The Gift of Writing Time

WOW! Women On Writing
Classes & Workshops

Spotlight: Kelly L. Stone, Writing Mentor

In this issue:

Article: The Gift of Writing Time

Spotlight Course: Empower Your Muse, Empower Your Writing Self

Spotlight Course: No Matter How Busy You Are, You Can Find Time to Write!

Instructors' Posts @ The Muffin

Upcoming Classes & Workshops

Writers,

As the summer season winds down, it's back to business with your writing. Wouldn't it be great to get a shot of energy, inspiration, and confidence to tackle your new projects? The gift of some extra writing time would be nice too.

Author Kelly L. Stone has two courses coming up filled with great ideas, exercises and fun techniques to get you going. She'll show you how to create more writing time and make your writing dreams happen. Try one or both of her classes, and become a more successful writer by the end of the year!

Empower Your Muse, Empower Your Writing Self starts Monday, September 3rd. In this class you'll learn methods for overcoming a variety of issues facing all writers, including lack of self confidence, lack of follow through, resistance to writing, avoidance to writing, and discouragement. You'll also learn how to set goals and meet them using subconscious mind techniques for maximum writing output.

After your muse is empowered and ready to roar, jump into Kelly's next class No Matter How Busy You Are, You Can Still Find Time to Write!, which starts Monday, October 8th. You'll learn unique and creative ways to fit writing time into your busy life, including how to set achievable writing goals, how to create a Writing Action Plan, and how to manage distractions and interruptions. Find out about seven writing schedules used by professional writers, and choose one for yourself.

Kelly is also offering students a Fall discount of $75 off! (each class is normally $125, now $50 each). This includes one-on-one support and feedback from Kelly as well as a free critique of up to 25 pages or a 15 minute phone consultation. The perfect way to rev up your writing life!

In the article below, Kelly reveals how to make time to write in your crazy busy life. We all want to know about that, right?

Also, it's your last chance last chance to enroll in Advanced Class: Writing a Middle-Grade Novel Part 2 (starts today, Aug 23). Other great class coming up include Vampires Optional: Writing Young Adult Fiction (September 5), Creating and Building Your Author Online Presence: Website Creation to Beyond Book Sales (Sept 17), and Character Power! Crafting Dynamic Characters within Fiction and Nonfiction (Sept 21). Our full class list is below!

Write On!

Marcia & Angela

Marcia & Angela
Classroom Managers
WOW! Classes & Workshops

classroom@wow-womenonwriting.com

The Gift of Writing Time

By Kelly L. Stone

Time to write. Everyone wants it. But who has it?

You do. Time to write is something you make. You make it by scheduling it. Whether your goal is to get published or simply to write for the enjoyment of self-expression, making time to write is a discipline you must devote yourself to; no one can do it for you. It's a commitment to writing that you and only you can make.

So let's talk about how you make time to write even with your crazy busy life. The first step is honoring your voice. If you want to get those words on paper you have to believe that writing--your writing--is important. You have to value your story and what you're creating, because if you don't value it, who will? Honor what you have to say enough to give it room in your life. No one can tell your story the way you can, and we can't read your mind. You have to put your words on paper where we can see them.

The next step to finding time to write is scheduling it into your day. People tend to gasp in shock when I point this out. But you have a schedule for everything else, why not writing? I bet you can tell me the next time your child is scheduled to get her teeth cleaned, or the next time your car is due for an oil change. Can you tell me the next time you plan to write? If not, set a day and time now. It doesn't matter if it's once a day or once a week. Just pick a schedule and stick to it, because if you don't schedule writing into your life, you're choosing to allow distractions to overtake you.

Next set a small goal for your writing time. It might be to write three pages or to record your memories of the holidays just passed for 20 minutes. Planning your work ensures that you don't sit at the computer twiddling your thumbs (or "doing research"). No indeed, you have an assignment to complete, and you can't get up until you've done it. Set an egg timer if you must, but sit down for a designated length of time and write.

