Does Your Manuscript Pass the Quality Control Test?

Image Copyright © 2013 Joan Y. Edwards

“Does Your Manuscript Pass the Quality Control Test?" by Joan Y. Edwards

Is your manuscript a quality manuscript? Is it the/best you can do at this time? Does your manuscript pass the quality control test below?

If your answer to all of these questions is “YES,” you have a quality manuscript. It is the best you can do at this time. Your manuscript is a quality product ready for submission. 

1. Does your writing show your distinctive voice?

Two articles that explain voice are: 

Holly Lisle. "Ten Steps to Finding Your Writing Voice."

Stephen Peha. "Looking for Quality in Student Writing." 

2. Did you choose the best person to narrate your story - First, Second, or Third Person.

Here are two articles to help you decide.
Deanna Mascle. "Should You Write in First or Third Person?"
Ginny Wiehardt. "How to Start Writing in Third Person."

3. Does it have an Unforgettable Character with a flaw and a goal he is willing to jump off a cliff to achieve?

1.       Tell what he wants to do, what he wants to happen. Which characters keep the main character from achieving his goal? Which characters help him? Write so that the reader feels the emotions that your characters feel. Let the readers know the contradictions that go through the character’s mind. Tell the experiences that cause your character great stress, worry, anxiety, anguish, and/or sadness? What gives your main character great happiness? Make your character have to change in order to reach his goal. 

Think about the theme(s) of your story. This will help you determine the flaws of your protagonist. If you know what the character learns from his experiences, your fatal flaw is its opposite. In Liar Liar, the protagonist learns how to tell the truth. Lying was his fatal flaw. When the protagonist learns to be dependable, his fatal flaw was irresponsibility. If a protagonist finally gets up enough nerve to stand up for himself, he gains courage. Fear or cowardice was his fatal flaw.

4. Does it have a complete, compelling plot?  

1.       Does your manuscript have a beginning, middle, and a satisfying ending with each page filled with tension of inner and outer struggles of the protagonist so that reader anticipates the good and bad consequences of this character's choices. 

Ordinary Day

Inciting incident with new goal to solve a really big problem

First failure

Second failure

Third failure

Fight

Win/Lose

What's it like on the new ordinary day

5. Does it take place in an appropriate setting? 

Choose a setting that heightens the suspense of the plot and the problems of the main character. Where does this character have these problems? Why here? Why not somewhere else? Put your character with people, circumstances, and settings that make his flaw more noticeable in the beginning and his strengths more evident at the end. Enhance your manuscript by making the setting an integral and indispensable part of the story. 

6. If your manuscript is not in quality condition yet, revise it. 

Look at it with a skillful eye. Change what you know needs revision. Then send it out for another look by your critique group, writing partner, and/or 3 beta readers. Give them three main things on which to focus.

Does it have proper formatting and few pet words? Does it have correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure? 

Would your high school teacher give your manuscript an A or B? Any grade lower than a B is not acceptable. It has to be above average in this area to submit it. Did you repeat pet words or phrases numerous times within the manuscript with no purpose for emphasis, such as: just, real, very,what's up, what do you know, and it's a shame. Use the search and find tools in your word processing software to find words you usually repeat.  Replace with a better word or delete it. 

Here are examples of words or phrases that might be repeated:

The box is very flat. The hills are very steep. Her veil is very long.
I just don't know what I'm going to do...repeated on page 10, 13, 19, 21, 25, and 32.
What do you know?...repeated on page 6, 7, 8, 9, 15, and 17.

Here are hints to help you get your manuscript in quality condition:

Go through 6-7 versions (revise all the way through the whole manuscript).
Use critique groups, writing partners, and/or beta readers to critique your manuscript.These trained eyes and ears will find and suggest ways to improve grammar and spelling, as well as improve the story, plot, characters, setting, continuity, and believability.

7. When you have a quality manuscript, you can honestly make the following statement: 

   "This is a quality manuscript. This is the best I can do with this manuscript with the knowledge and skills I have at the present time."  

