Fitting Work Into Life

Okay, so I've been MIA around the blog and blogosphere for a few weeks. Can I just say that teaching is really kicking my trash this year? I don't know if it's because I'm getting older (cough, cough). Or because I'm teaching an extra class this year. Or because all my classes are pretty large (35+).

But when I get home from work, I am T-I-R-E-D. I basically stare at the TV, or lose myself in mindless Kindle games until I'm completely zoned out. I might be able to get on Instagram and double-tap a few times. Sometimes I run through my Facebook groups and hit like. But there's no way to stay caught up, and I barely have the energy to make dinner let alone all this other stuff.

It has been hard fitting work into my life! I feel like this at the end of every summer, so I know I'll survive, but this feels like it's taking longer to settle into a routine. My creativity is completely shot, and I haven't been able to work much on my writing, and I'd like that to change too.

Any tips for how to avoid the staring and mindless games?? I'm all ears.

Writing, The Best Medicine

Okay, so sometimes life gives you lemons. I know you all know this. I've gone through some good years and some bad. I'm currently in the middle of quite the lemony year.

Things at work are stressful. My son's car died just a few months after we bought it. So we poured more money into it. Writing stuff. Yeah, I'll just leave it at that.

But I can't seem to stop writing. I've decided it's the best medicine to a lemon-filled life. It's an escape--and always has been for me. I started writing eight years ago as a method of escape from a really sucktacular year.

When I stopped writing last year, things got even more sour. Now that I'm back at the drafting thing, I'm feeling more centered. Not everything I write is great, or even good. But it doesn't matter. I'm writing. And that's been making things a little easier to swallow.

What about you? Does just the act of writing help you?

Juggling All The Things

Okay, I think I've blogged about how I can only handle three things at a time. Three big things. So since work and family take up the two top spots, I usually one have one spot available for something else.

For a while now, my main hobby has been writing. And since it takes so much time to write, revise, edit, be in a critique group, attend and plan conferences, etc. writing has taken that third spot almost exclusively.

Until last year, when I decided I needed to get in control of my weight. So meal planning, grocery shopping, cooking, and going to the gym took over the third spot. It takes a lot of time and mental energy to think about food, what you'll eat, and how many calories you've taken in/expended all the time.

A lot.

And that's time and energy I used to devote to writing. Yes, I lost 55 pounds, but as soon as writing edged back into the third spot, 15 of those have come back.

One would argue that I simply don't have room to do both writing and healthy living at the same time.

But I have to have time, energy, and room for both. I'm currently trying to figure out how to make two things fill one spot, and to do both well.

It's not easy, and I don't know all the answers, but I can already see that exercising and all that stuff has to become part of just how I live, which will free up that third spot again for writing.

But that's really hard too, and I still haven't made the complete transition. Nor do I really know how to make it. But I'm working on it!

What three things fill your slots? 

When You Just Don't Care

Dude, okay, I have a confession to make. I've been writing for about 7 years. I've had a few periods of writer's block, or times when I've been so busy I don't have time to write. I've given myself permission to take a break and not work on anything writing-related.

But I've never felt this complete apathy I feel now. I don't have writer's block. I'm not too busy to write--the dozens of TV shows, movies, and sports I watch can testify to that. (And the zillions of games of Scramble with Friends and Memory...) I don't feel burned out, so I don't feel like I need a break.

I just don't care to write right now. I have things to work on--several in fact, and my writing partners probably hate me for not sending my chapters back to them. I feel bad about that, but not bad enough to get some words on the page instead of watching Project Runway.

So yeah.

I've wondered why I feel like this, and some people have given some suggestions. Maybe the projects I have aren't the right ones. Maybe I am burnt out. Maybe I could do some research and get inspired. Maybe I just need to force myself to write. Maybe this. Maybe that. Some encourage me to enjoy the break--and I am!

But maybe, just maybe, it's okay not to care right now. I can still be a real writer. I can still be considered an author. I don't have to write every day to be legit.

Have you ever felt like this? Did you embrace it or freak out?

When in Doubt, DELETE

Okay, so if there's anything I've learned over the past five years, it's this: The delete key is your friend. There's nothing "darling" about words that don't work, and if you're not sure if they're working or not, chances are, they're not.

My philosophy in this situation? Delete.

When my critique partners start asking me questions about a specific sentence or passage, and I can't answer? Delete.

When my plot is feeling too heavy and convoluted? Delete.

When a chapter needs to be rewritten? Delete it all, and start from blank pages.

I have deleted entire portions of many of my novels in the past. In POSSESSION, I completely wiped out several chapters, creating a Point A and a Point B. I then rewrote a new way to get from A to B.

And you know what? It was better. It worked.

In another of my as-yet-unpublished novels, I deleted about 25,000 (that is not a typo) words--the last 1/3 of the novel. I can hear some of you going, Why? Why would you do that? Didn't you save some of them? What if there was a particularly brilliant sentence?

