Jen's Writing Journey

I’m still feeling the Tori Amos after going to her show a few weekends ago, so I’m using one of the lyrics from her cover album Strange Little Girls as my title today. (As a side note, I’m also using the song “Rattlesnakes” from that album as character inspiration for a space opera I am working on for a Samhain Publishing anthology call for submissions).

Anyway, I’m still kvetching and kvelling about time management. My deadlines are approaching, and I’m feeling the pressure to meet them. Thus time is one of my biggest concerns.

As I was reading up on writers and time management (read: procrastinating), I came across two great blog posts.

Is It Really about Time?

In this inspirational post, author Shirley Jump argues that time management isn’t really the issue. Instead, what we writers need to manage is our priorities.

Sketch out a rough schedule of your typical day. This schedule will give you a good idea of your current priorities. Rather than looking for ways to find extra time, look for ways to readjust your priorities so that you are spending your time on your most important and rewarding activities.

How to Keep Your Day Job from Killing Your Writing Career

In the other post, the intrepid blogger offered some good tips on how to balance your writing life and your day job. He suggested getting up a little early in the morning to start your day off with writing. Then go to your day job. After you get home, take some time to decompress, exercise, maybe take a shower. Then end your day with writing. By bookending your day with some sort of writing activity, your writing becomes your emotional focus and your day job is a daily diversion, rather than the other way around.

The important nugget here is the concept of making your day job less important without shirking your responsibilities. We spend a huge amount of time on our day job–not just the time we are at our desks, but also the commute, the time spent getting ready in the morning and decompressing afterward. And it is hard to spend that same amount of time on our writing. We have to be efficient when we write so that we can accomplish our goals.

What time management tips, tools, or guiding principles work for you?

Related Posts:

• Book Review: Full Time Income in Part Time Hours, a Freelance Writing Book by Gretchen Roberts
• Writing Roundup, December 11
• What to Do When You Are Overwhelmed
• Do You Know When to Say When?
• The Other Time Management Post

[digg=http://digg.com/educational/Essential_Links_for_Writers]We’re halfway through the month already. How have you done with achieving your writing goals so far?

The Business of Writing

Where Have All the Bookstores Gone?
Obviously, you must sing this title to the tune of Paula Cole’s Where Have All the Cowboys Gone. No? That’s just me? Anyway, Sue Lick gives some insight into the death of the independent bookstore. It is sad to lose these connections to books and writers.

5 Lies Writers Believe about Editors
Jeremiah Tolbert shatters some myths, and provides some amusing examples to help writers better understand editors. Use this post to guide you when perfecting your craft and submitting your work. And, when all else fails, buy an editor a drink. You never know what will work.

Copyright and Consumer Digital Rights, Part 2
At Dear Author, we get an interesting survey of court cases that affect our ability as writers to own our words and our ability as citizens to access those words freely. If you missed part 1, read it here.

Why a Pre-publication Web Presence Is Important
A writer can’t go anywhere on the web without some discussion of platform, it seems. And Christina Katz would remind us that platform is not just web presence. But web presence is an important component, and Yen, who works in publicity at a publishing house, provides the reasons to get your web presence going sooner rather than later.

Kiss of Death: Quitting the Day Job
Wendy Lawton of the Books & Such Literary Agency discusses the potential pitfalls of quitting your day job.

Is Your Day Job Good for Your Writing?
Another perspective on the issue of keeping your day job.

I’m torn on the whole day job issue. The Keep It and Ditch It camps make good arguments. What do you think?

Fiction

Critique Partners
As writers, we all reach the point where we need someone else’s opinion. We can ask our friends to read our works and give their feedback, but there is no substitute for the opinions of another writer. The writer can not only point out flaws, he or she can also suggest specific ideas to help fix the flaws. Jill James describes the relationship and what makes it work. For more on critique partners, also read this post describing J.R. Ward’s and Jessica Anderson’s critique relationship. Finally, budding romance writers can find critique partners on the Harlequin website’s writers forums.

Write Your @ss Off Day

What are you doing tomorrow? You could spend the entire day focusing on your writing. The New York Writers Coalition has dubbed May 16 as their Write-a-Thon. They are offering events and workshops to help writers connect and perfect their craft. This blog post offer ways to participate in the Write-a-Thon without going to New York.

Freelancing

30 Days to Become a Freelancer?
This post leads you from 0 to business in one month. It is structured such that you can perform a short task each day around your day job.

How Much Are Examiner.com Authors Really Earning?
This post from Writers Weekly is included on honor of Writers Worth Day. It is so easy to go for easy writing gigs that don’t pay well but offer the option of earning more in the future or great exposure. But, is it really worth it?

An Interview with Successful Freelancer and Author Kelly James-Enger
This interview tackles the tough questions of freelancing, from when it’s okay to take a low-paying gig to how much haranguing an editor will stand for when you just want to know if you can move the idea to another venue.

General Writing Tips

A Twisty Little Story from Sandra…
This post from Chip MacGregor’s blog highlights the importance of craft in writing. Anyone can write–anyone can slap words on a page. And some of them might even have enough natural talent that it works pretty well. But those who work at learning how to write, how to query, how to work with an agent and publisher have the best chances for success.

Back to the Drawing Board
Agent Rachelle Gardner discusses the importance of rewriting. It can be frustrating to rewrite or to begin again from scratch, but sometimes that is just what you need to do.

Related Posts:

• Writing Roundup, October 23
• Writing Roundup, September 11
• Writing Roundup, September 4
• Writing Roundup, August 28
• Writing Roundup, Aug. 14