Carie Juettner

10 Writing Tips in 5 Days: Day 3 – Get Yourselves Organized!

The title of today’s post comes from one of my favorite moments in…

[If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor and watch this two-minute clip on YouTube. If you like stop motion animation or motorcycle sidecar humor or sheep, you won’t be disappointed.]

To be writers, we must be creative, imaginative, artistic, and open to the clutter and chaos of our minds. However, to be successful writers, we must also be organized.

Fortunately, organization is one of my strong suits. Keeping things in order has served me well in my teaching life, my home life, and my writing life. So, if your creative process is starting to resemble a messy sock drawer (*shudder*) or a kitchen pantry with absolutely no thoughtful purposing of the shelf space (*double shudder*) or the master closet in my husband’s house before I moved in (*oh the horror!*) then I hope these tips can help you reign in the madness just a little bit.

Tip #5: Set Up a System

Some people simply want to write “when the mood strikes.” They think structuring their writing time into a schedule will take away the passion of their art and mess with their muse. That format works so long as things are going well and the words are flowing, but eventually your muse is going to call in sick or skip down to visit her mom in Florida or read a book about organic gardening and suddenly decide THAT’S what she wants to do with her life. (Muses are fickle little creatures.) If you want writing to be more than just a hobby, then you’re going to have to produce work even when your muse is babbling on about soil pH to the woman giving her a pedicure in Tampa.

On the flip side, a lot of authors say that you should have a regular routine where you write at the same time every day. (I can’t say those words without picturing a drill sergeant with a scowl.) It’s a great idea, and I’ve tried to make it work, but I just can’t. Too many other variables get in the way. Some mornings I have yoga. Some afternoons I attend Meet-Ups. Some weekends I have book club. Some nights my husband and I eat popcorn with the dog and watch Game of Thrones. There are not four consecutive hours in every day of the week that are free to write, and none of those other activities are negotiable. Each one (exercise, networking, talking about books, relaxing family time) are all integral to me being a happy, healthy writer.

So instead of a daily routine, I set up a weekly one. I keep my weekly schedule on a bulletin board by my desk. The items are made up of color-coded sticky tabs, which make it easy for me to switch things up. I redo my schedule about every two months because… A) Life obligations and class schedules change. (When the weather gets hot, I like to swim, so my routine is affected by pool hours.) And B) It’s just nice to mix things up. I’m great about following plans and schedules until they become old hat. Then I need something new to get me going again. Changing things up every few weeks gives me new energy and motivation.

Rather than show you my whole weekly schedule (I like you people, but I don’t exactly want you to know where I am every second of every day) I’ll just give you a couple of the writing-related highlights.

Sundays = Goal-setting. I come up with three or four specific, high-priority, achievable goals for the week. I post them in my office and email them to my critique group friends so they can help keep me on task.
Thursdays = Get out of the house. I meet a friend at a coffee shop to work. We generally stay from about 10:00 to 2:00. Since that’s a long time for me to focus on one task, I come prepared with more than one item on my to-do list. I might finish a chapter or draft a blog post, then move on to critiquing a colleague’s work or reading a Writer’s Digest article.
Fridays = Save & Assess. Every Friday, I back up all of my files. (I use Dropbox to do this, but there are other options too.) I used to be really bad about remembering to back up my work, but now that it’s “on the schedule” it gets done. Then I look back at my weekly goals and assess my progress. If I’m almost done, I get to finish up and spend the afternoon doing something fun. If not, it’s back to work. (Note: It’s usually back to work.)

This schedule is not set in stone. (As I mentioned before, it’s in sticky tab form.) While it gives me a solid framework for my week, it still leaves plenty of wiggle room for when my muse waltzes back in the door like nothing’s happened and plops herself down in my desk chair with a smile.

Every writer’s system is going to look different. Your schedule may be limited by a full time job or kids or both, but you should try to get the most out of however much (or however little) time you have to write.

