Category: Real Life Writer

Calling all writers and artists to support BLM

Today’s cover art is from Pexels.

I’m looking for authors, musicians and visual artists to help me out with something. 

The Black Lives Matter movement is doing the good work we need to see in the world right now. They’re organizing peaceful protests and standing up for all of us. No one should be afraid of the police. We need serious reform in our country, and we need it now.

To do this, Black Lives Matter needs our support. That’s why I’m asking for your help today.

I’d like to gather together a collection of artists for a fundraiser. The plan is simple.

Step one, create a work of art to share with the public during our drive. 

Step two. If you can, offer a giveaway during the drive. Encourage your fans to donate to BLM for a chance to win. Please let me know in the comments or email me at nicolecluttrell86@gmail.com if you want to participate or if you just have any questions. 

These protestors and coordinators are fighting for us. Let’s have their backs. I know the artist community will step up. 

Stay safe, guys. 

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Bad writing in good books

Today’s image is from Eli Digital Creative

Let’s talk a little bit about good books. Books that you just sit down and devour. Books you can’t stop loving, can’t stop reading and can’t wait for the sequel to come out. 

There are lots of these books, thank goodness. My world would be a much different and much darker place without them. I don’t want to say my entire life revolves around stories. But I’m a writer who’s hobbies include reading, watching good tv and listening to fictional podcasts. So, most of my day is taken up with stories.

Some works of fiction are just perfect. Perfect writing, perfect story, perfect characters. They’re funny, deep, and stick with you for years. Things like The Giver, or Hunger Games. These were triumphs of good writing and good story.

Getting all of those parts down, though, is tricky. Most stories miss the point on at least one or two of those categories. 

Some of those faults can be forgiven. I think of it in terms of stability. A table standing on four legs is perfectly stable. Let’s say those legs are dialog, story, writing and character. If a piece of furniture is standing on only three legs, let’s say story dialog and writing, it’ll probably still do fine. 

With one exception. I can love a book with bad characters. I can love a book with bad writing. I can even love a book with bad dialog, though it might be the sort of love I don’t talk about much. Sort of like my love of processed sugar. 

But I cannot, until my dying day, love a book that doesn’t have a good story. 

That’s what it all comes down to. If the story is no good, all the flowery writing and great dialog in the world won’t save it. 

So if story is on top of the list of importance, what’s on the bottom? Well, this might be surprising, given my profession. But it’s the writing. 

I will overlook bad writing in a heartbeat. Though I do work to elevate my writing, I don’t care so much if other authors didn’t.

Let me give you some examples. There is a trilogy of books called The Looking Glass Wars. I devoured all three of them, and I wish there were more. I loved the story, loved the characters. They turned the Mad Hatter into this ultra-cool assassin and I was here for every single page of it. Alice as a general, with Dopple and Ganger? Yes, all day.

The writing in the books was, sad to say, awful. The dialog was unrealistic and childish. I could have used up a few red pens making edits and corrections in just one of the three books. 

But they were good stories. And that’s what saved them. 

As another example, let’s look a little bit at The Exorcist. It’s a great story, but the writing is so bad! I’m reading it now, and I swear William Peter Blatty has never met a child and never heard another soul have a conversation in his life. 

That being said, this is one of the most beloved horror novels of all time. 

I’m not saying that we should strive to write badly. I’m just saying maybe the focus should be on the story first and the writing in the third draft. 

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Four reasons you don’t have to be on all of social media

Today’s wonderful cover art is by Gerd Altmann.

I hope you’re seeing this post right now. I mean, I always hope you see my posts. I’m a vain introvert. So I want you to see my work, but not talk to me about it IRL.

But if you often find my posts on Facebook or Instagram, I’m afraid I might have some bad news for you. You won’t find me there anymore. Over the weekend I deleted my Facebook and Instagram accounts and will no longer be on either of those platforms. 

Sorry, not sorry. 

There is only so much ignoring of hate and encouraging of life endangering lies I can take. And that’s all I’m going to say about that. 

I told you all that to tell you this. Creators, influencers, business owners, lend me your eyes. You don’t have to be on every social media platform. 

I mean it, you really don’t. You don’t have to be on any social media if you don’t want to be. Being on too many might hurt your brand. Here are four reasons why you might want to remove some platforms from your social media plan.

