Cimarron Creek trilogy Archives

APODS – Priorities: Getting Started by Amanda Cabot

Are you ready to address priorities? They’re the second step in the APODS process and one of the most important, so let’s get started.

In his best-selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, Stephen Covey advises us to “organize and execute around priorities.” While that may sound simple, many of us find it difficult. Why? In order to follow Covey’s advice we need to:

Establish those priorities
Understand the opportunity cost
Accept the fact that we cannot do everything.

Over the next few months, we’ll address each of those points. Today let’s talk about establishing priorities.

Brian Tracy, author of Time Power, points out that behaviors are a matter of choice. What a profound thought! If it’s truly important to us, whenever there’s a choice of how to spend our time, we can choose to write. And if we make that choice consistently over a long enough period, it will become a habit.

Amanda Cabot, APODS, time management, calendar, analysis, productive, timer, personality type, use of time, getting to the end, goal, Cimarron Creek Trilogy, priorities, successful people — Priorities

But, and this is a big but, choice means change, and change is difficult. The good news is, change can be managed. The key to getting to “The End” is to make writing your #1 priority. The question is, how do you do that?

Last month I encouraged you to track your current use of time and then categorize it. Were you surprised by your analysis? What were your biggest time sinks? Which can you eliminate or at least minimize?

If you discovered that you spent a lot of time running errands every day, can you consolidate errands into a single day, freeing up time for writing on the other days?

Did you discover that your writing time was fragmented by phone calls or text messaging? If so, consider establishing office hours when you turn off your phone. Yes, I know that sounds like heresy, but each interruption costs you not only the time you spend on the interruption but also the time it takes to get back to work on your manuscript.

Did you find that social media took more time than you thought? While I’m not suggesting you ignore your friends, the reality is that time you spend posting your status and laughing at cute cat videos is time you are not writing. Remember, behaviors are a matter of choice. We all need to choose wisely.

What we also need is to create what I call a “culture of writing.” What that means is that reminders of writing are never far away, so each time you have the opportunity to make a choice between writing and not writing, you choose writing.

cover, reminder, priorities, Amanda Cabot, APODS — Place your cover everywhere.

One way to reinforce the importance of your book is to create a cover for it. It doesn’t have to be an artistic wonder. It could be nothing more than the title and your name. (If you don’t have a title, My #1 New York Times Bestseller might motivate you.) Print out a dozen or so copies and then post them throughout your house and on anything connected to your biggest time sinks. That way, when you go to the refrigerator for a break and a pint of ice cream, you’ll see your cover and be reminded that instead of eating, you ought to be writing. Similarly, if your cover is propped up in front of your TV or taped to the back of your phone, when you’re tempted to watch a show, check messages for the thousandth time today, or search for another funny video, you’ll be reminded that you have a choice.

The key is to remain focused on writing. The reality is, if you don’t make it a very, very, very high priority, you’ll spend your time on other things and will never reach “The End.” You don’t want that, do you?

Amanda Cabot is no stranger to getting to “The End.” She juggled a sixty-hour a week job with nonnegotiable deadlines and building a house long-distance at the same time that she wrote two books a year. Whether or not she kept her sanity during that time is debatable. Amanda is the best-selling author of over thirty novels, eight novellas, four non-fiction books, and what she describes as enough technical articles to cure insomnia in a medium-sized city.

Her most recent release is A Borrowed Dream, the second in the Cimarron Creek trilogy.

Amanda Cabot, Cimarron Creek, A Stolen Heart — A Borrowed Dream by Amanda Cabot Cimarron Creek Trilogy

You can find Amanda at:

www.amandacabot.com
https://www.facebook.com/amanda.j.cabot
https://twitter.com/AmandaJoyCabot/
http://amandajoycabot.blogspot.com/

APODS – Analysis: Answering the Tough Questions

Welcome back to APODS, one technique for reaching the elusive “The End.” Today we’re going to start our discussion of the analysis phase. As the title line says, this means answering the tough questions. Since I want to keep this relatively simple, I’ve limited myself to three questions that I think every author should answer. The first two help us identify what is special about us and our books; the last identifies barriers to reaching “The End.”

First Question

Why do you write? This first question may sound simple, but answering it may not be. Each of us has a different reason for writing. Some of us write because we need to pay the bills, others because characters have invaded our brains and won’t leave until we tell their stories. Others hear a snippet of conversation and start asking, “What happened next?” There’s no right answer and no wrong one. The key is to identify the reason you write.

Amanda Cabot, time management, writing, publishing, books, articles, A Borrowed Dream, Cimarron Creek trilogy, fiction, non-fiction, deadlines, why write, dreams, fear, success, rejection, priorities — Why do you write?