Then hold yourself accountable to your schedule by keeping a record of how many times you fulfilled it. Many writers keep a spreadsheet that includes the date and the number of pages they wrote at each session. One writer told me she put a quarter in a jar every time she met her writing goal for the day, and when she finished a project she had money to buy herself a nice gift.

Which leads to the last tip on finding time to write: reward yourself every time you write. Every single time. This is called positive reinforcement, and it's how you build the habit of writing. It can be a piece of chocolate, watching an hour of television, taking a nap, or yes, even doing the laundry. Writing is hard work, and exercising self-discipline is even harder. Pat yourself on the back.

Honor your voice by scheduling writing into your day. Don't let your dream, and your days, slip away.

Empower Your Muse, Empower

Your Writing Self
Instructor: Kelly L. Stone

Workshop Length: 4 Weeks
Price: $50 (Fall discount, $75 Off! Normally $125)
Start Date: September 3, 2012
Limit 25 Students

Course Description: In this class, participants will learn methods for overcoming a variety of issues facing all writers, including lack of self confidence, lack of follow through, resistance to writing, avoidance to writing, and discouragement. Participants will learn how to set goals and meet them using subconscious mind techniques including Role Modeling, Image Incorporation, and controlling the Thought-Feeling-Behavior cycle for maximum writing output. Based on the instructor's book, Living Write: The Secret to Bringing Your Craft Into Your Daily Life. Fee includes EITHER a free critique of any genre, up to 25 pages, or a 15 minute one-on-one phone consultation with the instructor on any topic related to writing (must be scheduled prior to the end of class).

Visit the Classroom Page for a complete listing and what you'll be learning week by week.

About the Instructor: Kelly L. Stone is a licensed mental health counselor and writer. Her women's fiction novel, Grave Secret (Mundania Press, September 2007) was called "powerful" by RT Book Reviews. She is also the author of the Time To Write series of craft books for writers; the latest in the series is Living Write: The Secret to Bringing Your Craft Into Your Daily Life (Adams Media, September 2010). She is a sought after keynote speaker and workshop presenter at writing conferences across the country and offers online classes, critiques, and coaching services to writers. Contact her at kelly[at]authorkellylstone[dot]com.

No Matter How Busy You Are, You Can Find Time to Write!
Instructor: Kelly L. Stone

Workshop Length: 4 Weeks
Price: $50 (Fall discount, $75 Off! Normally $125)
Start Date: October 8, 2012
Limit 25 Students

Course Description: Students learn unique and creative ways to fit writing time into their busy lives, including how to set achievable writing goals, how to create a Writing Action Plan, and how to manage distractions and interruptions. Fee includes EITHER a free critique of any genre, up to 25 pages, or a 15 minute one-on-one phone consultation with the instructor on any topic related to writing (must be scheduled prior to the end of class).

Visit the Classroom Page for a complete listing and what you'll be learning week by week.

Instructors' Posts @ The Muffin

Have you checked out what's cookin' at The Muffin? Our instructors are stopping by and sharing their words of wisdom!

If you're too busy to stop by but don't want to miss out, you can always sign up to get blog posts via e-mail here.

The three most important elements of your action scene: Character, Character, Character

By Bonnie Hearn Hill

You need more than guns, knives and exploding objects to make an action scene work. When I started writing thrillers, I didn't know that. The more bodies, the better, right? Those early attempts of mine didn't sell, and I didn't have a clue what they were missing. More action, perhaps? MORE

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Cliches When Writing Books for Kids: How to Fix Them

By Margo L. Dill

When I pitched my YA novel to an agent at a conference, she told me that some of my plot points were cliche. The biggest problem was the parents of the main character dying in a car crash in the beginning. Actually, they die before the novel even starts, but that's not my point today--to discuss my YA plot. I was devastated and thought there was no hope for my book. I didn't know there was a "dead parents" cliche. MORE

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