Marlee Keyes's Blog
March 5, 2015
5 Common-Sense Tips to Beat Procrastination and Get Writing
The hardest thing about writing, for me, is just getting started. Procrastination is my worst enemy. What I need is motivation. When I did NaNoWriMo last November, I stayed on task because it was something I really, really wanted to accomplish and to be able to say "I did it!" Even though I was only in competition with myself, it was enough to make me sit down at my computer every single day and crank out X number of words. And I DID do it - I wrote the rough draft of Still [Boy] Crazy After All These Years in 30 days. Then I took the month of December to edit and fine tune it, and published it in January. What a great feeling.
Soon after, I got the idea for the second book in the Mountain Laurel series, tentatively titled Spare Me. I haven't gotten too much farther than that, unfortunately. The winter has been long and cold, and I've been reading an awful lot - which is good. But I haven't been carving out time for writing. Here it is March already, and I've done nothing but a couple of character sketches and a basic premise for the book, which is still in my head. Enough already! Time to get out the whip (no, not that kind of whip, you 50 Shades fans) and get cracking. Here's how I plan to get back on track:
1. Put writing on my calendar. Make a date with myself. It's hard when you have a million other things going on, I know. I have a full-time day job and an Etsy vintage shop in addition to writing, not to mention 21 pets to take care of and a house to clean. Finding time to write will never happen if I don't schedule it in. I did it in November; I can do it now. Yes, I can do it all the time. Maybe not with the intensity of NaNoWriMo, but I can probably manage 15 to 30 minutes a day of writing - even if it's just doing character sketches or outlining. It's still moving the book forward. So, at maybe 7:30 each night, I'll sit down, open Scrivener, and work for at least 15 minutes. If I get on a roll and go longer, all the better.
2. Avoid time-wasters. I'm talking to you, Facebook, Zulily, Pinterest, etc. Yes, it's good to get on Facebook a couple times a day, see what your buddies are up to, post something relevant or amusing. Pinterest is great for finding recipes when I'm standing in the kitchen wondering what to eat for dinner. But it's oh-so-easy to kill a half hour or more scrolling through and looking at pictures, window shopping, or just creeping. That's time that I'll never get back! When I think about it that way, I would much rather "waste" time reading a good book or watching Gilmore Girls episodes.
3. Use those blocks of "found" time. They're few and far between, but are truly a godsend. Today, we got about 7 inches of snow and the university where I work announced an 11 a.m. start, but by 9 a.m. they announced they were closed for the day. YAY!!!! I promised myself at least 2 hours of writing (does this count?) and a thorough cleaning of the hall closet that has not been cleaned in the 12 years I've lived here. There was a pile of rags in there at least 3 feet high. I am only one person - why do I need 100 rags in the hall closet? Not only that, but I have a collection of hotel soaps, shampoos, conditioners, body lotions, shower gels, and mouthwash large enough to fill 3 drawers in my little wheeled chest of drawers. Lightbulbs of every shape, size, and wattage. A box full of Ace bandages. And best of all - a drawer full of 1980s hair scrunches that I made for my daughter, and her retainer from when she was 10 (she's 34 now). Ugh! Purging that stuff felt good, and the closet looks great. But guess what? It's now 1:30 p.m., and I haven't started working on the book yet. That's what I will do from 2:00 until 4:00, and hopefully will have something to show for it!
4. Carry a small journal everywhere, for those times when inspiration strikes. Airports are great for material, as are any crowded places. A conversation overheard, someone's crazy outfit. Write it down; describe it in detail. Anything can be used in a story. At the Atlanta airport a couple days ago, I was waiting on a delayed flight and sitting next to a man with absolutely the biggest feet I had ever seen - and he had on neon green tennis shoes! Out came the little journal. I don't know if I'll ever use it, but the moment would have been lost forever if I hadn't captured it.
5. Read. Make time to read every day. I have a Kindle, and the Kindle app on my iPad and iPhone, so I am virtually never without books at my fingertips. I read every night before going to sleep, and I usually read on my lunch hour at work. Anytime I am stuck waiting, I read. Doctor's offices, car inspection, you name it. I cannot stand wasting time doing nothing. And reading other writers' wonderful books gives me inspiration to do better myself. It's a great motivator.
So there you have it. These things are not anything new or extraordinary; they're just common sense. I'm sure you've heard all of them before. But it doesn't hurt to reiterate good advice. Now, 2 hours on Scrivener - GO!
This post also appears on my website, marleekeyes.com.
