When I first started out writing, I had a wonderful illusion that writing full time would mean just that. I would write, all the time. I would spend all of my day writing or editing. Isn’t this a beautiful thought? Wake up in the morning, have a wonderful breakfast, then go to my writing studio and devote the entire day to creating my art.

Now, I’m not full time yet. But I have been writing professionally for about four years now. And I can tell you, writing is only about half of what I do.

If you’re just starting out as a writer, and you’re trying to figure out what you should be doing, it can be exhausting! I’ve been trying different things for years now, and I’ve finally gotten a solid list of daily and weekly writing activities that A. don’t take forever, and B. have a positive impact on my writing goal.

These daily and weekly tasks are set up from most to least important. I’ve also not included projects like preparing for a launch, building an e-book or getting ready for a book signing. While those are projects that will take up a good amount of my time, they’re not things I’m doing every week or even every month. And I just want to focus on these basic tasks I do to keep everything running and keep progressing every week.

Daily

Work an hour on the current project. Pretty self-explanatory. I get up at 5:50 right now to make sure I have time to get my ass in a seat and work on my current wip for an hour every morning. Crazy thing, I’m trying to get it up to an hour and a half, slowly. I also want to take time to do yoga and eat breakfast before I go to the day job. Because self-care is important.

Free write. I don’t get this in every day, but I am an imperfect being aspiring to perfection. Free writing is practice. It’s a way to work out problems in your story before you come to the blank page. It’s a conversation with yourself. It’s stretching before you run. It’s tiling the soil of your creative mind. Free write, for at least ten minutes a day, is what I’m saying. Just do it. If you have questions about free writing, I’ve done a few blog posts about that. And the internet is full of freewriting prompts.

Research. Especially when I’m working on a second draft, I have research to do. Yes, even though I write fantasy, I like to have a sense of realism about the world. And I hate to take time during my writing hour to learn all about medieval midwifery and herb lore. So most days I can be found at some point looking up random information online. And yes, I am really good at trivia.

Read. And by read, I mean read for pleasure. I read every single day, and I don’t know that I could be a writer if I didn’t. Even if I can usually only fit about 20 minutes in. Reading is essential to a writer. We need to absorb our language, learn how other writers tell stories. And we never reach an end to this. You’ve never read enough books, I can promise you. Fortunately, most of us became writers because we were such voracious readers.

Read blogs and listen to podcasts about my field. I can usually fit this in when I’m getting ready in the morning or working on other chores through the week. I listen to a bunch of different writing podcasts for a number of reasons. I learn about craft, get info on new ways to promote my books and hear about new agents or publishing companies that might be looking for writers to represent. Basically, I use podcasts to stay on top of everything going on in the writing field. You just have to do this if you want to be a professional writer. And podcasts are the best way to do that. If you’re interested in a list of podcasts I listen to, click here.

Social media. I do a little bit of this at different times throughout the day. And there’s a lot of moving parts here, so let me break this down.

• First thing in the morning I pin one blog post from PBW.
• After lunch, I will do most of my social media work. I’ll pin another blog post, share a picture on Instagram if I have one, like and comment on other people’s posts on Instagram, share two or three pins on Pinterest that aren’t mine, and check in on Twitter.
• In the evening I use Buffer to schedule my social media posts on Facebook and Twitter for the next few days.

Weekly

Submit work. Right now I’m submitting the novel I finished recently. I might have a short story to submit or something like that. Whatever it is, getting my work out is first priority on my office day.

Write promotional material, like blog posts or newsletters. You know, like what you’re reading right now. I try to get both of my weekly blog posts written, edited and scheduled on one day, so I don’t have to think about it for the rest of the week. A few times in the past months that hasn’t been happening. But I should be getting back on track now that I’ve finished my rough draft and taking a hiatus. Always assuming Camp Nanowrimo doesn’t throw me for a loop next month.

Advertise. I run ads on Amazon, and I update those every week. I don’t yet feel comfortable doing anything informational about the Amazon ads because I’m still learning them. But if you’d like to know how to use Amazon ads, there are a lot of great blog posts, books, and courses you can take if you’re interested in learning about them.

Track numbers. Possibly the most fun/depressing part of my week. Every Sunday I track my sales on Amazon and Smashwords. I balance that with any money I spent through the week, and see where I am for the month.