If nothing else, set aside a time each week to ask yourself the following questions:

What are my goals?
Which goal is my top priority?
What’s my deadline for accomplishing this goal?
What’s the first step to meeting that deadline?
How long has it been since I backed up my work?

The time it takes to answer these five questions will be time well spent. Then you can build the rest of your writing week from there.

Tip #6: Document Thyself

Setting up a daily or weekly schedule is about the BIG picture: setting goals, making time to write, getting things done. If you do it right, you’ll soon be doing just that—producing. And once you start producing, you’ll start submitting your work to the world.

FlyingMonkeys — “Fly, my pretties, fly!” (Okay, I totally just creeped myself out with this image, which I borrowed from http://english421atlouisville.wordpress.com/2011/10/31/8-myths-about-the-wizard-of-oz-some-of-which-are-true/.)

Next comes the nitty-gritty side of staying organized. You have to keep track of what you submit and where and to whom. How will you know if it’s time to start biting your fingernails over those contest results if you don’t know when the contest ends? How embarrassing would it be to accidentally send the same poem to a journal twice because you forgot they already read it (and rejected it) before? Keeping a log of all your submissions will help avoid these blunders.

I use Excel files. I create one for each year of submissions, then I have a separate file for all of my published work and awards.

Here’s a sample of what my submission tracker looks like. All of the information on this one is fake, but you probably figured that out already.

Note: SS stands for simultaneous submission. Some publishers don’t mind, but most of them want an exclusive look at your stories and poems.

Here’s a downloadable copy. Feel free to use this format to make your own.

Carie_Juettner_Sample_Submission_Tracker

Here’s how I format my publications and awards file. This information is real, but not complete. To see more of my published work, click here.

Note: It’s nice to have all of this information in one place when I am writing a bio or acknowledging the original publication of a piece I’m submitting to an anthology.

The first time I went to Annie Neugebauer’s website and clicked on The Organized Writer, I knew I’d found an organizational soul mate. She has a nifty little document for everything. No way are there any messy sock drawers or embarrassing junk closets in this woman’s home. No. Way. I suggest you spend some time perusing her offerings. She’s done all the hard parts for you!

Recently I decided it was time to seek an agent for my picture books. (You didn’t know I also write picture books? I do! I’m currently seeking representation for The Evolution of a Bark, where a simple dog bark evolves into a hilarious scene that’s entertaining for young readers and educational for middle grade students.) This being a new endeavor for me, I needed some guidance, so I modified Annie’s Agent Query Prep-work Chart into my own tool. Here’s a sample of mine (with some creative editing to protect identities).

Note: MSS stands for manuscript. You may notice that most agents requested the full manuscript of my book. That is only because it’s a picture book. When it comes to novels, most agents want either a query only or a query and the first ten pages. Then again, some ask for three chapters and others only want a synopsis. That’s why these files are so important. It’s a lot of information to keep up with.

Staying organized is a job in itself, and it can be a difficult one at first, but once you get your system up and running and your files in order, the benefits are apparent and the maintenance doesn’t take up much time. And it’s not like you have to always be tidy. Anne Lamott says, “Clutter is wonderfully fertile ground.” Once in a while, it’s okay to lose yourself in a glorious mess.

[Did you miss Tips #1-4? Click here to start from the beginning!]

10 Writing Tips in 5 Days: Day 2 – Join the Club

Tip #3: Build Your Own Support Group

Historically, writing is said to be a lonely business. We’re all supposed to be depressed, nocturnal addicts angrily slaving away at our typewriters and dying early deaths. Or something like that. Except for the nocturnal part, it all sounds like a giant drag to me.