Different tools for different jobs

For those who aren’t super familiar with the different platforms, they all engage with people in different ways. Twitter is for sending short messages of under 240 characters. Pinterest is for sharing images and posts about how to do stuff. 

Think about what you’re trying to do on a platform. Do you want to grow a following? Interact with people? Share information? Share videos or pictures? 

Personally, I want to share information, have conversations with people and let people know information about my books. So I use Twitter. I also write a lot of posts about how to do stuff. So I use Pinterest. Use the platform that’s made to do what you need social media to do for you.

Your audience doesn’t go there

This one relies on you knowing who your audience is. And you really should know who your audience is. Where do they hang out online? What hashtags are they using? More importantly, where are they not? Because if the people you want to reach aren’t where you’re posting, they’re never going to see it.

Your mental health does matter

The world is a lot right now. Honestly, it sort of feels like every damn time I turn around there’s some other worse thing happening to us. 

Step one of fixing things is realizing there’s a problem. So we can’t turn off the news. But we can take a break. We can control how we consume information. For some people, Twitter is going to be too much. I get that. So if it’s stressing you out to use social media, take a break from it. Focus on places that are more ideas and less news, like Pinterest. I love Pinterest. It’s like hanging out with a big group of people who just want to make cool shit. 

I am all about Twitter, but I’m not glued to it. While I like to stay in the loop, I have specific times when I turn it off. When I’m at my day job, when I’m writing. When I’m cooking or eating a meal with my family. When I’m going to bed for sure. 

What I’m saying is, mute your notifications. And if you’re never feeling good when you go on a platform, stop going. Your mental health is more important than anything but your physical health and safety. 

More time for the platforms you actually like

Your time is finite. My time is finite. I don’t have time in my day to fuss with things I don’t want to do. Sorry. I’m turning thirty-four in a few days and I’m just over it. I don’t need to be on Ticktock, don’t want to follow people on Snapchat. I like Twitter. I like Pinterest. I like the social media platforms I only use privately. And I don’t have a huge amount of time to be spending on social media to start with. Do you? 

So if I only have ten minutes to check my email and scroll through something, I’m sure as hell not going to spend that time somewhere I’m not happy and cut my time on places I want to be.

Social media is all about connecting with people. I love that I can chat with people all over the world. I love that I can find other people interested in the same things I love. Most of all, I love that my stories can reach out to touch people everywhere. And I’m just not going to be on any social media platform that I don’t love.

You shouldn’t be either. 

By the way, if you do want to follow me on social media, you can find me onTwitter, Pinterest and Goodreads. 

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My to-do list is a privilege

Today’s awesome cover art comes from Karolina Grabowska on Pixabay

I was complaining recently that while everyone else is learning how to make sourdough and making funny videos pretending to be a horse with their partner, I’m working and creating overtime. 

I’m pretty sure some people are working in the service industry right now freaking hate me. Let’s be real, guys. The people working at grocery stores and fast food places did not sign up to risk their lives. And that is exactly what they’re being asked to do right now. They are not getting paid enough, they’re not being protected. And we need to do something about that as a society.

One thing I’ve been trying to do is stop bitching about my life. I have a job I’m not in danger of losing. I have a home that I’m safe in. I have my darling husband with me. And my pets. Let’s be real, my pets are my life. 

But it’s also freaking hard, you guys! If I may take a moment to be completely self-indulgent, I am not okay right now. I am so heartbroken for the people who are unfairly being asked to risk their lives. I am heartbroken for the people sick and their families. I am heartbroken for the doctors and nurses working to save all of us without the proper PPE. I am furious at all of the people in charge who should have done something about this, should be doing something about this, and they just aren’t.

I’m struggling with all these dark emotions, struggling with my anxiety and depression, struggling to find new routines in this new world. Struggling to find ways to help people. 

My to-do list doesn’t go away just because I’m in a mental downward spiral. It just becomes a weight around my neck. It’s too easy under normal circumstances to feel angry and resentful about my daily tasks. So right now it’s even worse. It’s really easy to just close my bullet journal and watch The Orville. Telling myself that I need to get things done doesn’t help. Reminding myself what will happen if I give up doesn’t help. It just makes me sink farther into that dark little depression hole.

