Writers in the Storm

Margie Lawson

Cheers for Laura and Fae and Jenn and Orly. WITS Rules!

Want to be more productive every day?

Keep reading.

Want to take charge of your minutes and hours?

Keep reading.

Want to act and feel like a winner and super star?

Keep reading.

This blog is a new take on To Do lists.

I saw you cringe.

Don’t miss how to be a winner!

KEEP READING!

I included some amazing examples from Immersion-grads at the end of this blog.  Plus, you could win a lecture packet or an online course.

Do not think my Winner and Super Star lists are your average To Do lists.

That’s like thinking Zac Efron is just an average looking guy.

And we know that’s a lie.

What you’ll read below is easy to do, and it could be life-changing.

Yep. It’s that smart.

Divide your day into sections. I’ll call them chunks. Think chunks of chocolate.

Are you smiling?

You may plan one or two chunks of time in the morning, and/or afternoon, and/or evening. An hour or two each.

You may have chunks as small as 15 minutes. See my WITS blog: Power Punch Your 15 Minutes!

You may have chunks as long as 3 hours. That’s the maximum I recommend chunking.

Want to write or edit or do writing-related things for longer than three hours?

Do one three-hour chunk, and take a break. Move your body. Exercise. At least walk around for 15 minutes, or play chase-me with your dog.

Then plan your next chunk.

Create two lists for each chunk of time: Winner Lists and Super Star Lists.

Your Winner list is for things you know you can complete in that chunk. Your Super Star list is used only if you complete your Winner list.

WINNER LIST:

Items on your Winner List are absolutely DOABLE in that time frame. For a two-hour chunk, your list could be as simple as this:

Winner List:

1. Write new scene.

That’s all you will do in those two hours.

You won’t read emails.

You won’t go on Facebook.

You won’t answer your cell phone. You already turned the ringer off and put your phone in another room.

You all know your other steal-your-time traps.

You control these minutes. You control your behavior.

Just write that scene.

You may have three items on your Winner list instead.

Winner List:

1. Find out if some barouches were like convertibles, if the hood collapsed on those 19^th century carriages.
2. Rewrite the last page from last writing session.
3. Write fight scene! Just get it on the screen.

 You know you can complete those three items, unless you get research-crazy and click around in the 19^th century too long.

SUPER STAR LIST:

If you have some time left after you’ve completed items on your Winner List, you can do the first item on your Super Star List. They’re writing and writing-related items too.

You must complete your Winner List first.

No list hopping!  

If you don’t get to any items on your Super Star List, some of those items may move to your next Winner List.

Super Star items don’t always move to the Winner List right away. It depends on your needs, deadlines, and priorities.

It’s important to keep assessing. Do what needs to come next, not what you’d rather do.

What if you didn’t complete everything on your Winner List?

Did you misjudge time? Okay. Put it on your next Winner List.

Did you fall into your time-stealers?

Did you waste 30 minutes supposedly fixing a cup of tea, but you really did five other things too?

Some people make awesome award-winning lists, then they don’t do them.

Aack!

They do what they’d rather do instead of what they need to do to succeed.

Picture this cliché.  Shooting yourself in the foot. Or knee.

Yep. You’re hurting yourself.

You’re postponing success.  And you’re setting yourself up for failure. And depression.

Creating these two lists every day, WINNER and SUPER STAR, will boost your productivity, boost your mood, boost your success!

Take this challenge:  Set Yourself Up to Win!

It takes 21 days to create a habit.

Who will use Winner and Super Star lists from tomorrow through February 5^th?

Are you in? 

Here are some stellar examples from Immersion-Grads.

Enjoy!

DIRTY MAGIC, Jaye Wells, USA Today Bestseller

1. That kind of money could buy a large pack of diapers or some special time with a discount whore.
2. I must have gasped because suddenly my lungs felt too full. Sweat broke out over my chest where my heart thumped like jungle drums.
3. My heart started running before my feet did. The short distance separating us felt like miles instead of yards.
4. He didn’t say anything else. Just watched me, perhaps thinking if he stared long enough he could see through my skin and into the shadowy parts where all my secrets were hidden.
5. All the adrenaline pulsing through me demanded action. I turned to find some.

