Dear Fellow Authors,
I hope you’re already familiar with Book Marketing Tools (info@bookmarketingtools.com) and their helpful and informative podcast , The Author Hangout.
Whether or not you’ve met these guys before, I want you to meet them today, with this excerpt from an October 3 email typical of the cogent and practical information they provide. I hope you’ll visit BookMarketingTools.com and also find your way to The Author Hangout podcast. You’ll be glad you did.
Iris Chacon.
Excerpt:
Write Your Next Bestseller in Just Five Minutes!
The secret to staying productive as a writer is good time management. As a writer, you probably dream about unbroken blocks of quiet hours behind your desk, writing, editing and feeling pleased with your work in a distraction-free environment between sips of your favorite beverage.
Unfortunately, that scenario never really materializes, does it?
One thing we’ve noticed is that writers idealize this scenario so much that they forget that the best writing often happens when conditions are less than ideal.
But you probably have five minutes — maybe even right now — when you can open up your file and get some work done. You don’t need to wait until you have three or four free hours; you can do important work in the time it takes to post to Facebook or heat up lunch in the microwave.
Think about your last “productive” writing session. It probably consisted not of a long, sustained block of continuous progress, but rather of short bursts of output and inspiration. The lesson? You only need a minute to move forward with your work. Five minutes is actually a luxury!
Got Five Minutes? Here’s What You Can Do:
- Write 100 words (or more!).
- See if you can “solve” that problem paragraph.
- Perform some “free writing” as your mind wanders (if you’re looking for new ideas or perspectives).
- Polish your character sketches/descriptions.
- Read yesterday’s writing and make critical notes.
- Create a basic outline for the next chapter (or your next book).
- Make a list of essential ideas that you needto incorporate into your book.
- Spot-check instances of dialogue; improve it (and you can probably always improve it).
- Don’t feel like writing? Brainstorm some cover-art concepts.
- Listen to a song that feels connected to the characters in your story; write down your feelings and thoughts as you listen.
- Unsure of certain details in your story? Take five minutes to perform a bit of fact checking and research.
- Need a break from your book? Work on journaling for a few minutes to keep your writing muscles in shape!
The key is to free your mind from the idea that you need big blocks of uninterrupted time to do great work. When you embrace your ability to write and be productive in five-minute bursts, you become much more well rounded — and considerably more productive — as a writer. Try it today!
Have a productive week, writers, and we’ll see you next Tuesday with more tips.
-Shawn & R.J. from Book Marketing Tools
Author_Iris_Chacon 