After your revisions get your manuscript to the quality condition and it's the best you can do stage, then it is time to submit your manuscript. You are ready to start Week 1 of my Pub Subbers plan for submission. Do all the Steps for Weeks 1, 2, and 3. They take you through submitting your manuscript.

Week 1 Get final proofing critique. Choose an editor, agent, or contest for your submission.

Week 2 Follow the guidelines to write necessary documents: pitch, query letter, cover letter, proposal, resume, or bio..

Week 3 Pub Sub Friday-submission time. Not ready. It’s okay. Submit it when you’re ready.

Week 4 Write, revise, critique, live, educate, motivate, celebrate.

8. Did you follow the guidelines of the editor, agent, or contest?

Don't sabotage your own success. Follow the guidelines.

Following the directions for the guidelines is the final requirement for a quality manuscript. When you don’t follow the directions, it lowers your grade to a C or lower. If it says, email submissions only and you send it by U.S. postal service, the agent or editor may not even read your submission. It may seem heartless, however, your submission may end up in the trash can. The editor or agent may think if you can’t follow these simple directions, you won’t be able to follow suggestions to make your manuscript a top notch best-selling book.

1. Alfonso Coley. “Common Writing Problems New Writers Can Face:” http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2421290/common_writing_problems_new_writers_pg2.html?cat=9/
2. Amanda Patterson. “The Five Most Common Problems First Time Writers Share:” http://thewriteco.wordpress.com/2008/07/09/the-5-most-common-problems-first-time-writers-share/
3. Dara Marks.  The Writer’s Store. ”The Fatal Flaw, The Most Essential Element for Bringing Characters to Life:” http://www.writersstore.com/the-fatal-flaw-the-most-essential-element-for-bringing-characters-to-life/
4. Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, Illinois State University.edu. “Common Mistakes of English Grammar, Mechanics, and Punctuation:” http://my.ilstu.edu/~jhkahn/writing.html
5. E.H. Williams, Hamilton College.edu, Biology Department, “Common Writing Mistakes:” https://my.hamilton.edu/writing/writing-resources/common-writing-mistakes
6. Gordon Silverstein, editor. University of Minnesota.edu. “Humorous Reminders of Common Writing Mistakes: Advice from generations of Teaching Fellows at Harvard University:” http://writing.umn.edu/tww/grammar/self_humorous.html
7. Judy Rose.  Writing English.wordpress.com. “Ten Common Writing Mistakes Your Spell Checker Won’t Find:” http://writingenglish.wordpress.com/2006/09/18/ten-common-writing-mistakes-your-spell-checker-won%E2%80%99t-find/
8. Laura Spencer.  Free Lance Folder.com. “20 Writing Mistakes That Make Any Freelancer Look Bad:” http://freelancefolder.com/20-writing-mistakes-that-make-any-freelancer-look-bad/
9. Pat Holt. “Ten Mistakes Writers Don’t See (But Can Easily Fix When They Do):” http://www.holtuncensored.com/hu/the-ten-mistakes/
10. Tom Walker. Get Paid to Write Online.com. “Ten Most Common Writing Mistakes:” http://www.getpaidtowriteonline.com/common-writing-mistakes/

I hope these ideas help you keep going, even when you feel like giving up.

Good luck with the publication of your best quality manuscripts!

Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards

My Books:

Flip Flap Floodle, even mean ole Mr. Fox can't stop this little duck

Paperback, Kindle and Nook

Joan’s Elder Care Guide, Release date June 2014 by 4RV Publishing

Website/Blog

Twitter/Linked in/Facebook Author Page

Writing and Book Marketing - Your Pitch (Part 1)

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson

This is a four-part series that starts during Writers on the Move's Special Writing and Marketing Week and goes throughout the month.