I needed a change in how I was looking at the situation. And I realized something, muttering over all the things on my list that I had to do.

Then I realized that everything on my list, every single thing, is a privilege.

Let me break this down. Without going into a ton of detail, on any given day I have tasks in 

My day job obligations.

My professional writing.

My creative writing.

Caring for my family and pets.

Caring for my home. 

I’m willing to bet that your list looks a good bit like mine. And it can be a lot if we chose to see these things as obligations forced on us. So let’s flip the script on these together. 

My job.

I’m working from home. And yes, it’s hard sometimes. I’m working extra hours. I’m working around caring for my family. It sucks.

But I’m getting a paycheck still. There are way too many people who aren’t. I don’t have to risk my life to do it like I would have in any job before this one. I used to work at a temp place where we were sent to sort garbage, you guys. Literal garbage. There are people still working there right now. My prayers are with them every single day.

My job is a privilege. 

My professional writing

I was blessed to get a steady writing job in December. It doesn’t pay a lot, but I’m pretty excited about it anyway. I’ve also been trying to get my freelance writing going, so I’ve been writing pitches and submitting work. 

I am so privileged to have this in my life. Working a side hustle is hard, but it’s working toward a lifetime goal. 

My creative writing

I know this is sort of dumb to even add to the list. I mean, writing is creative, right?

Sure, of course. But any writer will tell you that publishing books have a ton of to-dos that are not so fun.

It’s still a privilege! I’m publishing a freaking book! That’s something most people don’t get to do. Yes, there’s a lot of work, but every bit of it is something I would have died to do not so long ago.

Caring for my family and pets. 

Now we’re getting into the things that are a little harder to see as anything but an obligation. I have a mother in law who is ill and needs care. I have a husband with health issues. I have pets that require more care than I think they should.

I am so privileged to have my family safe here with me. I’m thankful that they are both safe and well. I’m thankful that my mother in law isn’t in an assisted living home. I’m thankful that I’m not separated from my partner like so many people are now. 

Hell, I’m thankful for my pets! I lived in an apartment where I wasn’t allowed to have pets. I missed having little furry companions every single day. Now, I’m going to complain that I have to call the vet to get a refill of Oliver’s heartworm meds?

Caring for those I love is a privilege. May I never forget that, 

 Caring for my home. 

Finally, there’s every day picking up and scrubbing off that every house needs. Dishes, laundry, tidying. It never freaking ends! Not to mention my least favorite, cleaning up the bathroom. Because of my family’s health issues, most of the home care lands right on my shoulders.

Uuuuuuuugh!

Okay, got that out of the way. 

I am so thankful that there’s food in my house. I’m thankful I have a warm and comfortable home that protects me and my loved ones. I wake up every day safe. There is enough room for all of us. 

This home is a privilege. 

Now, please understand that I don’t say any of this to shame any of you! This whole situation right now sucks, for varying degrees for everyone. If you can’t see your to-do list as a privilege, that’s fine. Please don’t let this be another burden, we all have too many already. 

But if shifting this viewpoint can help you count your blessings while you’re counting the things you have to do today, then do that. The best thing I can do for you right now is to help make your day lighter.

That is another privilege.

Oh, and I also made a sourdough starter.

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My updated podcast list, May 2020

Now and then I like to go through my list of podcasts I listen to and share it with all of you. I’m a very fickle soul and I get tired of things quickly. I also find new and exciting things to listen to. I’m kind of like a crow with a shiny new thing. So this list is changing all the time.

Right now a lot of us are at home more than we’ve ever. Many of us need some entertainment. Preferably something that doesn’t cost anything. So here’s a recent roundup of my podcasts. Some are purely for entertainment, some talk about writing. Some talk about things we should all learn about. Enjoy.

Lore

Aaron Mahnke

I’ve been listening to Lore for quite some time now. I’m pretty sure this was in my last collection. But I still love it.

The episodes talk about different dark and creepy tales from history. And they’re all told by Aaron, who has the smoothest, sexiest voice. 

Cabinet of Curiosities

Aaron Mahnke

So smooth that I started listening to the second podcast of his. This is also a history podcast, though much shorter. The stories aren’t necessarily scary, some are funny. I can honestly say I’ve never listened to a boring episode.

