Planning And Other Things
Takes Planning To Get Back To Writing…
When life turns and decides you are just not going to write for a short time, I learned a long time ago to not fight it. All that does is make the writing miserable and also you will lose in the end.
So here I am with a challenge to do 67 published titles this year and to do that I will need to get back writing solidly by the end of the month. So Kris and I tonight spent some time working on planning how I will get back.
I think I have a plan that will work, but it will depend on a few things dropping into place. And that will take a few more days. So patience is the word now.
Everything else is great. The workshops are going along just fine, the stores and WMG are cruising just fine as well. And I enjoyed doing the three Pop-up Weekender Workshops this week, even though no one turned in any assignments for the Adding Tension workshop.
So not angry at not writing, just planning the return to it shortly. So stay tuned. When I get back creating pages, I will report the projects and the word count like I always do.
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INSIDER’S GUIDE Workshops Now Available…
— Insider’s Guide to Selling Short Fiction in 2018/2019 (Starts April 8th)
— Insider’s Guide to Writing Successful Space Opera (Starts April 8th)
— Insider’s Guide to Writing Serial Fiction (2,000 word parts of a novel) (Starts May 6th)
— Insider’s Guide to Writing Detective Fiction. (Starts May 6th)
$300 each, limited to ten writers plus lifetime subscribers. One time workshops. They will not be regular. Sorry. These will fill so don’t wait for the last minute on these. And yes, you can use your credits.
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MARCH REGULAR WORKSHOPS…
They are into the second week. Still time to jump into any of the workshops.
Sign up directly through Teachable or if you have a credit, write me.
https://wmg-publishing-workshops-and-lectures.teachable.com
Class #25… Mar 6th … Depth #3: Research
Class #26… Mar 6th … Author Voice
Class #27… Mar 6th … (empty slot)
Class #28… Mar 6th … Writing into the Dark
Class #29… Mar 6th … Writing Fiction Sales Copy
Class #30… Mar 6th … Writing and Selling Short Stories
Class #31… Mar 7th … Depth in Writing
Class #32… Mar 7th …(empty slot)
Class #33… Mar 7th … Cliffhangers
Class #34… Mar 7th … Pacing Your Novel
Class #35… Mar 7th … Novel Structure
Class #36… Mar 7th … Writing Fantasy
April workshops now also available on Teachable and I have the schedule through June up now.
4 Comments
Chris
I wonder in your long career, have you ever had a life turn occur that disrupted your writing but budget wise or contract wise you had to still manage to get the work done?
If yes, how did you handle it? Did you just power through?
dwsmith
Oh, heavens, yes, that happened numbers of times over the decades. Always ugly and not fun. But with traditional contracts and deadlines, I never missed a one in over a 100 novels. Not a one and thought writers who did miss contract deadlines problems. So sick, traveling, death in the family, contract deadlines always came first. How did I power through? Simple. I stopped whining and just did the writing.
Writers, by our very nature, are whiners. And lazy and full of excuses. Pretty much all of us. You want to see what it should really be like to be an internationally selling writer, simply watch the blind auditions on The Voice and listen to some of those stories about years on the road and working bars six nights a week. Fiction writers have it easy and we are trained by myths that actually spending a lot of time sitting alone and making stuff up must be hard work.
So what happened when faced with life crisis and moves and such? I just sucked it up and did the writing. And I will be doing that shortly again. The key now is that I am in control of my own schedule and have no contracts, so I can whine some before I get back to writing. (grin)
Kate Pavelle
Hang in there, Dean. My heart goes out to both you and Kris, you’ve seen a lot change in the last few months, and not always for the better. Life takes precedence. I have no doubt you’ll get to writing as soon as you can take a deep breath again!
J. D. Brink
This is reassuring to me right now, as my family and I are still transitioning to a new civilian life back stateside. Everything is CHAOS, PURE CHAOS right now, every turn a wrong one that requires two corrections to make it right. And on top of all of it I feel guilty for not writing! I guess that means I really love it, which is good, but I have so much that takes priority right now.
Just good to hear a pro say “It’s okay not to write for a while, life is like that.”