YOUR PITCHES are tools you’ll probably have to rethink. You’ve seen characters in films about the movie business. A screenwriter sits across the desk from a big producer and pitches his screenplay. He is scared and miserable. His job is to convince this gatekeeper that his script is the best thing since baked Alaska. We shudder. We think that pitches are pushy at best, desperate and seedy at worst. In our real world, authors need to know how to make pitches that don’t feel like that.

Sales are the cogs that make our capitalist society work. Pitches are what make sales. Simply put, if you have a distaste for selling, you need to get over it fast. The best way to do that is to be so passionate about your book you know you aren’t selling something to someone who doesn’t want it, and certainly not to someone who won’t benefit from it.

Pitches come in two flavors. Let’s call them the “benefits” and the “beejeebees.” First we’ll talk about those two categories which are as different from one another as licorice ice cream is from French vanilla bean. Then we’ll talk about how to write them and then how to use each of them when addressing different audiences—the publishing industry, the media, and your prospective readers.

Two kinds of pitches must be stowed in your bag of now-and-forever PR skills. Most of us are aware that our sales pitches make audiences aware of the benefits of the product we offer—in this case our books, our expertise, or our personal entertainment value. We know how to list what readers will get from our books. Entertainment. A thrill. A little romance in their lives. Important information. The trouble is, many times those things don’t seem much different from what they would get by reading any other book of the same genre. So we may need to examine the advantages of pitching consequences (what will happen if a reader doesn’t read your book).

Using consequences instead of benefits is espoused by Dan Seidman in The Death of 20th Century Selling. As unfortunate as it may sound to you, consequences can be more powerful arguments than benefits. Our politicians know this. They use consequences against the public all the time—quite effectively.
When I owned retail stores I told my new sales associates that people shop because they want to buy something. I was surprised that I had to give them this lecture, but past experience told me it was necessary. “Shopping makes them happy,” I’d say. “When we shop, our friends may ask, ‘How did you do?’ They know you ‘did well’ if you found something to buy. If the shopper didn’t find something she loves, she is disappointed. Her shopping companion is disappointed. And the sales associate who was trying to help her is disappointed, too.”

We almost always sold the benefits of a product but sometimes consequences were implicit. As an example, when people bought gifts for their bosses, they were often reluctant to buy less prestigious brands.

It is no different when customers are thumbing through the books at a bookstore; your book’s cover is a silent sales associate. Of course, if you happen to be a presenter or are signing at an event, you shouldn’t be at all silent. Your pitch must jump from print to the spoken word. You will become a walking, talking pitch from what you say, to how you say it.

Seidman’s book gives readers detailed instruction on how to turn benefits around to scare the beejeebees out of prospective readers and tell them the horrors that will befall them if they don’t buy your book. You already hold The Frugal Book Promoter in your hands but, if I were trying to sell you using consequences, I would tell you:

• One-third of all books published traditionally each year get returned to publishers. Those publishers ship them off to be used on remainder (discounted) tables. When they’re returned a second time, they’re often shredded.
• If you don’t promote yourself and your book early, the same thing (or something like it) could happen to your book.
• And that the best place to learn to promote yourself is with this book because it gives you marketing basics and ideas straight from someone who has used them herself.

The first two are “beejeebees bullets.” The third bullet gives a benefit. You can see how they may be used in conjunction with one another for greater effectiveness and to soften the beejeebees part.

Paul Hartunian, the author of How To Find the Love of Your Life in 90 Days or Less, used a twist on the consequence approach in one of his media releases. He used a short list of “Don’ts” and included: “The worst place to go on a first date—go here and you’ll probably never get a second date.” He tormented the editors by not giving them the answer to the question he posed in his query letters. The recipient of such a release is not only curious but also aware that his audience will be, too. It’s a sure bet that Hartunian’s release was effective.

Though it is easier for writers of nonfiction to use consequences, fiction writers should try to use them, too. In 2002, I might have told prospective readers that their enjoyment of the Olympics would be severely impaired if they didn’t read This Is the Place so they would understand the history and culture of the city in which the games were set or why they would have difficulty getting a Rum Bacardi with their dinner in that state.

