The weekly ezine with a road map for
sidetracked writers.
"Be better writers today
than we were yesterday."
Thought for the Week -
The Write Direction
Have you noticed how sometimes it just takes a little jump-start and a commitment to get you headed in the "write" direction?
As I'm wrapping up the Drawing Board class this week (I started this class back in December and have been sharing the highlights over the past few weeks), our coach asked us to commit to one thing we would do by Friday. I'm committing to whipping out the Speed Cleaning book again. Sometimes just reading about cleaning can motivate my un-motivated cleaning gene!
What one thing can you commit to this week to further your writing?
Let's finish up our 30-day Get Organized to Write plan this week.
You can see the
rest of the plan at
P.S. Did you miss last week's issue? Read it
athere.
P.P.S. A special welcome to
all our new subscribers! One of my goals for 2005 was to
reach 2005 subscribers, and we did it! Thanks for joining
us on this organizing challenge.
Day Twenty-Six - Write and Market Your Book!
How much writing can you do in a week?
What if you promised yourself to write so many words this week? What if you then promised some friends you would write that many words? Would you be more likely to keep your promise with your friends peeking over your shoulder?
to find out what BIC, HOK and TAM can do for your writing next month.
For one week each month, the site encourages its members to set writing goals and track them online with other members. The next session starts February
7th.
Day 26 Checklist
___ 1. Check out book-in-a-week.com
Day Twenty-Seven - Improve Your Skills
How will you improve your skills in 2005? One of the most
powerful ways to improve your writing is to improve your
reading.
Here are a few of my favorite tips for speeding your
reading:
1. Use your finger to guide your eye down the page.
2. Read just the headings.
3. If you have a long page of text, try just reading the
intro, the first sentence of each paragraph, and the
conclusion (if the writer did their job, you should be able
to get at least 85% of the article this way).
4. Convert the font whenever you can. Plain text in
Courier (often used in email) is the most difficult to
read. Copy the text to your word processing program, and
change the font to a more readable one like Times Roman.
RoadtoReading.org has put together a study guide and
CD to teach speed reading and improve
comprehension skills. If I had one wish for you,
it would be improve your writing by reading more and
reading faster.
The group provides the course for $8.95 shipping and
handling ($12 outside the U.S.) -- I sent a money order.
Get more information here: http://www.roadtoreading.org/arc/index.htm
EBOOK: Day 27. Acrobat, Ctrl+N, p. 152. Paper p. 146.
1. How do you learn best? Take the quiz to determine your
learning style.
2. Find out about the other "speed" every writer needs.
3. Get links to ten online course sites.
Day 27 Checklist
____ 1. Improve your speed reading.
____ 2. Find out how you learn, and consider online courses.
Day Twenty-Eight - Make Your Household Hum (so you have
more time to write!)
How's your clothing flow? I can hear you now, "Julie, what ARE you talking about?"
Clothing flow is the path clothing takes in, out and around your house. The basis for this concept came from my cost accounting class when we discussed the best ways to keep inventory and goods flowing into an organization at just the best possible time. The best time had several considerations: you need enough inventory to meet all your orders, but you don't want more around than necessary.
So back to your clothing.... it operates in much the same way. First, how does your clothing flow IN? Each season you probably need at least one shopping trip to bring in the new. Do you also get clothes on birthdays and holidays?
All this stuff coming IN needs to be balanced with an opposite amount going OUT, and this is one of the weaknesses in my house. The old, too small, out-of-style clothing keeps piling up so one of my goals for this year is to do a better job of getting the old stuff on to a new home (Don't forget to track your donations for your tax return. Here's a handy list to help with prices: http://www.salvationarmy-usaeast.org/help/valuation_guide.htm
).
Finally, AROUND the house. I don't know about you, but getting dirty clothes into hampers, to the washer and dryer, folded, and back to its home before we need to wear it becomes a daily mission. The best weeks are those when I do all the ironing in one big session, and get the laundry folded and put away as soon as it comes out of the dryer. Good luck with your own clothing flow!
EBOOK: Day 28. Acrobat, Ctrl+N, page 157. Paper, page 151.
Get a ton of tips on how to streamline common household
chores - food shopping, preparation and cleanup, laundry,
paying bills, and cleaning and clutter - and find more time
to write!
Day 28 Checklist
____ 1. Streamline your household chores so you have more time to write.
Day Twenty-Nine - Rework Your Time
Now that you've completed the 30-day plan, what are the
most important changes you need to make in your writing
life?
EBOOK: Day 29. Acrobat, Ctrl+N, page 162. Paper, page
156.
1. Answer the five most important questions to ask
yourself about your time.
2. Answer the five questions you should consider each
week.
---
Day 29 Checklist
____ 1. Rework your time.
____ 2. Consider the five questions for each week.
EBOOK: Day 30. Acrobat, Ctrl+N, p. 164. Paper p. 158.
1. Use the the productivity measurements to determine how
far you've come in the past month.
2. Design a plan of attack for any tasks you did not
complete.
Day 30 Checklist
_____ 1. Make list of outstanding tasks.
_____ 2. Assess your productivity measurements.
Day Thirty-One - Play Day!!
Did you ever have Play Days in elementary school? We
always had one at the end of the year to celebrate the
school year and play all day long!
It's time to celebrate! You reached the end of the
thirty-day get organized plan.
Pick one of your favorite rewards, and have a party today
--even if you didn't get to everything.
Happy writing (and organizing!) Julie
Like Organized
Writer.com? You'll love the ebook.....
"Julie, I love your book. I have read (or at least opened) more than a trunk load of books about writing over the years. Yours is the first I have seen that gives readers so much in one place. For me, the Master List and putting that together was more than worth the cost."
-- David Stoddard
Motivational writer, trainer and publisher of the
Terrific Life Concepts ezine.
http://djstoddard.net
M T W T F S S
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1. Declutter (only 5 minutes)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2. Read (only 5 minutes)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 3. Assess (30 seconds to 5 minutes)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 4. Write (at least 5 minutes)
Weekly Checklist
For freelance writers: Use this weekly checklist to find, write and send a query every week of
2005!
Monday
__ Make notes on a new idea.
Tuesday: Accounting Day
__ Post your accounting records.
__ Pay bills.
__ Follow up on outstanding invoices and queries.
Wednesday
__ Find a new market using links below.
Thursday: Errand Day
__ Make copies.
__ Return books to library.
__ Make deposit at bank.
Friday
__ Finish query and submit.
__ Match your query to the market.
Saturday Weekly Review
__ How was this week?
__ What's up next week?
__ Review your Projects list in your planner and check the
status.
__ Jot the next action steps for your projects on next week's
calendar.
__ Backup your computer files.
__ Virus scan your computer.
__ Update windows software at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
__ Update Microsoft(R) office software at http://office.microsoft.com/officeupdate/default.aspx
Sunday
__ Relax and enjoy!
__ Do something fun today!
Thanks for visiting Writer-Reminders! If you have comments,
success stories, or suggestions, reply to this message or e-mail
me at :julie@writer-reminders.com
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