Writing Excuses

Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Howard Taylor and Mary Robinette Kowal

This podcast has been included in almost every podcast update I’ve ever written. Given my aforementioned fickle nature, that should tell you all you need to know about this podcast.

But I’ll tell you a little more. I have learned so much about writing from this podcast, I can’t start to tell you. If you’re a writer just starting, listen to this podcast every week. If you think you’re an established author, listen to this podcast every week.

Ditch Diggers

Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace

If you catch me laughing in public, I’m probably listening to this. Ditch Diggers is the most brutally honest, funny podcast about the business side of writing I’ve ever heard. I love every episode, and I’m always getting new ideas from it. 

Diy mfa

Gabriela Pereira

This is so much more than a podcast. DIY MFA is a whole online community with classes and posts all dedicated to bringing creative education within the grasp of everyone. And I am here for it! 

On the podcast, Gabriela interviews authors on a range of topics that never fail to fascinate and interest me. I learn something every time I listen.

Science Rules

Bill Nye (the science guy)

Bill, Bill, Bill! Alright, got that out of my system. 

Bill Nye has been teaching me science since I was in first grade. And he’s still doing it today with his podcast, Science Rules. It is for adults, thank you. And that’s part of the cool thing about it. Science Rules feels like I’m talking with my favorite uncle. He still remembers me as a little kid, but he recognizes that I’m an adult now, too. So, bad dad jokes but a willingness to discuss difficult topics.

One topic he’s talking a lot about right now is, of course, the Covid-19 pandemic. And if you’re looking for clear, honest information about a scary situation, this is the podcast you want to be listening to.

Bad With Money

Gaby Dunn

I think this one was also on my last list of podcasts. I hope so because it’s a great place to be if you’re, you know, bad with money. It’s simple, no-nonsense talk about money from people you don’t usually hear talking about money. Gaby doesn’t judge you about your money choices. She just lays out the facts. And some of the facts are useful. Some are inspirational. Some are just a pat on the back and the realization that you’re not alone. And maybe it’s not that you’re bad with money. Maybe it’s that our economy sucks and we’re all just doing the best we can.

So that’s my updated list of what I’m listening to. But I want to know what you think. Leave a comment below to share your favorite podcast. 

Preorder Falling From Grace now, and be entered to win a free autographed copy of Falling From Grace eBookBroken Patterns. And, get the first four chapters of Falling from Grace right away! Just send a screenshot of your preorder recipt to nicolecluttrell86@gmail.com.

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Friday the 13th, Halloween in March

Happy Friday the 13th! That’s right, I said it. Fight me. 

I love Friday the 13th, and I think it’s largely because there’s such a stigma about it. And I do love things that are misunderstood, strange and unusual. 

It’s kind of a thing with me. 

So if no one’s told you before, screw this bad luck bullshit. In almost every religion, there are positive and negative aspects of the number 13. Let’s take Christianity as an example.

At the last supper, there were thirteen people around the table. The thirteenth person was Judas, who would later betray Jesus. On the other hand, there are at least two saints associated with the number 13. The Virgin of Fatima and St Anthony of Padua, to be specific. 

For me, Friday the 13th has usually been a lucky day. Not like a ‘win the lottery and quit my day job’ lucky. More like a ‘hit all the green lights, two candy bars come out of the machine’ sort of luck. I honestly look forward to these days. 

Putting luck aside, Friday the 13th is a little slice of Halloween in the middle of the year. I mean, we don’t get to dress up in costumes or anything. Well, I guess I’m a damned adult and I could dress up like a zombie any day I please. But that’s beside the point.

We can get some candy and indulge a little. We can watch scary movies and share spooky pictures of black cats on social media. We can make a celebration of it, and we damned well should.

I’m going to be real with you guys. This past week has been hard on me. I was sick at the start of the week and I lost two whole days to napping. Then the elections on Tuesday depressed me. I’m a big supporter of Bernie Sanders and I’m just in knots. So now I’m behind on my work, still recovering from this nasty head cold and anxious about the political situation in my country.

I need some happy is what I’m saying.

So you know what? Screw it. I’m going to make some kettle corn and watch some slasher flicks tonight. I’m going to donate to a worthy charity to thank the universe for my good fortune. And I’m going to hope that my luck turns around. 