Hint: Select benefit, consequence, or both when they fit the occasion, not when they feel forced.

Please stop back on December 7th for Part 2 of Carolyn Howard-Johnson's The Pitch series.

~~~~~
Excerpted from the multi award-winning Frugal Book Promoter, http://budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo

Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Instructor for nearly a decade at the renowned UCLA Extension Writers' Program
Author of the multi award-winning series of HowToDoItFrugally books including the second edition honored by USA BOOK NEWS

The Frugal Book Promoter: http://budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo
Web site: http://www.HowToDoItFrugally.com

Innovative Book Marketing: Three Clever (Cheap) Ideas

We all know about marsomeone keting now, don’t we.  From a book promotion point of view, you’ve got a website, a blog, you’re working social media like a buzzing bee, offering your books free or at deep discounts some times, doing giveaways. These things are all your baseline – they’re all necessary, but the problem is that everyone else is doing the same thing.  It’s crowded market.  So how do you get noticed?  The simple, and slightly irritating answer, is that you need to be innovative – to stand out from the crowd.  That’s easier said than done, of course, especially if you’re an introvert.  Sure, you could pole dance at your next book launch (especially if your book is about pole dancing…), you could bring in a band and turn your poetry reading into a rock concert, or you could do something really controversial like Amanda Palmer and disrobe on stage.  But for real lasting appeal, the following three innovative book marketing ideas will help you stand outside of the crowd without the need for gimmicks or unsavoury wrecking balls.

·         Check out some of the super clever signs in this blog post:

http://bookriot.com/2013/10/23/creative-book-marketing-awesome-bookstore-signage

You’re a creative writer so why not come up with your own blackboard slogans or images.  Blackboards are cheap and it’s possible that your signing venue already has one.  It’s just chalk and a blackboard and you don’t need to be an artist – just think a little outside the (blue) box and you’ll come up with something really eye catching, humorous and persuasive. 

·         Can’t go past Fivver for $5 innovations.  The sky’s the limit on what you can buy here or how you can use it to promote your book.  I’ve bought video voiceovers, had videos made for me, had Facebook pages set up, and even a graphic image done, but you can go zanier.  Why not get a cartoon made of your book cover or of you holding your book cover and use it in a press release? Have someone hold up a sign promoting your work and put it in a blogpost.  Get flyers left for you in a high volume Starbucks.  I could go on and on and for only $5, it’s probably going to fit even the most stringent budget.

·         Try a new promotional venue.  If you can link it to some theme in your book so much the better.  Have you written a novel about an art theft?  Why not contact your local museum and ask if you can do a reading there.  How about the local Laundromat, the barber, your town’s botanical garden, a playground, a health spa, or a clothing boutique?  Think about the settings, plotlines, concepts in your books or target market and pick a place that matches.  If you can find a way to share in the booty (bringing in more customers and a little media), then most venues will likely let you do a reading, a presentation, or a book signing in their venue.  If you pick a busy time, you may well get a lot more customers than you would in a bookshop. 

I’m sure there are plenty of other opportunities for innovative marketing that you can come up with.  The main thing is to think ‘fun’ and ‘fabulous’.  If it’s interesting for you, it will be interesting for your readers and for the media, and that’s the intersection where viral happens.  If you do decide to take on any of these ideas, or come up with your own, I’d love to hear about it.

Magdalena Ball is the author of the novels Black Cow and Sleep Before Evening, the poetry books Repulsion Thrust and Quark Soup, a nonfiction book The Art of Assessment, and, in collaboration with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Sublime Planet, Deeper Into the Pond, Blooming Red, Cherished Pulse, She Wore Emerald Then, and Imagining the Future. She also runs a radio show, The Compulsive Reader Talks. Find out more about Magdalena at www.magdalenaball.com.

WOTM Editing Like a Pro (Grey/Red)

Marketing Innovations

As writers we know the value of showing not telling. As marketers, the mantra becomes "Sharing not Selling."  We need new ways to put the message across. 

