Keeping the High from a Writer's Conference

I had the most amazing opportunity to go to the SAOW Word on the Lake Festival this past weekend. It inspired me, taught me, relaxed me and allowed me to find so many new friends and connections.

I'd told some of the people I met at the conference and my family and friends that I plan on attending a type of writer's conference or festival every six months. It both mentally gives me a break from the day to day work of creating and writing, and allows for invaluable networking and connecting, plus I LOVE talking with other writers.

But how to keep the high from that conference? It's a week later and I still feel like I'm going strong. How have I done this now as opposed to any other time I've attended writer's workshops or conferences? Well I started by setting realistic goals for myself and writing them down. Specifically right onto my desk calendar so I can see my deadlines and goals in front of me everyday. Plus I've set aside a big chunk of time to write every week. Many good authors tell you to write every day. I'd say the same, and I try to do so, but as a mom of two very active little kids it sometimes just isn't possible (my daughter got 8 teeth in 3 weeks last month - see teeth, teeth, teeth ) and therefore I PLAN to write for more than 3 hours at least once a week. I also made an agreement with a friend of mine at this conference and actually made a hand shake "pact" out of it. Therefore, I now have to hold myself accountable to her.

In an easy to read list - 3 Ways to Keep the Writer's High

1. Set realistic goals. Write them down. On a Calendar.

2. Set TIME to write weekly. This needs to be a big chunk. 3 hours plus.

3. Get a friend to hold you accountable. Choose one specific deadline and make sure you stay on track and report to your friend.


I learned a lot that I hadn't even considered before at this conference, but I have to keep going and so do all the other writers out there. Unite writers of the world and keep that high as long as possible!
But because of that high I have to get back to writing novel #2 in the Lasera series. :D

Cheers!

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** Reviews for novels submitted start up again next week. Plus those who are fans of my Recipe Recaps and WAM Moments of the Week? Keep coming back. Tons more content and plans are coming for both of those next week. There's also some great new things that'll be dropping into the blog soon :D

Let's Be Honest. I Bit Off WAY More Than I Could Chew.

So I went to the most amazing Writer's Fair at the beginning of November. I got all motivated and excited about my writing again. Therefore I readjusted my deadline for sending out my manuscript, and I decided to do NaNoWriMo which for those who don't know means you start a new novel at the beginning of the month and try to write 50000 words in that month. Both of these on top of my day to day chores with a house and two kids, plus teaching a women's class at church and being a single mom for three weeks out of the month because my husband was taking a longer shift at his job out of province. Then my health tanked, problems that not the least of which was severe exhaustion (despite 7-10 hours of sleep most nights) and some huge issues with postpartum depression. See How I Deal With PostPartum Depression

How did it all end? I still didn't make my deadline and I only got about 1000 words into the book I started for NaNoWriMo. Now a part of me really thinks of this as a failure but another part of me realizes that I still tried, and that you have to tackle life as it comes. Am I upset that I didn't make my deadlines or meet those goals that I wanted too? Darn right I am. However, I am honest enough with myself to know that my health and exhaustion contributed to this. I actually finally began to feel like myself again (for the first time in months) in the past couple weeks.

As much as I would've loved to do everything I tackled it didn't happen. But at the same time I can still keep working towards those goals, just because I didn't finish them when I wanted to doesn't mean I should just give up on them. I will accomplish my goals, it may just take some extra time.

The end result is that day by day I'm slowly becoming more of the person I want to be. With the aid of good doctors and friends and family my health is getting back to normal. When I take bites of the proverbial sandwich I'm going to take smaller bites for the next little bit, and once I swallow those begin to take bigger and bigger bites. Time marches on, but so do my trials, and hopefully my strength grows as I take them on and work and push past them, because I know I can.

So if you're having a bad day, or week, or month, remember that if you get help and understand yourself and keep working, a good day is on it's way to you.

Cheers!

Don't forget to

Like me on facebook,

Follow me on twitter,

Be my Friend on goodreads

Connect with me on LinkedIn

or follow my blog >>

p.s. If you are also dealing with depression like I was, please talk to someone and get some help, one of the best and most informative and truthful videos about this that I've ever seen is this one here:
***Make sure to watch the whole movie all the way through