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a blog for writers & authors writing ◆ editing ◆ publishing |
January 26 is an emotional day for me. Though today I have four years of distance from the event, I suspect this day will always feel turbulent. It’s a reminder of so many things for me, but one that rises to the top is that my personal world could be demolished in an instant. Of course, that goes for all of us.
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My friends, I have a new favorite tool. It's called SaneBox, and it's right up there with Social Jukebox on my list of tools that help me keep my life together. This app is amazing, and it is so simple. I honestly can't believe I haven't been using it for years. This is going to be a short post, just to let you know this exists—because I wish someone had told me. 
You may or may not have heard of decision fatigue, but you have no doubt felt it. Decision fatigue refers to the exhaustion we feel after making so many large and small decisions over the course of the day. Those in positions which involve more decision-making are of course more prone to this phenomenon. A 2011 study found that judges were likely to deliver harsher rulings later in the day. But decision fatigue impacts everyone. Think about how many decisions you make every day. What to wear, what to eat for breakfast, how you want your coffee, whether to stop for gas, how to greet your coworkers, which task to start first, what language to use in an email... The list goes on. 
I have been blogging in this little corner of the internet for going on a decade, and this blog has never had a real name. But I have finally chosen one: Pen Your Own Pages. "Pen Your Own Pages" Meaning
I love National Novel Writing Month. I believe it teaches important lessons for beginning writers—and provides a reminder for more experienced writers. Putting pen to paper (literally or figuratively) is the most important things. Tough days come and go, but keeping up your writing momentum is crucial. "Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it."
—Madeleine L'Engle
 Update: October 22, 2019 “Tribe” is a word I’ve used for a long time without a second thought. But one of our own pointed out that it can be offensive to and even appropriative of indigenous peoples. I didn’t know what I didn’t know. And after some research into the topic, I realized how problematic using this term can be. One of the main goals of this group is to create an inclusive, safe space. So, furthermore, we shall be known as the Writing Pack. (Rocket pitched the name, and you know I can’t say no to him.) It’s so important that we—as a writing community and as humans—keep sharing with each other and listening to each other. We may not be able to fully understand another’s experience, but we can try. - Victoria
If you've been hanging around here for a while, you may have heard of (or joined) The Community of Readers & Writers. I created the Community sort of on a whim, without any real plan of what I wanted it to be. I just knew that I wanted to create some sort of place for writers to connect. Well, I've been thinking a lot lately about what the Community really means to me, and I have some ideas. The first step is a new name. 
This is that post. The how I got my agent post. This is exciting to write, but also a little daunting—which I suppose is why I'm writing it about a year after I signed with my agent. During the years I spent querying, these types of posts were so helpful and encouraging. She got an agent! I will too. So here we go. I'm going to lay out the whole sordid tale, from start to finish. And it starts in a very scary place, my friends . . . high school.  Time management is crucial to productivity. After all, we reveal our priorities by how we spend our time. But sometimes it feels like there's just not enough time to go around. How often have you heard or said, "I wish there were more hours in the day"?
The traditional way to view time management is to start with the allotted 24 hours and break it into sections. Let's say we devote 8 hours to sleeping. That means we have 16 left. How much do you devote to work or to spending time with loved ones? Do you "waste" any on trivial, nonproductive things, like watching television? With this model, we treat time almost like currency, and we devalue any time not spent "productively." But is that the best way to approach time management? Or life management? I don't think so. 
What drives us? The answer is different for everyone, and everyone has many answers. The desire to achieve. The desire to be heard. A need for success. A fear of failure. I've written about writers and imposter syndrome; related to that is the fear of mediocrity. In my experience, many writers do not fear failure as much as they fear being not quite good enough. Perhaps they're good enough to keep their friends turning pages but not good enough to get published. Or maybe they're good enough to get published but not good enough to get stellar reviews. 
This November, the Revise & Resub editors are taking NaNoWriMo up a notch. Each editor will lead a team of writers working toward the 50,000-word National Novel Writing Month goal. Team members will submit their weekly word count, and the team that averages the most words during November win early access to the RevPit contest and the opportunity to ask the RevPit editors a question of their choice, which we will answer during a live-stream Q&A. Learn more about the annual RevPit Contest here. During the contest, I'm leading a team of sci-fi writers! Keep an eye on the #RevPit and #TeamVictoria hashtags on Twitter to see how it's going and to join in our craziness. And don't forget to follow all the RevPit editors and my team members. Even if you're not participating on a team, you can still take part in the fun!
Links: Learn more about the RevPit NaNoWriMo Contest. National Novel Writing Month |
Victoria GriffinAuthor. Editor. 
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