A Post on Doing ALL THE THINGS

So yeah, THINGS people. I have been doing ALL THE THINGS. In the past week I’ve had line edits from two different publishers, revisions for my latest Presents MS and I finished Unbound (AKA bad ass cowboy, though it badly needs a read through!)

I also got a title and release date for Presents #20! (buh buh buh duhHhhh!!) His Ring is Not Enough, and it’s out in September, 2013. That book was a pain the drain so I was pleased to see it done. And pleased that Presents #21, which I just did the revisions for, was in much less need of repair.

OH YEAH and I got the release date for Unbound, which is already up for pre-order on Amazon as Silver Creek Romance #2…December 17th, 2013.

I realized this put my total number of releases in 2013 up to 11. Yeah. I know, right? Two are novella length, seven are category length and two are single title length, and that adds up to A WHOLE LOT OF WRITING I did this past year.

Incidentally, I’m doing a workshop in Australia on the topic of productivity and having a life to go along with it. *cough shameless plug cough* But I’m going to touch on some of how I go about life and work in this post. (again, I know)

So this is how I wrote that many books…

1. I write when I don’t wanna. No muse? Oh well. I write even when I hate it, even when it hurts. (and thankfully, I often get to write when it feels awesome, so it’s a nice trade off!)

2. I’ve given myself permission to enjoy my work. I can breathe easier when I feel positively about my projects and I have a lot more fun.

3. I see revisions as a chance to find the best in my MS, I don’t look at them as a failure. Or like I’ve done something wrong. Again, it’s the positive spin and gaming my brain that way works for me.

4. I set strict goals and I keep them. What’s my deadline per my contract? Dunno. I set alternate deadlines and those ARE my deadlines. They are not fake. Failure is not an option. That means I want to hit x number of words a day, be THIS far on the book by THIS time and have it done THIS DAY.

5. I am in the habit of writing. I practice it. Sort of like people who run, and then want to run all the time. (which, whatever. Those people are cray cray)

6. It’s my job. That right there helps a lot. Barring serious garbage, people go to work every day no matter what.

7. It’s my passion. I have to do it. It’s my therapy. It keeps me sane. It gives me an escape when I need it, a distraction from my problems. A world to escape to.

So those are some of the ways that…11 in 2013 happened. I hope that helps some of you. My methods, of course, aren’t helpful for everyone. A huge part of finding the process and mindset that works for you is knowing yourself and knowing what you need to be at that sweet spot of productivity high and personal life happiness. In life as in writing! 😉