The truth is, the ending wasn't working, and I couldn't see how it could work with all that black on the page. So I deleted it.

As for combing through the work to find that one awesome piece, I guess I just don't care. I suppose that if I did write one brilliant sentence that might be worth saving, I could write another equally fantastical sentence to take it's place.

In fact, I'm not going for just one sentence. I'm looking to make each word the right one, each sentence more compelling, each scene vital to the overall workings of the book.

And if it's not working... Delete.

So yes, whenever I'm in doubt, I delete. Have you done this? How do you feel about the delete key?

On Quitting

Okay, so I'm sure I've talked about quitting before. Probably something about how you shouldn't do it. You should stick with it. Work hard. All that jazz.

But today, I'm actually quitting. I'm quitting it all! Social media, blogging, and writing. I've taken a "break" before, sure. But today, I'm quitting.

Sometimes I just think a person's brain can get overloaded with All The Things, and it needs a break. If you don't give it one, it'll simply take one on it's own. And since I prefer to decide when I get to check out, I'm going to quit.

I might un-quit tomorrow, but I'm going to enjoy the freedom of quitting today.

There is still the ABANDON scavenger hunt going on! This week only. So be sure to check out today's stops.

• The League of Extraordinary Writers
• Kissed By Ink
• Romancing the Dark Side
• Books Complete Me
• Fire and Ice
• Girls in the Stacks

And if you were gone last week, you can get to all the stops from last week here.

You can ENTER today's CITY OF THE DAY here, and be sure to enter for a chance to win a daily swag package in the Rafflecopter.
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Have you ever quit something before? Did you un-quit later?

Why I Can't Blog Today

Dude, it was physically impossible to get to the laptop. And my PC upstairs won't let me log on to blogger. And my Mac from work is so freaking slow, it would've actually taken more time to boot that sucker up, open a blogger window (uh, hello? Does it take anyone else's blogger upward of five minutes of spinning before it finally works?), and write something coherent.

Instead, I'm going to be digging through, er, organizing this chaos.

Why yes. That IS my writing desk under there.

Aaaand, I'm in Las Vegas (!) so I can't really clean this up right now...

So yeah. Couldn't get a blog post ready. What keeps you from blogging?

And Happy Memorial Day! May your memories of your loved ones be sweet.

Don't Write Everyday

Okay, so I'm going to dispel some possibly unpopular advice. You've heard/read out there that you have to write every day to be a "real writer." You should schedule some time every day to write, or you'll never get published. You have to treat it like a job.

I say: rubbish.

Let me explain before you start throwing Diet Coke cans or click that unfollow button.

The best thing I ever did was allow myself to NOT write every day. And let me tell you, I was much happier after I gave myself that very important permission.

I do not write every day (except for this month and NaNo). I have a scheduled time to write, but I often don't use it for actual writing. And if I treated writing like a job, I'd want to quit--or die. It's a toss-up.

The fact is, I have a day job. The last thing I want is to take writing--something I love and create and enjoy and smile about--to turn into a j-o-b. Are there aspects of writing I don't like? Yes. Am I focused on making myself into a career author? Yes.

But I do not think of writing as a job. People can crucify me on that if they want. If I thought about it like that, I would not do it. The end.

Writing is more than a job to me, and I treat it that way instead.

So there. I often only write on the weekends (when not NaNo-ing). So that's 2 days on, 5 days off. I often write whenever I can, regardless of a schedule. And I don't think of writing as a job.

So sue me. I've still written 13 books over a 3-year period (I just finished my WiP LAST NIGHT). I have a real, live book being published next year. If you don't want to call me a writer because I don't stick to a schedule, I don't write every day, and/or I don't treat my writing like a job, go right ahead.

You can call me an author instead. ;-)

What do you think? What have you read/heard that just makes you go, "Well, I don't do that, so I must be wrong/lame/stupid/not good enough."? Discard it. And you can totally tell me if I'm wrong if you want to. I am well-aware of the differences in this world, and what works for me might never work for you. I guess I'm just a little leery of such definitive statements as "You must write every day if you want to be a writer."

Oh, and I'll be gone next week, not blogging, not writing, but you know, LIVING. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Avoiding Annoyances

Okay, so everyone has things that annoy them. I do, trust me. A lot of things. For one, I can't stand it when people make fun of me for saying "front forward." I know it's wrong, okay? I just don't care!

So annoying.

But I've come up with a few tips that will hopefully save you some annoyance points. Then you can use them up on your kids and send them to bed early. *wink*

1. Work. Work is annoying. It gets in the way of what I want to do = write. I can't read blogs, I can't email or chat incessantly, and I can't sleep in until 9. You may say that giving up those things is actually good, that work is actually rewarding.

