Sunday 11 January 2015

Being More Productive - Otherwise Known as Stop Wasting Time...

Trying to be more productive is the operative phrase for me at the moment.

I've found a writing system that seems to fit me, and now I just need to improve my word count...

Sadly life- or actually other people, over whom I have no control, can and will get in the way.

So to cut down on the opportunities for procrastination and make the most of the time I do have I'm going to keep a desk diary, not just a bag diary.

My printer gives me access to lots of online templates and they have printable diaries. I know I could set a desktop one, but I wouldn't see that once my browser is open, so I'm going to try a paper one that can be stuck up within my eye line.

No idea how it will work, but it will certainly help by reminding me sooner that I have appointments coming up, and not agreeing to do other things the same week I'm already busy- which is happening at the moment.

And if you need ideas on how to be more productive then I can certainly recommend 'Give Up Ironing - A Writer's Guide to Time Management' by Kathleen McGurl.

I certainly recognised a few elements I could improve on- box sets, in my case NCIS, I will say no more... :(

Anything you can recommend to improve writing output?




Thursday 8 January 2015

Trophy Presentation...

If you read my post about Awards Night early last month, you may recall that it was the announcement that I'd won the Nottingham Writers' Club, Mary Street Shield- the official title is 'The Romantic Novelist of the Year'...

I'm grateful that I was only required to submit a synopsis and first three chapters and not the whole thing- as I'm still writing it!

This is the second time my name has gone onto this trophy, so it looks like writing romance is my strong point... :D

As it's a bi-annual competition I now have time to come up with a few ideas for 2016!

Anyway here's the picture from last night's meeting.

Carol Bevitt- winner of the 2014 Mary Street Memorial
Shield for a Romance Novel