Have I been asleep?

Yes, it's been a few days since I last posted. I'm going through this sort of burn-out phase; not burnout from writing, mind you. Just a burnout from my daily job.

Don't get me wrong, I love my job. I work with kids - kindergarten through 2nd grade mostly, and they're great! I get hugs, hi's, and waves when they see me in the hall. I work in small group settings and one-on-one settings for those who really need it. 

But after a full day of putting out my best self, let's just say my body wants to lay on the couch for a while and do nothing. Often, I take a nap, and sometimes I watch mindless television. It's all I can do really. I'm not even up to reading a book.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

If you're like me, I want to hear from you. What do you do to stay motivated after a long day of work? When do you fit in your writing time when it's all you can do to be a couch potato?

 

5 + Smart Strategies for Writers

Five powerful strategies that have kept me writing. 

1. Get up early. Write. [No excuses!] Your brain is fresher in the morning and less clogged with the duties of the day. 

2. Write when you don't feel like it. This includes all other times of the day when you could be writing but don't. I always keep a notebook with me. Record scenes, dialogue, or your next book title at doctors' offices, etc. 

3. Don't live on guilt trips. If you don't write one day, start fresh the next. But don't use your missed opportunity as an excuse not to begin again.

4. Share what you are working on with others in a general sense, but try not to share your entire plot! You want others to read your book after all.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

5. Don't give up. Never. Don't surrender. Don't live in doubt. Don't expect overnight success. Know that hard work will always be required to be a great writer. 

Conquering Your Goliaths: Online Journaling Experience!

I am trying something new and I need your help!

As of Superbowl Sunday, I began a FREE spiritual improvement course at ChristianServiceWorker.org.

In my first devotional, Conquering Your Goliaths: A Stone's Throw Away, get started on your personal journey to get closer to God.

In Three Keys to Hearing God, begin your writing journey starting with the first stone: Listening.

Devotional three will be this coming Sunday, February 8th, and will continue through the next few Sundays and Wednesdays.

This is what I need from you. Take this FREE opportunity to get closer to God by experiencing all that God has to offer you through journaling, scripture study and prayer. Learn the keys to improving your life through Listening, Trust, Optimism, Tenacity and Constancy. Learn about very real ways to overcome your goliaths starting today! 

I would appreciate comments here on your experience as well as at: ChristianServiceWorker.org.

Thanks!

Kathryn

Get Motivated! Write!

How motivated are you in your writing now that a couple of weeks in January have flown by? Is it easy to relax a little, perhaps pick up your old habit like a pair of old jeans that might as well be thrown away?

I know the feeling.

Just yesterday I was going to take some time off of writing and do something else; I just didn't think I was in the mood to write. But then, the good angel said, "Now, you know that once you get started, something will come," and so I started, and the angel was right.



The guy with the black wings sat forlornly in the back corner waiting for another day.

Because the day, as we all know, will come again, because it always does.

What I find most interesting about writing is that unless you have a 9-5 job like copy writing or editing or something like that where your boss is breathing down your neck to get the project finished, it's quite a bit easier (okay, a whole lot easier) just to put the writing aside.

And it's not because you don't like to write. It isn't even because you don't find satisfaction in writing, because you do. Plain and simple. It's just easier to be lazy.

So if you're feeling lazy today and figured you'd just sit and read a dozen of my blog posts today :), don't. Stop right after you've finished this one and get started.

I mean it. Happy writing.

Kathryn

Life on this Scary Planet: How to Write When Life Gets in the Way

I don't know about you, but sometimes life gets in my way and I have a difficult time writing.

The worst stint happened years ago when I was raising my three daughters, working two jobs, and trying to make things happen living far away from my extended family.

I didn't write for 10 years.

If you think that's surprising, you need to understand my come-from during that time. I had many excuses; many emotional struggles that I felt prevented me from writing.

What I know now is that that time was important. It may have been hard, but it was important. Now, some years later, I get a glimpse of the difficulties, but (like having a baby and forgetting the pain, though no entirely, until the next baby is born) it's not the same.

I feel as if I've lost the completeness of that time I would have now been able to use in my own writing, if I'd kept a journal during that time and recorded what I experienced.

