365 Days of Writing, Marketing & E-Publishing

Monday, October 6, 2014

Day 71...The Truth About Failure

Welcome to Day 71...

Day 6 of our Writing Challenge and still going strong...got in an hour and a half of editing today - hope you're moving along as well.

So another thought about fear - why exactly are we so afraid?

I think for most of us it's because we think we might fail.

But failure isn't such a bad thing. If you put a strong effort in, failing can be like a badge of courage that says you've been taught a good lesson. You've gone through the test and not only are you still standing, you're that much wiser for the next go around.

Don't keep stop trying because you are afraid to fail. Keep trying because you're on the road to becoming a master.

Here's Today's Takeaway Lesson...

"Don't Be Afraid to Fail, Be Afraid Not to Try..."

Here's to Being All In,

Maggie

Follow me on Twitter @AuthorMaggie #busywriterslife

Visit my website @ www.maggiecollins.net

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365 Days & Counting...

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Sunday, October 5, 2014

Day 70...The Art of Fearlessness...

Welcome to Day 70...

Stunningly beautiful day in the Hudson Valley in NY today. Hope it's bright and beautiful where ever you call home.

I got in 980 words of writing done today and as you can tell from my last few posts, I've been thinking a lot about fear and how it affects and derails our dreams. I thought about how many moves both big and small we avoid because we're uncertain or downright afraid.

Then this morning I was at church and interestingly enough the sermon focused on the idea of practicing not to be afraid. The priest made the point that there are so many other things in life we practice to get better at...sports, instruments, public speaking.

Why not practice our way to fearlessness?

So here's my idea, in the midst of our writing challenge, why not do something else to challenge you. Like doing something everyday that scares you....

It'll mean looking past the point of what you believe to be your limits...

Striking up a conversation with a person you've wanted to meet or volunteering for the lead role a new project...

Practicing your fearlessness on a smaller scale will help you expand to do bigger things maybe like changing career paths or deciding to write and publish a book.

Where could your dreams and fearlessness take you?

Here's Today's Takeaway Lesson...

"Life Shrinks or Expands in Proportion to One's Courage..." Anais Nin

Here's to Being All In,

Maggie

Follow me on Twitter @AuthorMaggie #busywriterslife

Visit my website @ www.maggiecollins.net

Like me on Facebook Maggie Collins

365 Days & Counting...

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Day 69...The Secret to Climbing Insurmountable Mountains...

Welcome to Day 69...

It's an even day and I got in 2 hours of editing today. The good thing about weekends is that I can split up my work time over the course of the day...edit for 30 minutes then read the paper...get back to more editing...head out to do some errands...

It's all good.

Anyway, today I was thinking about how we can be our own worst enemy - just by letting our fears rule our destiny.

When I was started 365 Days of Writing, Marketing & E-Publishing I was downright terrified. I mean how could I make such a big commitment to my writing career? Take a 31 Writing Challenge? That'll be too hard.

It's like we put these mountains in front of us that seem impossible to climb. We worry that we're not smart enough, that we don't have enough time to committ, we tell ourselves that the goal is so hard to reach it's pointless to even try in the first place.

Now almost a third of the way into all this I wonder why I made such a big deal out of it in the first place? Thank goodness I didn't let my fears stop me. Look at how much writing I'm doing, how focused I've been on the process and on marketing my books.

The key is to recognize your fear and do it anyway.

By simply starting and doing, you'll find yourself mastering, making progress and suddenly there's no fear attached to any of it.

And yes it's true, reaching your dreams won't happen overnight.

Life isn't built that way.

You have to set goals, plan, start, keep going, get back up when you fall or fail and then keep going some more.

But don't not start because your afraid. Don't let your fears take your dreams away from you.

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone

Jack Canfeld, the Chicken Soup for the Soul Guy has a great quote about it all so I'm making it Today's Takeaway Lesson...

"Everything Thing You Want Is On The Other Side of Fear..." Jack Canfeld

Here's to Being All In,

Maggie

Follow me on Twitter @AuthorMaggie #busywriterslife

Visit my website @ www.maggiecollins.net

Like me on Facebook Maggie Collins

365 Days & Counting...

Friday, October 3, 2014

Day 68...The Best of Both Worlds...Plus a Great Tip for Writing Scenes Detailing a Character's House or Home Town

Welcome to Day 68...

So three days in and we're going strong on our writing challenge.

I was able to add another 1100 words today to my chalkboard. All stream of consciousness writing.

And no judgement. Which means I don't stop to add quotation marks for dialogue, edit punctuation, or fix typos. Because at that stage its all about getting the ideas on the computer screen. When I'm in a good zone, sometimes I feel as though I can't type as fast as my brain is working so I don't want to break the momentum with any editing. Besides now I have designated days for that.

Which by the way, I really like this idea of switching between designated writing and editing days. I'm realizing that my problem has been getting too stuck into a routine - editing for days on end, or writing lots of notes for a week straight but not really getting polished scenes pulled together.

The set up of this Writing Challenge means I know what to do,where to start and trading off the tasks has really helped to not only keeps things moving, but getting scene done and on to my final draft.

Maybe I've finally found the best of both worlds.

So here's a helpful writing tip....

Need inspiration for writing descriptive scenes on a characters home towns, houses or favorite rooms?

I always go to the power sources...magazine and catalogs known for great style.