What are you doing tonight to celebrate the 13th?

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My year of adventure

Do you ever feel like you’re just repeating the same day over and over? Not like, Groundhog day level, but that you’re just stuck in a rut? That’s where I’ve been. I go to the same day job, write the same series I’ve been working on for years. I eat the same food, read the same sort of books from the same authors, watch the same content creators on Youtube.

It becomes dull. And while I’m not in my twenties anymore, I’m not old. I’m sure not ready for my life to be stuck in a predictable rut. I’ve never been a fan of ruts.

The long term solution for this is to buy an RV, quit my job and write full time. Become a digital nomad. I’m calling that Project Serenity. And if anyone’s interested, I’ll be happy to do a post detailing how I’m doing that. 

But that’s long term. It’s potentially years in the making. And I have no intention to wait until I reach that big hefty goal before I’m happy. 

So I came up with a plan to make this year exciting. Every week, I seek out a new pablo(2)experience. An adventure.

The rules are simple. Find some new experience every week. It can be a Youtuber I’ve never watched, a book from an author I’ve never read, a recipe I’ve never tried. It can be something big, like going on vacation to a city we’ve never been to. Or something small, like driving down a road we’ve always been curious about right here in our hometown.

Now, I’ve been doing this since the start of the year, and I’ve been keeping track of all my adventures in my planner. So far it’s been nothing big. But still quite enriching.

We tried the Incredible Sausage sandwich at Dunkin. It was pretty good. 

We’ve discovered some cool new Youtubers.

We’ve had several driving adventures, exploring our hometown. It’s amazing how little we’ve seen of it. 

We have so many plans for new experiences this year. I don’t think this is going to be some major life-changing experience. My only goal is to have little new experiences that brighten my life.

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12 Things Single Parents and Indie Writers Have In Common

I am not a single parent. I have a wonderful husband who is a great home maker. But I was a single mom for the first six years of my daughter’s life. Her dad and I were together, but we didn’t live together. (Long story.)

Now that I’m not a single mom anymore, I am an indie writer. Apparently I thought my life was too easy. Having done first one, and now the other, though, I’m seeing similarities. A lot of what I learned as a single parent has, in fact, made me a better indie writer. A lot of what I learned no one bothered to tell me, and I wish someone had. So if you yourself are a single parent, or an indie writer, here are 12 things to keep in mind.

You’re going to have to learn to take some shit

Not everyone approves of single parents or indie writing. People are going to tell you that you are wrong, and that you are making a bad decision. They will tell you that you are messing up your life, and that you need to just listen to them. Yeah, no. If I’ve learned anything over the course of my thirty years, it’s that people who are telling me to just listen to them about my life probably has nothing good to tell me. I had to make my own choice, and if that choice set my life difficulty on ‘nightmare’ then that’s on me. If you can, remove people from your life who would tell you that you are living it wrong.

Sleep? Yeah, that’s not a thing you’re really going to do for a little while

I didn’t get a full nights sleep until my daughter was a year and a half. Even when she started sleeping through the night, I was still up until all hours doing dishes or cleaning, or trying to sneak a little writing in. Then, of course, anytime she made a noise it woke me up, and I couldn’t get back to sleep. Now that I’m producing my own books, there is a constant stream of things that need done. Right now, I’m getting up crazy early to have time to write before the day job, then working on business hat stuff after the monsters are in bed. Most nights I’m averaging seven hours. Most. But I have pulled all nighters, getting stuff done. It’s not healthy to do often, but sometimes I’m just not going to get anywhere without it. Grow accustomed to finding out just how little sleep you can really live on.

Your day job is just one thing on a very long list of things that you need to do in a day.

This one is true for parents with co parents, too. I have a husband, and I still have so much more to do than just my day job. There’s still homework to help with, classes and appointments, grocery shopping. Then we’ll throw all my writing stuff on top of that. And when I was a single mommy, it was worse. There wasn’t going to be dinner unless I shopped for food, cooked it, and washed dishes to put it on. There would be no clean clothes unless I washed them. There was no such thing as coming home and crashing on the couch. There was come home, cook dinner, wash the dishes, play with the monster, put her to bed, clean the house, then crash hard. Now, replace all the cooking and cleaning with talking to book reviewers, making advertisements, editing and writing, and that’s what I’m doing now.