Super Sekrit Title for November Release, Steena Holmes, NYT Bestseller!

1. The bomb dropped and the power of her words obliterated everything and anyone in its way. 

    Especially him.

2. In that moment, Abby reminded him so much of his dead wife that the sucker punch came out of nowhere.
3. She wanted to be outside, rolling balls of snow in her hands. She wanted to feel ice crystals form on her lashes. She wanted to build a snow family and use carrots for their noses and sticks for their hands. She wanted to create a field of snow angels and have her backside completely soaked.

    She wanted to do all the things she never could when fresh snow fell.

4. She was hungry. Plain and simple. Eat-like-a-pig hungry and she could care less who was watching.
5. She talked about my mom like she was an angel, beautiful and sweet and always there for her. Me? Not so much. I’m the demon child, repulsive and sour and completely unreliable.

DAYS MADE OF GLASS, Laura Drake’s January 11^th release!

1. 
   

She glanced up, her deep brown eyes reminding Harlie of those dime-store paintings of soulful-eyed puppies digging in garbage cans.

2. She lifted the box and laid it in the bed, her stomach jumping like she’s swallowed a cricket.
3. Harlie’s hammering heart sent a flush of heat down her limbs and up her neck.
4. Harlie knew her sister. She felt sometimes they were one person living in two bodies, separated only by a flimsy barrier of skin.
5. A shadow of the emotion she’d felt today passed through her and she shivered in a delicious, secret thrill. Standing in the arena today, she’d breathed in the rare ether of alive. In those frozen seconds before the bull charged, her senses seemed to crystallize — she could touch, taste, savor it – feeling poised on the knife-blade edge of the future.

BLOG GUESTS: Post a comment!

Let us know if you’re in for the 21 day Winner and Super List Challenge!

Or just click in and say Hi.

Post a comment, and you have TWO CHANCES to WIN!

1. Lecture Packet from Margie Lawson. You might opt for my lecture packet on Defeat Self-Defeating Behaviors. Over 200 pages of tools for taking charge of your writing life.
2. An online course from Lawson Writer’s Academy – worth up to $75!

Check out the courses offered by Lawson Writer's Academy in February:

1. 3D Worlds on 2D Pages
2. Triple Threat Behind Writing a Scene
3. Pinterest for Authors
4. 30 Days to a Stronger Novel
5. Diving Deep Into Developmental Edits

The drawings will be Sunday, 9:00 p.m. Mountain Time.

Margie Lawson—editor, international presenter—teaches writers how to use her psychologically-based editing systems and deep editing techniques to create page turners. Margie has presented over ninety full day master classes for writers in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and on cruises in the Caribbean.

To learn about Lawson Writer’s Academy, Margie’s 4-day Immersion Master Classes (in Denver, Washington, D.C., Phoenix, Canyon Lake, Dallas, San Jose, Melbourne, Australia, and more), her full day Master Class presentations, on-line courses, lecture packets, and newsletter, please visit www.margielawson.com.

 Stephen King reflected on the magnitude of a novel’s first line. “An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story,” he said. “It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this.”

Preach it, Steve.

I’m not saying a killer first line will get you an agent, get your book sold, or make it a NYT bestseller. But it sure won’t hurt your chances, and I’d make a case that a book that achieves all the above, more often than not, has a great first line.

Why is that? A first line is a promise to the reader, telling them what kind of book this is. What your voice is. Maybe who the main character is. A good first line will pull a reader into a story.

But how do you do that? Here are some suggestions:

Irony - A contradiction or opposite of some kind, something unexpected.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

You just know from those 23 words, how Jane really feels about this ‘universal truth’. And you could guess how she’ll handle it in the book, right? Jane has just shown you her voice - snark, Victorian style.  BTW, many will argue to the death that this was the best first line ever written. Let’s not go there – we've a lot more to do.

Catalyst -  The catalyst is what sets your story in motion. A knock at the door, a phone call, please, just don’t start with a dream!