A corollary to this question is, “Do you want to write, or do you need to write?” This is a variation on the “Is writing what you do or who you are?” question that Francine Mathews posed to attendees at the 2004 Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers conference. The difference is fundamental. Again, there are no right answers, but I will tell you that if you need to write, if writing is who you are, you’ll find it easier to reach “The End.” Simply put, if you cannot not write, if not writing leaves an empty place inside you, you’ll be more likely to persist even when it’s difficult.

Second Question

On to the next question. Why is this the book of your dreams? Don’t just let the answers bounce through your brain. Take a minute to record them. What makes this book special? What makes you want – or need – to tell this particular story? Why will your life be incomplete if you don’t finish it?

If you can’t answer the question or if your first response doesn’t ring true, I suspect you’ll have trouble finishing the book. Writing is hard work. Don’t ever doubt that. But if this truly is the book of your dreams, you’ll be able to persevere through the difficult times.

Once you’ve answered this question, save your answer. You did put it in writing, didn’t you? If you keyed it into a document, print it out and put it in a place where you’ll be able to retrieve it easily. Why? If you’re like most authors, you’ll find stumbling blocks along the road to “The End.” There will be times when you hate the book or are convinced it’s the worst prose in the English language. (For me, that happens regularly when I reach the middle of the first draft.) This is the time to pull out your answer and remind yourself why this book is special. Trust me, that little piece of paper helps.

Third Question

Our final question is, What is keeping you from finishing the book? When I’ve asked writers why they have so many unfinished manuscripts, the answers have fallen into four categories:

Not enough time
Conflicting priorities
Fear of rejection
Fear of success

Starting next month, we’ll focus on the first two. Your assignment in the meantime is to reflect on these three questions. Think – really think – about why writing and this particular book are so important to you. The answers may surprise you.

Amanda Cabot, time management, writing, publishing, books, articles, A Borrowed Dream, Cimarron Creek trilogy, fiction, non-fiction, deadlines — Amanda Cabot

Connect with Amanda:
www.amandacabot.com
https://www.facebook.com/amanda.j.cabot
https://twitter.com/AmandaJoyCabot/
http://amandajoycabot.blogspot.com/

Getting to “The End” with Amanda Cabot

Welcome Amanda Cabot back to Thyme for Writers with the first in her series on time management and getting to “The End!” Amanda is no stranger to getting to “The End.” She juggled a sixty-hour a week job with nonnegotiable deadlines and building a house long-distance at the same time that she wrote two books a year. Whether or not she kept her sanity during that time is debatable. Amanda is the best-selling author of over thirty novels, eight novellas, four non-fiction books, and what she describes as enough technical articles to cure insomnia in a medium-sized city. Her most recent release is A Borrowed Dream, the second in the Cimarron Creek trilogy.

Getting to “The End”

Have you ever started a book, filled with enthusiasm and certain that this will become the next #1 New York Times bestseller, but somehow you never finished it?

Have you ever said, “If only I had more time, I’d write a book”?

Have you ever wondered how some writers manage to complete multiple books in a year when you still haven’t finished the book of your heart?

If you’ve answered “yes” to any of those questions, I’m here to tell you that you’re not alone. While these can hardly be classified as the great mysteries of the universe, they are questions that plague many writers.

The good news is that there are solutions to the problem of not reaching the elusive “The End.” The bad news is that the solutions are multi-faceted. While you might believe that a course in time management will solve your problem, it’s only one aspect of the solution and not even the first one to be addressed.

APODS

Over the next five months (maybe more, if I become too long-winded on any of the posts), we’re going to talk about a system I’ve given the acronym APODS. This not-so-catchy name stands for Analysis, Priorities, Organization, Discipline, and Support. (See what I mean about time management being only part of the solution?)

Let’s take a quick look at each of the five subjects.

You can’t solve a problem unless you can identify it. Remember the adage about the person whose only tool is a hammer seeing every problem as a nail? You don’t want to be caught in that trap. That’s where Analysis comes into play. It helps you determine why you haven’t finished that book.

Establishing Priorities ensures that you’re working on the right things and that you understand the implications, what some call the opportunity cost, of each decision you make.

Proper Organization helps you make the most of the time you have by using some hints from industry experts.

Discipline could be nicknamed “just do it,” but we’ll talk about techniques that will make just doing it easier.

And finally, you can’t succeed without Support. While you may think of all support as coming from the people around you, we’ll also discuss the internal support process, which is equally critical.

There it is in a nutshell: the APODS technique for finishing your manuscript and living to tell another story.

Have I intrigued you? I hope so, because I’m looking forward to your comments and questions as we journey from those initial moments of wild enthusiasm along the long and sometimes difficult road to “The End.”

You can find Amanda at:

www.amandacabot.com
https://www.facebook.com/amanda.j.cabot
https://twitter.com/AmandaJoyCabot/
http://amandajoycabot.blogspot.com/

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First Question

Second Question

Third Question

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Getting to “The End”

APODS

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