Aspiring writers are always looking ahead to that book contract. They write, revise, network, rewrite, learn, plot…and dream. Pre-pubbed can be an intensely exciting time as well as an intensely frustrating one. We seem to stagnate in our dreams as week after week, chapter after chapter, conference after conference, time seems to pass us by. We watch others catapult to superstar status at writing conferences where the published authors gather to talk industry and the pre-pubbed gather to dream. The one thing all of them have in common is there are potential opportunities swirling around them at every moment. The thing that distinguishes many people is recognition of those opportunities. “But wait, Tiff!! I’m working hard!” I know you are. Don’t worry. I’m not criticizing. I’m coaching. I’m speaking from […]
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How to End Well and the MBT Vision for 2012
Last week in the Warren household, we had what I call, “Warren Life-Planning Class.” It was mandatory attendance, taught by the parents to the four now-nearly-grown young adults. Who may or may not have some challenges with time management (a.k.a missing college classes) and financial planning (a.k.a an excess in pizza purchases). I didn’t expect perfection – I just wanted to overview HOW to manage your life and time. I started with making them write their obituaries. Probably not a great idea. Peter wrote: “Peter Warren died after taking the Warren Life-Planning Class.” Nice, real nice. But, it did get across one concept….everything they do now matters. Every choice they make feeds into the next one. Every habit they make embeds into the outcome of their life. And every decision […]
Read the RestMake 2012 Count, Part 3: the Rent’s Due on the First
Let’s face it. There are a few people in the world who internally drive themselves toward their desired goals. The rest of us just aren’t wired that way. If we don’t have a deadline, chances are we won’t finish the project. Repeat after me: Deadlines are my friends. They will keep you with your patooty in the seat and your fingers on the keyboard. You have so many distractions in today’s world, without deadlines, you’ll never get where you want to be. Think about it. Your rent or mortgage payment is due on the 1st. Because you know that, your purchases throughout the month are made with that in mind. You can’t afford to not have a roof over your head so you are diligent with your finances. The same […]
Read the RestTaking Stock of 2011
Time to belly up… how’d your writing goals fair in 2011? Did you set goals? Did you keep track? Did you succeed? Even a little bit? I bet you did. Come on now, if you wrote one page toward your writing goal of completing a novel, you’ve succeeded a little bit. A very little bit, but you did something. We have a tendency to stick our heads in the sand when we think we’ve failed at our goals. At attempting our dreams. Why confirm that silent but deep down fear: “I’m a failure.” By taking stock of our goals, our success and failures, enables us to move forward with a better grasp of where we are and why. Often when reviewing a goal, we find we didn’t fail as much […]
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