Soon after, I got the idea for the second book in the Mountain Laurel series, tentatively titled Spare Me. I haven't gotten too much farther than that, unfortunately. The winter has been long and cold, and I've been reading an awful lot - which is good. But I haven't been carving out time for writing. Here it is March already, and I've done nothing but a couple of character sketches and a basic premise for the book, which is still in my head. Enough already! Time to get out the whip (no, not that kind of whip, you 50 Shades fans) and get cracking. Here's how I plan to get back on track:
1. Put writing on my calendar. Make a date with myself. It's hard when you have a million other things going on, I know. I have a full-time day job and an Etsy vintage shop in addition to writing, not to mention 21 pets to take care of and a house to clean. Finding time to write will never happen if I don't schedule it in. I did it in November; I can do it now. Yes, I can do it all the time. Maybe not with the intensity of NaNoWriMo, but I can probably manage 15 to 30 minutes a day of writing - even if it's just doing character sketches or outlining. It's still moving the book forward. So, at maybe 7:30 each night, I'll sit down, open Scrivener, and work for at least 15 minutes. If I get on a roll and go longer, all the better.
2. Avoid time-wasters. I'm talking to you, Facebook, Zulily, Pinterest, etc. Yes, it's good to get on Facebook a couple times a day, see what your buddies are up to, post something relevant or amusing. Pinterest is great for finding recipes when I'm standing in the kitchen wondering what to eat for dinner. But it's oh-so-easy to kill a half hour or more scrolling through and looking at pictures, window shopping, or just creeping. That's time that I'll never get back! When I think about it that way, I would much rather "waste" time reading a good book or watching Gilmore Girls episodes.
3. Use those blocks of "found" time. They're few and far between, but are truly a godsend. Today, we got about 7 inches of snow and the university where I work announced an 11 a.m. start, but by 9 a.m. they announced they were closed for the day. YAY!!!! I promised myself at least 2 hours of writing (does this count?) and a thorough cleaning of the hall closet that has not been cleaned in the 12 years I've lived here. There was a pile of rags in there at least 3 feet high. I am only one person - why do I need 100 rags in the hall closet? Not only that, but I have a collection of hotel soaps, shampoos, conditioners, body lotions, shower gels, and mouthwash large enough to fill 3 drawers in my little wheeled chest of drawers. Lightbulbs of every shape, size, and wattage. A box full of Ace bandages. And best of all - a drawer full of 1980s hair scrunches that I made for my daughter, and her retainer from when she was 10 (she's 34 now). Ugh! Purging that stuff felt good, and the closet looks great. But guess what? It's now 1:30 p.m., and I haven't started working on the book yet. That's what I will do from 2:00 until 4:00, and hopefully will have something to show for it!
4. Carry a small journal everywhere, for those times when inspiration strikes. Airports are great for material, as are any crowded places. A conversation overheard, someone's crazy outfit. Write it down; describe it in detail. Anything can be used in a story. At the Atlanta airport a couple days ago, I was waiting on a delayed flight and sitting next to a man with absolutely the biggest feet I had ever seen - and he had on neon green tennis shoes! Out came the little journal. I don't know if I'll ever use it, but the moment would have been lost forever if I hadn't captured it.
5. Read. Make time to read every day. I have a Kindle, and the Kindle app on my iPad and iPhone, so I am virtually never without books at my fingertips. I read every night before going to sleep, and I usually read on my lunch hour at work. Anytime I am stuck waiting, I read. Doctor's offices, car inspection, you name it. I cannot stand wasting time doing nothing. And reading other writers' wonderful books gives me inspiration to do better myself. It's a great motivator.
So there you have it. These things are not anything new or extraordinary; they're just common sense. I'm sure you've heard all of them before. But it doesn't hurt to reiterate good advice. Now, 2 hours on Scrivener - GO!
This post also appears on my website, marleekeyes.com.
January 23, 2015
My Decision to Use CreateSpace
When I first published Still Boy Crazy After All These Years, I only published it for Kindle. It was easy to do, and there was no cost involved. Sure, there was some formatting to do, and a cover to design, but it really wasn't bad at all. I had to get a little help online with the table of contents, and it took me a little time to create a cover that was appealing. I found that you can download one BigStock photo without joining and paying for the service, so I searched their database for a redhead with long hair that would look like I pictured Maggie. And there she was! After a few tries, I had a cover I was happy with, and it was free.
I'm an impatient sort. Yes, it took me nine years to get this book out of my head and down on the computer. But now that it is done, I want everything to happen RIGHT NOW. Well, being a completely new, unknown author, with a single book on Amazon, sales were not happening right away. I nosed around a bit, and decided to run a three-day free promotion on the book. I was thrilled to see it downloaded 141 times in three days! And then begain the waiting for reviews to come... tap tap tap... well, they are coming, albeit slowly. But these things take time.
Then I got to thinking, not everyone has a Kindle, or the Kindle app. And there are a lot of people who just prefer to hold a book in their hands. Being a newbie at this publishing thing, I thought (incorrectly) that you had to pay for print copies to be made. Then I landed on CreateSpace and started reading. Lo and behold, CreateSpace costs nothing! You create your book, upload the text and cover, and then proof it (you can order a proof copy for next to nothing, or review it online). I definitely recommend getting the proof copy. Mine cost less than three dollars and I had it in a few days. There's just something about holding your book in your hands for the first time...
