Saturday Chit-Chat with Cindi Myers!
Cindi Myers is a name that should be familiar to aspiring romance writers…she offers a great market report service that is essential to knowing what’s going on in the world. On top of it, she’s a fabulous writer…and prolific, too! And she’s also a wonderfully warm and gracious woman that I’m very honored to know. She has two books about to hit the shelves…click on the covers for more information!
The Twenty Minute Writer
By Cindi Myers
When people ask me about my writing habits, I often joke that I have the attention span of a toddler with a sugar rush. It’s not that I’m incapable of sitting at my computer for long stretches of times, it’s just that life affords so few of those long stretches. Thus, much of my work is accomplished in twenty and thirty minute spurts between loads of laundry, telephone calls, errands, and yes, my email addiction.
Yet I’ve managed to be amazingly prolific in this patchwork fashion. During 2007, I will have had six books out–some 500,000 words that somehow made it onto paper whenever I had a few minutes hereand there.
You have a few minutes here and there, don’t you? I hope the tips that follow will help you find a way to put your thoughts and ideas on paper during those minutes, increasing your productivity and putting you a little closer to your dream of publishing.
Step One: Erase from your mind the idea that writing takes long, uninterrupted stretches of time.
I’m not denying that having hours to sit at the keyboard and agonize over each word typed wouldn’t be ideal, but we’re talking real life here. (Check the dictionary under reality. I promise you won’t find anything about perfect or ideal there.) We work with what we have, and those minutes of time here and there are it.
If you’re having trouble with this first step, find a notepad or a note card and write on it I am a productive, prolific writer, even in the limited amount of time available for me to work. Post it where you’ll see it often: on the bathroom mirror, the car dashboard or by your keyboard. Read it. Believe it.
Step Two: Portable is productive.
Whether you scribble notes on a stack of index cards you carry in your back pocket, write on yellow legal pads, spiral notebooks, or on a portable keyboard such as an Alpha Smart, find a portable writing medium that feels good to you and carry it with you everywhere. Make picking up that notebook or Alpha Smart as natural as grabbing up your purse and car keys on your way out the door. Then when ballet class lets out late, or the doctor is running an hour behind you can work on your masterpiece instead of zoning out to talk radio or reading all about Britney or Justin or J-Lo’s latest doings in a nine-month old issue of People.
Step Three: Like great sex, great writing begins in the brain.
About now you’re probably thinking ‘duh!’ How great a brain does she have to have come up with this one? Bear with me, please. I’m talking about using that brain to think about your writing even when you can’t actually commit words to paper.
Instead of humming commercial jingles or worrying over what to fix for supper while you scrub the bathroom, force yourself to focus on your story. Turn off the car radio during your commute and commune with your characters. Most specifically, think about what happens next. What will the next chapter, the next scene, or the next paragraph of your work in progress be? If you come up with some plausible – or even brilliant – ideas and you’re afraid you’ll forget them before you get to your keyboard, make a few notes. If you’re driving, walking the dogs, at the gym, or in another situation where writing something down isn’t practical, consider investing in a mini tape-recorder to record your notes.
Note: Living with your story this way will help you stay focused on your writing, but may give you a reputation as being somewhat absent-minded, or even flaky. Embrace the image as the kind of thing that will make good fodder for tabloid articles once you’re rich and famous.
Step Four: Learn to sprint on the page.
When it’s time to write, write. No warming up, stretching, sharpening pencils or filing your fingernails while the computer screen remains blank. You only have twenty or thirty or fifteen minutes here. You can’t afford to waste any of them. And you shouldn’t have to. If you’ve followed the steps outlined above, you’ve put hours of thought into this next scene or paragraph, and you probably have a few notes to guide you.
While this approach may feel awkward at first, like any other exercise it will become easier with practice. Before you know it, you’ll be looking up at the clock when it’s time to pick up junior from band practice and you’ll be amazed at how much you’ve written. (In fact, it would be a good idea to invest in a timer and set it whenever you absolutely have to stop writing at a certain time. Otherwise, you might get a reputation as the parent who always forgets to pick up the children on time, or the chronically late employee, or worse, former employee.)
Step Five: Bait the trap.
Don’t risk staring at that empty page again. Give yourself something to come back to. At the end of each of these quickie writing sessions, jot down a few notes about what comes next, where you’re headed, etc. I promise you’ll be looking for any excuse to get back to the page now and finish that thought.
Step Six: Plan for down time.
