by Stacy | Feb 24, 2023 | Time Management for Writers, Writing Life
Are you tired of feeling like there’s never enough time in the day to pursue your writing dreams AND take care of your personal life? As a writer, it can be hard juggling writing a book, building your career, spending time with loved ones, doing household chores, and maintaining healthy habits like exercise.
But what if I told you that it’s possible to manage your time effectively and achieve your writing goals without sacrificing your personal life? That’s why I’m excited to announce my new free masterclass: Your Best Writing Year Ever: 4 Time Management Hacks to Kickstart Your Productivity.
During this recorded, on-demand workshop, you’ll learn how to better manage the four pillars of time management: electronic clutter, external clutter, internal clutter, and getting things done. You’ll also discover why this multidisciplinary approach is so important to writers and how to implement four simple action steps to start using immediately.
As a mom, author, and entrepreneur, I understand firsthand how overwhelming it can be to balance everything on your to-do list. But after going on a quest to find balance and increase my productivity, I developed a four-part framework that has worked wonders for me.
I want to share this framework with you, so you can see time management in a different way and gain a new perspective on how to take control over your schedule and your writing career. Whether you’re struggling with time management or just looking to boost your productivity, this free workshop is for you.
Don’t let stress and overwhelm hold you back any longer. Sign up for Your Best Writing Year Ever: 4 Time Management Hacks to Kickstart Your Productivity today and take the first step toward achieving your writing goals.
by Stacy | Jun 8, 2021 | Time Management for Writers, Writing Life
Iâm so excited! My brand new course, called Time Management Blueprint for Writers: Transform Your Life and Finish Your Book, is now available.
This self-paced, comprehensive course will guide you through the process of organizing your life one step at a time so that you can become healthier and happier while boosting your creativity and productivity.
It can feel impossible to balance your dreams with a day job, family responsibilities, household chores, and a never-ending list of distractions all vying for your attention. Everything seems urgent and youâre pulled in too many directions, which can result in fatigue, stress, irritability, and frustration that you lack the time and energy to pursue your passion.
Manage Your Time
Through a series of engaging written lessons and short video tutorials that get straight to the point, youâll assess your life in four key areas: Electronic Clutter, External Clutter, Internal Clutter, and the logistics of Getting Things Done.
In Time Management Blueprint, we’ll cover:
Tackling email and social media
Organizing your digital files and bookmarks
Automating routine tasks
Decluttering your home and setting up an inspiring work or writing environment
Unwinding, improving focus, and getting into a flow state
Handling distractions and interruptions
Prioritizing, planning, and breaking down goals into manageable steps
Mastering your calendar
Pushing through creative blocks and setbacks
Nailing your writing or work sessions
If youâre ready to stop spinning your wheels and reclaim control, then Time Management Blueprint for Writers: Transform Your Life and Finish Your Book, will give you powerful and practical tools to succeed and find balance.
Many of you know me as a fiction writer and developmental editor. This course is all about editing different aspects of your life. In addition to the lessons and videos, you’ll get extensive cheat sheets recapping all the key points of the course, a workbook, spreadsheets, habit trackers, and more.
Bonuses
The below bonuses are always included with the course.
5-minute meditation – Unwind with the guided meditation, Pressing Pause, contributed by Melanie Steele. This audio is one of her Monday Meditations for the Writer’s Soul.
4 free Trello boards – Start organizing your life with free Trello templates offered by Brit Poe of Thriving Scribes. Brit, creator of the in-depth course Trello 4 Authors, has shared four boards from her paid program. You’ll get her Day Board, Week Board, Year Board, and Goals and Intentions Board. Â
Writing productivity spreadsheet – Track your word counts with this user-friendly spreadsheet offered by Rahel Wallace, author brand coach and creator of the Indie Author Support: Prosperity Through Community Facebook group.
Start managing your time better so you can be healthier, happier, and more productive. Enroll here!
by Stacy | Mar 22, 2021 | Special Events
Since I’m launching a time management for writers course later this spring, productivity is a topic I’m very interested in. Everyone has different strategies to share and different methods that have worked for them, which is why I’m so excited to have Katharine Grubb of 10 Minute Novelists lead a guest workshop in my Shortcuts for Writers Facebook group.
Katharine will be leading the Time Management Mini-Boot Camp: A Crash Course in How to Organize Your Life For More Time To Write on March 26 at 10 am EST. Make sure to request admission to the Shortcuts for Writers: Editing Made Simple group to attend live as the workshop will stream in the group, not on the event page. A replay will be available.
In this live presentation, Katharine will give you practical tips on how to organize your foundational truth, attitudes, people, time, stuff, tools, margins and fails so that you go through your day with order and determination. Through these simple steps you will gain power to be organized and make more time for the people and passions that you love. Your dreams are worth ten minutes, but the rest of your life is worth so much more.
More About Katharine
Katharine Grubb is a poet, novelist, and former homeschooling mom who likes to bake bread, hike the Massachusetts woods and encourage others. She is the author of several books, including Write A Novel In 10 Minutes A Day and is the founder and CEO of 10 Minute Novelists Facebook community.
Join the Shortcuts for Writers Facebook group here.
by Stacy | Jul 21, 2020 | Mindset and Creativity, Writing and Editing Resources
I’m so excited to bring you this interview with an extremely inspiring writer and coach, Emma Dhesi, who helps beginner writers find the time and confidence to write their first novel. I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed for an upcoming episode of Emma’s podcast, Turning Readers Into Writers. She also invited me to talk about self-editing during the 20-day August Accelerator event coming up in her Facebook group. (August 2020)
Emma’s motto for beginner writers is:Â Get Focused. Get Confident. Get Published. Read the interview below to learn more about Emma and how she is helping beginner writers to approach the monumental task of writing a book.