Video streaming software lets you capture both whatever is happening on your computer screen and the interest of potential readers. You can use it to video a webcam where you talk about your book, to present a slide show demonstrating writing techniques, to show how to track changes in word processing software. If you are doing it on screen, you can show it.

Sharing knowledge helps build your author platform. Talking directly to readers builds friendships, interest in your work and best of all, sales.

image screen capture by Jing

When I started to research this article on free screen capture software, I intended to use my favorite CamStudio as the software of choice but the available freeware now is amazing. What you choose will depend on the operating system you use, whether you want to download software onto your computer or use online software.

Read the reviews, then choose. This list of ten free screen recorders may be helpful and scroll down to read the comments too. 

Have a look at Jing from TechSmith. Here it is in action in a tutorial video about taking your first capture.

I made several little videos for this article, all very easy if...
you remember to turn the microphone on,
you remember not to say um,um,ummm every time you stick,
you remember to save them in the right place in the right format...obviously.

Next time I'll be scripting what to say first. And not talking/ummming for more than five minutes--the maximum time allowed for free recording with Jing.

 Anne Duguid is a freelance content editor with MuseItUp Publishing and she tries to pass on helpful writing,editing and publishing tips at Slow and Steady Writers 

5 Innovative and Proven Marketing Strategies

By Karen Cioffi

This is an exciting week at Writers on the Move and I get to kick it off. The whole week we’re focusing on marketing innovations and proven strategies to help you write publish, and market your book. We wanted to do something special to thank you for taking the time out of your busy days to read what we write.

Starting off the week, I wanted to give an overview of some 2013 marketing strategies. While researching the topic for my post, I came across some very interesting information. Here are some of the highlights:

5 Innovative and Proven Marketing Strategies

1. Marketing is ever-changing.

This is especially true of inbound marketing. The changes are so fast, that it’s tough to be the first or even get on the wagon of a new strategy before it’s old-hat.

Because of this, it’s wise to stick to the marketing strategies that are working for you. Stay true to what works.

This is not to say you can’t venture out and try new tools and strategies, just be aware that they may not be here tomorrow, or they may not be as effective as the ‘marketer’ is purporting them to be.

2. Innovation doesn’t always mean ‘new.’

In an article at Marketing and Innovation, Yann Gourvennec noted that, “innovation isn’t always about disruption, it is often about making things better.”(1) In other words, it’s not always about creating something new. A revised or renewed product or service can be innovative. It might be in making a product or service better, or adding something to it.

3. Inbound marketing is still one of the top strategies.

In a recent survey conducted by HubSpot and MIT, the results showed that “92 percent of HubSpot’s customers increased traffic.” Seventy-five percent of those customers saw a 75 percent and more traffic increase. (2)

This proves that inbound marketing works effectively.

4. Co-branding can be a profitable marketing strategy.

The source article of this topic dealt with offline business. It gave the example of a local restaurant teaming up with a local movie theater to offer discounted tickets if the customer spent a certain amount on dinner. (3) But, this strategy can be translated into book marketing.

As an example I’ll use my children’s bedtime picture book, Day’s End Lullaby. I could research infant and baby bedroom and bedding stores to see if there is any interest in co-branding. Buy a bed set and get a bedtime story free or for a minimal fee.

The perk to the store is offering something more to its customers, helping to make that personal connection. The benefit to the author (me) would be the store buying the book at a discounted rate.

5. Gaining discoverability through Freebies.

The source article for this topic discussed the innovative marketing strategy that NAL/Penquin used for “You Knew Me When” by Emily Liebert. The publishing house sent “advance galleys with a three-bottle set of nail polish.” The book is about a successful cosmetics executive. This particular author and publisher took it to a new level – the source article is worth the read, see reference #4 below.

Stayed tuned tomorrow for a post by Annie Duguid.

