Too many things to focus on

I tended to divide my focus too much last year. Fiction. Multiple blogs. Articles. Freelance projects. Marketing. Social networking. It all meant that I just didn’t have quite enough time for anything, and never enough time to do it all well.

This year I’m going to limit myself. Fiction and the blogs are going to be my focus this year. I don’t plan on doing any freelance projects or articles. I also plan on limiting my use of social networking.

Focus for the blog

I think the blog has reflected my general lack of focus. I’d like to try to do some repeat themes like Grammar Monday, Fiction Tuesday, etc.

I’ll be spending some time over the next week going through logs and determining what posts get the most traffic, the most comments and the most shares on social networks. I’ll use that to develop a list of types of posts and subject to focus on this year.

What do you want?

What types of posts would you like to see here? What do you enjoy most, find the most useful? Is there a type of post you’d like me to not do any more of?

I’d love to get your feedback as I’m planning for the new year.

To kick things off, how about some links to get started.

1. Lynn Viehl’s work on Scribd is a good place to look for novel outlining help. She also has the text for last year’s online writer’s workshop she did there. If you’re unfamiliar with her work, then she also has some short stories there as well.
2. Writer’s Digest’s 101 best sites for writers is a good place to go for both inspiration and information.
3. Ponoko is a site that’s new to me. Think cafepress, but you can design whatever you want here. So if you’ve ever had a great idea you’d like to market, here’s one place to look.
4. The snowflake method is one of many ways to lay out your novel.
5. Need some medieval inspiration? How about an interesting torture method? Check out Medieval Castles.
6. Need a quick ancient history refresher? See the ancient history timeline.
7. And if you’ve ever thought your job was good fodder for a book. Read The Tribulations of a Checkout Girl.

I’ve been looking for something like this for a while, so I was really excited when these were announced back in May. Dell took a while getting them out, but here they are. Unfortunately, I won’t have an update or pics of it for a while; it doesn’t ship until mid-October! On the bright side, it’s going to get here before NaNoWriMo.

I hope to use this for an on-the-go writing and blogging computer. The keyboard is small (obviously), so it will take some getting used to, but I think I’ll really enjoy using it. I’ll keep you updated.

There have been rumors that Dell will release this laptop today, but that doesn’t look likely. I’ve heard everything from last June to this November as a release date, but Dell is annoyingly silent. The laptop looks very cool though, almost exactly what I’ve been looking for.

I want something ultra-small that I can toss in my bag and take with me on the weekends. My current “normal-sized” laptop just doesn’t quite fit the bill. I envision this as something to use to write at the bookstore, outside, in the car, etc. I think the keyboard will be too small to allow me to use it exclusively, not to mention the display. However, I think it will be great for short writing bursts when I don’t want to lug around a full-size laptop.

Anyone else use anything similar that you’d recommend?

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Yes, I was ready for NaNoEdMo. I had blog ideas lined up so posting would be a breeze. I was all set, except for that little flu thing. So, no posts because I didn’t have a stockpile ready.

It just goes to show, it’s one thing to know what’s a good idea, another to do it.

I’m finally getting back to myself, and I’ll be back to a normal posting schedule too. Thanks for bearing with me.

Here’s where you all come in. I’m accepting submissions for links to add to the page.

Send me a link to a post on your site with a brief summary of what it covers. If your entire site is writing-related, send me that link as well.

Feel free to send links to others’ sites as well. Suggest a category you’d like to see me include.

I’m not going to promise to link back to everyone; in fact, I plan on only linking to the best submissions. I’d rather have a few dozen excellent resources than a couple hundred mediocre ones.

Edited to add: Of course, leaving your links in the comments is fine. If you’d prefer, email me at cornerscribe AT cornerscribe DOT com. I don’t check my email daily, so don’t get worried if you don’t hear from me immediately. Also, if you submit multiple links, your comment will likely get caught in my spam filter. It would be better to submit each link in a separate comment (or by email).

I’d like to see my subscriptions above 30 by the end of January. I know that’s more than 10 percent, but I think it’s very doable too.

Here’s where you come in. I’m asking my readers to go ahead and subscribe to my RSS feed. You can do a feed reader (like Google or Bloglines) or subscribe via e-mail.

Thanks!

Wrong. If you want to write for a living, you have some serious financial planning to do now.

Walking away from a 9 to 5 job with benefits is going to be tough when the time comes, regardless of the planning you’ve done. However, it will be impossible if you haven’t done any planning at all. Imagine it, you get your first book deal, and you still can’t afford to quit work and write! Not exactly what you’re dreaming of, is it?

Let me say that once more…. Unless you plan financially now, you’ll never be able to quit work and write for a living.

So, what are you doing about it?

Over the past year or so, we’ve been working on our finances and planning/hoping that my writing career can be my main source of income eventually. Here’s what we’ve done.

• Stop going into debt. This one really is a no-brainer. We don’t charge gas, food, clothes, etc. We don’t even charge bigger items, like furniture.
• Pay out of debt. If you’re not going INTO debt, then paying off the debt you have becomes much easier, and faster. If you’re able, add a little extra to one of your bills each month so you can see it disappear even more quickly.
• Layaway is your friend. Many stores still offer layaway plans. This is great for larger purchases you might put on a credit card otherwise. We bought a home recently, and we’ve been furnishing it with layaway. It feels great bringing a piece of furniture home knowing it’s paid for!
• Cut expenses. Sit down with your last few bank statements and track where your money is going. You don’t have to do a fancy spreadsheet, just look. Are you paying for a service you no longer need or use? I recently found a subscription I hadn’t logged in to for over a year, and it was costing me $15/month. Other easy techniques are searching online for coupons before you shop (online or in-store!) and asking for interest rate discounts from the credit cards you currently hold. If you can talk them into even a small decrease, it will make paying the balance off that much quicker.
• Save! Sign up for one of the online savings accounts and start putting something in every payday. Once you’re used to saving that amount and you no longer miss it, up the savings by a few dollars. When you get a raise, put at least half of it in the savings.
• As time goes on, put more of your paycheck into savings and practice living on your spouse’s income only, if you’re in a two-earner family. Start slow and gradually put away more and more of your income as your expenses and debt decrease.

Yes, living on an erratic source of income can be scary, but it’s also very doable! Plan on making just one financial change this month that can put you closer to that goal. What will yours be?

Note: This entry is part of a group writing contest being held at Get Rich Slowly, which happens to be a great site for finding advice on living more frugally, budgeting, getting out of debt, etc.

We were at Virginia Tech, and it’s been years since I was on their campus. It’s beautiful, but it’s changed quite a lot! Unfortunately, I didn’t get many pictures, but I’ll try to post what I have later this week.

Something like this makes me get the itch to go to a writer’s conference. I got lots of good ideas and contacts (job related), so I wonder what it would be like to do the same for my writing.

Anyone regularly attend writing conferences or get-aways?