A Productivity Schedule

Okay, so I've been on a pretty crazy productivity schedule for several months now. The reason is because I'm releasing a new inspirational western romance every 11 weeks. And there was one point in April, where I'd just put up a pre-order and I'd only written ONE CHAPTER of the book.

One chapter.

And the book was coming out in 11 weeks. And I'd only written that chapter so I could put it in the back of the book coming out.

I started panicking a little. I mean, I write fast, but I need time to edit, let the book sit, format, etc.

And I never wanted to be that far behind again. My goal for the summer was to write enough so I could be working 6-7 months ahead of a book's publication date.

I wrote 240,000 words from the last day of school in June to the first day of school in August. And since school started, I've written 2 more books, one at 50K and one at 53K. And I just started another that I'm 20K into.

I have to do this if I want to continue publishing according to my schedule -- and in fact, I've decided to roll out my new series (starting in January) every 6 weeks. SIX WEEKS. But I'm happy to say that the book I'm writing right now doesn't come out until April. So I've achieved that 6 month cushion I wanted for myself.

I'm using Google calendar to keep track of what I should be working on. I give myself 3 weeks to write a 50K book. If I can get 3K/day for the 18 days, I can get really close. I take Sundays off, and I don't work Mondays so I can usually get closer to 5K to make up for any days I don't meet my word count goal.

I draft 2 books back-to-back. Then I take a break for formatting, marketing stuff, relaxation, releases, outlining the next 2 books, etc. That's usually 2 weeks. Then I'm back to drafting.

I feel like I'm doing pretty well at sticking to my schedule, but I also re-evaluate everything every month to prioritize things I may have overlooked, or move a book I'm not feeling like writing. But I have a productivity schedule, and I use it!

Do you do anything like that? How's it going for you?

On Hope

Okay, so I've been lurking in the blogosphere a bit more lately. I read a ton of posts on Facebook, public and in a plethora of groups I belong to. Reading Facebook is like a full-time job! Am I right, or what?

Anyway, I've noticed a few things these past few weeks, and I wanted to touch on one: Hope.

I know what it's like to hope for something that happens. I know what it's like to hope for something that doesn't happen. And honestly, the word hope can be equated to anxiety. Ha!

But I don't think hope is a bad thing, and often we think of anxiety in a negative way. But hope is well, hopeful. Sometimes things work out the way we'd like. More often than not, they don't. We might get a book deal, but not with the publisher we really wanted, for the amount of money we hoped for, etc. Sometimes we hope for things that never come to fruition.

Does that mean we should stop hoping? I don't think it does. I think having hope is a good thing, a strong motivator for us to keep doing the best we can. That could be that we hope today is going to be a better day than yesterday as far as parenting goes. Maybe tonight I won't burn the chicken (one can hope!). And maybe, just maybe, today will be the day I lay down 1000 words in a book that will one day be published.

Having these hopes in various aspects of our lives motivates us to keep trying. Don't give up. Try something different.

And none of that is bad.

How hopeful are you right now?

Ideas and Ideas!

Okay, so I've gone through periods of my writing life where I don't seem to have a single idea. I think I blogged about it once, but I can't find it. Ha! 

But it's an overwhelming feeling to think you'll never have another worthwhile idea again!

But almost as overwhelming -- or maybe MORE overwhelming -- is the writer who has so many ideas s/he can't write them all.

That's where I'm finding myself right now. I have a FLOOD of story ideas, series ideas, self-publishing release ideas, collaboration ideas, and then more IDEAS.

I feel like I'll never have enough time to write all these ideas, polish them, submit them, and/or self-publish them. With my day job, my family, my real life, AND writing, I sat down to make a production schedule. And I'm booked through May. That means no more ideas can be started until then. And that makes me sad, because I just thumb-typed an email to myself last night for three new ideas!!

When will I ever be able to write them??

Are you in an Idea Drought or an Idea Flood right now? Which do you think is worse?

School's Out -- A Short Break

Okay, so school's out for summer!

And I couldn't be more relieved. It has been a challenging year for me, and I'm continually amazed at how every year is different in teaching. Always something new, always something different.