Honestly, I think I relax more at the day job.

You develop a love/hate relationship with overtime, and money in general

Maybe this one’s just me, but it’s still something I struggle with. My job offers overtime, most of the time. We don’t have to take it, but we can.

On the one hand, I love picking up overtime, because the money is good. And we can always use money. The monsters always need clothes, I want to go on vacation, the bills are crazy, we need so many things and food is freaking expensive.

But overtime takes away time you could be spending with your babies, or on your real passion, writing. Even now I feel bad working more, because I never feel like I’m spending enough time with my monsters. I always feel like I should write more.

I haven’t found a happy balance, so if anyone has suggestions, please let me know.

Not a lot of people really want to help you

Again, maybe this is just me, but my family was not super supportive when I had my monster. I got little to no help, and in fact was generally treated as though I’d done something very bad. No one had any intention of helping me with my mistake. And if they did help, I had better be damned grateful because they didn’t have to help, and I should remember that.

Indie writing isn’t as bad. Lots of successful indie writers want to help, much like other single parents want to help other single parents. But generally, most people are not going to be doing you any favors in the indie business.

All this is hilarious, given the next thing you want to remember.

Even though most people really don’t want to help you, everyone wants to tell you how to do what you’re doing

Boy, do they ever want to tell you how to do what you’re doing. Even if they’ve never been a single parent, or an indie writer. They want to tell you.

You shouldn’t let your daughter watch that movie. You should have a newsletter. You should be working more, or less. You should put your books on Amazon. You should dress her more like a girl. You shouldn’t talk about yourself on your blog. You shouldn’t cut her hair. You shouldn’t do your own cover artwork. You should take her to church, but not that church. You should have a huge following before you publish.

Please, if you get nothing else from this post, please learn to listen to advice with your head and your heart, not your fear and guilt. I can’t tell you how many things I did my first few years as a mommy because people told me I should. I was too afraid that I was screwing everything up to question whether what they were telling me was good for me and my little family or not. You all know the amount of crap I’ve tried, and failed at, with my writing career, because someone I admired told me it was a good or bad idea.

You will multitask like you breath.

Write rough drafts while supervising quiet play. Wash dishes while dinner is simmering. Edit on your lunch break. Write social media updates while the monsters watch cartoons. This is my life. I’ve learned what can be multitask-ed and what needs to have my full attention, after some pretty painful trial and error. But successful multitasking is a required skill for both the single parent and the indie writer.

Some of the best things happen in laundromats

I got a washer and dryer when we moved into the house, and I can’t even tell you how much joy this has brought me. Especially with a puppy who wets the bed. But part of me kinds of misses going to laundromats. I don’t even know why this is a thing, but some magical things happen at those places. I have had some amazing talks with my monster while we waited for the spin cycle. On the infrequent occasions when I went alone, I got some awesome writing done. I don’t even know why, but trust the magic of the laundromats.

There’s no such thing as according to plan

If you haven’t learned this yet, know that this is something indie writers and single parents live by. Rain drowns out park trips, people bail on you, computers die at the worst times, kids get sick. I have all these lovely deadlines for myself, but then things happen and I can’t realistically meet them. I have the best of intentions to get the whole kitchen cleaned up, and then I just can’t do that. Have back up plans, have contingency funds if you can save them up. If you can do it at all, start saving towards a $1,000 emergency fund. Plan for everything to go to shit, basically, and don’t feel like a failure when it does.

You can learn as much as you want, and you will still never feel like you know what you’re doing

And there is so much to learn! Countless books, blogs, classes, podcasts and magazines about indie writing and single parenting. You could start reading right now and never get through all of the information. (Theoretically. Really, when you break down all of this information, it’s usually the same info again and again.)

I learn everything I can, especially now while I’m still learning to be an indie writer. I still don’t feel like I know what I’m doing. I’ve been a mom for 12 years now. I still don’t feel like I know what I’m doing. It’s an anxiety that I will never get over.

You have got to put some energy into self care

This is not a joke. I know I just told you that I’ve been pulling some all nighters recently, and I know better!

