by Charlene Teglia | Aug 15, 2005 | Uncategorized
Thought I’d do a quick blog entry on BIAM, since I jumped in and started a group. First of all, Book In A Month doesn’t literally have to be a whole book. It can be used to meet any writing goal. Say you wanted to write three chapters of a book in a month. Over the course of a year, that’s 3 12-chapter novels completed. Pretty good productivity. It can be used to write a novella, a shorter piece (like a Quickie length story from Ellora’s Cave, 10-15K), do edits, whatever goal fits your schedule. The object is to use the group to set and achieve specific goals regularly.
It also doesn’t have to be done every month. There are times when life interferes and it just isn’t going to happen. I got very little writing done the month before Morgan was born and in the two months after so far. But I did get a lot more done during BIAW time than I did the rest of the month, in spite of life interfering, so I know that it makes a difference to participate even in a very small way.
So. Don’t feel intimidated about joining the group, because it’s okay if you don’t write a whole book in a month or even participate every month. And it’s more fun to do it together! But I think the real power of Book In A Month or any similar program is that it trains to you write fast and therefore to write honestly and without stopping to listen to the internal critic’s voice. You suspend judgement until it’s over; the point is to write, even if it’s all trash. The surprising result? You find it isn’t trash at all.
I’m really excited about starting a BIAM group and I’m really glad I took action and started one instead of moping about the fact that I didn’t have one. I’m already not the only member and I’m looking forward to the first BIAM starting in September. Feel free to join us and give it a try! (Link to join the group is in the blog entry from yesterday.)
by Charlene Teglia | Aug 14, 2005 | Uncategorized
For the last week I’ve been working on my plan for the remainder of 2005 again, getting very specific (finish X project by X date, submit here). I’m nearly done with this and hope to finish it up today. It’s one of those things I have to have time to focus on. I’ve also got my newsletter more than half done. I’d hoped to get that out this weekend, but yesterday got taken up with various things, so I’m still finishing it. I may still get it out tonight. Soooo if you don’t want to miss my next tabloid edition, sign up for the newsletter. The new issue is coming soon! I can’t promise that it’ll go up on the site in a timely manner in addition to being emailed out. That’s an extra step that takes more time.
My big projects for today are finishing the newsletter and my list of goals with dates and specific projects tagged for each. And I’ve already pinpointed my project for BIAW which starts tomorrow. If I get it done by the end of the month, which is more reasonable than the end of next week, I’ll be very pleased. BIAW as I’ve mentioned before doesn’t really fit my pace. I’m more suited to BIAM. If only I could find a BIAM group like my BIAW group…Maybe I oughta start one instead of muttering every month that that’s what I really want.
That does it. I will start a Book In A Month group after finishing my tabloid newsletter and 2005 plan. Anybody interested in signing up for Book In A Month as a regular thing for accountability and comraderie in meeting writing goals, post in the comments!
Edited to add: it’s a done deal, go here to become a Book In A Month Babe! (If any guys want to sign up, you can be an honorary Babe. Think of Babe Ruth if it makes you feel more manly.)
by Charlene Teglia | Aug 13, 2005 | Uncategorized
Around here we’ve been starting off our mornings with a tall glass of…sludge. The morning dance involves an intricate combination of hitting the button on the coffee maker, assembling bottles, pouring milk into the blender with a couple of scoops of unidentifiable powder and churning it all into a nice frothy mixture of protein sludge. Then pouring said sludge into glasses.
“Here you go, dear, have some sludge.”
“Mmmph.” (You can’t make any sound but “mmmph” with your mouth full of sludge.)
I’m not knocking the sludge. Without it, I couldn’t drag my sorry butt through the morning, let alone a workout. No caffeine in the world has a high enough octane rating to get me going. Jet fuel in my cup might do it, but sludge is a good substitute.
Wash the sludge down with half a pot of coffee, and you too can make it through the day, in spite of being up from 2:30 to 4:30 a.m. for the last infant feeding.
Right before she woke me up that last time, though, I was having this great dream. I was thin and gorgeous. Thanks to the sludge and the workouts, I’m down another two pounds, so I’ll stick to the breakfast of champions. Or at least of tired parents.
by Charlene Teglia | Aug 11, 2005 | Uncategorized
Jaci Burton’s got a great blog entry on writing becoming last on the to do list. Thought-provoking and in the comments there’s some outstanding work-life balance advice.
This is one of those things that I think requires constant re-evaluation. It’s very, very easy to get so busy that there isn’t time for the things that are really important. I like the life/work/me categories described in how to keep things in balance but I find that I have to put me first in order to fulfill all the other roles I have in life.
If I don’t eat right, exercise, read things that inspire and educate me, I don’t have the steam to get through a day of being a mother, wife, writer, business person. I have to take care of myself in order to take care of everyone and everything else. And if my real priorities aren’t high on the to do list, I’m going to feel really resentful of all the demands on my time really fast.
This does in fact mean that not everything that will get done. That blog entry about the huge weeds? Not a joke. I let yard work slide in the fall before I got pregnant in order to finish Dangerous and Love Spell. I let housework slide, too. Do I regret that now? Nope. Not in the least. I only have fake plants in the house and we’re not going to acquire any new pets, either. I don’t have time to add them to my list. I don’t do a whole lot of cooking. I shoot for meals that can be made in 15 minutes or less. Cereal and peanut butter sandwiches come up on the menu pretty often. I can either be Martha Stewart (and look how she ended up) or I can be a writer. I can’t do it all and I don’t try.
Still, when everything is urgent it takes constant re-evaluation to keep your real priorities from getting pushed off to last or pushed off altogether. Life is an ongoing juggling act and it takes stopping to examine it on a regular basis to keep everything in balance.
by Charlene Teglia | Aug 10, 2005 | Uncategorized
I still don’t have the Sept. issue in my clutches (sob!) but courtesy of Ellen Fisher , here’s a quote:
“This is great erotic fiction! Jay and Anna are well-developed, sexy characters whose encounters and dialogue– whether at the office, in a canoe or in bed– are fresh, sexy and humorous.”- Stephanie Schneider, 4 1/2 Stars Romantic Times
Thank you, Ellen! And thank you, Stephanie. This is the kind of review a writer dreams of.
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