You would be wrong. And also now annoying me.

So I've got the solution: sell your book for millions! Foreign rights, movie rights, large print and/or audio rights! The sky's the limit, baby. I mean, you sold a book! Aren't you going to be like, uber-rich now??

Yes. Adios annoyance.

2. The Non-Getters. You know who these people are. They're not fans, or family members, or other writers. They're the people you barely know who ask you stuff and get close to you at parties and/or church because they think it's cool you're an author, but they clearly don't "get" anything about what it takes to A) write a book B) get an agent C) sell a book D) refine the book and/or E) actually publish a book.

They want a (free) signed copy at their earliest convenience.

I say: No problem! I've got just what you need to give them what they want.

A smile, a nod, a high-pitched laugh, and an early escape from the conversation by going, "Ca-caw! Ca-caw!" and having your friend rescue you when she hears the prearranged distress call (never leave home without it).

See ya later, alligator.

3. Good books. Yeah, they shouldn't annoy me. They do. I wish I'd written them. I wish other people weren't so dang talented. I wish, I wish, I wish.

So in my ultra-annoyed state over the fact that my creative genius is actually creative crap, I've devised a solution to this never-ending nightmare of annoyance.

I've started a little self-talk, and it goes something like this: "This is a very good book, Elana. You should learn from it instead of being so insanely jealous and/or depressed that you'll never write like this, and/or have such a vivid imagination, and/or tap into your emotions in the right way. Maybe consider taking some notes on what they do that you like so much, and hey, maybe you'll figure out where all the key points are so you can actually finish that outline you started three weeks ago and never finished, and oh my heck, your deadline is in like, less than a week, and you're not done yet, and why are you wasting time reading this annoyingly good book??"

So you can see what I've done here. I've actually distracted myself AWAY from the annoyance and into panic.

Works every time.

What annoys you, and what are your Annoyance Solutions?

**Disclaimer: this blog post may or may not contain situations that may or may not have occurred in my life. Or with this friend I know...

Wearing Many Hats

This past week I've been preparing for the presentations I'll be doing at a conference in April. Spending so much time and energy on this made me realize something.

I'm wearing more than just the writer hat. So I decided to keep track of what I do in a given week. Now, don't freak out (Jonathan) because I didn't do any math. I just took a good, hard look at my writing time and wrote down how I spent it.

Because I wasn't writing. I wasn't working on my MS. (We're having issues again. We need literary therapy.)

I've hung up my "Writer/Reviser" hat.

Instead I've been wearing my Critique Partner hat. My Friend hat. Query Ninja. PowerPoint Presentation Maker. Reader. Outliner (shudder). Copier. Google Image Searcher. Blogger. Commenter. Social Networker.

And that doesn't even go into my personal life hats. That's just what I did during my alloted writing time.

How many hats do you have? Which one are you wearing the most right now? I really need to get back to the Writer one. I'm the happiest in that hat. I miss that hat.

You Know You Need A Break When...

You get mad for no discernable reason, other than Blockbuster called with a "friendly reminder" that your movie rental is now three days late.

One second everything's fine, and the next you're about to cry.

You eat out 3 nights in a row.

You have so many emails, the new ones go onto the next page.

You can't watch American Idol because you can't stand to watch the heartbreak of rejection.

You've been wearing the headphones for three hours and haven't heard a single song--because you forgot to turn on iTunes.

Your MS is in pieces and you're about to throw the laptop through the sliding glass door. Oh, and you're over your word count. Again.

The sun hasn't been shining in a week. Srsly, winter. END.

Your daughter has inherited your unibrow. Dang genetics dooming her to a life of Bert-dom and/or painful hot wax treatments.

You actually care that your daughter has inherited your unibrow. In fact, this is cry-worthy.

You lay in bed reading at all hours of the day. In your pajamas.

You buy a can of those "garnish" French-fried onion things and eat them for a meal.


How do you unwind/find yourself/achieve balance/etc. when you have days/weeks/months like this? And this totally wasn't my week, in case any of you were wondering. I know this other girl who has a unibrow. It's sexy. *wink*

But I will be taking a break gone until Monday. Have a loverly weekend!

Where I Spend My Time

When I open a new tab in Google Chrome, it brings up my most frequented places. When I got my new laptop, I had to "train" it. Luckily, it only took about a week to see where my priorities lay.

I give you Where I Spend My Online Time:

1. Facebook (I blame CafeWorld and FarmVille. You should too.)
2. Rallystorm (I'm long-winded. What can I say?)
3. Twitter (I like to eavesdrop.)
4. Blogger (I'm here five days a week, people.)
5. Pandora (2 accounts. 80 hours. The end.)
6. QueryTracker (This is like a three-peat. Blog. Forum. Success Stories.)
7. My own blog (Is that so wrong?)
8. Google (Hey, even I do a little research. A very little.)