So I'm going to take a much-needed break from blogging. Just a couple of weeks. I'm going to relax by the pool, write a book, go to a National Park, and relax. Wait. Did I say that already? :)

What are you doing this summer?

Making Your Stories Work For You

Okay, so I was at critique group last week, and I have some of the greatest crit partners. They are inspirational and talented. Ali's said this before, but it helped me once again. She said she likes to have her books "working for her."

That doesn't mean they're all published, making money, though she does have some awesome books out there you should buy and read. No, what she means is that she wants them DOING SOMETHING while she works on something else. Whether that's querying them, or sending them to beta readers, or editing them. She doesn't like to just let books sit.

I've been thinking about that for a few days, because I have a couple of books just sitting. They're good books (in my opinion), but they're not doing anything. I've basically shelved them. So I've been trying to access what, if anything, I should do with them. There are some options, but there are some limitations too.

I'm working on other things, so it's not like I don't have plenty to do writing-wise. But these two books aren't currently working for me.

What do you do? Do you put all of your books to work for you?

Seven Years Ago

Okay, so it's Spring Break where I am. Yay! I don't work in the summer either, but for some reason, I am so much more productive during Spring Break. I get a lot of cleaning done, and I try to get a lot of words on the page.

Seven years ago this week, I began my third novel. It was titled Control Issues all the way until it was sold and renamed to Possession.

I can't always remember when I wrote certain sections or sometimes even whole books. But with Possession, I remember that Spring Break vividly. I'm pretty sure I ate cold cereal for every meal, sitting on the couch as I wrote, and wrote, and wrote.

I don't know how much I wrote during the week of Spring Break, but I know I started Possession on Monday, and 17 days later, I finished the rough draft. It was 90,000 words. (Take that NaNo!)

I didn't start querying it until 13 months later, because hey, I'm a "dirty drafter." I need lots of time to clean up my books before they're fit for anyone to see.

Anyway, my publishing journey over the past seven years has been twisty. Sometimes I feel like I'm on the right path and things are going in the direction I want. Other times, I feel like I've taken a lesser traveled path, and it's sort of dark on this side street.

Each trail, whether well-worn or choked with brambles, has been an adventure. I've tried different genres, I've tried collaborations, I've tried lots of things. And I'm excited to keep trying!

Where were you in the journey seven years ago?

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?

How to Establish a Great Magic System, Part Seven

Okay, I'm back to talk about the next question to ask yourself when setting up your magic system.

Question 7: What are the limitations of the magic?

The limitations of a magic system are what sets it apart from everything else that has already been done. These limitations will force the characters to have to work for their goals, which makes the writing simply more interesting and the characters more sympathetic.

Limitations in magic give the enemy an advantage, which makes for more tension in your novel. And that makes it exciting!

This is where you can really shine. Force yourself to stretch your imagination and come up with something that is unique in it’s limitation. This is tied closely with cost, and the cost of using magic could lead to a limitation. So spend some time on both of these to truly work out what’s WEAK about your magic, and what’s WEAK about your character, and then have them work and strive to overcome those weaknesses. Because that’s what readers like to read about – regular people who are weak becoming heroes. It’s why Superman is so popular. Or Spiderman. Joe Bloggs who can’t get the girl can suddenly leap off tall buildings and save the world. We want to BE that hero. But not if he’s all-powerful. We want to see in ourselves that we could become that person. So the magic still has to have a limitation, a weakness, that makes it “human.”

When you establish limitations on your magic, it can:

• Force the MC to work for their goals
• Makes the MC more sympathetic
• Increase tension
• Tie to the nature of your world

So what limitations does your magic have?

I did use Google to aid me in my research. I found three places that provided me with the most insight and useful information: Brandon Sanderson's Laws of Magic (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3), WikiHow (don't laugh, it had good stuff!), and The Four Part Land (he has six parts, but they're all linked at the top of this one). My magic series is here: Question 1, Question 2, Question 3, Question 4, Question 5, and Question 6.

So I read (ahem, maybe I skimmed a little. Some of the posts are long!) up on magic systems. I thought about what *I* liked in a magic system. I thought about the fantasy novels I'd read (because I don't read high-high fantasy like Sanderson or many of the authors/titles they talk about in these posts). I thought about Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the TV show Merlin, movies like The Prestige, and other -- in my opinion -- accessible references. (Basically I'm saying I was too lazy to take the time to read those high fantasy novels. I reflected on what I was familiar with. And that's a tip I always give when I'm teaching: Use what you know to draw conclusions and create learning for what you don't.)

