Are you asking yourself the same question as I am? How in world is any sane person supposed to fit writing a book in along with the busy holiday seasons and a day job? It is possible. You can do this! Plan, Pray and Snatch. These three things have saved my sanity the last two weeks. I so badly wanted to complete the MBTWRIMO this year. For those of you new to the writing world, November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), where writers set a goal to write a 50,000 word manuscript in one month. Yes, if I didn’t think I was crazy when characters started talking to me, trying to complete a book during the holiday season should make me certifiable crazy. Plan: I made a plan using […]
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Next Step: Using Technology to maximize your writing time!
Alena here, working on my Next Step in my writing journey. I’m still trying to maximize my writing time. For most moms, the kids are back at school but along with that come all kinds of sports and extra-curricular activities. So most of the writing time I get these days are either weekends or late at night, with time throughout the day. I’m still doing the usual; working on my manuscript at lunchtime, break time, between picking up and waiting for kids. A quiet house and uninterrupted writing time is such a rare thing for me. I recently re-discovered my iPod the other day. Now, while it is an automatic tool I take along with me when I’m jogging, it’s not on my list of tools when I think of […]
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Reading to Learn
Hi, Everyone! Last month, I gave up. Seriously. The kids were rambunctious, work was calling and I put the dogs in the garage hoping they wouldn’t find anything there to bark about. On this day I wasn’t conquering writing in the midst of all of the noise and happenings of a family. All the teenagers, their friends, several nieces and nephews and the family friends were at my house. Unplanned. They brought all the fun, noise and interruptions that go along with so many kids in one place. When I did an actual count there were twelve kids at my house. So I was in a quandary. What could I accomplish today? Aha! I could read to learn. Through the years I’ve found I can read and block out distractions! So […]
Read the RestAttending a writers conference: the hidden costs
A note from Susie May: Alena Tauriainen is one of my favorite aspiring authors – she’s a hard worker, creative and has a heart to press on in this journey. She is also the MBT Retreats Hostess and writes a series for the MBT Blog called, “The Next Step,” about the small steps an aspiring author makes every day that add up to a finished novel. I asked her to blog today on her perspective on attending a writers conferences when you’re early in the journey. Thank you, Alena! ***** Many of my writing friends told me attending a writing conference was the next step on my writing journey. I shrugged them off. After all, I was learning to schedule time in to write, reading blogs and other various articles […]
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