Three Things

Okay, so I've got a personal theory about how much any one person can do before everything they're trying to do suffers. It's a trend that I've noticed in my own life over the course of the last few years.

I think we can do three things really well. When we try to add a fourth or a fifth thing to our list, everything we're trying to do suffers. We can't be great moms (or dads), and great writers, and great co-workers, and great critique partners, and great friends, and great wives (or husbands), and great service-givers all at the same time.

It's impossible.

I believe there are constants that we should implant into the first couple of slots, and then constantly rotate the third spot to what needs to get done.

For example, my first two slots are 1. Family, and 2. Work. I need to be on top of things at home. I need to sign homework slips, and make dinner, and schedule appointments, get cars fixed, drive kids to activities, etc. That always comes first.

I need to be a good teacher. I need to be dedicated to work during work hours, and I need to feel value in what I do at school.

Those two cannot budge. If I take work out of the rotation and fill it with something else, that's bad--and not only for me. Same goes with my family.

So there's one more slot. What do I fill it with? What do I dedicate my non-working, non-family-devoted hours to?

For several months, it's been going to the gym. Exercising takes a lot of time and mental energy for me. I don't have much left to give at the end of the day when it's filled with family, work, and healthy eating/exercising.

Which has been great, considering that I haven't needed to focus on anything else--including writing. I feel like my routine is more settled now, and that I could occasionally swap out that third thing -- the gym -- with writing.

I can compartmentalize my hours much better now, having realized that I can't do All The Things all the time.

So my days now look something like this:
1. Family
2. Work
3. Gym until 6:00 PM
3.1. Writing until exhausted

That's not really four things, lest some of you think it is. I cannot focus on going to the gym if I'm worried about not having enough time to write. I can't write if I don't first dedicate the time needed to go to the gym.

They're swappable, not coinciding. I hope that makes sense.

So I'm constantly swapping out the third thing, sometimes even on a daily basis.

What do you think? Can you do more than three things simultaneously -- and do them well?

Getting Out Of Your Own Way

Okay, I sucketh at this. But you know how sometimes you're your own worst enemy? Your toughest critic? All that jazz?

Yeah, me too.

So here's the deal. I've been sending and receiving quite a few emails with some friends of mine. They are kind, and helpful, and oh-so-valuable to me.

One thing I read that really caught my eye was something along the lines of: You've done all you can do. Get out of your own way. (This is not a direct quote, but it's what I heard in my brain.)

Wow. Just wow.

That was an awesome lesson for me. Sometimes I think creative people beat themselves up too much. We're just a little too hard on ourselves. We actually make life and writing and creating harder than it needs to be.

And who's that obstacle?

Ourself. (Is ourself a word? Sounds funny coming out of my mouth, but it's not underlined...)

So. Following the advice of Michael Jackson, take a good look at the man in the mirror. And ask yourself: What do I want? Am I working hard to get it? Have I done all I can do?

Am I standing in my own way?

Then get out of your own way.

I Am Not Awesome

Tina Lynn asked: Hmmm...how are you so amazing? Come on, confess. Launched here in an escape pod by your parents during a nuclear apocalypse? Bitten by a radioactive spider? Given a ring that gives you the power to create anything you can imagine? It's only fair that you tell us mere humans so we can stop beating ourselves up for being less than...you know?

Quinn also asked me this question, he just didn't know it. (Check out his post here.)

Okay, so it's totally fine with me if you want to label me with the Awesome Stamp.

I'm just not going to label myself with it. And here's why:

I want to live every day better than the last. I want to keep improving myself and my writing. The second I allow myself to think I'm awesome, I know that I'll slip.

I won't try. I won't work as hard. I won't improve.

And so while I'm glad you think I'm awesome, and I try to accept the compliment graciously, I do not want to think that about myself.

I don't want to think "all is well."

I want to be better today than I was yesterday. In all areas of my life, not just writing.

What about you? What do you tell yourself--or don't tell yourself--to keep moving forward?


And it was Edward, for the official record and all that. He used to watch me sleep in my bedroom. Now we stay up all night, him watching (forEVER watching) and me blogging and writing and tweeting and baking delicious blood brownies.

Working Hard

Okay, so a couple of friends and I really pushed each other through our writing in November. Two of us (Ali and I) were writing new words for NaNo. Christine was editing her second, fabulous, amazing, you-want-it-now book, 101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids (out May 1, 2011. Order yours now!)

We all had goalz. And we'd tweet each other to see when we were writing, and we emailed each night our final word count and last lines. (I like to see the lines out of context--plus, it made me write a really good line every time in case that was my last one and I had to email it off. No lie.)

I thought I'd be cool and put up our twitter feeds. But that got squashed real quick when I realized how much, um, work that was going to be. Ha!

Anyway, I wanted to talk about working hard today. In one of the tweets, Ali called me a workhorse. Last week, when I posted my jacket, Shannon commented that she knew all along that I was a vampire, since I don't sleep (I mean, how else do I get everything done that I get done?).