How to Establish a Great Magic System, Part Six

Okay, so up today is part six in establishing your magic system. I hope you've been keeping up, but if you haven't, the links to all the past questions are at the bottom of the page.

Question 6: What is the cost of using magic?

• Magic use should have a price

This can be a physical cost, like getting a headache or being weak. It can be something that has to be made up in nature later. Perhaps magic acts cannot be performed close together, or simultaneously. This is where you can make your fantasy and your magic system DIFFERENT. You should always be looking for a new slant to put on your magic, and the cost of using or being associated with the magic is a great place to do it.

• The cost can establish character weaknesses

This is where you can establish weaknesses in the magic and provide something the enemy can exploit later. This will force them to grow and change BEYOND the magic (the magic can’t save them, they have to save themselves), and give you good conflict when you’re building your world and characters.

• Simply associating with magic can have a consequence

This is not to simply be more complex. It’s to force you to create better stories. You can do so here, with the cost of the magic. You set a limitation, and you stick to it. Don’t let yourself give your MC (magic user) a new power every time they need one. Resist using magic to solve every little problem in the book – unless you’ve already explained and shown that aspect of how the magic works. Be careful about writing laws into your system simply so you can use them once in a specific situation. Be more creative than that!

So what is the price of using magic in your world?


I did use Google to aid me in my research. I found three places that provided me with the most insight and useful information: Brandon Sanderson's Laws of Magic (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3), WikiHow (don't laugh, it had good stuff!), and The Four Part Land (he has six parts, but they're all linked at the top of this one). My magic series is here: Question 1, Question 2, Question 3, Question 4, and Question 5.

So I read (ahem, maybe I skimmed a little. Some of the posts are long!) up on magic systems. I thought about what *I* liked in a magic system. I thought about the fantasy novels I'd read (because I don't read high-high fantasy like Sanderson or many of the authors/titles they talk about in these posts). I thought about Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the TV show Merlin, movies like The Prestige, and other -- in my opinion -- accessible references. (Basically I'm saying I was too lazy to take the time to read those high fantasy novels. I reflected on what I was familiar with. And that's a tip I always give when I'm teaching: Use what you know to draw conclusions and create learning for what you don't.)

How to Establish a Great Magic System, Part Five

Oh my heck, you guys, I am so far behind on my list of things to do! I feel like I've abandoned you a little bit here on the blog. Because I have.

But the end of April found me planning an Eagle court of honor for my son, and then finishing up all the prep to teach at a major Utah writer's conference, at which I was also the Faculty Coordinator. It was busy to say the least. And then May hit, and for teachers, this is a very busy month.

So I'm sorry! But I am back today with Part Five of how to establish a great magic system.

Today's question is: How Are Magic Acts Performed?

• chants, spells, songs = SPOKEN
• wands, hand movements = PHYSICALLY
• MENTALLY
• combination of the above

We see examples of all of these in Harry Potter. Harry and his friends first learn the words they need to cast spells. These have to be spoken clearly or you could end up in the wrong alley.

Some spells have specific wand movements – a physical skill that must be performed correctly. But later on, we see that spells can be cast without words, suggesting that as a magic user progresses, they can simply use a wand and their mental capability to cast spells and perform magic. Some of these are done all together, some separately, but they can all achieve magic.

So what do the characters in your book need to do in order to perform their magic? Does it require another person, a specific tool, a list of memorized lyrics, etc. to get the spell accomplished?

I did use Google to aid me in my research. I found three places that provided me with the most insight and useful information: Brandon Sanderson's Laws of Magic (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3), WikiHow (don't laugh, it had good stuff!), and The Four Part Land (he has six parts, but they're all linked at the top of this one).