“When the doorbell rings at three in the morning, it's never good news.” Anthony Horowitz, Stormbreaker

“It was a wrong number that started it, the telephone ringing three times in the dead of night, and the voice on the other end asking for someone he was not.” Paul Auster, City of Glass

Comparison - A simile or metaphor.

“Unlike the typical bluesy earthy folksy denim-overalls noble-in-the-face-of-cracker-racism aw shucks Pulitzer-Prize-winning protagonist mojo magic black man, I am not the seventh son of the seventh son of the seventh son.” Paul Beatty, The White Boy Shuffle

Dilemma –

“Once upon a time, in a far-off land, I was kidnapped by a gang of fearless yet terrified young men with so much impossible hope beating inside their bodies it burned their very skin and strengthened their will right through their bones.” Roxane Gay, An Untamed State

“He—for there could be no doubt of his sex, though the fashion of the time did something to disguise it—was in the act of slicing at the head of a Moor which swung from the rafters.” Virginia Woolf, Orlando

“The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we understood the gravity of our situation.” Donna Tartt, The Secret History

Question – But be careful using this; it’s been used SO much that has to be fresh and intriguing. NO clichés!

 “What makes Iago evil? some people ask. I never ask.” Joan Didion, Play It As It Lays

Intriguing Character –

“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.” J.D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye

Intriguing Premise – The line itself may not mean much, but after reading it, you HAVE to read on!

“Don’t look for dignity in public bathrooms.”  Vitor LaValle, Big Machine

 “Your father picks you up from prison in a stolen Dodge Neon, with an 8-ball of coke in the glove compartment and a hooker named Mandy in the back seat.” Dennis Lehane, Until Gwen

“They shoot the white girl first.” Toni Morrison, Paradise

 “There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.” C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Here’s mine, from The Sweet Spot:

The grief counselor told the group to be grateful for what they had left. After lots of considering, Charla Rae decided she was grateful for the bull semen.

I screwed up with that line. I wasn’t going for funny. I didn’t even know it was funny until, when I read it at a writer’s retreat, Tessa Dare snorted coffee through her nose and almost wet her pants. See, bull semen is a legitimate industry – just as racehorse semen is. And Charla Rae owns a ranch where they raise and train bucking bulls. The book is emotional, and deals with grief and forgiveness. So, in this case, the first line breaks its promise to readers (unless they know the bull industry). But you know what? When people meet me, they mention that line. They actually remember it. So I can live with that.

I’ve been thinking a lot about first lines, lately. I may not have the perfect first line when I start a book, but if I don’t, it niggles at the back of my mind until I come up with one – even if it’s after I’ve written half the book!

I knew I didn’t have the best first line for my current WIP – it’s a hard-hitting, right to die novel. Here was my first shot at it:

Funny, how knowing the exact time and place of my death makes me exquisitely aware of being alive. 

It’s not bad; it raises a question in the reader’s mind. It’s in the voice of an upper-middle class scientist and professor, which the protagonist is.

But I knew it wasn’t a killer first line. Enter the brilliant Margie Lawson. On a Writer’s Cruise (yes, it was as amazing as that sounds, and they're having another this year! You can check it out here), she worked with me on my first scene. Together, we came up with the first line:

Today, death rides a bicycle. My bicycle.

Oh yeah.

So, do you have a favorite first line for us? Either one of yours, or a memorable one from another author?

Two days ago, Laura released her first novel in the Women's Fiction Genre: Days Made of Glass:

Shared blood defines a family, but spilled blood can too.

Harlie Cooper raised her sister, Angel, even before their mother died. When their guardian is killed in a fire, rather than be separated by Social Services, they run. Life in off the grid in L.A. isn’t easy, but worse, there’s something wrong with Angel.

Harlie walks in to find their apartment scattered with shattered and glass and Angel, a bloody rag doll in a corner. The doctor orders institutionalization in a state facility. Harlie’s not leaving her sister in that human warehouse. But something better takes money. Lots of it.