How did you get interested in helping beginner authors to find the time and confidence to write their books? Do you do coaching?
It took me a long time to finish my first novel, over five years in fact. But when I did, it changed everything for me. I suddenly saw myself in a whole new light and realised that if I just put in the time and regular effort I could finish, not just a first draft, but a published novel.
I was so amazed by new capabilities that I knew I had to help other women achieve this as well. It’s all too easy for women to get caught up in the role of mother or wife or worker, especially those in the second half of life. Itâs vital to recognise you still have so much to offer. Â Not just in writing, but in other aspects of your life too. If Iâd known five years ago that Iâd be doing what I do now, I would have thought you were crazy!Â
I don’t do one-to-one coaching but do offer group coaching. I strongly believe in having a safe and supportive community and do my best to offer this to all my students. I have an online resource called How To Write Your Novel – A Proven 4 Step Guide For Busy Beginners Who Want To Write Their First Novel. Applications are closed for the moment, but I will be opening it again in the future.
Tell us about your blog. What are some examples of posts you have published?
My blog is aimed specifically at beginner writers. My audience has told me that they struggle most with finding the time to write and building their confidence. Much of my content helps students find ways to find that time and grow their confidence via shared experiences as well as techniques they can try. For example, Iâm a big believer in scheduling your writing time. In my experience, if itâs not on the calendar, it doesnât get done!
In addition, I help with aspects of craft, introduce people to debut authors and share resources that have helped me in my writing journey.
Popular blog posts include Show Don’t Tell, How To Finish Writing Your Novel and How Long Should Your Chapter Be?
Tell us about your free cheat sheet on 30+ ways to find time to write? How can people get it?
Because finding time to write is something a lot of my students struggle with, I have a free guide called 30 Top Tips To Find Time To Write. It’s aimed at busy people who need to fit their writing time in around their existing commitments. It’s not always possible to sit down for a whole hour or two in one sitting. Instead, a lot of us need to fit our writing in when we can.
It was Elizabeth Kostava who inspired me when she said she had to write what she could when she could. This guide is full of practical and simple ways that you can slot writing sessions into your week. You can get a copy of it by going to www.emmadhesi.com/30TopTips.
How long have you been doing the Turning Readers Into Writers Podcast? What is your goal with the podcast?Â
I mentioned earlier that writing a novel changed my life in many ways, not least that it made me see I could do much more than I ever thought. Launching a podcast is one of those things. Itâs new on the block as my first episode went live in March this year.
It too is aimed at beginner writers. I cover the same topics as I do in my blog but offer it here in audio form so that it can be listened to on the go. Again, I interview debut authors and experts in their field; for example editors and other writing coaches. If you are a debut author, and would like to chat with me about your writing process and how you balance writing and your day to day life, I’d love to hear from you. I think it’s so valuable for new writers to hear how other people work. It opens up new ideas about how a creative life can be incorporated into a professional life.
You also have a Facebook group for beginner writers. What are some of the things that you discuss in the group?Â
Itâs free to join and we discuss all sorts in there. Itâs a safe community for people to ask questions whether that be on mindset or craft. Members gain not only moral support and encouragement but benefit from a weekly Live Q&A session and visiting guest experts. We recently had Marjorie J McDonald come in and talk to us about how to write for children, as well as storytelling expert Blake Morris on how to structure a story.
You have a big event going on in August. What do you have planned?Â
August Accelerator is a 20-day event throughout August 2020 during which I have invited a number of experts to come into my Facebook group, Turning Readers Into Writers, to talk all things writing! Not only do I have guests speaking about, amongst other things, How To Write Romance, Non-Fiction and a Series, guests will also be discussing how you can use manifestation or tarot cards in your creative life. And of course we will discuss how you can manage imposter syndrome and procrastination as well as how writing can help maintain balanced mental health.
It’s going to be a wonderful month and I’m really looking forward to hearing what all my experts have to say. If you’d like to come in and listen to any of the talks and conversations, you can do so by going to the Facebook group, Turning Readers Into Writers. The videos will be streamed live and replays will be available for a limited time only.
Is there anything else you wanted to get across?
I cannot emphasise enough how Doable it is to write your first manuscript. With consistency and realistic expectation of what you can achieve in a given time period, thereâs no reason you canât finish your first draft. If it’s something you’ve always wanted to do, I urge you to, at the very least, finish your first draft. Then you will know once and for all whether it’s something that lights your heart or isnât what you expected.
Novel writing should be challenging but it should also be fun and I also encourage your readers to see writing as an opportunity to be curious about the world. It’s hard to do, I know, but try to enjoy the journey as well as the finished product.
More About Emma Dhesi
Emma Dhesi writes womenâs fiction. She began writing seriously while a stay-at-home mum with three pre-school children. By changing her mindset, being consistent and developing confidence, Emma has gone from having a collection of handwritten notes to a fully written, edited and published novel. Having experienced first-hand how writing changes lives, Emma now helps beginner writers find the time and confidence to write their first novel.
Links:
Website
PodcastÂ
30 Top Tips to Find Time to Write
Facebook groupÂ
Emma’s Writing
The Day She Came Home – Nicola left her husband Ross, and son Sam, to begin a new life on a remote Scottish island. She thought she’d left her childhood and her old life behind her, but the desire to reconnect is too strong. She must find a way to get a second chance.
Ross canât move on with his life until he knows what happened to his wife. When she turns up out of the blue and asks for a second chance, heâs not sure he can forgive her. Stephen and Mary are devastated when their long-lost daughter returns and accuses them of the most horrific crimes. But as Stephen always said, no one would believe her. When family secrets are brought to the surface everyone is forced to face their past. Can they forgive and forget? Would you take her back? The Day She Came Home is the first in a series of contemporary family dramas.
Buy it on Amazon.
