I often refer to my real life vs. my writing life. It’s really not a good description but it’s the best one I have for now. My real life is a three-dimensional, loud, messy combobulation of people, schedules, cleaning, cooking, laundry, work, budgets, parenting and marriage. It’s boundries are unclear and constantly changing. It requires juggling, quick thinking and the [...]
Archive for the ‘thoughts’ Category
6 Jun
New Blog focused on MG: From the Mixed-Up Files
I’m using this opportunity to continue my goal of streamlining my life with a focus on my writing goals. So today I’m proud to unveil a little of what I’ve been up to. I have joined a group of writers of middle grade children’s books to create a unique blog and website focused on the golden age [...]
26 Apr
Practicing what I’m preaching!
I’ve been gone but I’m not apologizing! I’ll tell you why. Since I’ve started writing about the work/life balance conundrum, I’ve taken a little time to be reflective. Very little time since the end of the school year, plus multiple soccer teams, concerts, school events have thrown a wrench into my barely functioning schedule. But [...]
9 Apr
What should I next? Indecision and Setting Priorities
Next on the list of roadblocks to getting things done is indecision and priority confusion. Personally they are so closely related they could be the same. Indecisions affects one’s ability to prioritize. (What to do next? I can’t decide.) Prioritizing is what I’m focused on right now. Thus the fewer posts this week. We just [...]
28 Mar
Microwaves, Playdoh, Slinkys and Post-it notes
I’ve been out of town for spring break and since I’m taking my own advice about balancing life and writing, I haven’t posted. But now I’m back and still thinking about my ongoing struggle with trying to fit 30 hours of tasks into a 24 hour day. Last post, I cited an article that noted [...]
15 Mar
Procrastination: Breaking Down an Overwhelming Task
I was looking for some information on procrastination and came across this article. I like the author’s analysis of the eleven causes of procrastination, but I think there could be more information about things that one can do to overcome the problem. I say this as an expert in procrastination. In fact, I could procrastinate indefinitely by [...]
14 Mar
Time Management (and where does the time go?)
Time for an update on my Winter Read-athon. The snow is not fully melted, but is 90% gone, so I’m calling this experiment in reading efficiency complete. Since I first decided to challenge myself to increasing my reading on 2/15/2010, I have read twelve books (nine MG, two YA, 1 adult). But my experiment also [...]
10 Mar
Does your day job help or hurt your writing? Part Two
I am so addicted to the internet. After several days of no access, I’m getting my fix this evening now that it’s working again. I am finally checking back in with part two about the eternal conflict between real life (i.e. day job) and real life on steroids (i.e. writing). That’s not a very good [...]
4 Mar
Does your day job help or hurt your writing? Part One
Back in school, one of the tasks I had to do was called a “Pie of Life.” Pretty simple concept. Draw a large circle and divide it into three. One section is work. One section is play and one section is self-care. You were supposed to sort your daily activities into these categories by the amount [...]
28 Feb
Never Stop Learning
My brain is tired. This week I’ve been continuing my Winter Read Out (supposed to be a word play on White Out btw). Last night, I stayed up too late reading BLOOD BROTHERS by S.A. Harazin. I plan to stay up too late finishing it tonight. I feel like I’ve been seeping my brain in excellent writing, [...]