When a rep from the Pro Bull Riding Circuit suggests she train as a bullfighter, rescuing downed cowboys from their rampaging charges, she can’t let the fact that she’d be the first woman to attempt this stop her. Angel is depending on her.

It’s not just the danger and taking on a man’s career that challenges Harlie. She must learn to trust—her partner and herself, and learn to let go of what’s not hers to save.

A story of family and friendship, trust and truth.

“A powerful and poignant story about sisters, trust, and belonging, DAYS MADE OF GLASS will have you cheering for Harlie Cooper as she struggles to find her place in the all-male world of bullfighting, provide for her broken sister, and accept that she can’t succeed in either alone. I devoured this book!”

Barbara Claypole White, bestselling author of THE PERFECT SON

 

Sorry to interrupt this broadcast, but I have to squee....it's my book release day!  Days Made of Glass is my first Women's Fiction, it's a sister-story, about the world's first woman bullfighter. You can click on the photo to be taken to Amazon.

Sorry, Angelina - take it away!

 

 

 

 

Angelina Lopez

For busy authors -- or anyone building a brand or a business -- one of the most daunting tasks we face every day can be sitting down to post to social media.

"What should I say?" we think. "Who's going to care?"

Wouldn't it be phenomenal to sit down every day knowing exactly what you're going to blog, post, and Tweet? And hitting "enter" with the confidence that what you post will reflect your personality and interests, appeal to your fans and move you toward your business goals?

If you're resolving to do better with your social media in 2016, an annual social media calendar is the key to making your New Year's resolution a reality.

Here's how to build one:

Step 1: Make a list of your business goals for 2016.

While writing is a creative endeavor in the search for truth and beauty, and social media is a wonderful forum for giving virtual hugs to your fans, writing is also a job. Social media is the advertisement. So instead of letting social media pull you away from your job, make it work for you. This list will insure that your business goals for that "creative endeavor" are front and center so that you can integrate them into your social media throughout the year.

Step 2: Make a list of your personal and professional events in 2016.

We can forget to post our special events on social media in the midst of a hectic writer's conference or anniversary vacation. And that's the fun stuff -- the stuff our fans love to hear about. Writing these professional and personal dates down now will allow you to remember them later. Sure, you probably won't forget to promote that new book, but seeing it coming up on your social media calendar will remind you to start building a plan for promotion months ahead of time.

Step 3: List holidays/seasonal events that are important to you.

Scroll through the months. What are nationally recognized days that speak to you? Christmas, Hanukkah, spring break, first day of school, National Doughnut Day? Use these days to connect with your fans and to let them know you have the same excitement about Santa, the same relief about the kids going back to school, and the same interest in candied-bacon doughnuts as they do.

Step 4: Write down 4-5 themes that distinguish you.

Themes are the rocket fuel of your social media calendar. Your themes are what distinguish you, your writing and your philosophies from other authors, and they are what will set your social media posts apart from other posts in a fan's stream. Themes -- you're an animal-loving, travel-seeking rock climber who writes sexy small-town contemporaries and loves men in kilts -- give your fans something to hang onto. Staying consistent with your themes gives you a foundation from which you can grow an audience that loves you.

My themes in my annual social media calendar are:

• Social Media/Writing -- Of course.
• Being "In Between" -- Issues of being in my 40s: old enough to have a senior in high school and young enough to still like going to live music shows.
• Ways I Can Help -- How I'm a strategic thinker, storyteller, cheerleader and accountability partner for my clients.
• Fun in D.C. -- Tips on best restaurants, drinks, events and outdoor activities in the D.C. area.
• Community -- Applauding and promoting clients, friends, writers, advice givers and others I admire.

I have a vineyard-owner client whose themes are:

• Evolution of a Vineyard -- Discussing the evolution of this relatively new vineyard.
• The Growing Season -- Tracking the annual cycle of the Pinot Noir vines from pruning to harvest.
• Russian River Valley Winegrowers -- Supporting the winemakers and growers of their area.
• Around the Vineyard -- Celebrating the gophers, family visits, new barn doors and bocce ball games of living on a vineyard.
• To Dos in the Russian River Valley -- Promoting the people, wines, geography and events of Russian River Valley in Sonoma County.