~~~~~
References:

(1) http://visionarymarketing.fr/en/blog/2013/05/innovation-what-new-really-means-the-data-center-robotics-example/
(2) http://www.shebangdesign.com/7-innovative-marketing-ideas-to-get-the-roi-rolling/#.UnVvKBAljW4
(3) http://www.shebangdesign.com/8-great-marketing-ideas/#.UnVtfhAljW4
(4) http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2013/08/09/a-polished-book-marketing-plan-nails-it/

~~~~~
Oh, I did have Part 3 of the three-part series on Small Business Marketing scheduled for today, but because of our special marketing week, I'm moving that post to December 30th.

~~~~~
P.S. To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).

Karen Cioffi
Award-Winning Author, Freelancer/Ghostwriter, Author/Writer Online Platform Instructor
http://karencioffi.com

Innovative and Proven Writing and Marketing Strategies WEEK with Writers on the Move

Beginning tomorrow, December 1st, Writers on the Move is featuring a full week of innovative and proven writing and marketing strategies. It will kick off with "5 Innovative and Proven Marketing Strategies" by Karen Cioffi (me :)) and end with "Writing and Book Marketing – Crafting a Pitch (Part 2)" by Carolyn Howard-Johnson.

This is the beginning of a writing and marketing information packed December as a thank you to YOU.

WE APPRECIATE YOU!

And, to further show our appreciation, we have an ebook of Quotes that the WOTM members compiled to inspire and motivate you . It's still in the works, but will be ready sometime mid-December.

So, be sure to stop by often and let us know what you think about the posts. And, please don't forget to share them with the social icons we have at the bottom of each post.

Talk to you soon,
Karen

Keep a Personal Account of Your Progress

Dottie Enderlie displays her original Writing Wreath on her blog

Do you keep track of the number of words, pages, hours you spend each day on writing? Since last month's post on organization, I've experimented with another means to gain more productivity: keeping track of my progress. Before closing in on a method, I took a look at what other writers do. The results were helpful and inspiring.                                                                             
                                                                                       
Functional to Sublime

If you are interested in keeping track by using programs online, an excellent article, "Tracking my writing goals with Scrivener, Evernote and Google Spreadsheets," was posted by Jamie Todd Rubin, science fiction writer, blogger, Evernote paperless lifestyle ambassador; on his blog post, January 13, 2012. Rubin uses a combination of three tools to help him reach his writing goals each day.

• Scrivener - One of Rubin's rules of thumb is to write in full-screen mode to avoid distractions. Oh my, this is a lesson in itself, for I keep my cell phone near my PC so I can hear the bleeps and bloops every time I receive a new email or text message. Then I drop whatever I'm doing and hastily check to see, "Who could that be? Whoever wants/needs to talk to moi?" I never suspected that my second lesson in becoming more productive (my first lesson appeared in last month's post on October 28th about getting more organized), would be to close my office door, turn off all my devices, and NEVER, NEVER stop to check my email! Not until my writing goal is reached. Ah, but I digress. Back to the fact that Rubin sets a 500 word/session target. He doesn't stop writing until Growl pops up and tells him he's met his goal.
• Evernote - Rubin keeps a notebook in Evernote called "Daily Fiction Writing." He copies and pastes each day's offering into this notebook so he can go back on any given day and see what he wrote. This is done only for first drafts. Note to self: This is an excellent way to keep track of that great idea that got lost during editing. My past printed first drafts of my current WIP sit in a box; much of my computer-generated edits replaced original drafts, therefore got lost in the editing process. So I particularly would like to try this method.
• Google Spreadsheet - First drafts go into a Google Spreadsheet, which keep track of what Rubin worked on each day and how much he wrote.

Rubin gives detailed descriptions of his tracking system and includes diagrams of his actual spreadsheets, all very helpful. If you are interested, please visit http://www.jamierubin.net/2012/01/13/tracking-my-writing-goals-with-scrivener-evernote-and-google-spreadsheets/ to read his full post.