Sure, life is sometimes scary on this planet, but life can really only get in the way of writing about it if you let it.

Don't let it.

Spend some time each day writing even if it hurts. Write even if you don't feel like it. Write instead of watching television. Write.

Just write.

What Do You Get When You Mix Exercise with Ice-cream?

A stomach ache.

This morning I woke up with a bit of a tummy ache. You see, in the morning, I'm all for Wii exercise. I've been exercising to the dance versions for over a year now and love it. I love how I feel, and love how I'm trimming up.

What I don't love?

About 4 p.m. I'm wanting some sugar. So I get a snack. It's usually ice-cream. But I have also retrieved the Oreo's and the chocolate candy, all of which we have at our place in heavy abundance. But who ever heard of a writer that didn't like chocolate?

Anyway, I feel as if I'm cheating myself of all of the good I could be doing, just because I fall off the horse in the afternoon.

I gave up soda over a year ago, too, and believe me, that one has been difficult. So I feel as if I should treat myself to a little sugar.

Only I don't like the stomach aches and I don't like the groggy feeling I sometimes get in the morning because I've been pigging out on snacks.

So why am I telling you all of this? And what, pray, does it have to do with writing?

Let me tell you.

Do you hate criticism of your work, so much, you never let anyone read it? Do you ever write something you feel is so fantastic that you don't want to bother with the editing? Do you struggle finding time to write? Does it come after your housework or your favorite television show, and so you feel you rarely have time to write? Do your children bother you when you write? Do they hang onto your legs like dangling participles? Do you feel as if you can't write when they're awake? Do you feel as if you're lacking great ideas, or that your writing will never be any good?

If you said yes to any of the above questions, take a look.

Are you mixing your writing exercises with chocolate ice-cream? Do you ache inside? Are you going to do something about it? Well, are you?

Would love to hear.

(I'll let you know how I'm doing in about a week).

Feeling a Bit....Under the Weather?

It isn't easy to stay motivated, especially when you have to do your life.

Photo by: camerakarrie, courtesy of Flickr

You know. Clean the house. Take care of sick kids. Work a full or part-time job. Go grocery shopping. Deal with all the unexpected variables that life has to offer. Health issues. Choice issues. Last minute issues.

But I'm here to tell you that staying in tune with writing can't do anything but help you. Yes, even when the clouds are the darkest and it appears that rain is going to continue through the weekend. Yes, even then.

I find that my journal comes in handy during the dark times and I'm glad for the free therapy as well as the opportunity to write and improve my skills. 

• Will a new character spring forth from a morning write?
• Will I discover something new about myself that will help me in the future?
• Will my writing merely be a 'crying jag'?

Photo by: epSos.de. courtesy of Flickr

No matter.

I'm feeling a bit under the weather this morning. But already, the clouds are parting.

What's the Hardest Part of Being a Writer?

What's the hardest part of being a writer?

I sometimes struggle with others taking my writing seriously. But when I finally stopped searching for a "job" and began my own company I think the realization hit many that what I really wanted to do was work for myself.



Photo by lett -^=, courtesy of Flickr

Sometimes I have a hard time getting to work. Because I'm at home and the house is screaming to be cleaned or the grandchildren are screaming to have some time or I'm screaming for a break, I have a difficult time focusing on the job at hand.

Writing isn't always fun. Really? Writing is work and sometimes the writing itself is a struggle. But when this happens, I pull out another writing project or spend a few moments working on a writing prompt.

Sometimes it's hard waiting for the money to come in. I don't get a regular paycheck, and sometimes I get a little stressed about that, but the stressing comes less now as my focus has changed to more important things like sharing and helping others with their own writing.



Photo by: noricum, courtesy of Flickr

Sometimes I have too many projects and so can't focus on the most important one at hand. I get ideas often, but that doesn't mean I can do everything at the same time. Many projects are put on the back burner until the finishing up of a particular project leaves room for a new one.

The hardest part of being a writer, for me, shifts every day and depends on my mood. But I don't let a day go by without writing something.

Because I need to write.

What the hardest part of being a writer, for you? Share your thoughts.