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• September 2006: The Issue that Started it All!

Greetings!

Happy 2009! The start of a new year provides us with the wonderful opportunity to reevaluate ourselves and reinvent our lives. It's a time for resolutions. Not only the ones we seldom keep--such as quitting our favorite vices, losing weight, and eating healthy--but also the ones that help us grow as a writer.

Remember that any goals you set can be realistic, but they must come with an action plan for success. Sure, you can lose forty pounds or write The Great American Novel, but you need to start with some basic skills that will help you conquer those big goals. These skills include organization, time management, balancing your life and your career, and setting deadlines. This issue will provide you with some of the tools you need to get started. The follow through is up to you.

It's about time.

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A big, warm, Thank You goes out to our freelancers & staff:

A big thank you goes to WOW! columnist Marcia Peterson for her powerful article on deadlines: Get a Deadline and Get More Writing Done. Marcia provides creative ideas for creating self-imposed deadlines. Those are the toughest to keep! So her advice is truly helpful.

Another issue that many full time writers and freelancers face is Making Time for Left- and Right-Brain Writing. WOW! thanks returning freelancer Cathy C. Hall for her tips on juggling both fiction writing and nonfiction articles. These require opposite sides of the brain, and learning how to switch from one side to the next is a valuable skill. Any writer who wants to write what they love and pay the bills should read this article.

But what if you have too many tasks that steal from your writing time? WOW! team member Jodi M. Webb shows us how to Fight the Time Suckers in our lives. These come in many shapes, sizes, and forms--they may even be your family members! I know that sounds a bit harsh, but the sooner you recognize the time suckers and draw a line in the sand, the sooner you'll get more writing done. And that's the goal, right? There can be a simple balance, and Jodi shows you how to tackle it.

We welcome back freelancer Suzanne Pitner, and are thrilled with her interviewee this month! Suzanne interviews Marla Cilley, a.k.a. the FlyLady, on organization and time management. Marla helps us take charge of our lives and our homes. We could all learn some new tricks from this expert author and organizational specialist.

And what could be timelier than blogging? Recently, Margo Dill conducted a survey and wrote a blog post covering The Best and Worst of 2008 for Writers. Not surprisingly, the Wordpress blog platform was listed as one of the best tools for writers. It's the easiest way to create a website and reach your target audience. So now that we know blogs are a must-have, what do we do next? New freelancer Deonne Kahler shows us How To Craft An Irresistible Blog. She also tells us what to avoid. By following her good advice, your blog will be as irresistible as chocolate. That's why we put chocolate in the header graphic. (Wink!) Welcome, Deonne, to the WOW! family.

A big thank you goes to WOW! columnist Chynna Laird for her inspiring interview with Catherine Hickland. Keeping with the time theme, Catherine shows us how to recover from a heartbreak within 30 days. She has some sage advice that will change your perspective, heartbreak or not, and her positive outlook is truly inspiring. This interview is not to miss!

Want to erase last year's slate of plans and start brand new? We thank WOW! columnist Margo L. Dill for interviewing Julie Hood about organizing your writing in 2009. Julie provides us with a solid approach to tackling your goals and staying on track. She also pinpoints the main factors that work against writers and shows you how to approach them. She even introduced me to a new Google gadget that I didn't know about!

So what do you do with all this information? I know it's easy to surf to the next site and fall back into your routine (read: rut), but if you really want to break out and take action, you're going to need a place to store all of your plans. WOW! columnist Jodi M. Webb evaluates a remarkable new tool--The Writer's Planner by Gayle Trent for our Review Column. It's filled with fantastic resources and articles to keep you organized this year. Check out the review for a list of everything inside! This is a definite must-have.

We leave you with this quote from Your Truest Self: Embracing the Woman You Are Meant to Be:

"If we avoid taking the time to reflect upon our experiences, we will continue to engage in the same patterns of thinking and being that we always have."

~ Jan Lundy

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