So I read (ahem, maybe I skimmed a little. Some of the posts are long!) up on magic systems. I thought about what *I* liked in a magic system. I thought about the fantasy novels I'd read (because I don't read high-high fantasy like Sanderson or many of the authors/titles they talk about in these posts). I thought about Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the TV show Merlin, movies like The Prestige, and other -- in my opinion -- accessible references. (Basically I'm saying I was too lazy to take the time to read those high fantasy novels. I reflected on what I was familiar with. And that's a tip I always give when I'm teaching: Use what you know to draw conclusions and create learning for what you don't.)

How to Establish a Great Magic System, Part Four

Okay, onto Part Four today! We're flying through these! I hope that you've found them somewhat useful as you consider writing a fantasy or science fiction novel. (See Part One, Part Two, and/or Part Three.)

Onward and upward to Question 4: How Is Magic Viewed?

• By society
• By other magic users
• By the MC
• Not only magic, but how are magic users viewed? By the public? Each other?

This is where you establish how the magic is viewed in society. Is it generally accepted? Unaccepted? Laws against using magic, or being a magician? How does the MC view magic and magic users? If s/he is a magic user, how do they feel about their society’s limitations or opinions on magic? How is the magic viewed among magic users? Is that different from society?

How are magic users viewed? Feared? Respected? Abhorred? All this should be established as you’re building your magic system. A lot of this can go toward limiting your magic users and your main character as well. So don’t skip over this step.


I did use Google to aid me in my research. I found three places that provided me with the most insight and useful information: Brandon Sanderson's Laws of Magic (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3), WikiHow (don't laugh, it had good stuff!), and The Four Part Land (he has six parts, but they're all linked at the top of this one).

So I read (ahem, maybe I skimmed a little. Some of the posts are long!) up on magic systems. I thought about what *I* liked in a magic system. I thought about the fantasy novels I'd read (because I don't read high-high fantasy like Sanderson or many of the authors/titles they talk about in these posts). I thought about Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the TV show Merlin, movies like The Prestige, and other -- in my opinion -- accessible references. (Basically I'm saying I was too lazy to take the time to read those high fantasy novels. I reflected on what I was familiar with. And that's a tip I always give when I'm teaching: Use what you know to draw conclusions and create learning for what you don't.)

How To Establish a Great Magic System, Part Three

Okay, so I'm back again, now onto the third question you might consider as you build and establish a magic system. (You can see Part One and Part Two here.) I think it's important to consider all aspects of the system, but if that freaks you out before writing, never fear! I answer some of the questions before writing, some as I'm going, and some after I'm done. So if you're not an outliner, you can still use the questions you need, in the order YOU need them.

Question 3: What is the Purpose of the Magic?

• Contributes to character motivation?
• Main element or mysterious?
• Plot-based?
• Serves the story?

Maybe this should be question 1, but you need to know the purpose of your magic system. Is it the main element of your book, or something more mysterious, happening behind the scenes? How much does it affect your main character, what they do, their motivations?

The purpose of the magic should be to serve your story. If it’s just some “cool” element and has no real place in the plot, you’ll have a well, not a very good book. The purpose of the magic must be convincing and cohesive to both character development and plot, or it’s just lame. So make the magic integral to both character and plot.

I think any time you can make the elements of world, setting, character, and plot cross -- meaning one impacts the other in a meaningful and uncontrived way -- your novel will feel like it was done deliberately, and readers always want to feel like the author is in control of what's unfolding on the page.

So examining the purpose of the magic can help you develop character motivation, character flaws, character strengths, and determine character growth. The purpose of the magic can (and should!) advance the plot. The purpose of the magic can be tied up in the world/setting. Everything can be intertwined so that when things start going bad, everything starts going bad -- which allows your main character to develop into a hero.



I did use Google to aid me in my research. I found three places that provided me with the most insight and useful information: Brandon Sanderson's Laws of Magic (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3), WikiHow (don't laugh, it had good stuff!), and The Four Part Land (he has six parts, but they're all linked at the top of this one).

So I read (ahem, maybe I skimmed a little. Some of the posts are long!) up on magic systems. I thought about what *I* liked in a magic system. I thought about the fantasy novels I'd read (because I don't read high-high fantasy like Sanderson or many of the authors/titles they talk about in these posts). I thought about Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the TV show Merlin, movies like The Prestige, and other -- in my opinion -- accessible references. (Basically I'm saying I was too lazy to take the time to read those high fantasy novels. I reflected on what I was familiar with. And that's a tip I always give when I'm teaching: Use what you know to draw conclusions and create learning for what you don't.)

