Friday, September 16, 2011

Writing Tip #2
I've learned a lot since joining twitter. One writing tip that has helped me is called the pomodoro technique for time management. It's very simple. Set the kitchen timer for 25 minutes and write. When the dinger dings, set the timer for 5 minutes and do something different. Get out of the chair, put clothes in the washer, whatever. But after 5 minutes, get back to writing for another 25 minutes. It works! I've been able to stay on task for 25 minutes at a time and progress through the first edit of my WIP. This technique will work for anything you have to do. The 5 minute break makes all the difference. Here's a picture of my son with his horse, Sparky, taken last August in our back pasture. It has nothing to do with writing, but I like it. :-)  

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Writing Tip #1

I've learned so much by reading other writers' blogs. Now it's my turn to post writing tips. My first tip has to do with my favorite writing tool: my Alphasmart. It's so convenient to use. I take it everywhere. One of my favorite places to write is in bed at night. I type with my eyes closed and ideas flow. When I'm writing a scene and need inspiration to write dialogue, I just grab the Alphasmart and get to work. The trick seems to be that I can't see more than four lines of type at one time so I'm not distracted by the whole page. I can't copy and paste--so I just write. Later, I download the file to my computer and edit what I've written. If you don't have an Alphasmart you could try typing with the monitor turned off or wear a cap pulled down over your eyes. Your fingers won't get lost on the keyboard because there are little bumps on the "j" and "f" keys. Try it for fun.