That old saying about all work and no play making Jack a dull boy didn’t go far enough, in my opinion. Focusing on work – even work you may love, like writing – all the time will make you a stressed-out, neurotic wreck. So don’t try to fill every single minute of every day with writing and thoughts of your book. Find a schedule that works for you. I like to take weekends and holidays off, and a couple of weeks after each completed book, not to mention evening hours. Have some fun, cultivate your relationships with family and friends, get some exercise. The book will still be there when you report for work again, I promise.
That’s it. Success in six easy (or crazy, or awkward – fill in your own adjective) steps. If they don’t feel natural or easy to you at first, I urge you to give them a try. Commit yourself to a couple of weeks of this, or better yet, a month. See if you’re writing more, and better. If nothing else, you’ll no longer be able to whine that you don’t have any time to write. You’ve got twenty minutes, haven’t you?
Julie here again…wow, this is awesome advice. I’m about to go take it right now!
Hi Cindi and welcome to the jungle.
Great post! On our Tara BC Loop we did the 100×100. Write at least 100 words a day for 100 days. This was great! It put you in your wip everyday and 100 words is really not that much, about a half a page depending on your font. I found two things doing this. One, it keep me in my wip. No coming back to wonder where I was and what was going on in my H/H world. And two, more often than not I wrote well over the 100 words. Once that challenge was finished our much beloved Julie threw out the TARA 75 Sweat challenge. The word count now varies with each writer. How many words do you need to finish the book in 75 days? Divided by the words vs. the days and that’s what you’ll need to write in order to finish. I’m forever thankful to Julie for throwing out this one.
Since I still work the day job I do most of mine writing at night. What I’ve recently started doing has helped tremendously. I print out the last 3 to 4 pages and when I take a break at work I read over them. Revising as I read. What’s happening is at the end of those pages I start jotting down the next scene or continuing with the scene. That may only be 5 – 6 lines, but once I’m home I fix what I found, put in the new lines and that spurs on the next several pages.
Comment by Vicki — October 20, 2007 @ 7:09 am
Cindi, Thanks for coming by Plotmonkeys and giving us advice! AND WHAT VALUABLE WORDS OF ADVICE. Phenomenal. I don’t think I’ve heard it all put together this way before and boy could living like this change MY life.
Comment by Carly — October 20, 2007 @ 7:22 am
Thanks Cindi - the tape recorder works great - I just have to go out a buy a new one. I brought one of those digital ones and I’m just clueless on how to use it - I keep losing recorded items. Its a good idea to keep it by your bed as ideas tend to pop up when I’m waking up but then I forget it by the time I sit down to write - very frustrating. Living with your story is another great idea. Liz
Comment by Liz — October 20, 2007 @ 8:21 am
Welcome to the jungle Cindi…it is nice to meet you…I like the six simple steps you outline…this is the way I approach my poetry, but I only go on inspiration, and that is pretty much by anything…I often have something to write on with me at all times, and if I am working out or something like that, I take a break and write down what’s in my head before I forget it all…the tape recorder is a very interesting idea…life can be crazy and any minute counts as you said, when you are trying to be a prolific writer…with all the advice I am getting, I may just start writing a book sooner rather than later…thanks for all the good advice…
Julie…what’s up?
talk to you all later…have a full day ahead…
Peace and love,
Comment by Paula R. — October 20, 2007 @ 8:50 am
Cindi, your words could not have come at a better time for me! What wonderful advice. I do sit in school parking lots and sometimes remember to bring my Alphasmart, but only if I’m on a horrific deadline. I am going to start putting that thing by my front door and make it a habit whether I’m in chapter 1 or chapter 20!
Thanks so much for coming to the jungle today, we are SO glad to have you here!
Comment by Leslie — October 20, 2007 @ 8:53 am
Four rules that I follow faithfully.
Wonderful post!
Bettye Griffin
Comment by Bettye Griffin — October 20, 2007 @ 9:10 am
Thanks for the great advice Cindi. I’m not at the point of writing a book yet, but it is wonderful to have an archive of advice to use from the plotmonkeys and other great authors.
BTW, I read Wild Child earlier this week and loved it!
Comment by Liza — October 20, 2007 @ 9:30 am
Good Morning Plotmonkeys and All!
HI CINDI
It’s great to have you here at the Plotmonkeys! Thanks for the fabulous advice. I was wondering how you could release so many books in one year and now I know!
I just received Marriage On Her Mind in the mail and can’t wait to dive in.