I like to tell myself that I'm a supreme multi-tasker, and I'm juggling twitter and forums and blogging amidst my revisions, but it's all a lie. I have to get the tabs down to two (Pandora and gmail) before I even open Word.

What about you? Where do you spend your time online?

My Kung Foo Is Strong

Do you like the new digs? I've been wanting to change up the look of my blog and website for a while, but well, you know, my DH does all the decorating at my house. I wear men's jeans. And clothes from 2000 and late. 'Nuff said.

So imagine my surprise when the fabulous Lisa Amowitz (her plot map is ah-ma-zing) emailed and offered to make me a shiny new header. See, she is the wickedest awesomest graphic designer. And an amazing author, so follow her blog if you're not already.

Then came the whole template thing.

Oh. My. Holey. Swiss. Cheese.

What a nightmare! No wonder I haven't done it. Hours, people. It took hours. And this template had the comments at the top (something I dislike) and it took me half my life to figure out how to A) find the html code and B) where to move it so it would be at the bottom. But, dude, I persevered!

Something funny: my new template's name is New Moon. It came with fabulous pics of Bella and Edward and Jacob. Tee hee.

But, hey, this massive redesign project saved me from beginning revisions on the final third of my MS. Therefore, my kung foo is strong, and I'm ready to throw down a major can of nunchuckage on said MS.

How's your kung foo? Feeling good about life? Writing? Revisions? Blog makeovers?

Hiiii-yaaa!

Have Not Written a Single Word

Since November 15. That's right, in over 30 days. I've been editing and revising like crazy. My second novel, ELEMENTAL HUNGER, is undergoing a major makeover. And I'm not like Kurt on Glee who thinks makeovers are like crack.

More like cold-water torture. Self-inflicted, because I wrote the novel so suckily (it's my blog and I say it's a word) the first time. In fact, I have since realized why it's not as polished as some of my other third drafts.

It's a NaNo novel.

2008, to be exact. And I "finished" it earlier this year. The last 100 pages are in far (far far) better shape than the first 200. Why?

Because I wrote them over a span of two months instead of two weeks.

Go figure.

So, I solemnly resolve to get this bad boy whipped into shape.

Problem? I have a shiny new idea that wants to be written. And since I haven't penned any new words in such a long time, my resolve to revise EH is waning.

How long has it been since you've written? Do you miss it when you don't write? What keeps you from writing?

New Moon Reflections

You knew it was coming. My discussion of New Moon. Yes, I went at midnight (12:01 AM actually) on opening day/night/whatever. No, it wasn't my favorite movie.

And no, I'm not going to discuss why. No, today I want to talk about the actors. Well, really just one: Kristen Stewart.

I'll just be upfront: she drives me a little batty. Here's why. Occasionally, I watch the late shows. And by "occasionally" I mean I watch them when my husband has already watched them, decided something is worthy for me to see, DVR's it and then nags me to watch it for a few days.

Thus, how I saw Rob P., Kristen S. and Taylor L. on The Jimmy Kimmel Show.

One word: Hilarious. I hope you saw it. Really funny. Well, Jimmy was. Even Rob gave me a laugh (when he said he thought having a pre-pubescent girl's body would be sufficient, I snarfed and then rewound so I could snarf again). Taylor is by far the most normal of that trio.

And that brings me to Kristen. So she's on the show, promoting the movie. Promoting herself. And what does she say? "I'm a loser and very boring."

I was like, "Really? That's what you're going to say about yourself? On a promotional show? For realz?"

I mean, seriously. I know we've talked about self-confidence and over-confidence on this blog before, but come on. I don't want to hear her call herself a loser. Cuz you know what? Now my suspicions of her loserdom have been confirmed--from her own mouth.

So again, dear writer friends, where's the line? That one between "I am the greatest person on the planet and I'm just a normal person, but hey I'm pretty great at this writing thing." Or acting. Or drawing. Or whatever.

Help a sister out. I don't think Kristen has it right, and I'm wondering where "it" is. Thoughts? About Kristen, Rob (and how he's not really supporting the Edward team), Taylor, or New Moon in general? Be nice now...

Do You Know Who This Is?

Dude, you should.


Okay, it's confession time. I have branched out beyond reality TV. This is shocking, I know. Especially since the new season of Survivor starts on Thursday--and that's the original reality show. But, man, as a tried-and-true (band) geek, the new show on Fox--GLEE--has me smiling. Still.

Seriously grinning. Every time I hear Rihanna's song, Take a Bow, I feel GLEE.

When Wednesday comes, there's only one way to describe me: GLEEFUL.

I even so much as think about dancing and singing combined with high school and I'm grinning like I've gone of the GLEE end. Seriously.

I'm so glad it's Wednesday. No. Not glad. GLEE. I'm so GLEE today.  


Do I have an addictive personality? You decide.