Now, this is a lot! I’ll be the first to admit, being a professional writer takes time. Like, a lot of time. And sometimes I don’t have all of that time. Some days all of those things on my daily list just are not happening. If I have no time, writing comes first. It’s just that simple. That hour of writing time is sacred, and nothing is more important. So if all else fails, I will drop everything else and write.

So, what do you think? Does your writing to do list differ from mine? Let us know in the comments below.

Station 86 is shocked when a Khloe assassin begins killing members of the all powerful council. Officer Sennett Montgomery and Councilman Godfrey Anders swear to find the assassin after Godfrey’s wife is falsely accused. But the killer, and the council itself, are not what they seem. Neither, as it turns out, is Sennett’s daughter.

Get it for free on Smashwords now. And get ready for Station Central, starting on April 13th. If you just can’t wait for April 13th, you don’t have to! Episodes start on April first for people signed up for the Paper Beats World Update.

I might have mentioned before that I’m reading Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach this year. I’ve done this a few years in the past, and it’s never failed to be a transformative year. And man, do I need this to be a transformative year.

The book is mostly a set of essays to read every day to inspire. But it’s a workbook as well, full of exercises. And if you don’t do the exercises, you’re not really getting the full effect of the book. I understand this on an intellectual level. Sometimes I don’t understand it on a practical level, though.

One of the exercises is to create a sacred space in your home. I love this idea in theory. I am way into positive affirmations and manifesting what we want in the world. I light candles and ring bells to cleanse the space in my home before I write and keep crystals around me. I balance my chakras and meditate. So, creating a sacred space in my home? Hell yes, I was down for that.

But nothing is ever as simple as ‘I want to do this.’ Intention counts for absolutely nothing unless it’s backed up by action. And I was running into three major problems.

I had no time.

I had no idea what to put in my sacred space.

I had no idea where to put it.

Problem one was the eternal problem. I needed to just make the time, that was it. I needed to decide that this was a priority and do it. This, however, was stymied by problem two and three. I had no clue what to put in this sacred space. A candle? Incense? What the hell counts as sacred?

This was again exacerbated by the fact that I had no idea where I was going to put the damn thing. If I could look at a physical space, I could envision what should go there. Of course, that would require me to take the time to find the space.

You see my dilemma.

I was thinking of this in an irritated manner one day while I was doing dishes. I’ve endeavored to see dishwashing as a meditation, as it’s one of the few meditations I can be guaranteed to get in in a day and it makes washing dishes less mind-numbingly boring. So, as I was trying to be present at the moment, I was looking at this shelf right above the sink. It’s sort of like an overly large tiled windowsill. And it’s got some overflow of cups and some plants.

It’s also got a jar of shells I picked up off a beach in Delaware. And it’s got a little pumpkin bowl that’s full of bottle caps of unique beers.

So what could be more sacred than this? An aloe plant for healing. A pot of clover for luck. A few flowering cacti for beauty. A jar of memories from a beautiful family vacation. A bowl of proof that I’m stepping out of my comfort zone and trying new things. The only thing it needs is a candle. (I’m a Unitarian and a flame is a symbol of my faith. Here’s a pretty image.)

This is a lesson that I always think I’ve learned, but I have to keep right on learning it. Nothing will ever go to plan. Nothing will ever live up to the picture in my head of what I think it should be. Not my life, not my writing career, not my pursuit of spirituality and inner peace, will ever live up to the picture-perfect plan I have in my whimsical little mind. And so long as I cling to that perfect image, I’m never going to have anything. If I insist that my work is perfect, I’ll never enjoy how good it is. If I insist that my home is perfect, it will never be good enough.

Basically, if everything has to be perfect, then it will never ever be at all.

This doesn’t mean that I don’t strive to make everything in my life as good as I can make it. But I’m not going to let that pursuit stop me from enjoying what I’m capable of right now.

Station 86 is shocked when a Khloe assassin begins killing members of the all powerful council. Officer Sennett Montgomery and Councilman Godfrey Anders swear to find the assassin after Godfrey’s wife is falsely accused. But the killer, and the council itself, are not what they seem. Neither, as it turns out, is Sennett’s daughter.

Get it on Smashwords for free, and get ready for Station Central, starting on April 13th. (April first if you’re signed up for the PBW Update.)