How To Establish a Great Magic System, Part Two

So we started exploring how to establish a great magic system earlier this week. (Click here to see it.) I said there why and how I started exploring this topic, as well as citing the Internet resources I used. I won't bore you with those again, but I am going to link the resources again at the end of the post.

But for today, let's dive right into question 2.

Question 2: Where Does the Magic Come From?

• what powers it?
• where does the energy come from?
• do the characters, the setting, or the world contribute to the magic?

I think the best way to form a cohesive book is to tie elements together. They don't operate independently of one another. The magic in your novel should facilitate the character development and plot. The plot should facilitate character development and world-building. The character development should facilitate the magic system and the setting. If you can tie them all together, the individual elements won't feel tacked on or extraneous. Your book will feel well-thought out and cohesive.

So as you're planning and developing your magic system, use it to tie your world elements, your setting, your plot, and your characters all together. One way to do that is here, in Question 2: Where Does the Magic Come From?

The source of the magic, or what’s powering it, can provide conflict if you want it to. Conflict for the plot. Conflict for the main character, either externally or internally. Look for things that have good ties to the nature of your world. The elements, the characters, the setting. How can these contribute to where the magic stems from? Look for things that tie the magic to other setting elements and which make life hard for the practitioners--especially the main character (if they're a magic user).

So now we've examined who can use the magic, and what's powering the magic. Stay tuned for part three, coming next Monday!


I did use Google to aid me in my research. I found three places that provided me with the most insight and useful information: Brandon Sanderson's Laws of Magic (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3), WikiHow (don't laugh, it had good stuff!), and The Four Part Land (he has six parts, but they're all linked at the top of this one).

So I read (ahem, maybe I skimmed a little. Some of the posts are long!) up on magic systems. I thought about what *I* liked in a magic system. I thought about the fantasy novels I'd read (because I don't read high-high fantasy like Sanderson or many of the authors/titles they talk about in these posts). I thought about Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the TV show Merlin, movies like The Prestige, and other -- in my opinion -- accessible references. (Basically I'm saying I was too lazy to take the time to read those high fantasy novels. I reflected on what I was familiar with. And that's a tip I always give when I'm teaching: Use what you know to draw conclusions and create learning for what you don't.)

What Is Enough For Me

Okay, so I've been doing a lot of thinking and working, and working and thinking about publishing. I always seem to, and I always seem to find some new light or think of something in a new way. I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this anymore, but I still am!

So I have traditionally published a series with Simon & Schuster. I enjoyed the experience, and I like working with an agent to sell my books to bigger publishers. I am hoping for future sales in this market. In fact, I just turned in a novel last week that I hope is "the one!"

Additionally, I have begun a journey into self-publishing. I have enjoyed it too. There are things I can do with my self-published titles that I can't with my S&S titles. Marketing, playing with price, and buying ads are the biggest things I've noticed so far.

I've also been networking and hob-nobbing with some Indie authors. They are fun people, and very determined and hard-working. I've also noticed--and it's all coming from ME, not THEM--this need to constantly be selling my books.

I've felt this pressure since self-publishing. Not from other authors, but in general. I've realized that I don't like it.

Selling books is not why I write books. I have no grand illusions of making a million dollars. I don't write to make money. I don't want that to be the focus of my writing.

But I've struggled with this, because the amount of money you make nearly determines your success or worth in almost any field, publishing included.

This thought of writing because I love it, and publishing because, for me, it's a needed process that comes with writing has been re-iterated this past weekend. I want to share my work with readers--hopefully readers that will love the stories I write as much as I do.

To me, that is the purpose and goal of my writing. It's also why I publish. I've been having a hard time identifying what would be "enough" for me. More money? I already knew I wasn't writing for money. But what is it? What drives me to write and publish? What is enough?

I think I've identified at least one piece of this perplexing puzzle. The reader connection. See, I got a review from The Deseret News, which is one of the big newspapers in Salt Lake City. The reviewer loved ELEVATED. She connected to it. She got out of it what I got out of it. She read and loved what I wrote and loved.