I’m actually going to do a whole blog post about self care, it’s varying levels, and some tips to help you make sure you’re taking care of you on Sunday, so I’ll not go into it right now. But make you a priority, girls and guys. Insist up on it, or you’ll burn out. Some nights, when I was a single mom and suffering from more than a little postpartum depression, my version of self care was eating Oreos while binge watching Futurama. Was it healthy? Not physically. But it was about the only time I let myself just not accomplish anything. It was the only time I put down the to do list and just relaxed. So, mentally, it was very healthy.

Remember, you’re a superhero

One day you’re going to be in a position to look back on this time in your life. When you do, you’ll likely have a healthy child or a completed published book in your possession. You’re going to look at this time, and everything you did, and you’re going to have one question; How in the hell did you live through that?

How did you get through all the crazy work and worry? How did you get anything at all done? How did you just not spend those years in a crappy sweater, eating dry cereal at the end of the day? Most of all, how did you end up with this actual person, or real life book you’ve got now?

I’ll tell you how. You’re strong, and brave. You worked hard, and you deserve to feel proud. So feel proud now, and know that this isn’t how your whole life’s going to be.

It’s all worth it, in the end. I promise.

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It Takes Time To Be a Writer

Happy Mothers Day, to all Mammas, Step Moms, Mother In Laws, and anyone who’s been a maternal influence.

We’ve been lied to, all of us aspiring writers. Oh, it was with the best of intentions, as most lies are. But it was a lie, all the same. We have been told that it doesn’t take nearly as much time as we all think to become a great writer. We have been told, over and over, if we can devote whatever spare minutes we have in a day, we will prevail. We will become writers.

Well, I shouldn’t say that it’s a total lie. Every good lie has a kernel of truth, after all. If you are just trying to become a writer, short stories work very well in small segments of time. Even novel length manuscripts can be written like that. Sure, it can, I’ve done it. Often my short stories are written between calls at my day job. I’ve said the same thing. If you are establishing a writing routine in your life, and all you have is maybe five minutes while your little one takes a nap, or 15 minutes on the bus to work, you slay that time! You make that story, because it’s better than nothing. Yes, you can write a whole book, minutes at a time. And if you’re writing, you’re a writer.

But I’ve learned better. if you intend to do something with your writing, then it’s going to take more than little sips of time. And everyone needs to stop telling this lie, because it’s hurting writers.

It doesn’t take into account editing

If you’ve never sat down, and edited a long piece of work, this might be something you’re not aware of, but you can’t just edit a page at a time and expect awesome results. For one thing, you’ve got to see your piece as a whole so you can find and patch plot holes. Usually, when I’m rough drafting I can’t remember half of what happened in part one by the time I get to part three. So if I put a gun on the mantle, I forgot that it needed to go off. It can also be frustrating as hell. You read a flawed paragraph, and you free write to fix it. Then you don’t get to write it until later. I know, when this has happened to me, I’ve forgotten my brilliant fix by that time. Generally I try to not edit unless I’ll have at least an hour to commit to the project.

It doesn’t take into account submitting

When you’re looking for an agent or editor to send your work to, prepare to spend a lot of time online. Don’t forget that before an agent accepts you, you have to accept them. Do they represent your genre? Have they had successful sales recently? What’s their standing on Predators and Editors? Then, there’s the query writing process, which should not be rushed. Again, this can take up to an hour, at least, if you’ve been doing it awhile.

It doesn’t take into account learning about the craft

If you’re a writer, you’ve also got to be a reader. Read books for pleasure, yes, but also to learn from them. Read articles to learn, listen to podcasts. This takes time, man, lots of time. Sure, you can dip into a book for five minutes or so, but if you intend to finish the book there had better be a lot of five minute increments built into you day.

Not just learning, but practicing. Free writing, trying to write from a different POV, learning poetry forms, all of this takes time. And if you short change your practice, you short change your writing career.

It doesn’t take into account marketing

I don’t spend as much time on marketing and self promotion as I should, most likely. I’m getting better at it, but there are so many things to do. I send my book to book review sights, pitch it on social media, run ad campaigns, and all the other crap I do to make sure people hear about my books. It takes time, and traditional writers have to do a lot of this too, your publisher won’t always do it for you. Most writers have websites or blogs they maintain, like myself. PBW accounts for about four hours a week, easy. You might say that marketing isn’t really writing, and you’re totally right. But how else will anyone hear about your book? Sure, word of mouth is great, but it’s hard to get that when no one has read it at all.