In my opinion, these days if you’re a lonely writer it’s because you’re choosing to be lonely, because the thing is, you’re not alone. At all. The reason why it’s so hard to get published is because there are SO MANY OF US out there trying to get published! Writers are not scarce. They’re not rare. They’re not exclusive. They’re not unique. Recently on a train, I asked a stranger what he did for a living. He told me he was a patent lawyer. I nodded and smiled, thinking, That sounds boring. Then he asked what I do, and I smiled even bigger and told him I was a writer. He said, “Oh yeah? I wrote a novel a few years ago. It never got published.”

WE. ARE. EVERYWHERE.

Wait! Wait. Don’t go jump off a bridge. Instead, embrace it! We are living in the age of connectivity, so connect! Find other writers and talk to them! Hang out with them! Write with them! Yes, building your own little writing community will destroy that image of yourself as a unique little writer snowflake, BUT it also makes the writing life less lonely and opens the door to all sorts of new opportunities for learning and growing in your craft.

Where to start? Well, there’s… social media, critique groups, blogs, organizations, discussion boards, meet-ups, hang-outs, play-dates, and stalking industry professionals in coffee shops. Wait, don’t do that last one.

There are so many opportunities to connect with other writers that it’s kind of overwhelming. Instead of trying to give you an overview of all the options, I’ll just tell you what my personal writing community looks like. My support groups include: two meet-ups that I attend regularly, membership in three writing organizations, participation in social media, and writer friends who I communicate with either in person or via email on a regular basis.

MyWritingCommunity — (For some reason, I thought a colorful web would be the best way to display my writing community. Now that I’m finished I’m not so sure anymore.)

Know that this web didn’t happen overnight. It’s the result of two years of venturing out of my writing cave and sending threads out into the world. Just like in Tip #1, I suggest you start small and find the appropriate groups and level of participation for your current situation.

Tip #4: Go to a Festival or Conference… TWICE

I remember the first time I rode the Texas Giant roller coaster (back when it was still wooden) at Arlington’s Six Flags Over Texas when I was in middle school. The wait must have been at least forty-five minutes long, plenty of time to chew off all ten of my fingernails, consider chickening out a half a dozen times, and ask my friends just exactly how scary it was about, oh, every fifteen seconds. I remember how terrified I felt on that slow click, click, click ascent to the top of the first enormous drop. I remember worrying I might cry or pee myself or fall out and die (the last of which actually happened to a woman last July—I encourage you NOT to read the horrific details if you want to continue riding roller coasters). I remember my terror quickly transforming into terror-ific thrill as I made it down that first hill and experienced the rest of the fast falls, stomach-lurching turns, and bone-rattling excitement that the Giant had to offer. I remember exiting the car—legs shaking, stupid grin plastered to my face, friends bouncing circles around me—and doing what every middle schooler does after their first big roller coaster ride. Get back in line. The next forty-five minute wait was completely different. As my stomach both settled down and churned with anticipation, I stood proudly, knowingly, and when the youngsters behind me bit their fingernails down to nubs and asked their dad, “Does it go really fast?” I chuckled and rolled my eyes and thought, Amateurs.

Who doesn't love PhotoBooth? — Who doesn’t love PhotoBooth?

Joining the writing clubs and organizations available to you is only the first step. Next you actually have to participate. Read the newsletters, go to the meetings, attend the workshops and conferences. You’re not in high school anymore. (Unless you are, in which case, go do your homework.) This isn’t like joining the Honor Society just so it will look good on your college applications. If you’re going to be a part of something, then be a part of it. Get involved. (Wow, I’m suddenly sounding a lot like the mom in my middle grade novel.)

The first time you attend a conference or festival, you get to know interesting people, learn more about the topics presented, and come home with journals full of notes, new friends, ideas, and to do lists, all of which you can’t wait to start reading, contacting, drafting, and implementing.