She said, in part: "It is easy to flow from the first word to the last without ever putting down the book. Johnson shows outstanding talent in this form, and her words are beautiful, important and deeply felt." (You can read the whole review here.)

It was a magical moment. It's like the reader and the author experiencing, breathing, and existing in the same space for the time it takes to read the book.

And that, I realized, is enough for me.

What do you think would be enough for you?

How Do You Know If You're Good?

Okay, so many of you know I'm querying. And if you didn't, you do now! Of course, I'm getting rejected. It's part of the business. But as the rejections have been coming in, I'm always left with one question: How do you know if you're a good writer?

Is it because people tell you you are? Is it because you have an agent? A lot of sales? A deal?

I'm not sure, because I've read books that win big, major awards and I walk away from them because I don't like them. I've read books that are brilliant that no one else seems to be talking about. I've read books that sold for a lot of money and found them boring.

So how do you know if you're a good writer? What's the measurement?

I hate stuff like this, because I am a concrete person. I want a plan, a method, to know. Like, I can count my calories and know how much I've eaten. I can see the weight coming off the scale (BTW, I'm down 10 pounds now! Just started a couple of weeks ago). I know how to measure the success.

But with publishing, I don't.

I think that might be the most frustrating thing of all. I don't want to publish something bad, something poorly written or imagined, something poorly executed. But I don't know how to tell what's "good" and what's "bad."

So how do you know if you're a good writer?

NaNo Check-In!

Okay, I realize I've abandoned the blog for a little bit. It's because all my time is sucked up in teaching, mothering, and writing. And it's exciting! I haven't written a book since April, and for a few days there, I seriously thought I'd forgotten how.

But isn't that always how it goes? Sure, I've been spending a lot of time on writing-related things. Revisions. Social media. Editing. But the actual drafting a book doesn't happen as often. Not nearly enough.

So this NaNo-ing has been good for me. Very therapeutic. I'm a bit ahead of the curve right now, but I still need to be writing about 1400 words each day to finish on time.

The real problem came yesterday when I wrote during my lunch hour (gotta grab the minutes when you can, you know?). I think I may have written myself into a corner. I usually write again after my kids go to bed, but I just couldn't. I wasn't sure how to get out of what I'd gotten into.

So I'm stewing on that today, and I might have to do one of those fillers. You know, the "stuff happens here" highlighted in yellow so I can keep getting the words on the page.

Are you NaNo-ing? How is it going?

Suck Less

So I was trolling Facebook the other day. It's pretty standard for me these days. I can fly through my lists and like and comment in a few minutes. I like it. Someone had said something about their family motto (for which I instantly felt inferior), and my husband reminded me that we too, have a family motto.

Suck Less.

I decided this is a good motto for a lot of things, writing included. So as I prepare to k-i-l-l my concept for NaNo with lots of words, I'm going to try to make them suck less.

Of course, how one goes about doing that is another matter entirely. I've been reading a lot lately (lucky you, because as usual, I'll be talking about the books I love), and I think instead of giving you a recommendation on why you'll like a book from a reader's standpoint, I think I'll talk about how amazing the books are based on their writing -- and what I learned from it.

This might only last for one or two books (let's be honest here), but I've read some really good ones lately that have struck something in me. Something that sounds a lot like This sucks less. Make yours suck less.

So that's my official goal for NaNo. Do you have a writing goal? In general or for NaNo?

Is It Worth It?

Okay, sometimes I wonder at things. Most recently, I've been wondering if this publishing thing is worth the time and effort I've previously put into it. Notice I didn't say writing. I do love to write, and often I have a side project that I pour my energy into that no one will ever see. I don't want anyone to see those things.

But sometimes I wonder if pursuing publishing is worth what I'm sacrificing. Sometimes I wonder if the emotional investment I'm depositing is too much. Sometimes I'm eating dinner with my family, but I'm thinking about publishing. I'm obsessing over publishing. What makes my day "good" or "bad" is dependent on what publishing news I've had--or haven't had.

I feel like I've achieved some level of balance between my real life and publishing in a physical sense. But in an emotional and mental sense, I fear I am still far too focused on publishing. And I'm wondering: Is it worth it?

What are your thoughts? Tips on achieving mental/emotional balance with this publishing roller coaster?