Ready – Get Set – Focus! By Terri Weldon

Terri Weldon

Happy New Year! Even though it is only January 8th, I’m sure you’ve read a dozen or more blogs about the New Year. Ways you can make sure you accomplish more in 2015 then you did in 2014. Hmm, almost makes me wonder if I should switch topics, but I won’t because I need this post even if you don’t.

One way I’m going to endeavor to achieve more in 2015 is by focusing. There are several areas of my life, both personal and professional, that need focus. I won’t bore you with the personal areas and if you’re bored by the professional – well, just pretend you aren’t.

I tend to allow myself to be pulled in too many different directions. Yeah, it would be easy to blame something or someone else, but the real crux of the matter is I allow it to happen. I have friends who are as busy or busier than I am and they seem to accomplish twice what I do. They stay focused, I don’t. True confession, sometimes I just want to hide from my writer accountability group. Oh, I can’t believe I said that, because one or more of them will probably read this!

Part of my plan to stay focused is to pick out the things that are the most important to me. No they won’t all be writing related, nor should they be. We need to keep a balance in our life and make sure God is always in the number one position. Also, remember there are some things you can’t control. You have no control over whether or not an editor will recommend your work for publication or an agent will sign you as a client. However, you can decide to write every day or five thousand words a week, attend a conference, and submit a proposal to an agent. And even though I know I’ve read this countless times before on Seriously Write, it bears repeating, pray about your writing. God is in this journey along with us.

In case you’re wondering, I just outlined what I plan to focus on in 2015. Somehow while it was floating around in my mind, it didn’t seem so overwhelming. Seeing it written down in black and white, well, all I can say is it’s time to FOCUS!

Leave a comment and tell me what your plans are for 2015. I’d love to hear them and welcome any and all tips on how to stay focused. Happy New Year!

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Misty Winslow is determined to find her prince, and she meets the man of her dreams through an Internet dating service. Or is he, because the new dentist in town also sets her heart aflutter.

It's love at first sight for Tyler Davenport, but before he can finish his first root canal, Misty is involved in an exclusive online romance with Wes99—Tyler’s online persona. How can he tell her he’s the man she’s been waiting to meet, and how rational is it for him to be jealous of Wes99! Soon Tyler's pulling out all the stops to woo Misty.

As Christmas approaches, Wes99 and Tyler both ask her to meet them under the mistletoe. Which man will she choose?

Terri is a lead analyst by day and an author by night. She enjoys gardening, reading, and playing in the hand bell choir. One of her favorite pastimes is volunteering as the librarian at her church. It allows her to shop for books and spend someone else’s money! Plus, she has the great joy of introducing people to Christian fiction.

She lives with her family in Oklahoma. Terri has three dogs – a lovable mutt and two adorable Westies.

Terri is a member of ACFW and OCFW, a local chapter of ACFW. Her dream of becoming a published novelist came true in November 2013 when Mistletoe Magic, released from White Rose Publishing. To learn more about Terri visit her website at www.TerriWeldon.com.

Balanced by Susan Tuttle

Photo Credit: noppasinwfreedigitalphotos.net

It’s that time of year again! Full of lists to check twice, cookies to bake, homes to decorate, movies to watch, and hot cocoa to drink. There are family parties, wrapping parties, gift-exchange parties, ornament parties…

Oh, and there’s our writing.

And it’s oh-so-easy to lose ourselves in our creative worlds and characters. Or in making sure we’re still on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram with enough posts, likes, and comments.

So how do we find balance this time of year? Some of us have self-imposed deadlines, others have agent or publishing deadlines. And these pile on top of the demands of the season. Yet we don’t want our memories of this special time of year to be us pulling our hair out!

What’s the solution then? We pray. We ask the God who created time to help us manage ours. We write down the must-dos and even a few of the want-tos and then pray over them. Then we set realistic expectations. Is it a must for your manuscript to be done this month, or can you scale back your word count for these few weeks? Do you have to create as many blog posts, or can you take a Christmas break? Can you pick a specific day of each week to step away from social media and socialize with the people around you?

Ask God. Give him your time and your schedule. Be sensitive to what he’s asking of you, because sometimes we put huge expectations on ourselves and miss out on some pretty amazing moments. Be responsible, yes. Get your work done, for sure. But don’t forget the silly, fun moments too.

Praying you find balance this Christmas:)

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Susan Tuttle

Susan Tuttle is a homeschooling mom of three who is crazy about coffee, dark chocolate, and words—both reading and writing them. Combine that love of words with her passion for leading women to a life-changing encounter with Christ, and you’ll find her crafting Inspirational Contemporary Romance stories laced with humor, love, and healing transformations. When not cheering on her Ironman hubby, chasing the family dog, or tackling complex math problems to teach her kids (yes, even the third grader), you can catch Susan at her blog, Steps.