The beauty of CreateSpace (and maybe other similar companies) is that the book is printed on demand, so you don't have to order a thousand copies and pay for them up front. If someone orders a copy, they print it and send it out. Amazing. You get your royalty, Amazon gets their cut, everybody's happy.
Getting the book ready took a little time. The formatting is completely different from the Kindle version, but they have some cool templates out there that I found. You just download a template, and then dump your Word file right into it and voila! It's practically done. I did have a little challenge getting the headers to be different on opposing pages, and getting the page numbers to start on page 2, but the online Word help was useful there. After about an hour of pure frustration, I got it.
The cover, too, had to be redesigned to include a front, spine, and back. Another challenge. I am not a graphic artist. But a template came to the rescue for that too. There is a place on CreateSpace where you can enter the size of your book that you selected, and the number of pages, and it gives you a perfect template with exact measurements. I then took those measurements to Microsoft Publisher and created a "custom" layout. From there it was easy to design the cover - front, back, and spine. My book was ready to publish!
I uploaded everything into CreateSpace, and within 12 hours I was notified that everything was good for publication, and I could order a proof. Once I got the proof copy, I did go back and make a couple of changes to the cover, and I fixed one formatting oops that I missed the first time. Another 12 hours for review, and it was ready to go. In the meantime, you can go ahead and enter your price for the book and where you would like it to be sold, all of those little details.
Before I left for work in the morning the next day, I went on to the CreateSpace website and clicked Publish. At lunchtime I looked on Amazon, and there were four different sellers hawking copies of my printed book! And interestingly, there were four different prices. Amazon listed it for the retail price I selected, and the other three had added a few dollars to it. Interesting; I didn't know that would happen. Apparently they pick up new books and tack on a profit margin for themselves. I wonder how that works for them when every customer can see all of the prices listed one right after the other.
So now, I am waiting for those reviews to start rolling in, and thinking about what my next book will be about. Next time, it will be much easier!
I'm an impatient sort. Yes, it took me nine years to get this book out of my head and down on the computer. But now that it is done, I want everything to happen RIGHT NOW. Well, being a completely new, unknown author, with a single book on Amazon, sales were not happening right away. I nosed around a bit, and decided to run a three-day free promotion on the book. I was thrilled to see it downloaded 141 times in three days! And then begain the waiting for reviews to come... tap tap tap... well, they are coming, albeit slowly. But these things take time.
Then I got to thinking, not everyone has a Kindle, or the Kindle app. And there are a lot of people who just prefer to hold a book in their hands. Being a newbie at this publishing thing, I thought (incorrectly) that you had to pay for print copies to be made. Then I landed on CreateSpace and started reading. Lo and behold, CreateSpace costs nothing! You create your book, upload the text and cover, and then proof it (you can order a proof copy for next to nothing, or review it online). I definitely recommend getting the proof copy. Mine cost less than three dollars and I had it in a few days. There's just something about holding your book in your hands for the first time...
The beauty of CreateSpace (and maybe other similar companies) is that the book is printed on demand, so you don't have to order a thousand copies and pay for them up front. If someone orders a copy, they print it and send it out. Amazing. You get your royalty, Amazon gets their cut, everybody's happy.
Getting the book ready took a little time. The formatting is completely different from the Kindle version, but they have some cool templates out there that I found. You just download a template, and then dump your Word file right into it and voila! It's practically done. I did have a little challenge getting the headers to be different on opposing pages, and getting the page numbers to start on page 2, but the online Word help was useful there. After about an hour of pure frustration, I got it.
The cover, too, had to be redesigned to include a front, spine, and back. Another challenge. I am not a graphic artist. But a template came to the rescue for that too. There is a place on CreateSpace where you can enter the size of your book that you selected, and the number of pages, and it gives you a perfect template with exact measurements. I then took those measurements to Microsoft Publisher and created a "custom" layout. From there it was easy to design the cover - front, back, and spine. My book was ready to publish!
I uploaded everything into CreateSpace, and within 12 hours I was notified that everything was good for publication, and I could order a proof. Once I got the proof copy, I did go back and make a couple of changes to the cover, and I fixed one formatting oops that I missed the first time. Another 12 hours for review, and it was ready to go. In the meantime, you can go ahead and enter your price for the book and where you would like it to be sold, all of those little details.
Before I left for work in the morning the next day, I went on to the CreateSpace website and clicked Publish. At lunchtime I looked on Amazon, and there were four different sellers hawking copies of my printed book! And interestingly, there were four different prices. Amazon listed it for the retail price I selected, and the other three had added a few dollars to it. Interesting; I didn't know that would happen. Apparently they pick up new books and tack on a profit margin for themselves. I wonder how that works for them when every customer can see all of the prices listed one right after the other.
So now, I am waiting for those reviews to start rolling in, and thinking about what my next book will be about. Next time, it will be much easier!
