Unplanned but Necessary Writing Break

It was the last week of 2011 and I was finally taking a full week off from my day job. Talk about a long time over do. For sure, I won't let that happen in 2012. Interestingly, I was looking so forward to the time off. Mainly because I was pretty fed up with walking into my office building everday, tired of looking at that same people, tired of the work, tired of the same back and forth trip downtown on the same expressways, tired of saying the same things to my children before and after school: Have a good day at school? and How was your day at school? Get the drift that I needed a break? Although most mom's that I work with dread being off work when their kids are on break from school, for me, their Christmas break was just what I needed. It wasn't them that I was tired of, but everything else!

Right before my vacation started, I had delusions of grandeur that I just might come close--somewhere close anyway--to getting closer to the end of my manuscript that I'd planned to finish by midnight December 31, 2011. Little did I know, I was taking a break from writing as well. A much needed break, it seems. Like I said, that wasn't the plan. It simply turned out that way.

The first two days of my vacation, I sought out rest and relaxation. Ultimate goal was to not leave the house! Goal achieved on Monday. PAUSE: Special shout out to my mom, especially, who I normally talk to everyday, for not even calling me on my first official vacation day. My cell phone didn't ring all day! Plus, neither one of my children asked to go anywhere. I think they new what mom needed, too. Tuesday, I wasn't quite as lucky. Just because my son received everything he wanted on his Christmas list, it still wasn't enough to make him want to stay behind closed doors two days in a row! At this moment, I can't recall where they actually got me to go, but it was out of the house!

A few times I pulled out my laptop to check out my manuscript in progress, my blogs, my newsletter in progress and got zilch! My head just wasn't there. Unlike other times when I'd taken time off work specifically to write, this wasn't one of those times. Instead I found it much easier to pick up a book. Lord knows I have enough unread books on my shelf. Just in time for the holidays, I started with a holiday inspired story by Kristin Hannah, Comfort & Joy, followed the latest Stephanie Plum novel Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich. Both good books that I'll post my personal reviews of shortly.

Most of 2011 I spent writing, networking, and trying to promote my book. All good things, of course. However, this past week and even before that I realized how much I've missed reading. Thank God being an avid reader is just as important to being a great writer as writing is! As such, I plan to do a whole lot more reading (audio books included) in 2012.

What are literary plans for the new year?

Writers Benefit from Taking Their Own Advice

Ever found yourself listening to the words that were coming out of your own mouth? Have you ever done so and thought to yourself, "Wow! You're one smart cookie!"

I've had a few such occassions. Most recently I was giving a pep talk to my teenage daughter about her (our) desire to lose weight. WAIT! Before you say, "Losing weight has nothing to do with writing" and you move on to the next blog post, hold on a sec. The advise that I gave her applies just as much to ones writing goals.

1. Starting out, don't focus on your longterm goals. Instead, set small, measurable goals. For weight loss that small goal could be something like eat a fruit or vegetable with each meal. For writing, it could be a goal of writing for 15-20 minutes each day.

2. Keep your focus on what you want out of this effort. Obviously, for weight loss the BIG picture is to lose weight, but this piece of advice is about the longer term goal. For a teenager, it may be to lose at least 3 dress sizes by prom, which is anywhere from 1-4 yrs. For a writer, it may be to make it on a national bestseller list. In order to do that, you have constantly work on your craft and network. This could mean taking writing classes in the areas where you may be weak. Seeking out honest critiques of your work--not from family and friends. Attend conferences & workshops. Start out with the free ones. There are plenty to choose from in just about every city!  Don't just write stuff for the sake of publishing. Write for the sake of perfecting your craft. The more involved you get, the more work you'll see is involved in making your literary dreams come true. But, if you stay focused on what you want out of this--whatever that is for you--there'll be no doubt it's worth every effort.

3. Don't compare yourself to others. When trying to lose weight, it always seems like everyone else around you can eat whatever they want, not workout, and still have awesome bodies. Now, when we see people like this, we don't know a thing about their genetic make-up, whether they're using weight loss supplements, whether they're throwing everything up when they get home, or whether they have a plastic surgeon's number on speeddial. Point is, you'll drive yourself totally mad trying to compare apples to oranges. It's no different with writing. Don't compare how many followers you have on Twitter compared to another author or how many readers purchase the books of another author at a book event compared to yourself. On the outside looking in, you don't know the struggle of that fellow author that has gotten them to the point where they are today. For all you know, you may be comparing yourself to an author who's been in the writing & publishing game for 10+ years compared to your 3. I'm telling you, just watch a few of those episodes of Behind the Music or Unsung. Take note that most superstars didn't start out that way. Many were signed to their record labels for years before they actually gained any notoriety. It's no different for writers. The most important thing you can do is keep working towards the longterm goals.

Taking my own advice, here are a few short-term goals that I'm working on:

Work on your book, blog, newsletter, website a minimum of 3 times per week.
Forget about self-imposed deadlines for your book, just keep working on it weekly 'til it's done!
Tweet at least once a day about your current book or upcoming book.
Retweet something interesting by another author.
Comment on another's authors' website, blog, or FB page.