And I realized that I am a bit of a workhorse.

My husband said it best: "When Elana does something, she does it." (Said to a friend of ours.)

And he's right. When I do something, I do it. I work at it. And work at it. And work at it.

And then I work at it some more.

Because, let's face it, writing a book is a holy-truckload-of-workhorses lotta of work. If you didn't know this already, I suggest you quit before you start. You'll be happier, your spouse/significant other probably will be too. And your kids? Cats? Whatever? They'll be happier too.

If you're still here, if you've accepted that writing this book is probably going to take more time and effort than graduating college, then crack your knuckles...

...and get back to work! (lol!)

But in all seriousness, as per yesterday's post, I absolutely for-sure 100% believe that in the end, hard work trumps all.

"Bad" luck? Hard work can overcome that.

Self-doubt? Hard work can overcome that.

Vomituous first drafts? Hard work can overcome that.

Negative review? Hard work can overcome that.

Disappointment over rejection?
Wallowing in thoughts of "this is never going to happen for me"?
Scared someone else will beat you to a fresh idea?
Worried that you're running out of time?
Jealous that a friend got an agent/book deal/more money than you?

Hard work can overcome that.

Those who work hard, achieve.

I feel like that should be a quote from a famous person or something, so I Googled it. Nothin'. Dangitall. But I did find some other gems:

"Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them." ~Ann Landers

"Luck to me is something else: Hard work." ~Lucille Ball

"There is no substitute for hard work." ~Thomas Edison

So don't give up. Work harder.

Have you seen the role of hard work in your life? How hard are you willing to work?

And don't forget to check out Badass Bookie's 2011 Debutante Event! All about POSSESSION today, including some quotes from the MC's. There're chances to win...not only my book, but 11 others too! So make sure you go check it out from now until December 31! (And thanks for visiting with me and Possession over there. You guys rock hard.)

What I Believe

Dude, this isn't going to be like uber-religious or anything. I know some of you are quaking. Or hoping for something juicy. Sadly, there won't be either of those things. But don't stop reading!

1. I don't believe in signs. I believe in hard work.

2. I don't believe in wallowing. I believe in creating your own luck, and accepting luck you don't create. (See yesterday's post.)

3. I don't believe in hoarding knowledge. I believe in sharing and paying it forward.

4. I don't believe in waiting for something to happen. I believe in working hard. (Come back for tomorrow's post. And see #1.)

5. I don't believe in vampires. I believe in Edward. Ha! (Just checkin' to see if you were paying attention.)

6. I don't believe in isolation. I believe in whining, er, chatting with your writerly friends. And blogging. And tweeting. And then more chatting...

7. I don't believe in chocolate. I believe in bacon.

What do you believe? What don't you believe? 

Oh, and bonus: I'm up on Badass Bookie's 2011 Debutante Event today! All about me today, all about POSSESSION tomorrow. There're chances to win...not only my book, but 11 others too! So make sure you go check it out from now until December 31!

What I Learned from Chopped

Dude, you guys, if you haven't seen the Food Network show Chopped, you're really missing out. In a nutshell, there are four chefs and they get a mystery basket of ingredients. They then have a certain amount of time to create a dish. If theirs isn't good enough, chop! They're gone. If they make it to the end, they win ten grand.

So I love watching this show, because it marries two of my favorite things: reality TV and food. And who knew I'd learn a lesson while watching? But I did. I think it applies to life, but it most definitely fits writing/publishing as well.

So I'm watching, and there's this one chef who is supposed to be fabu, and he works for a world-renowned chef. He got pretty slammed by the judges during one round, and afterward, in the back room all the other chefs were chatting while they waited for the judges to decide who was getting chopped that round.

Fabu chef: "I've had people screaming in my face. That [critique] was nothing."

Other chef: "How do you deal with that?"

Fabu chef: "What do you mean how do you deal with that? You put your head down and work harder."

I jerked my attention back to the TV (I usually fast-forward through these parts, but I was all caught up with live TV) and rewound the clip to listen again.

"You put your head down and work harder."

That's what you do with your writing too. Every critique. Every time you get notes from someone. To get better, you put your head down and work harder.

Oh, and the Fabu Chef got chopped. It just goes to show that everyone has bad days, dark times. Doesn't mean you quit. It means you work harder.

What have you been working hard at? Could you work harder?

One more thing: Nicole Zoltack was drawn to win the Personal Demons swag package from Lisa Desrochers! Congrats! Nicole, please email me so I can get some info from you, okay? Okay. (elanajohnson(at)gmail(dot)com)

Oh! And I have a giveaway up on the WriteOnCon site today!! *squee* Go check it out! I'm excited and terrified in the holy-cow-I-might-puke kind of way. So yeah.

Dream Big, Work Hard

I know, I know. Surely you tire of hearing about WriteOnCon. But I just want to use it to illustrate a point today.