Anyone out there who hasn’t read Cindi’s books or received her newsletter you don’t know what you’re missing. She is an amazing writer and the woman knows EVERYTHING that’s going on in the publishing industry. She is also a phenomenal plotter who can take a grain of an idea and in a few short minutes–and I mean short–she has a plot. I’ve seen her do this in a workshop and it blew my little mind!
Cindi, have a great day here, sweetie with the Plotmonkeys! I’m off to rehearsal for Harp Fantasia tonight!
Love to all,
Cher
Comment by Cher — October 20, 2007 @ 10:01 am
Hi Cindi!
Great advice and so fitting for my life. I find that I do jump on the computer while the water is heating for pasta, or I’m waiting for the microwave to ding, or between laundry… but I always feel disjointed and like it leads to choppy writing.
You tips should help resolve a lot of that feeling and help the transition from life to computer to life to computer much easier and smoother. Thanks for visiting us in the jungle and sharing your secrets!!
Comment by Jodie — October 20, 2007 @ 10:32 am
Thank you for the warm welcome, everyone! It’s great to be here. I’m glad you found my tips useful. They’ve been lifesavers for me. Liza — you have Wild Child already? Glad to know you liked it. Writing that book with Colleen and Dawn was so much fun. And Cher, good to see you! Hope you like Marriage On Her Mind. Jodie — sometimes I have a chapter or two that feels choppy, but my motto is I can fix anything during revisions. This process keep me moving forward. And hey, try to have fun with this.
Comment by Cindi Myers — October 20, 2007 @ 10:43 am
Hi, Cindi! Welcome to the jungle. It’s so great to have you here — and WOW, what great advice!!! Thank you for sharing it with us today!
>>She is also a phenomenal plotter who can take a grain of an idea and in a few short minutes–and I mean short–she has a plot. I’ve seen her do this in a workshop and it blew my little mind! >>
Looks like we need to have Cindi back at the jungle for a workshop on plotting (which is my biggest weakness!). This sounds awesome!
Comment by Janelle — October 20, 2007 @ 12:11 pm
Cindi, thanks again for coming today!
Number Three is the one I have the most trouble with. I used to be able to tune into my book 24/7, but lately, I’m having a big problem with that. I tend to resist, and I’m not sure why. It makes it harder when I finally get my short time at the computer. I’m going to make it a point to work on this this week.
Thanks for the invaluable information!
And I agree with Janelle…you have to come back some time and talk about plotting!
Comment by Julie Leto — October 20, 2007 @ 12:26 pm
Cindi I took your advice and used the Alphasmart today while my daughter had an appt!
Comment by Carly — October 20, 2007 @ 2:23 pm
Way to go, Carly. I really don’t know that I’m an expert on plotting. I do have a process I’m happy to share some time, though.
I spent all day making a My Space page — too many choices for me. I spent literally hours changing the background over and over. If anyone is interested, they can see the results at myspace.com/CindiMyers
Comment by Cindi Myers — October 20, 2007 @ 2:52 pm
Hey, Cindi — I just friended you over at MySpace
Comment by Janelle — October 20, 2007 @ 3:11 pm
Thanks, Janelle! (And Carly and anyone else)
Comment by Cindi Myers — October 20, 2007 @ 4:13 pm
Thanks for the great advice Cindi! I’ve often thought if I don’t have a good chunk of time to write, then I may as well wait until I do, so that I don’t get started and then have to stop. But every little bit adds up, and from your success, pretty quickly, so thank you for sharing your strategies.
And I would love to hear your plotting workshop too!
Thanks again!
Comment by Robin — October 20, 2007 @ 6:13 pm
I learned these things the hard way this past summer and it worked for my first draft. What I haven’t figured out is how to do revisions in the same kind of short spurts. It’s a different type of thought process, I believe. I’m working on it.
Comment by PatriciaW — October 20, 2007 @ 10:58 pm
Patricia, after 25+ books, I can tell you that to me, revisions CAN’T be done this way. At least, I can’t do them this way. I need to be totally uninterrupted so I can get into the groove. That’s why revisions are so hard…I rarely get that much uninterrupted time!
Comment by Julie Leto — October 20, 2007 @ 11:04 pm
I agree you need more uninterrupted time for revisions. Once the draft is finished, I put it aside for a little bit, and I can usually see my way to scheduling time for the revisions.
Comment by Cindi Myers — October 21, 2007 @ 12:56 am
love your blazes cindi. Hi cindi. good to see u here. How are u
Comment by kim h — October 22, 2007 @ 2:16 pm