sidekick and a sleuth and various supporting characters. Some characters make return appearances in books…some don’t. I always need fresh names for each book.

One thing I always make very, very clear—the characters are not the people whose names are used. I always make a point that they’re nothing like the character. Because people wonder…if I used their name, what else did I borrow?

Do you borrow names? Do you have a name collection like I do? How do you handle it if you use the name of someone you know?

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Sign up for the free Writer’s Knowledge Base newsletter and be automatically entered in a June drawing to receive K.M. Weiland’s CD (or MP3) Conquering Writer’s Block and Summoning Inspiration CD. (Current subscribers will also be entered.) The newsletters include top writing articles, blogger spotlights, and interviews with industry insiders. Sign up here: http://hiveword.com/wkb/newsletter. (You can unsubscribe at any time, and your email address is never shared.)

A little over a month ago, I wrote a post about being a restless writer.

In it, I admitted that I’m a writer that has a hard time sitting still for very long. I sort of wince whenever I hear about writers with incredible discipline who sit for hours and write. I just can’t do it for that long.

Right now I have a lot of writing going on….actually I have several different deadlines. One is for a manuscript, one is for a full outline, one is for edits. So I really need to knock out a lot of work (and my apologies in advance if I’m not quite as active online for the next 1 1/2 months.)

In the last post on this topic, I mentioned some different ways I approach writing as a restless writer:

Do other writing-related tasks if you’re in a time crunch or under deadline. This is especially helpful for me. I can get work done that I’ve got to get done, but I can switch to writing the outline if I’m tired of writing, or switch to editing if I’m restless with the outline, etc.

Open up to the possibilities of writing on the go during the day. Write in dead time while waiting for something, write in my head as I do errands, write at a library.

Move around. Doing housework while writing is an easy multitasking win…because housework requires no thought. Somehow, it helps me brainstorm, too.

And:

Reduce up front the amount of time you’re writing before taking your breaks. Consider writing in 15 minute segments.

More on that last one now. I’ve read an interesting post on the Work Awesome blog about the Pomodoro Technique. This technique is incredibly simple to remember because there are only 5 steps:

1. Pick a task you need to accomplish.
2. Set a timer for 25 minutes and start working
3. When the timer rings, take a 5 minute break
4. Repeat steps 1-3
5. Every four cycles, take a 25 minute break.

Since I’m feeling a little under the gun right now, I followed this technique yesterday with the full 25 minute cycles and it worked really well. Ordinarily, though, I think I’d probably reduce the 25 minutes to 20 or possibly even fewer.

I think it would still be effective if the amount of time in the cycle is reduced, because you’re still in the writing zone. I think the hardest part of working on that cycle is at the beginning, when you’re just getting started for the day.

One additional note on the technique above—as a restless writer, I found that during my 5 minute break (step 3), I needed to do something really active that was not on the computer. I spent that time loading or unloading the dishwasher, folding a few pieces of laundry, packing the children’s lunch for the next day…you get the idea.

During the 25 minute break after 4 cycles were completed (step 5), then I checked social media (email, Twitter, etc.) Because it’s very, very tough to pull away from social media after only 5 minutes, but it can easily be done in 25 with a timer.

How do you eliminate distractions to focus on your writing? Or does it come naturally to you?