Nanowrimo probably isn’t something that’s really on your radar right now. I felt like I was still recovering from November in January myself. Of course, that could just be the blend of Nanowrimo and Holiday hangover. Anyway, the point is that Nanowrimo isn’t until November and that’s fine. April, on the other hand, is Camp Nanowrimo. And I’m thrilled to say that I’ll be participating for the first time ever.

I wanted to take some time today to talk about Camp Nanowrimo, for those of you who haven’t heard as much about it. While it’s similar to November Nano, it’s not quite the same thing.

How it’s different

It’s not just 50,000 words. I mean, it can be, if you want it to be. Camp Nanowrimo allows you to make your own writing goal, whatever it might be. Maybe you know for sure you’re not making 50,000 words in April. Maybe you’ve been doing that easy and want to up your game. (That’s not me, by the way. It was a challenge to get 50,000 words in, let alone surpassing that.) At any rate, you can set your goal for what you need it to be.

It’s not just rough drafting. For instance, my goal for April is to work on the second draft of my fantasy novel for 36 hours. So if you already knocked yourself out on a rough draft and now you’re trying to make it better, this can help you get it done.

It’s got more of a writing retreat feel, which is a lot of fun. The subtitle for Camp Nanowrimo is ‘An Idyllic writers retreat, smack dab in the middle of your crazy life.’ As someone who would dearly love to attend a writers retreat, I love this. I honestly cannot wait.

How it’s the same

The biggest reason why Nanowrimo works for me is the writing fellowship that abounds during that time. Camp Nanowrimo is shaping up to be no different. Writers are separated into cabins, so you’ve got a team cheering on your progress as you cheer on theirs. (You can get assigned a cabin, set up one yourself for you and your friends. That’s what I’ve done. Anyone who wants to be part of my cabin feel free to email me at nicolecluttrell86@gmail.com. I’ll send you an invite.) Of course, if you don’t want to be in a cabin, you don’t have to be. But that’s a big part of the experience for me.

Reaching together for a writing goal. This is important because writing is such a solitary profession. And that works for me, most of the time. It’s kind of a selling point for this job, actually. But sometimes it’s nice to work together. Even when we’re all working on our own thing, we’re all working together towards the same basic end goal. We’re all making books. We’re all telling stories.

Inspiration is a big part of both Nanowrimo and Camp Nanowrimo. The emails and videos encouraging you to take the next step towards your writing goal is something I look forward to. Sometimes we all need a pep talk.

So, how about you? Have you ever done Camp Nanowrimo before? Are you planning to do it this year? Let us know in the comments below!

And if you’d like to participate in Camp Nanowrimo, here’s a link.

Station Central is starting on April 13th. Unless you’re signed up for PBW Update. Then you’ll get the first episode on April 1st. Click here to sign up.

Station 86 is shocked when a Khloe assassin begins killing members of the all powerful council. Officer Sennett Montgomery and Councilman Godfrey Anders swear to find the assassin after Godfrey’s wife is falsely accused. But the killer, and the council itself, are not what they seem. Neither, as it turns out, is Sennett’s daughter.

Get it here on Smashwords for free.

Well, my hiatus is over in more ways than one. I’m working on the second draft of a new fantasy novel, and working on a brand new launch. If you missed my unplanned announcement on social media, Station Central, book four of Station 86, is launching soon.

The first episode will be available on Saturday, April 13th to be specific.

After a year of nightmares, Sennett and her family need a vacation. Together with Godfrey, they’ve faced assassins, killer AI dogs, mind-altering viruses and politicians. So they’re setting off for Station Central, the ultimate vacation destination with water parks, roller coasters, fine dining and the best hotels in the stations. But they’re barely off the ship when Godfrey finds himself embroiled in Station politics that he can’t seem to avoid. Sennett discovers not one, but two people stalking her on the station. One of whom might have the secret to her birth family.

Through it all, Sennett and Godfrey are haunted by a darker set of questions. Where are the Hollow Suits, and what are they planning?

