I think we’ve all been there. Especially in day jobs where we’re showing up only for the pay cheque; on days where you just don’t want to be there, you find ways to look busy that don’t actually tax your brain too much. That’s busywork. When you are working for yourself, though, there is zero […]
Busywork versus Actual Work. How to figure it out. Read More »
“When jarred unavoidably by circumstance, revert at once to yourself and don’t lose the rhythm more than you help. You’ll have a better grasp of the harmony if you keep going back to it.” – Marcus Aurelius Have you ever been on a roll–everything is clicking along smoothly? You’re writing regularly and when you should,
Why You Should Always Fight to Get Back to Your Routine When You’re Knocked Off It Read More »
Last week I spoke at length about stashing your time–well, stashing anything you can, actually, as a hedge against the vagaries of the publishing industry. Stashing time is a matter of deliberately working ahead of your production schedule. (And if you don’t have a production schedule–a timetable of releases–then you’re missing the backbone of
Do You Need Transition Time in Your Schedule? Read More »
The indie publishing industry has provided for indie authors a great many of the benefits that were once the province of traditional publishing only. There is very little these days a traditional publisher can give an indie author that his indie career is not already providing in spades. In many respects, indie publishing imparts even
The Last Remaining Temptation Of Indie Authors Read More »
Following up on last week’s post, “How I Got Published, and What I Learned Along The Way“. I mentioned in that post that the book would be part of Kevin J. Anderson’s NaNoWriMo bundle for authors. The bundle is now available, and includes inspirational how-to books from a great many authors you’ll recognize: Joanna Penn,
A Dash Of Inspiration for November Read More »
There are very few drawbacks to indie publishing. Challenges, certainly, but the independent author tends to thrive on challenges and prefer it that way. Hard work aplenty, too. Downsides, not so much. Most of the “downsides” you see reported elsewhere, we consider positives: Having no one else to rely upon but ourselves is a good
When Your Creativity Goes Stale. Read More »
If you’re drowning — and we’ve all been there — there are some triage tactics you can employ to stop your embolism for 24 hours. I am a huge fan of Leo Babauta’s Zen Habits blog. Quite a while ago, he ran a post on exactly that. “When You Have Too Much To Do” outlines
When You Have Too Much To Do Read More »
One of the most powerful techniques for increasing your word count is, simply, don’t click away. Avoid as much as you can alt+tabbing or clicking away from your manuscript. Interruptions chew up time, throw you out of flow and have the potential to divert you completely away from your story. BUT Particularly when you first start
Index Card & Notepad Hacks To Keep You Focused Read More »
An author’s lot has never been easy. Historically, very few authors out of the millions who have attempted to write for a living ever reached that ambition. The explosion of the indie publishing industry, which really hit its stride around 2010/2011, made it much easier for far more authors to made decent money. All it
Dealing with Discouragement Read More »
Ever seen a circus performer spinning plates? When you slip into the world of productivity and self-improvement, you quickly discover that improvement is cyclical, or iterative. Applied to writing indie fiction, this becomes a strategy to avoid overwhelm, too: It is simply impossible to improve absolutely every aspect of your writing business and productivity
What Plate Will You Spin Next? Read More »