But, as inspiring as conferences and festivals can be, they can also be confusing, humbling experiences. You don’t know where to park. You go to the wrong room. You realize you were supposed to bring a draft to work on (which you didn’t) or you notice that yours is the only laptop in a room full of moleskin notebooks and fountain pens. You nod and smile and ask “Who?” a lot. People around you hug and inquire about each other’s lives, calling children and novels drafts by first name. They say things like, “This is a nice space,” and, “Well it couldn’t really get worse than last year!” Everyone laughs and you nod and smile.

More than once during my first festival appearance, I thought to myself, Why don’t they make this easier on new attendees? And, Yes, yes, you’re best friends, I get that, but could someone just tell me where the closest coffee pot is? And, I am NEVER going to act so cliquish at a conference, EVER!

Still, the benefits far outweighed the annoyances, so the next year, I went back.

I parked my car in the free garage, knowing that they never check stickers on Saturdays. I interrupted my advice to a newbie about how to sign up for poetry readings to squeal and hug a friend I hadn’t seen in a while. And, when someone commented that the sound system made it a little difficult to hear, I caught the eye of a festival veteran like myself and burst into laughter, thinking of the rattling air conditioner that drowned out half the speakers in the venue the previous year. Then I noticed the blank look on the newbie’s face, stopped myself, and blushed.

I didn’t mean to make anyone feel left out. My actions weren’t malicious at all. I was just comfortable, confident in my surroundings and at ease about how the event would progress. I had a good time the first year, but the next year, I was in my element. That’s how it feels when you’re in the club.

So don’t be afraid to attend festivals and events. And if things don’t flow as smoothly as you’d hoped, don’t be afraid to go back. The second time you’ll be able to anticipate all the drops and turns and sharp corners, and it will be an even more enjoyable ride.

Advice for Event Attendees:

Get as much info as you can about the location and schedule beforehand. If possible, ask someone who has attended the event what to expect.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Start by saying, “This is my first festival” or “I’m new here” and people will be nice to you.
When in Rome… follow the social parameters of the event. If several other people are taking notes on laptops, go for it! If not, don’t be the only laptop geek. Come prepared with various materials so you can adapt to any environment, regardless of internet access, wall outlets, or available seats.
Find other newbies and band together. Safety in numbers!

Advice for Event Organizers:

Provide a detailed FAQ page on your website.
On maps and schedules, avoid phrases like “same place as last year” and “the usual parking area.”
Ask someone who has never attended the event to look over the website/information and provide feedback on omissions and areas of confusion.
At the end of the event, ask for feedback from attendees about improvements that could be made for the future.

[Note: This June, I’ll be attending the Writers’ League of Texas Agents and Editors Conference for the first time. If you have attended and have any advice for me, please leave a note in the comments or send me an email at cariejuettner@gmail.com!]

Bonus Links:

Writers’ League of Texas
Austin Poetry Society
Poetry Society of Texas
Austin International Poetry Festival
Link to many more organizations for writers: http://writersrelief.com/writers-associations-organizations/

[Did you miss Tips 1 & 2? Catch up here!]

10 Writing Tips in 5 Days: Day 1 – Start Small, But Dream Big

Tip #1: The Benefit of Baby Steps

There is a reason why most of us* crawl before we walk. It’s simply because we’re not ready yet, not strong enough to take our first steps. Crawling gives us a chance to try out our muscles, a safe way to make forward motion without risking too much.

The first prose piece I ever submitted was to The Sun. On January 1, 2012, I mailed a second-draft, Christmas-themed creative nonfiction piece about my family to a magazine with over fifty thousand readers. On February 14, I received their kind, poetic rejection letter . And rightly so. I had tried to shoot the moon (er… The Sun) with a crudely made sling shot. Or, to go back to my original metaphor, I’d leaped from my crib expecting to dance and instead landed smack on my bottom.

I wasn’t ready for The Sun. Even after I learned to take time with my work and get feedback from peers, even after I’d figured out how to craft a proper cover letter and research a journal before submitting to it, my writing still wasn’t ready for the level of The Sun. It probably still isn’t.