Now, I’m doing a few things I’ve never done before with this one. First off, the episodes will come out on Saturdays, not on Wednesdays. Second, I’m going to be sending the episodes out early to PBW Update subscribers. If you get the newsletter, you’ll get the episodes delivered right to your inbox, starting on Monday, April 1st. (No, that’s not a joke. Just like I hope it’s not a joke that Twilight Zone will be launching on the same day.) If you’re not signed up yet, here’s a link. And, if you haven’t yet entered the world of Station 86, now’s the time. Book one, Seeming, is free on Smashwords.

Here are links to You Can’t Trust the AI on Smashwords and Amazon. And here is a link to Virus on Amazon. I can’t wait to start sharing this new story with all of you. I hope it’s as exciting to read as it was to write.

 

Hey guys. I’m still on hiatus, but here’s an author interview from Linda Lingle, author of Dear Heart and Sweet Heart. 

Tell us about your books.

Dear Heart and Sweet Heart are love stories about a couple who carry on a passionate affair and then are separated for nearly forty years. Dear Heart is told from the female character’s perspective and Sweet Heart is told from the male character’s perspective.

When did you realize that you were a writer?

When I published my first short story, many long years ago.

Do you have any books coming out this year?

I hope to finish Interoffice Romance so that it will launch this year, but I can’t promise that I will. At present, I have my hands full promoting Dear Heart and Sweet Heart, and that leaves little time for writing.

If readers are looking to connect with you, what’s the best way to do it?

https://www.lindalinglebooks.com/

https://twitter.com/lindalinglebks

https://www.facebook.com/LindaLingleBooks

What are you working on right now?

Interoffice Romance and a screenplay for Dear Heart.

Tell us about submitting your book. What was that like for you?

At first it was exciting, but I queried Dear Heart for two years before I found a publisher, so after awhile I realized that I either had to self-publish, which I didn’t want to do, or dig in for the long haul. I dug in.

What do you do to enrich your writing?

That’s a good question. I re-read books from authors I admire, and I research the details of whatever I’m writing. Other than that, I just trust my instincts.

How much does real life impact your writing?

Too damn much. I can’t sit down to write until my husband and dog go to bed because they think nothing of interrupting my concentration. Plus, as you probably well know, just getting through chores and running errands takes up a good part of the day.

What author would you say inspires you the most? 

Harold Robbins. His book The Adventurers is my all-time favorite.

Who is your current favorite author?

It’s a toss-up between John Grisham and Stephen King.

What was your first favorite book as a child?

Trixie Belden and The Secret of the Mansion. I still have the complete Trixie Belden series.

What advice would you give yourself if you could go back to when you first started writing?

Be careful what you wish for.

What would you consider the best thing you’ve ever done for your writing career?

Sign with Solstice Publishing. I can’t imagine that there’s a more supportive and nurturing publisher on the planet.

What would you consider the most fulfilling moment you’ve experienced as a writer?

The moment I held the first paperback copy of Dear Heart in my hands.

What book would you suggest to anyone who wants to write?

On Writing by Stephen King.

DEAR HEART and SWEET HEART by Linda Lingle

Can love survive a nearly-forty-year separation? Can passion? And what happens to lovers who are separated for a life time? See how their destiny unfolds as the parted lovers dream about finding their way back to each other’s arms, and an unlikely guide emerges to light the path of their journey.

Deirdre Reid and Hartley (Lee) Tate feel an immediate attraction when they meet at the office where they will work together and fall in love.   There is only one problem:  they are married to others and Lee has four daughters to whom he is devoted.

For 15 months Deirdre and Lee carry on a passionate affair.  Then Lee’s wife is offered a big promotion across the country.  With his heart breaking, Lee leaves Deirdre in San Francisco and moves East with his family so his wife can advance her high-powered career.  

Soon, unforeseen circumstances have Deirdre second-guessing her insistence on a clean break.  She resists every impulse to fly to Lee’s side, but on the first anniversary of their parting, Deirdre grows increasingly regretful and melancholy. Then she receives a surprising Christmas present which sets in motion a 38-year ritual that, against all odds, keeps alive the love she shared with Lee. 

Get Deirdre’s story on Amazon

Heartbroken and resentful, Lee has a difficult time adjusting to his life without Deirdre and struggles to settle in to his new surroundings. Knowing he made the only decision a father could make does little to lessen Lee’s profound sense of loss. Although he tries to be upbeat and optimistic for the sake of his daughters, in the dark and quiet of his lonely nights, Lee relives the fifteen heady months that he spent with Deirdre and gives free rein to the anguish and bitterness he feels because he was forced to leave her.