It doesn’t take into account all the insane little things like getting a bar code, compiling a story into a book, or the hours and hours you can spend designing a damned cover.

I spent nearly a week preparing Days to be published. Not a week full of five minutes here and there, a week of two to four hours at a time working. It required time, it required focus. It required my monsters to be in school. I then spent hours getting everything on the Gumroad and Tablo websites. It wasn’t hard work, but it was time consuming work, and certainly not something I could have done a little at a time.

It discourages us from making serious lifestyle changes that could allow for better, longer writing sessions.

Deciding to be a writer, not as a hobby but as a career, is a commitment. And the further you get into it, the more it will demand of your time. For me, that meant I had to cut some things out of my life to make room for it. I cut my addiction to time management games, I stopped reading as many comic books, I narrowed the time I spend watching tv. Once I started valuing my writing time, I stopped talking to some people that, quite frankly, it was better for me to not talk to. I still spend time with the people I value. Not as much as I’d like, but that’s because of time and work constraints.

Not only have I cut bad habits out of my life, I’ve added good ones. I commit to writing time in the morning before work. I bring my writing with me, and work on it whenever I have time.

I’m really glad that I did all of those things. Writing has brought fulfillment to my life in such a way that nothing else but my children ever did. I miss my comic books, but it’s worth it to me.

Another thing I want you to keep in mind is that while I might be able to commit to an hour, five minutes at a time, I probably won’t get as much writing done as if I sat down for a whole hour and wrote. I didn’t have to stop and start so many times. Now, if I have just five minutes, I’ll take them. But I reach for those longer sessions, and I do what I need to to get them.

It makes us feel guilty that we’re not producing more

And this is the worst one, in my opinion. Telling people, “I did this, and I did it with just the end bits of time through my day,” makes some people, including me, feel guilty. What am I doing wrong that I can’t do the same thing? Why are her five minutes more productive than mine? Am I just stupid, what the hell is wrong with me?

No, stop that. Nothing is wrong with you, that person is lying. It’s the same mentality that makes people put on a full face of make up, take a selfie, then post it with a #nofilter #Iwokeuplikethis. No you didn’t you liar. We just all think we should be effortlessly beautiful, productive, patient and tidy. Well let me tell you, it’s not happening at my house, and probably not at yours either. If I’m going to have a productive day, I have to be up by 6:30 at the latest, at my desk by 7:00 and off to work by 9:15. Now, if I don’t manage that, I’ll fit in time whenever I can, but I really push to manage that. I have to.

Please, don’t think that this means that you don’t have the time to be a writer. It’s very likely that you do. And if all the time you have to give to it right now is five minutes, give that time. But you’re going to need more that than eventually. Anyone who tells you otherwise, is a liar.

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The Real Life Writer

So, when I started writing out a theme for last month, I ran into a bit of a snag. I thought that journalism was a great theme, and it turned out to be so. But I really had to stretch to find post ideas for all four weeks. I think I did pretty well, but I don’t like to have to write what I feel is ‘filler work’. I won’t tell you which piece I wrote last month that would fall under that category, because I feel like all of them turned out pretty strong. But I think the month would have been stronger if I hadn’t had to do that.

This month, I had the opposite problem. I sat down with my list of post ideas, and I saw a theme right away.

Real Life Writing

It’s perfect. It’s all about living your life as a writer in today’s world. All kinds of ideas popped out at me, from presenting yourself as a creative professional, to running your home efficiently so that you have more time to write, to what tools I use on a daily basis to work. It was clear, to me, that I wasn’t going to fit all of this in one month. This is two months, at least.

So I decided to change things up.

From now on, a theme will last here on Paper Beats World for as long as I have ideas to write about. If you have any questions or suggestions that you’d like me to write about in any given theme, please let me know at nicolecluttrell86@Gmail.com. I’ll be happy to hear from you, and I’ll try to answer as many of your questions as I can.

I can’t tell you how excited I am about the Real Life Writer. I think we have a lot to share with each other. I’d love to hear from you, what you do in your real life. Please let us know!

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