• The article, "Task-Based Logs: The Most Useful Method of Record Keeping," by Laurie Lewis, a freelance medical writer and editor, describes a system that keeps track of each phase of a freelancer's work, by the task. Lewis contends that keeping a task-oriented log helps the freelancer make appropriate decisions regarding what the client expects and a breakdown on how she meets those expectations, while keeping track of how much to charge per hour. Table 1, as it appears in the article, is a simple log for typing a 25-page paper:

                      Look over material, decide on style  1/4 hour
                      Type (25 double-spaced pages)        2-1/2 hours
                      Proof                                                  2 hours
                      Make corrections                               3/4 hour
                      Total                                                  5-1/2 hours

The article continues to describe how to create a task-based log for more complicated projects, and includes another table to illustrate. To read Lewis' entire article, please visit http://www.writing-world.com/tech/charge.shtml. Her book, What to Charge: Pricing Strategies for Freelancers and Consultants, might also be helpful in creating your own log system.

Dotti Enderle's Original and Creative Writing Wreath

A most delightful and innovative approach to keeping track of words-a-day is the Writing Wreath that children's author Dotti Enderle created. Dottie's award-winning historical novel, Crosswire, was included in the list of "Books that Rise Above," in the Highlights Foundation workshop I attended last October. I ordered a copy and was so intrigued by it I ordered, Severed (A tale of Sleepy Hollow), out just this month, that Dotti wrote under the psyeudonym Dax Varley--a fun, fun read. She is the author of dozens of other children's books. I became acquainted with Dotti on Facebook and discovered her Writing Wreath when I visited her blog, http://www.dottienderle.com/news.html.

Dotti created her Writing Wreath to track her writing progress. Here are the rules she set up for herself:

• Only add a ribbon for 650 or more words a day.
• Only add a ribbon for current novel. Blogging doesn't count. :)
• Only add a ribbon for fresh work. Not revision.

Dottie didn't inlcude her contract work for Ghost Detectors, only her original works. I think her rules are great. They are a strict indicator of accomplished new material. Visit Dotti's blog if you would like to see the photos she has posted of her progress in creating the wreath and details about how she made it.

The Great Experiment

To begin keeping track of my own efforts, I took a simple course of action. I created an excel spreadsheet, with the headings:

• Date
• Project
• Time In/Time Out
• No. of Pgs Completed
• Type of Work/First draft/Editing
• Good Day/Bad Day
• Tomorrow's Goal

In my tracking system, I have included all of my writing projects, which are currently self-generated and include short stories and articles, children's fiction books, and blog posts. My main purpose, as I've discussed, is to become as productive as possible. So far, I've managed to rewrite an outline of a short story that was languishing, rejected, in my drawer (along with many of its cousins). I've begun research and begun creating the outline for my next book, and I've continued to edit my current WIP. For me, this is productive. Work prior to this effort consisted of only one project at a time. I really wanted to branch out from that and get more projects done simultaneously.

What I have Learned: How distracted I've been, mainly by social media and emails. Keeping a record of my actual writing time was an eye-opener. The time spent wasn't as much as I originally thought. So, I've sectioned off times during the day when it's okay to "do email." When it's okay to take time for everything else. And when it's okay NOT to work. The rest of the time is happily spent writing.

Only time will tell if I've met my goal of becoming more productive. Once that goal is met, who knows, perhaps I will be that much closer to my final goal, which is what we all strive for: To find an audience so that we can entertain our readers with our works and make a contribution to their lives.

Next month: My #2 Pencil

Linda Wilson, a former elementary teacher and ICL graduate, has published over 40 articles for children and adults, six short stories for children, and is in the final editing stages of her first book, a mystery story for 7-9 year olds. Publishing credits include seven biosketches for the library journal, Biography Today, which include Troy Aikman, Stephen King, and William Shatner; Highlights for Children; Pockets; Hopscotch; and true stories told to her by police officers about children in distress receiving teddy bears, which she fictionalized for her column, "Teddy Bear Corner," for the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Crime Prevention Newsletter, Dayton, Ohio. Follow Linda on Facebook.