Then, his youngest daughter enlists Lee to help her find an elusive Christmas gift for her favorite teacher and everything changes.

As if guided by fate, Lee stumbles across a poignant reminder of his time with Deirdre and sets in motion the 38-year ritual that eased his heartbreak and sustained his hope for the future.

In this companion book to Dear Heart, we meet the people who populate Lee’s world, and learn the shocking secret he promised never to reveal.

Get Lee’s story on Amazon

Linda Lingle began writing at a young age and had some early success with her whimsical short stories. Then life intervened and she took a break from writing to build a career in public service. When the storyline for Dear Heart, and its companion book, Sweet Heart, came to her out of the blue, it sparked her imagination and reignited her enthusiasm for writing. She is currently working on a screenplay for Dear Heart which incorporates the plots of both books. Linda lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, Arthur, and her dog, Sam.

WEBSITE: www.lindalinglebooks.com

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/LindaLingleBooks

TWITTER: twitter.com/lindalinglebks
G+: plus.google.com/s/lindalinglebooks

It’s almost impossible to be a professional writer. That’s right, I said it. I’ve been a published author of multiple books for two years now. And I’m not close at all to making enough money to quit my day job.

And let’s be clear, some of this is just out of my control. The economy sucks, people don’t have the money to spend on books. It’s nearly impossible to get people to see an indie book, let alone decide to buy it. And then there’s the competition! There are so many books out there, that it’s impossible to get found in this crowd.

And yet, authors do it every day. Plenty of writers are making money writing, enough to live off. I’m not there yet, but I know I will be. I’ve only been at this for two years.

It’s easy to say that it’ll never happen, for all the reasons I’ve listed above. It’s hard to be a professional writer, no one’s going to argue that it’s not. But it doesn’t do any good to focus on what we can’t control. We can only focus on what we can control with our writing. The good news is, that’s a lot.

Your writing

You can make your writing as good as it can possibly be. And that’s a lifelong pursuit all by itself. You can take classes, do exercises, practice every day. You can make yourself a better and better writer with every book. You can edit your work until it shines and send your best material into the world.

Your professionalism

There are a thousand ways to get a bad reputation online. Put out bad books, badmouth people on social media, get too confrontational, get into a fight with someone in the comments section on Reddit.

Avoid all of that. If you want to be a writer, be nice to people online. Ignore haters who want to pick fights. If you have a website or blog, make it as professional as you can. Publishers and agents look at these things, and a professional look online does carry weight with them.

Your budget

Cards on the table, it’s just easier to live off your writing money if you don’t spend a lot.

Now, to be fair, living is expensive. And I’m not saying anyone who’s already living paycheck to paycheck is being reckless with their money. So, if you’re already stretching pennies, disregard this.

But many of us are just plain bad with money. So, get on that. Start with the Dave Ramsey baby steps. Find out about low-risk investments and other ways to make your money make money. Learn ways to be smarter about how what and where you’re spending. How much fat can you trim? How much passive income can you earn so you can quit working and write full time?

Your work ethic

Let me give you a list of things I do in a week for my writing career.

• At least an hour on my wip six out of seven days.
• Social media work, usually an hour total.
• Working on side projects like short stories or novellas, usually anywhere from ten minutes to an hour. Whatever I can spare.
• Emailing people about different blog swaps and other promotional work. Usually a few hours a week.
• Writing blogs and newsletters.
• Listening to podcasts about the business, to stay in the know. Three to five hours a week.
• Promotion work and advertising

This is just what I do weekly. That doesn’t include all the things that only have to be done occasionally. Like planning launches, building e-books, attending webinars, and a thousand other little things.

I work at writing stuff more than I work at my full-time day job. I write in the morning before I go to work when I get home, and on my days off. And this is what it takes to succeed. Long, hard hours, usually after you’ve put long hard hours working for someone else. I don’t have a lot of free time. But then, I’m spending my time doing the thing I want to do more than anything. That helps.

Your perseverance

Over the past two years, I’ve published three novels, three novellas, and a handful of short stories. I’ve made some money, but not more than would buy me a cup of coffee. I literally made less than two dollars in January.

