Writing as an Indie Author

Writing consumes me. I write much better now that I'm unemployed. It doesn't have much to do with the job factor but more for the fact that the job I had clouded my mind. To be able to write, I need to be ...content? Happy? Not spend every day absolutely aggravated?

But I'm drifting here. My point is writing, writing tools, reading about writers is how I spend a lot of time when I'm not actually writing. I work on 4 blogs and send an occasional article to Patch.com. Oh yeah, and that job search thing. (If only I could make my job writing = Dream job!)

But look what I found this morning! There is an Alliance of Independent Authors. A place where Indie's support each other and share information. The site looks good, but since I only have one Indie book, and it's more of  a novella, I'm not sure I'm eligible to join yet. I understand they have standards I might not meet yet but this is a site I'm going to watch. I think there's going to be lots of valuable information here. The membership fee is $99 for the year. Not too bad a fee, right? I've paid more for other writer organizations.
They also have a blog.

Would you join something like this? Do you know of any other Indie organizations?

Challenging Youself

One of the writers I most admire is Zoe Winters. She regularly posts her word count and how far she's gotten in her lastest WIP.  I need to do this. Not post it per say, but challenge myself to get X amount of pages done each day. In Stephen King's book, On Writing he says he completes at least 10 pages a day. Now I question if he perfects those 10 pages with edits or does he just blow them out to come back and edit later? Probably a little of both since we know writing isn't an exact science. I usually plow through to the end but sometimes I back track.
So what word count to set?
I work full time, volunteer and just started piano lessons. :) So with all that on my plate, what would be a viable word count? Should it be set for each day? Week? Or should it be a time goal? X amount of hours each day or week?
Sometimes 10 pages fly by, other times 5 pages are absolutely painful and time is a factor when you work 8 hours a day.
Do you set word/page goals? Are they daily or weekly?

How do you get it done? 

Taking a Break and Guilt

I usually have several book length projects going at a time. (And I think this is my problem-I'm toooo ambidextrous.) But lately I've taken a break from working on this sort of stuff and moved to short stories. It's like having more room to breathe. Books are a commitment. They go on for hours, days, months, but a short can be cranked out in hours (not counting the rewrite). I'm having some issues finding homes for them all, but at least they're keeping my writer's muscle flexing.
So? Do you ever need a break? What do you do?

Finding Your Rhythm

I joined the Mayke It Happen challenge through Liberty Writers and pushed off about 20,000 works quick and easy then...stalled.
I saw Anna DeStefano speak and one of the things she said was that she pushes right through a new story to the end. I tried, really tried, but it's just not doing it for me.
So Caridad Pinero said she nails the first two or three chapters first and then moves on. I went back and did that and it helped alot.
One of the other things I took from Anna was that she prints it all out and puts it in a binder. Then uses postit notes to mark POV and things she wants to work on. This idea I love! Aside from the editing feature it also give me the ability to go back and look things up. Thanks Anna!
I have another writer friend, and soon to be published author, who is also in law school. How she finds the time to write I'll never know! However if she can do it do I have any chance at a valid excuse? She says she writes in twenty minute clips. So I've been doing that. Of course, those 20 mins often stretch into more but it gets me going.
Even after years of writing I'm still finding my rhythm. In all this searching I think what's helped me most is other writers. I've never met a group of people like this before. They go out of their way to help other writers. I find this amazing.
What about you? How did you find your writing rhythm?

Lions and Tigers and DEADLINES!

"Empower your dreams with deadlines."--H. Jackson Brown

Why is it when given an assignment to get something done by a certain time most of us are able to accomplish something. Get that to me by Tuesday-no problem. We need the newsletter to the printer by Friday- okey dokey! Mother in law's gonna be her Saturday, gotta clean!-Whew! Got it done.

First deadline-Finish first draft by June- um, well...I was injured, Hey! I get a free pass! (car accident/surgery) Okay, it was done by Christmas.

Second draft- Chinese New Year- hmmmm, that goal wasn't realistic, was it?

Synopsis-(Cause I need a break from drafting)-Easter? YIKES! Here comes Easter!

Note to self: Need new deadlines. Did we say Christmas?

Help!

PS-I don't know who H. Jackson Brown is but I'd like to know what his deadlines are. (or were?)

The Memoir Challenge- Enter at your own risk

Challenge, create, embracing uniqueness, happiness, love.

I found this six six word memoir challenge on Erica Orloff's Blog and thought I'd play. (It was harder then I thought.) Now I just have to figure out who to tag.

These are the rules:
1. Write your own six word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.
3. Link to the person who tagged you in your post .
4. Tag five more blogs with links.
5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!