Lecture LESSON FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 23RD, 2016

[Sunny Irene Roth]

Hi Ladies,

Here is your lesson for this week!

Enjoy it and post your answers by next Sunday!

Take care and have a productive week!
Irene

 

[miesje1984]

1) I do learn from my mistakes. Half the time I am aware of them as I am doing them! I can correct some, but some I can't - FI my dog walking biz must be a priority as it pays the bills, that means I need to roll with how requests come in. CUstomers are always changing times and dates and do expect immediate service, which obviously means if I had writing or something else important scheduled then it gets dropped. Sometimes the rest of the day is so busy it can't be rescheduled.

2)I do make action plans -- in terms of a list. I should do more actually as they seem to work. I use Wunderlist app and Evernote. Sometimes I even set alarms on my phones!

3)No!

4)No! I learned long ago in my professional career not to be married to my writing. Criticism doesn't always feel good, but good things usually come from it. ANd of course you need to be determined and persistent!

5)I love solitude! I don't get nearly enough lol

6)I am always multi-tasking. No idea how to stop without sacrificing sleep or adding 12 more hours to the day!

7)No, it took time to build up my dog walking business and to be writing outside of PR and newspapers that takes time to build too. Consistency is important.

8)No.

 

[AnneP]

1. I can learn from my mistakes and those are the times I break the cycle. However, I sometimes take a lazy approach. When I do this, I let things overwhelm me and I fall into the same bad habits.
2. Setting goals and keeping track of things to do in my planner on a daily basis is the only way I can stay focused. If I let a day go by, I fall into a slump.
3. I have resented other writers' successes and I got so discouraged with my own writing. However, recently I've had a dear friend who has worked so hard and she's on a roll. I know she deserves all the accolades she's getting. I even started a category in my blogs and posted about the successes of two of my friends, both of which deserve to be recognized. Check it out at www.anneparent.com. On the other hand, I know another writer who I cannot celebrate her success. I'm still working on trying to let this one go.
4. I've never really thought about myself as giving up, but I think I did when I was rejected. The rejection letter was encouraging and not a form letter, but all I saw was this agent wasn't interested. So, I didn't follow through with other agents. I'm working on the edits in this book now because I don't think it was where I wanted it to be. I've set a hard deadline of the end of July when I am attending a writers' retreat; agents and editors will be in attendance for me to pitch to, and I'm going to force myself to put it out there.
5. I once feared solitude, but I've come to embrace it since we've moved to Tennessee. I'm finding touching base with myself on a regular basis in quiet is so helpful. I'm even getting back into meditation.
6. I've stopped multi-tasking because I realized I wasn't doing anything well.
7. I believe I still expect immediate results, but I'm trying to leave that thinking behind.
8. This is such an interesting question. I was trained in process writing in college, and I truly enjoyed writing then. I think I got away from that thinking and it threw me off track. I could no longer set reasonable expectations of myself. Now, I'm embracing the process once again, and I'm actually falling in love with writing all over. I have to remind myself it's about baby steps and enjoying the journey.

This has been a wonderful reflective exercise and I'm realizing I'm in a very good place now. I've been stumbling in the dark for quite awhile, but after answering these questions, I feel more upbeat and stronger.

Have a great day and happy writing!