But I’ll keep on going. I’ll keep on writing, and keep on publishing. I’ll just keep going. And eventually, I’ll get there.

Being a professional writer is almost impossible. But it isn’t totally impossible.

Having said all of that, I have an announcement. I’ve just finished publishing a book, writing two rough drafts from September to January, and I’m currently finishing the final drafts of a novel that will be going out later this week to some new agents and publishers. After that, I’m putting the final touches on something I think you’ll all be happy to see in April.

I’m exhausted. I haven’t been crocheting. I have a pile of things that need to be done around my house and I could use a spa day. So I’m going to be taking the next week and a half off from PBW. I’ve literally never taken that much time away. In fact, I haven’t even taken a week off in a couple of years.

I will have at least one author interview to share with you while I’m gone. I might do more, it depends on who I hear back from in the next week or so. In the meantime, I do sincerely want to thank you all for reading. I’m learning to rest, not quit, and I will be back on March 18^th with a brand new post.

See you then.

Deciding To Start contains some of the best blog posts from the first two years of Paper Beats World, updated with new information and new insights. It covers such topics as inspiration to start writing, advice on the tools you need to get started, how to be a writer while also being a full time human being, and inspiration to keep going.

Get your copy today. Or read it free with Kindle Unlimited.

I recently, and by recently, I mean some time last year, redid all of my Station 86 e-books to relaunch them on Smashwords.

That was a project. Building e-books, in general, can be kind of a project. But it had to be done because the e-books needed an update. I mean, you have to figure that these books came out pretty early in my career. I’ve learned a lot since then.

One thing I’ve learned a lot about is what should be included in the front and back of an e-book. This was one of those things I didn’t know I didn’t know.

Since I’m forgetful and clumsy (Not in a charming way. In an infuriating way.) I made a list of things to include for myself so I wouldn’t forget. Today, I’m going to share this list with all of you.

At the front of your book

Anything at the start of the book should be as brief as possible. Remember, most e-book sites allow you to read a few sample pages. That’s no fun if you don’t get to the story for pages and pages. So here’s what I include, with the addendum that you should keep it as short as possible.

• Copywrite information. Here’s a link to a site that has a pretty good script you can just use. But don’t forget this step. It opens you up to all sorts of legal trouble. Like, you could actually not own your book any more trouble.
• A list of your other books. If you have other books, especially other books in the same series, this should go here.
• A dedication. Pretty self-explanatory.
• Optional- Table of contents. I don’t use these, but it’s just a personal style issue. I don’t name my chapters, so it doesn’t make sense for me. But maybe it makes sense for you.

At the back of your book

The first chapter sells the book. The last chapter sells the next book. And all the things that come after the last chapter.

The back of the book gives you a little more room to give information to a reader who liked your book enough to read through to the end. So, give them the information they need to keep in touch with you.

• Your Bio. You want to tell readers about you, let them get to know you a little bit.
• Acknowledgments. This is where you thank the people who helped you get your book to live. As I always say in my acknowledgments, no book is written in a vacuum.
• Your social media links. If someone liked your book, they might want to follow you. Give them the opportunity to do so.
• Newsletter sign up. Similar to your social media links, people who want to know more about your books will appreciate it.
• The first chapter of your next book. And if the first chapter of your next book isn’t ready when you launch this book, update it as soon as book two is ready.

So that’s it. I hope this helps the rather frustrating project of building an e-book just a little easier.

The city of Septa has barely had a moment of peace since the death of their king, Michael. Lenore, the princess, and heir, hopes that she and her husband, Victor, can bring some stability. Meanwhile, her brother Devon and his wife, Queen Sultiana, come to visit and meet Lenore and Victor’s twin daughters. Sultiana comes with a heavy heart, having just miscarried her own child, and lost her father.

Instead, Lenore finds herself battling against her uncle, Joseph, over her right to the throne. As he stirs the city into civil war, an ancient enemy reveals itself. Brother Brennan, who claims to speak for The Creator, is killing Septa citizens in the streets.

Then, Lenore’s daughters are kidnapped. While Victor and Devon hunt the city in search of the princesses, Lenore and Sultiana must lead her city in a war against her uncle, and a twisted holy man. The canals run red as Lenore fights for her city, her family, and the safety of the world, in the conclusion of Woven.

Get it here now.