We've received many emails thanking us for the hard work we did on WOC, and how amazing it was. I want to share how it started.

A Big Dream by Casey McCormick

One day a blogger/author/mom/student/all-around-awesome-person is reading blogs. She reads one and leaves a comment, just like she does on lots of other blogs everyday.

The blog author where Casey left the comment sees the comment, and suddenly shares the Big Dream with Casey. She emails her.

Here's the blog comment that inspired the Dream: DUDE, I totally have an idea for June or another month that I could give you. It's something I've thought about doing but you'd pull it together way better than me. No idea if you'll like it/be up for it but feel free to e-mail me. :)

Here's the response (notice the lack of humility. Oops.): Dude! Email me! We should so do something together anyway. I mean, the two of us? We'd be unstoppable...

Those words were the Dream seeds. We planted them. We brought in other people to fertilize (uh, LiLa), water (Shannon) and prune (Jamie). We loved the Big Dream, and we worked hard to bring it up right. We poured countless hours into its well-being, and we never once thought about quitting (although we may or may not have thrown up a few times before going live with the Big Dream).

Our Big Dream might not be inspiring to you. But I'm here to tell you that if 6 people who have never met each other can share a Big Dream, then you can too. Whatever your Dream is, embrace it. And then work your freaking tail off to achieve it. Coming from someone who continues to Dream Big, I know that hard work is the only way to achieve your goals.

Got any Dream Big, Word Hard stories? Feel free to share.

You Can Do Hard Things

Okay, so yesterday we discussed getting to 100%. I agree that sometimes the 100% shifts and moves as you learn and grow. I mean, it certainly has for me. My 100% last year is certainly not my 100% now.

But it doesn't matter. Because I can continue to do hard things.

Here's a couple of hard things I've done:

• Writing a novel.
• Writing a query letter.
• Querying.
• Getting rejected.
• Dancing. (See clip here.)

There are a lot of hard things in the world. But you know what? This is something I tell my students all the time.

You can do hard things.

So yeah. That's all. I hope I can be the voice in your head if you're struggling with something today, tomorrow or whenever.

What do you think? What's something hard that you've done? Can you do hard things? What makes you think you can/can't?

Finish Strong

The last step of the mantra is thus: Finish Strong. (Thanks to Katie for adding it.)

Dude, I can't even begin to tell you how hard this step is. It's freaking hard. It's harder than not giving up. Than working hard.

Why?

Because it's hard to want to finish if you can't be first. Isn't that what we're always told? Second place is the first loser? Win or go home and all that? So yeah. When you immerse yourself in the writing community the way I have, and you see all your friends crossing the finish line with flags waving and crowds cheering and you've still got three laps to go...

Holy hard.

So I started reminding myself every day of this fact. I'd say this inside my own head, "It's finish strong. Not finish first. Just finish." Sometimes I'd say it fifty times. Or one hundred. Or whatever it took to keep the finish line in sight.

Because if you lose sight of that finish line...you've fallen flat on your face in the quitters pile. And we've already determined not to give up.

So the mantra is thus:
Work Hard.
Don't Give Up.
Finish Strong.

In honor of all those who've helped me do just that, I've created this (rather lame) badge. I'm passing it on to them, and they can pass it on to anyone they want. Maybe someone who's helped them work hard, keep the faith and finish the race. Whatever that race is, writing or otherwise. (Yes, that's Michael Phelps. Talk about the epitome of the mantra.)

Christine Fonseca
Lisa and Laura Roecker
Katie Anderson
Suzette Saxton and Bethany Wiggins

Thanks guys!

Now back to work!!

Work Hard

Okay, so some writing buddies and I sort of have a mantra. Don't roll your eyes. Publishing is a hard biz. Lots of waiting. Lots of competition. Lots of ledge moments. Mantras are needed.

Anyway, step one: work hard.

You've gotta be willing to work hard if you wanna get anywhere in life. At least I think you do. And those two words are definitely true with writing.

When I sat down to write my first novel, I didn't pen a masterpiece. More like a finger painting. You know the kind you do in kindergarten? It was practice. Good practice.

The second was like a second-grade watercolor. Nice, but nothing special.

But the third. Yeah, the third had potential. Was it perfect? Heck, no.

It had potential.

I used to hate that word. Hate. It.

Let's define:
Potential: having or showing the capacity to become or develop into something in the future.

Yeah, my sixth-grade teachers used to say I had potential. If only I would apply myself. So I showed them. I applied myself. Graduated college with a 4.0. Ha! Take that, sixth-grade teachers!

Now I teach typing and let the littler kids play math games. I sure showed them, didn't I? *snarf*

Anyway, I'm way off track. The point is, just because you have the potential to do something, doesn't mean you will.

You have to work hard. Learn more. Get better. Read. Practice. And it all takes work. But you know what? All that hard work? Totally worth it.

What do you think? Have you ever worked really hard for something? Did you get it? How did it feel?