Your Author Friend, L.A. Jefferson
Website: http://lajefferson.com/
Follow me on Twitter @lajefferson

Story Outline--What Have I Got Myself Into???

OMG! Who knew this was going to take this long??? I've been working on the outline for my upcoming book since, I'm almost embarrassed to say, March. Granted, I encountered some personal setbacks that kept me from my work (theft), but still, I'd hoped that by now I'd at least be in the middle of the chapter by chapter outline. NOT! Heck! I was planning on locking myself up in a hotel room next weekend--you know, away from it all--to get started writing my manuscript (AGAIN) with my handy-dandy story outline by my side. Hopefully, I don't have to change my plans.

Everyday that I pull my outline out of my totebag to update, I keep repeating the words of my online instructor, "It's better to rewrite and rewrite while you're outlining. Better to get the story clear and concise in the outline form than to find yourself stuck midway through a manuscript." Deep down I have faith that this is true. The more clear that my story is becoming to me, I clearly see why I ran into the brick wall in the latter part of 2010. Sure, my idea was HOT! I had no doubt about that. Problem was I hadn't spent any time developing that HOT idea into a well-structured story. When I started writing, I still had the characters from my first novel, Unfinished Business, stuck in my head--I'd been writing it so long, they were encased in me. Let me explain. My upcoming novel, Reconciliation to Hell, is a spinoff of Unfinished Business. The main character in the second book was a secondary character in the first book. However, I was into the third chapter of Reconciliation to Hell when I realized that I was still writing in the voice of the main character from the first book! And believe me when I tell you that these characters are complete opposites!

Anyway, as frustrating as this process has been over the last few weeks, I wouldn't trade it for the world. In fact, I'm looking forward to applying this outlining process to the many unfinished articles that I have started and stopped over the years. They're some really great ideas that just need a little developing.

I only wish that I'd started working on this darn outline like five years ago while I was preparing to publish my first book. I'm sure I'd be ready to write right about now, if not near finished with the first draft. Oh well, you live and you learn, right?

Tell me your experience. How does or doesn't outlining work for you? Do you complete your entire outline before you start writing? Is the outline a work in progress as you write the manuscript?

Update: I'll be in that hotel this weekend with or without a completed outline! Either way it goes, this weekend will be a writing-filled weekend and I can't wait!!!

Internet Marketing Lesson

Yesterday I was listening to the Michigan Literary Network Blogtalk radio. Admittedly, I don't do this often enough considering the show airs every Wednesday. Anyway, yesterday was a great day to tune in because the topic of discussion is my WEAKEST LINK--marketing & promotion. Penny Sansivieri was one of the guest. She's the author of Red Hot Internet Marketing which I'd never heard of but after hearing how this is a must have for EVERY writer/author I quickly ordered it off the Internet. I should have it in a couple of days and I can't wait!

As far as marketing goes I'm going in the right direction just at a snails pace. I blog, as you can see. I have a website that I hope you've visited :) I'm on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. I'm a member of a gazillion Yahoo groups. All of this stuff is what I've learned that writers need to grow their readership and keep them engaged. Well I have them but I've been kind of laxed with putting them to work so here's what I've done in the last couple of weeks:

1. Created a fanpage on Facebook for my book Unfinished Business.
2. Created an author page for Facebook.
3. Creating a reader & writer newsletter. I actually created one a few years ago but I dropped the ball with keeping it going and pushing it towards my audience.

Coming up next will be the book trailer of Unfinished Business. Stay tuned!

First Things First

I've got to admit, it's kind of cool being called on as a resource. Now that folks know that I'm a published author I get questions all of the time about the "process" and such. Most recently a woman who I met at a book club meeting a few months ago excitedly shared with me that she was in the process of penning her first book. From what she's told me thus far, it's going to be a good one--spiritually revealing. We exchanged numbers before the meeting ended, but we haven't had any contact with each other until she called me a couple of days ago. She shared with me that since she was still unemployed she was filling her days with writing and researching material for her book, but she wanted to get some information from me on the publishing process.

In a nut shell, I advised her of the avenue I took to publish my book, but I also stressed the importance of focusing on completing that first draft. I remember the first effort I made with writing Unfinished Business about 15 years ago. I was really enjoying putting the pieces of the story together, surprising myself with what was going to happen next. Then, years later as I began to realize that I might actually publish this creation of mine my focus took a sharp left turn. Instead of having fun putting the story together, I started getting caught up in  the "publishing" factor. Thoughts of rejection from agents, publishers, readers began to get in the way of my writing. As self-publishing began to rise in popularity, I started getting off into understanding that monster, trying to figure out what kind of budget I was working with, who'd design the cover, who'd edit, who'd print, who'd promote and market. It was quite overwhelming & distracting, hence, the length of time it took for me to finally publish my book. Therefore, I'd advise any aspiring writer to get the raw story completed first, then delve into publishing. Don't get caught up in who's going to like your work. First, you have to like it--no, actually love it. Believe me, once you get to the point of publishing, you'll be wishing for the time to do nothing but write :)