Typical Day in the Life by Amy Matayo

Writing—it isn’t all that glamorous or exciting. Sometimes, it isn’t even fun. In fact, sometimes it’s so boring I put myself to sleep in the middle of typing one of my own sentences.

But writing is what I do. I write as much as I can and as often as I can. When I’m working, I write on my lunch break at school. Or during planning period, because trying to decide when Guy is going to kiss Girl totally counts as planning. When I’m trying to sleep, I write in my head. Which accounts for my charming, sometimes Zombie-like personality. In short, I write all the time. In fact, when I’m not working, this is what a typical day looks like for me.

• 6:00 am: Wake up, make coffee, and make what feels like four-dozen breakfasts/lunches.
• 7:00 am: Throw on sweatpants and an old t-shirt—my writer’s uniform of choice. Hooters has skimpy tank-tops and cleavage, I have baggy knit pants and…whatever. It all evens out.
• 7:30 am: Close door on two departing kids. Give self a mental high-five.
• 8:15 am: Drop off teenage daughter at junior high, give another internal high-five, and drive home.
• 8:30 am: Hand money to oldest child and watch as he drives off to high school.
• 9:00 am: Grab more coffee, and sit down to write.
• 9:30 am: Answer message that random child forgot lunch—again—hop in car, and take to school.
• 9:45 am: Once back home, sit down to write.
• 10:00 am: Feel guilty that dryer buzzed thirty minutes ago, switch laundry, and, now distracted, begin wiping down counters, organizing drawers, and color-coordinating closets.
• 11:00 am-12:00 noon: While organizing shoes by style and color, ignore repeated texts from oldest son to be checked out of school for lunch, eventually feel guilty and head to school…where I grab him and three random friends.
• 1:00 pm: With lunch over, sit down to write.
• 1:30 pm: After staring at screen for 30 minutes, realize I’ve written about 12 words. If you’re doing the math, that’s one word every 2.2 minutes. Which translates into not much. Which translates into this seriously stinks.
• 2:30 pm: Wake up after accidentally falling asleep (because I bored myself into a near-coma with all that non-writing).
• 2:30-3:30: Make more coffee, open a box of Milk Duds, and write like a crazy person before kids come home. Somehow manage to pull off 2000-ish words in record time.
• 11:00pm: After day is over, climb into bed with laptop, review in horror the awful words I wrote earlier in the day, revise and knock out a few more words, and fall asleep with laptop on chest.

So that’s it. That’s what I do. Sometimes it’s frustrating, especially on the days I’m awaiting answers from my agent…from editors…from publishers. But despite that, I do think it’s kind of fun. Actually, it’s more than fun—it’s my dream. It’s what I need to do almost as much as breathing, sleeping, and eating.

Okay…maybe not eating.

Amy

Amy Matayo is a graduate of John Brown University and holds a degree in Journalism. After graduation, she went to work at DaySpring Cards—a division of Hallmark—where she worked for seven years as Senior Writer and Editor. She was thrilled when her newest book, The Wedding Game, won the 2012 ACFW Genesis contest. Two of her other books semi-finaled in the 2011 Genesis.

As the mother of four children with a husband submersed in political life, Amy has very little free time. She prefers to spend that time enjoying intellectual pursuits such as: watching television with her feet propped up, watching movies with a bucket of popcorn, and watching her laundry pile high—with no desire to do anything about it.

She can be found on her blog, www.amymatayo.blogspot.com, and on Facebook and Twitter.
Image courtesy of adamr / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Time to Rest

Thursdays - Devotions for Writers

I said, "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest - (Psalm 55:6 NIV)

I hated naps as a child.

I didn’t see the point.

Why should I be forced to lie down and rest when I didn’t feel tired?

Summer evenings were brutal. From an open bedroom window I could hear older children in the neighborhood still playing outside. I’d toss and turn in bed while the sun still shone for another hour.

What a waste.

My parents told me that when I grew up I’d feel differently about bedtime. I’d look forward to it.

I didn’t believe them.

As a busy adult I tend to push the limits. There are often more things to do in a day than there is time to accomplish them.

How differently I feel now when I crawl under the covers and lay my head on the pillow. I sigh with contentment at how good it feels to rest. My parents were right.

As writers, many of us struggle with finding balance in our lives. If we’re working diligently on our manuscripts, articles, or blogs, we may worry that we’re neglecting time with our families. While watching TV with our spouse or playing a board game with our children, we may internally feel pressure to get back to the computer.

It feels like there isn’t any time for rest.

There isn’t time to just sit and read a book for pleasure.

Or sip coffee while lounging on the back deck of our home.

Because we need to get that chapter written—that blog posted—and the multitude of emails answered.

But God knew how important it was for us to rest.

He told us to devote one day a week to it.

Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day, you shall rest.” (Exodus 34:12 NIV)

It’s a good reminder for me that it’s okay to rest.

And perhaps . . . just perhaps . . . if I listen to Him, I’ll have enough energy and inspiration to whip off that chapter in no time.

Dawn