Think You Can't Write More? Think Again!

Many of you expressed interest in learning how to squeeze more writing out of each day. I had the extreme pleasure of sitting in Stephanie Bond's two-hour workshop on how to make a living writing romance novels. If you ever have the opportunity, take one of her workshops.

She's an amazing woman. Very classy, very professional, and very down-to-earth. Everything she said helped me. I took eight (eight!!) pages of notes! One of the topics--writing more pages each day--really struck home with me and I'm sharing it with you all.

She encouraged us to do the math with our writing. If we write one page a day, 350 days of the year, we will have one single title book at the end of the year. One page doesn't seem daunting, does it?

If we write five pages a day, 350 days of the year, we'll have 1750 pages. That's two single title books (700 pages), three category length books (650 pages), and two novellas (300 pages). Can you imagine producing two single titles, three categories, and two novellas in ONE year?

Okay, okay. But I take weekends off. And my life is very busy. Let's do the math. Five pages every weekday yields (5days/week x 50 weeks = 250 days) 1250 pages. That's still two single title books, two category length books, and one novella. Amazing!! And you have two weeks off for vacation with your weekends free.

But how do we write five pages every day? We're busy, right?

Ms. Bond gave tips on how to squeeze in extra pages. She highly recommends purchasing a keyboard simulator, such as the Alpha Smart (around $200). You can slip it in your purse and write on your lunch break. You can write in bed for twenty minutes. She said her Alpha Smart helped her squeeze one extra page out every day and that's one single title book. The great thing about keyboard simulators is you plug them into your computer with a USB port and they download directly to your word processor. How cool is that?

How long does it take you to write one page? You don't need to spend money on an Alpha Smart. Look for ways to sneak in an extra page of writing whenever and however you can.

She also said she writes her books in 20-30 minute chunks. She wrote while working full time until she had several books contracted. She would get up and write 20 minutes before work. Then she'd slip out to her car at lunchtime and write for another 20 minutes. She writes a page before she goes to bed at night. If you can write a page in 20-30 minutes, you can write three pages a day using this method. I'll bet many of you can write a page even faster.

For anyone interested, Stephanie Bond offers articles about writing, business plans, and career issues. You can find them at Amazon Shorts, and you'll receive 3-4 articles for the low price of 49 cents each. Talk about a steal!

Please feel free to ask any questions on this topic and I'll gladly share anything I know.

Happy Writing!

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Whew! I Made It Out Alive!

It's Monday, July 20, and I'm still shaking from head to toe. How can I describe the RWA 2009 National Conference? I'm not sure it's possible! Thank you, thank you, for all of your support and prayers while I was away. Your well-wishes make such a difference in my life. Although we have not met in person, I feel we are all kindred spirits. I appreciate you all so much.

Here are a few conference highlights and lowlights:

I met Stephanie Laurens. I met Stephanie Laurens. Yeah. I did. And I almost cried. I could barely speak. I was a complete idiot, grinning, babbling, and here's a picture of the two of us!! She's one of the coolest, classiest, nicest women I've ever met, and I would have loved to ask her a million questions. Yet, I stood there like an imbecile, just basking in her presence. It was awesome!!

Stephanie Laurens and I. I'm the one grinning like a fool on the right! Meeting her was like meeting a movie star. I'll always cherish this picture!

(Funny story. My roomie met her the next day and told her about me. My roomie said, "Stephanie, I'm going to tell Jill you remembered how weird she was," and Stephanie said, "I don't remember anyone being strange. Oh, no, don't tell her that!" Guess what my roomie did? She told me, "Yeah, Stephanie remembered what a spaz you were." I was laughing, yelling, "I know! I was a spaz!" and then she came clean. We laughed so hard!!)

Let's move on. Pitching. Wow. Both of my appointments were on Friday. I woke up with a horrific migraine. I barely made it out of bed, but after a few Motrin tablets and a coffee, I could speak without sounding like a head wound victim. I'm pretty sure my eyes were not focusing properly, though.

My first pitch went well. The agent was professional, friendly, and I was very impressed. I then went straight back to bed with more Motrin and repeated the process later in the afternoon, when I pitched to my target editor. She also was very professional, very honest, and later that evening I processed things both the agent and editor told me. I could see myself working with both women. (And yes, I got two requests for partials, although my book may not work for the editor and she was up front about why, which I appreciated.)

I spent hours in workshops. It's one thing to read guidelines online and another to hear what an editor is looking for from her own mouth. After listening to agents, editors, authors, and publicists speak, I felt like I took a crash course in publishing. I met many warm, inviting, and generous writers. Some were best-selling authors. Some were on the cusp of being published. Some were not entirely certain they want to write for a living. And everyone I met amazed me.

I dare any writer at any level in his or her career to not feel elated and humble in a room of two thousand writers. Talk about inspiring. I can't even express.

What did I take away from the conference?

1. I'm refocusing my energy on what I write best: category inspirational romance (aka: Steeple Hill Love Inspired). I'm not edgy or gritty, and I think targeting suspense is not appropriate for me right now.

2. I can write more. Stephanie Bond gave an incredible workshop on making a living writing romance novels. She broke down how to make money, how to keep your money, how to squeeze out extra pages every day, and how to make annual goals and keep them. If any of you get a chance to take one of her workshops, do it.

3. Steeple Hill authors are genuine, welcoming, and extremely inviting. They went out of their way to include me and I am very thankful to them all.

4. I will not even dream about sight-seeing when I go to another conference. There simply isn't time!

5. Free Books!! I bought tons of books at the Literacy Signing (proceeds go to charity) but I also got plenty of free books. In a few days, two boxes of fresh books will arrive and I can't wait to touch them all.

Again, thank you all for your comments, prayers, and thoughts while I was away. I can't wait to catch up with you all and see what I missed.

Have a wonderful Monday!

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