Places like Architectural Digest, Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn catalogs for are my inspiration on room design and decor.

I use them to research the use of colors, styles, types of furniture and materials.

And depending on the character and the decor, I'll even go a step further, Like in my book One Step Closer I was describing a mob don's penthouse apartment - all white leather, chrome and Roman statues. I had an idea to include a wall waterfall feature in the master bedroom. I goggled just that and spent a good hour reading through different descriptions and information from manufacturers and on-line design blogs.

If you need to a capture a more local or regional flair about where a character lives - and say you wanted to write about the decor of a coffee house in Alabama, or a seaside dive bar that served great fried catfish, there's plenty of specialty magazines and publications for inspiration there too, like Southern Living, Coastal Living or even all things downtown Miami, like Miami Living Magazine.

You get the picture. That's all for now...

Except for Today's Takeaway Lesson...

"A Writer Never Has Vacation. For a Writer, Life Consists of Either Writing or Thinking About Writing..."

Here's to Being All In,

Maggie

Follow me on Twitter @AuthorMaggie #busywriterslife

Visit my website @ www.maggiecollins.net

Like me on Facebook Maggie Collins

365 Days & Counting...

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Day 67...Time to Get Down to Business...

Welcome to Day 67...

Ok, I have to say, 2 days in and this is working for me.

Before when I sat down to write I didn't always have a good plan in mind. I would work on almost finished scenes to do some final polishing or start editing some other drafted notes, but having a writing schedule one day and an edit schedule the next is giving greater clarity about the development of the story and really moving forward to get things done.

For example, yesterday when I wrote, I worked on a scene that only had a few sentences to it. Over 1200 words later, that scene was almost done when I left it. Today I worked on editing 2 other almost finished scenes that have been patiently waiting for my attention.

Progress is good. Hope you're feeling the same energy and getting good results.

Here's Today's Takeaway Lesson...

"Strive for Progress, Not Perfection..."

Here's to Being All In,

Maggie

Follow me on Twitter @AuthorMaggie #busywriterslife

Visit my website @ www.maggiecollins.net

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365 Days & Counting...

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Day 66...Done & Done & A Writing Tip to Combat a Blank Screen...

Welcome to Day 66...And Day 1 of our Writing Challenge.

Okay just a reminder how all this works...

Commit to writing on EVERY odd day (I'm doing 750-1500 words) and on EVERY even day, edit those scene/paragraphs (I'm in for 1.5-2 hrs) with the goal of uploading those finished sections into your final draft.

The endgame? For me it's to have my book ready to go to the editors by the second week in November.

So got in 1134 words today.

Done.

And...I actually did the exercise routine, I posted yesterday. A bit of a disclaimer...I did all the exercises - I just did half the amount.

And done.

So here's a helpful writing tip...

If you're having trouble getting started with your writing and you find yourself staring at a blank page...find a book by one of your favorite authors and hand write out a scene. Then do it again. I know a copywriter who used this technique. He wrote out the copy of other successful copywriters for 30 straight days, he used it to build writing muscle memory for pace, scene structure, hooks, headlines etc. Flash forward ten years...the guy is a hugely successful copywriter. You can use the same technique for your own writing.

Here's Today's Takeaway Lesson...

"The Secret to Getting Ahead is Getting Started..." Mark Twain

Here's to Being All In,

Maggie

Follow me on Twitter @AuthorMaggie #busywriterslife

Visit my website @ www.maggiecollins.net

Like me on Facebook Maggie Collins

365 Days & Counting...

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Day 65...I'm All In...Are You?

Welcome to Day 65...

So here it is...Our 30 Day Writing Kick-Off Eve...

I'm ready to dig in tomorrow and I hope you are too. Before we get started, I wanted to share some ideas with you today...

Back in Day 57 I talked about starting this writing challenge for the month of October. My whole thought was about taking things up a notch...meeting a challenge head on. I wanted to stop wondering and start doing. And stop being afraid of failure.

The way I look at all this is that the only failure is not trying. Even if I don't finish my book by the first week in November, 31 days from now I'll have still dedicated a whole month to getting there and I'll be that much closer.

That's a win anyway you look at it.

But that's not all...I'll have some writing tip and prompts to share with you along the way.

And... I thought why not challenge ourselves in other ways too? Like with some get healthy and fit tips.

Look, I sit at a desk all day for my day job and I'm back at a desk sitting and typing when I'm writing so...I'll be sharing to ways to stay fit and flexible. (Don't forget to check with your doctor before starting any exercise plan)

Here's one 30 day challenge...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_RYVmpWDq4 How to do a proper lunge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXJrBgI2RxA How to do a proper squat

BTW...I never liked the the idea of a start date hanging over you. That's a lot of pressure so...I got in some writing and editing TODAY!

See I'm already well on my way - I bet you are too. Why not take a half hour and get some writing in tonight. You'll already be well on your way too.

Here's Today's Takeaway Lesson...

"Do One Thing Everyday That Scares You..." Eleanor Roosevelt

Here's to Being All In,

Maggie

Follow me on Twitter @AuthorMaggie #busywriterslife

Visit my website @ www.maggiecollins.net

Like me on Facebook Maggie Collins

365 Days & Counting...

My Books

Monday, October 6, 2014

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Friday, October 3, 2014

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Tuesday, September 30, 2014