Keep it Clean Kids!

I think this post has the potential to not only help authors, but anyone who wants to do other activities in addition to keeping a pretty clean house. Keeping my house clean and working takes a ton of time, so anything to help make the process more efficient is fantastic. The faster the house is clean, the more time I have to write. I'm learning that maintenance is key!

My two kiddos are old enough now, that they can help. Yep, they actually help. A month or so ago, I created, and taped on a wall, a routine they can follow every day. They get to put a sticker on for each completed task. I'm a gold star kind of person, I think most people especially kids love a sticker reward! I posted my routine chart on Facebook today, and a couple friends wanted a copy. I figured if there are two people it could help, there are probably more people who need something like it!

Many parts of my routine come from the website flylady.net. You can check out swish and swipe there (bathroom maintenance, quick wipe of the counters and a swish in the toilet with a toilet brush.) She's got lots of great ideas, I do some of them. The form I use is in Excel on my Mac. Make it personal for you, or for your kids. I'll share what I have for myself another time. It started as a paper, now it's in my phone calendar. Anyway, here's my kiddos chart. I write their name on the top of their chart:

Daily Routine and Chores for Kids

Now, don't expect perfection from yourself or your kids! Keep a good attitude and make a game of it. "Let's see how many stickers we can get today!" After a month, my kids took action today to see how many they could get. They even worked ahead to the afternoon piano practice. Be patient and know that a little at a time creates good habits, which in the end produce a clean, or at least more clean home, and more time to write.

Personalized NaNoWriMo

Today is the first day of NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. All over the world, prospective novelists are beginning their writing goal for the month of November, of 50,000 words. The gargantuan goal of writing a first draft of a novel in one month is motivating and exciting!! In the past weeks, I asked myself if I should join in the fun. I do want to write a YA novel, after all.

 

I discovered by questioning myself about my writing goals is that NaNoWriMo is not for me this time around in it’s true form. As much as I want to write a novel, I will not be conquering a novel 2,000 words a day (25 days, 30 minus Sundays and Thanksgiving Day). There are other stories in my head that need to come to life first!

 

I will be adjusting NaNoWriMo to fit the goals I have! I want to write more children’s stories! I want to submit my completed Toilet Monster story! I want to update my blog on a regular basis with helpful, hopefully inspiring, and enjoyable information! I decided my “NaNoWriMo” time should help get me to where I want to be. Also, my very first responsibility is to my family. Some may insist that it’s only one month, but I’ve had enough pull me away in the last six months or so. More about that later.

 

After all the considerations of time and goals, I have decided on my personalized NaNoWriMo. It will still motivate and stretch me. My overall goal is to create my regular working routine. It will require dedication and sacrifice. I am a busy woman with many responsibilities! Early mornings will by my ally. Here’s what’s going to happen. There are 30 days in November. I don’t work on Sundays, so we’ll subtract those 4 out, 26. I’ll also let myself enjoy Thanksgiving Day, so I’ve got 25 days. I will write 500 words every working day. 500 x 25 = 12,500 words! My stories, submissions and blog articles are included in the word count. I will update my blog at least twice a week. I will write at least 4 new children’s picture books. I would love to make my goal higher, but I don’t want it out of reach. If I’m plodding along on 500 words and I can increase it, I will! Mark my words, this is the beginning of something beautiful.

 

Is NaNoWriMo for you this month? Is it what you need to stay motivated to get that fantastic novel idea out to the world?? Or do you need to adjust it? Don’t let this be an excuse not to accomplish 50,000 words! That is not the point. If you’re going for those 50,000, stick to it! It’s a fantastic goal and many great novels have been printed from this awesome NaNoWriMo month! If it’s not for you, find what goals will stretch you this month, and get to it!! Make sure your ladder is against the right wall!

And the Winner is?!

My last post was about the greeting card ideas I sent out to a publisher. I was told a final decision would be made by mid-June. Maybe their running late? Maybe my ideas were so hot that they called in their international greeting card gurus to clammer over them. Unlikely, but just maybe.

I e-mailed the editor today to find out the final decision. I have questions running in my mind like, have they not told me because my card ideas weren't accepted? Should I have e-mailed sooner? Would that have put me on their radar more? Maybe this whole thing is a scam and all greeting card companies take all the submissions and print them as their own idea. I mean, who would know? I'm not going to be scanning their shelves for my ideas just incase they stole them. Unlikely, but just maybe.

On another note, I've really got to start writing again. I've acheived much on the home front, and some things, like my piano playing has gotten so much better. The dedicated time for writing though is still a challenge. They say if  you want something enough, it's not so hard, you just get it done. I don't think that's quite true. There's some truth there, but not the whole truth, is it?