The Compound Effect

I’ve been reading The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy.  The basic premise behind his book is that little things add up to big things. These little things can take you in the right or wrong direction.  For example let’s say on average you write 1000 words in an hour. Now let’s say every day you spend an hour messing around on Facebook that leads to 365 000 LESS words written in a year (365x1000). By making a small change. Let’s say you cut your Facebook time in half to only 30 minutes a day that now leads to 182 500 MORE words written in a year. This is just an example but I think you get the point. You can apply this to pretty much anything in your life.

To learn more click here.

The compound effect leads to “overnight success” which we all know doesn’t actually happen overnight they just appear to (J.K Rowling, Mo Willems etc.). In reality that person has worked their butt off taking small steps that all add up in the end.

But before you can make a change you need to know what you want.  Then you need to figure out what is keeping you from getting what you want. Take a couple of minutes and think about it. Now what are the steps you need to take to get there?

To illustrate. One of my goals is to finish writing my teen novel by the end of August.  This goal fits into my large goal of wanting an agent, which fits into my even bigger goal of getting published. In order to that I need to get my butt in my chair and write.

Darren recommends you keep a notebook for at least 3 weeks and write down everything you do in relation to that goal. So if you are trying to lose weight write down everything you eat. If you are trying to save money write down anything you buy.  In my case I’m trying to make time to write. Starting today I’m recording all my daily activities and will continue do so for the next 3 weeks. This in turn will help me adjust my bad habits (spend less time on FB) so that I can reach my desired goals.

How about you, what small change can you make today that will help you down the road? Feel free to share your thoughts below. Join me on Monday for another fabulous post. I’ll be blogging about a writing conference I recently went to.

If you liked this post please let others know (tweet, pin, like). See you Monday until then dare to write the impossible. 

Moving Past Writer's Block

This is the face that greets me most mornings from my office chair. He gets a few cuddles then gladly moves over to the couch so I can get some work done. The reason I bring this up is because sooner or later something will come up in your life that gets in the your way of your writing. You are going to have to deal with it.

The biggest problem I face is fear. It comes from the thought that all my hard work will never pay off. I might as well quit now, give up on ever having career as an author and just concentrate on my day job.  Sound familiar to anyone? So what’s a writer to do?

Pug blocked is like writer's block but about 100 times more enjoyable

• Identify your feelings.  I feel fill in the blank.
• Tell yourself you just made that up. Because really you did.
• Get your butt in the chair and write even if it’s 5 words. That way your telling your fear that it doesn’t control you.  Or if it’s your kids that are demanding all your attention (resoanably so) spend a couple of minutes before bedtime to jot down some words. Either way you are proving to yourself that it can be done.
• Spend a couple of minutes each morning enjoying something you love.  This is a great way to start your day on a positive note. I like to cuddle my pets. It’s something I do before I’ve even had my coffee or brushed my teeth.  

How about you? How do you deal when life gets in the way?

If you liked this post please let others know (tweet, post, pin). Join me on Friday for another fabulous post until then dare to write the impossible. 

Doodling a Month in Illustrator Shoes

Two topics that have come up in my critique group (for picture book writers) are illustrator’s notes and reducing word count.  As a picture book writer, I often overwrite in an effort to make sure my story makes senses without the illustrations. But as Mo Willems once put it picture books shouldn’t make sense without the illustrations.

What’s a writer to do? Try to see things from an illustrator’s point of view. For the last two weeks, I’ve been taking part in Alison Hertz’ Doodle May Challenge. I’ve been using doodles instead of words to show the images in my head. This daily, five minute exercise has helped me with my day to day writing. I'm able to see where words can be cut. Give it a try. Pick a word and try to draw it. Explore a new world by drawing it. Draw a picture based on someone else point of view. How does the meaning change? 

Check out the following picture books for examples of books that don’t make sense without the illustrations.

Good News. Bad News. By Jeff Mack. - Four little words yet the story still made me cry. 

This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen. - It ends with a wordless spread (the audience gets to use it's imaginations to fill in the blanks). 

Creepy Carrots by Arron Reynolds. - Tricks on almost every page turn. Things aren't want they seem. 

Join me next Monday for more fabulous doodles until then dare to write or doodle the impossible.

Day 12: Underwater Families

Day 13: Seeing things from kitty's pov.