Day 289...When You Want Something Bad Enough

Welcome to Day 289...

And when you want something bad enough...

It's been a busy couple of weeks in my household.  My youngest will be a senior in September.  He also happens to be a high school varsity football player.

Now with college apps on the horizon, he's been thinking seriously about whether or not he has what it takes to play college ball.

That question has caused him to really amp up his workouts and put together a game plan for getting on the radar of college coaches.

It's meant lifting and training just about every day...emailing coaches...sending his films...going to training camps.

And as I sit back and watch the process unfold, I can't help but be impressed.

He's all in.  In fact the most "in" I've think I've ever seen him "in" on anything. 

With this big goal hovering out in the distance, he seems to have a new maturity, focus and can-do attitude.

And that can-do attitude hasn't been lost on me. In fact, I've been inspired to stay focused and positive and "all in" on my own writing goals.

Not sure what the end game looks like on his football plans, but I'm proud he is so willing to invest the time, work and commitment to see how far it might go.

Stay tuned.  

Here's Today's Takeaway Lesson...

"I Find The Harder I Work, The More Luck I Seem To Have"  Thomas Jefferson

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...

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365

Day 288...Creating an Outline for a Best Selling Novel

Welcome to Day 288...

And creating an outline that just might lead to a best seller...

Like the one New York Times best selling author Janet Evanovich uses.  

For me and my  #busywriterslife, I'm always looking for smart ways to simply and organize my days.

Recently, I stumbled across an old blog post from Writer's Digest which spotlighted Ms. Evanovich's unique take on the outlining process...

A more visual and simple "story board" process.  Here's how Evanovich describes it...

"Storyboarding is a little more visual. When I’m plotting out a book, I use a storyboard—I’ll have maybe three lines across on the storyboard and just start working through the plot line. I always know where relationships will go, and how the book is going to end. When I storyboard, they’re just fragments of thoughts. I write in three acts like a movie, so I have my plot points up on the preliminary storyboard. Another board I keep is an action timeline. It’s a way of quickly referring to what happened a couple of scenes ago. The boards cover my office walls."

Here's a sample of her storyboard from her best selling book Twelve Sharp...



Simple. Focused and it's a great visual.  

This structure is easy on the eyes, and gives you a whole lot of the plot development on just one page.

Love the storyboard outline and will be so using it for my next book.  In the meantime...

Here's the full post from Writer's Digest...http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/how-to-outline-the-easy-way-like-janet-evanovich

And...

Here's Today's Takeaway Lesson...

"Make It Simple But Significant"  Don Draper

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...

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365

Day 287...Finding My Way Back

Welcome to Day 287...

And finding my way back...

So you may have some big questions?  Like...Where the heck have I been? Why did I stop posting? Is everything okay?

Well here are the big answers...

All is fine, and I've actually been right here all along.  As for the reason I stopped posting, well...it was nothing dramatic, nothing life altering.  The truth is, I just was tired.  

Yes, tired.

Between work, family, finishing my novel, over extending myself with some school events, and the general chaos of everyday life. Something had to give.  

My 365 Days of Writing, Marketing & E- Publishing blog became the collateral damage of my life needing a break.  

And here's the weird thing.  It wasn't really planned.  One day I just stopped posting.

It reminds me of a scene in Forrest Gump. You might remember the one where after running for months and months, one day Forrest just stopped.

Well, one day I just stopped blogging.

But I'm back now and the good news is, even in my absence I've been writing.  A lot. And my next release, NEVER LET ME GO, it crazy close to being done.

Which means you should keep an eye out for up coming posts as I head into the home stretch...post on writing a great back cover blurb, setting up a Goodreads Giveaway, details on editing, formatting for e-publishing...and so much more.

In case you were wondering, here's the scene from Forrest Gump

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKKmzmeU5-0

And...

Here's Today's Takeaway Lesson...

"Now Matter How Lost You Get, Focus & Find Your Way Back"  K.O.

Here's to Being All In,

Maggie 

Follow me on Twitter @AuthorMaggie #busywriterslife

365 Days & Counting...

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365