by Angela Ruth Strong, @AngelaRStrong
It’s a widespread joke that writers procrastinate until the final moment, then we do all the work while crying. That was my June. Funny, not funny. Here’s how to avoid letting your career become a punchline:
Do the math. Divide up how many words/chapters you must write with how long you have to write them.
Do stay on track. It’s okay to take a day off when needed, but be sure to make up that day before multiple days off add up.
Do take care of you. If your mind is mush at midnight, go to bed! If your body aches from twelve hours of sitting at your desk, stand and stretch! And remember, man does not live on coffee alone.
Do set expectations with your loved ones. Erica Vetsch lets her husband know he’ll have to make “Pretend I’m Dead” casserole, which means his dinners are whatever he would make for himself if she were dead and couldn’t cook. I personally struggle to communicate when in my story world, so I give my family a heads up. True story: While parking at Walmart, I warned my daughter that I wouldn’t be making sense when I talked. Then on our way into the store, I said, “I was adopted.” I didn’t even realize what I’d said until she asked, “Do your parents know?” We laughed until we cried.
Don’t wait for inspiration. Yes, inspiration makes writing easier, but when you push through a block, both you and your story will grow.
Don’t waste opportunities to write. My friend Katy Lee uses voice to text software. She almost didn’t come to my movie premiere because she was on a deadline, but she decided to come support me anyway. While I set things up in the theater, she dictated to her phone.
Don’t start reading other people’s stories if you know they’ll suck you in. I learned this the hard way when picking up Becca Kinzer’s next romcom for endorsement. She said the fact I was reading instead of writing was the highest praise, though next time I’ll be wiser and use her book as the reward for finishing my job first.
Don’t wait until the last day to ask for an extension. My friend Betsy St. Amant did this, and when her editor denied the extension, she wrote 30,000 words in fifteen hours. That’s a miracle on par with Moses parting the Red Sea. Only God can save you then.
Now that I’ve met my deadline, I can laugh at myself. I hope you’ve found these tips both entertaining and encouraging, as well. Now go meet your deadline!
In a world full of happily-ever-after love, Meri Newberg feels like the last young woman on the planet to be single, at least in her Christian friend group. So when she’s handed a strange present at the latest wedding–a 1950s magazine article of “ways to get a husband”–she decides there’s nothing to lose by trying out its advice. After all, she can’t get any more single, can she?
Her brother’s roommate sees the whole thing as a great opportunity. Not to fall in love–Kai Kamaka has no interest in the effort a serious relationship takes. No, this is a career jump start. He talks Meri into letting him film every silly husband-catching attempt for a new online show. If it goes viral, his career as a cameraman will be made.
When Meri Me debuts, it’s an instant hit. People love watching her lasso men on street corners, drop handkerchiefs for unsuspecting potential beaus, and otherwise embarrass herself in pursuit of true love. But the longer this game goes on, the less sure Kai is that he wants Meri to snag anyone but him. The only problem is that he may not be the kind of husband material she’s looking for . . .
Angela Ruth Strong sold her first Christian romance novel in 2009 then quit writing romance when her husband left her. Ten years later, God has shown her the true meaning of love, and there’s nothing else she’d rather write about. Her books have since earned TOP PICK in Romantic Times, been optioned for film, won the Cascade Award, and been Amazon best-sellers. She also writes non-fiction for SpiritLed Woman. To help aspiring authors, she started IDAhope Writers where she lives in Idaho, and she teaches as an expert online at WRITE THAT BOOK.