Think big picture when you're developing your themes. Make sure your themes include a mix of professional and personal interests, and -- because social media is "social" -- make sure at least one of your themes focuses on promoting others.

Here are some questions to help you decide your themes:

• What are your books about?
• What do you like to do in your free time?
• What did you study in school?
• How would your friends describe you?
• Is there a cause or charity that you're passionate about?
• Do you have any hobbies?
• What do you day dream about?
• Are there community or writer organizations that you want to support?

Step 5: Build your template.

This step is easy. Click here, fill in your email, and you'll receive the above template to build your annual social media calendar.

Step 6: Enter your business goals at the top of the template under "General."

Installing these goals at the top will insure that they are top of mind as you're developing your social media plan of attack for each month. Make sure your goals are accomplishable within a month (you are only human and you need to sleep), and break large goals, like "Finish a book", into manageable monthly bites, like "Write 20,000 words."

Step 7: Enter your themes on the side of the template.

 

I like to include details about the themes that will jog ideas when I'm filling it in later.

Step 8: Enter your "Events" at the bottom.

Step 9: Fill in the blanks.

Now you will use your themes as a guide for coming up with content ideas for the rest of the year. Wha...?! I know, sounds daunting. But it's easier than you think. And a little blood, sweat and tears now will prevent you from having to bleed, sweat and cry EVERY TIME you sit down to post for the REST OF THE YEAR.

1. Keep your ideas general. This is just your annual calendar. Your ideas can get more specific when you work on your monthly calendar (more on that later). For example, if you love to cook and one of your themes is "Eating Healthy," a February idea could be "Cooking with root vegetables." What will be in the pot? Who knows? But seeing it on your calendar will help focus you when the time comes.
2. Connect the holidays/seasonal events you listed with a theme that focuses on you personally. My "In Between" theme allows me to talk about my personal life. So in it I will talk about my New Year's resolutions in January, Mother's Day in May, the fact that this will be the first Father's Day without my Dad in June, and my son going off to college in August. Connecting my life events to the holidays and seasons gives "me" a platform to talk about "us."
3. Find a category and stick with it. A writer who writes stories about sexy ski bums could fill his social media feed with pictures of awesome ski resorts. He could highlight a different ski area -- Colorado, California, Switzerland, Chile -- every month. A writer who loves to objectify the male body -- I know I do -- can focus on a different body part every month. Like I said, this does not have to be difficult.
4. Don't re-invent the wheel. I have a professional organizing client who uses online tools like Dropbox and Evernote to help people eliminate the paper clutter in their lives. So guess what? In January, she spotlights tips on how to use Evernote. In February, she offers tips on Dropbox. In March, it's another tool, then another and another, until July comes around and we start with Evernote again. Offer information that you already have and don't be afraid to repeat yourself.

Step 10: Putting your annual social media calendar to work.

Your annual social media calendar will:

• Insure you're hitting all of your business goals by highlighting a goal every month
• Provide you with blogging ideas that enrich the message of your website
• Guarantee that your day-to-day social media posts communicate a consistent message of who you are as a writer
• Remind you of important events to insure you're posting and promoting them
• Provide an outline for your monthly social media calendar

Pantsers can take a look at their annual social media calendar whenever they're stuck and instantly have a social media idea to get them back on track. Plotters can use their annual social media calendar to fill out their monthly social media calendars, a day-by-day listing of what they're going to blog and post about so they'll never have to wonder. But THAT is for another blog post (or you can contact me for more info).

May your social media posts be easy and fruitful in 2016!

About Angelina

Angelina M. Lopez is a freelance copywriter and social media manager who helps solopreneurs and small business owners tell their story. She’s the cheerleader, strategy partner, and — if necessary — whip cracker for her clients. In her rare moments of spare time, she aspires to be a fiction writer. She and her family live outside of Washington, D.C.

You can find her EVERYWHERE: on her website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, Tumblr and Wattpad. If you want to learn about, she needs to know it!