A lot of new writers start out thinking they’ll get published right away in Glimmer Train or Tin House or Narrative, and I’m sure a few of them do. But most of us aren’t ready for powerhouse journals like that when we’re first starting out. For me, it wasn’t overconfidence in my writing ability that made me submit to The Sun, it was complete and utter ignorance. In January of 2012, I didn’t even know who Glimmer Train, Tin House, and Narrative were, and I had no idea that so many publication opportunities existed. Every genre, every level, every niche, every region, everywhere. No clue. Someone gave me a few copies of The Sun, and I naively thought, Hey, I think I’ll send them a story.

By 2013, I had learned to slow down, to research my options, and to aim… (not lower, I wasn’t going to say lower) …more appropriately. I set my sights on some more achievable goals, and I saw some success. Last year, I found homes for five short stories (four of which are horror) and even won first place in Writers Weekly’s 24-Hour Short Story Contest.

Some people may look at my list of credentials and shrug. Some, when they learn that (except for the contest win) my publications didn’t earn me any money, may scoff. Some may say that, for them, it’s go big or go home. They’re going to keep trying for Glimmer Train until they get in, gosh darn it! That’s fine.

But here’s the thing. Those little baby steps felt really good. Each time I got that acceptance email, I jumped out of my chair and did a happy dance. My arms felt tingly for hours. My goofy smile didn’t fade for days. And success, even minor success, breeds creativity. As soon as you feel that thrill of excitement, you want to feel it again. So you keep writing. (Not to mention that it’s a lot more affordable to submit to the smaller publications. Those big journals have big payouts, but a lot of them have pretty big submission fees too.)

It’s not like I quit shooting for the stars altogether. I still submit to the big journals now and then, and (so far) I still get rejected. But I’m also still learning, still improving my craft, still researching, still writing.

I still believe that one day I’ll make it in. And I’ll be proud of the baby steps that got me there.

* I say “most of us” crawl before we walk because a couple of years ago I read Ray Bradbury’s short story, “The Small Assassin,” about an infant who is so bound and determined to do away with his parents that he learns to move about the house at just a few weeks old. It’s a great story, one that really stuck with me, but it’s not something new moms should read. (Trust me on this.) I couldn’t find an online version of the text, but you can watch the Ray Bradbury Theater version on YouTube.

Believe it or not, this is not really food. Click on the image to see what it actually is and to check out the cool Etsy site where it came from.

Tip #2: Pack Your Cart With Rainbows and Chocolate

I’m standing on the staircase that leads to the third floor at Book People. In front of me is a curtain, and on the other side of the curtain is the young bookseller talking to a crowd of people—teenagers and adults alike, most sitting, some forced to stand, many clutching a hardback book with my name on the spine. The bookseller finishes his enthusiastic introduction with, “So help me give a warm welcome to… Carie Juettner!” I step around the curtain to eager applause.

This is a scene that I visualize often. Me, at my favorite local bookstore, doing a reading and book signing for my popular new young adult novel. I can see it. I can feel it. I can taste it. Anytime I go hear an author read, I picture myself up there. I think about what I would say. I brainstorm various ice-breakers to help me interact with the crowd and (hopefully) calm my nerves because I know I’ll be a wreck. (A happy wreck, but a wreck nonetheless.) In one scenario, I bring my Magic 8 Ball and let audience members ask a few questions before we begin. Then, later, when the book-signing line stretches all the way down the staircase, people entertain themselves with the 8 Ball while they wait. (Authors—if you steal this idea from me, the least you can do is tape my blog link to the 8 Ball.)

I also picture myself doing panel discussions and interviews about where my ideas come from. (I don’t really know—they just appear—so that’s an answer I’ll need to work on.) Recently, I discovered a whole new joy—locating the spot on the library or book store shelves where my novel would be if it existed. (And let me tell you, it’s pretty exciting to imagine it there.)

You see, with each small success in my career, I envision larger, more grandiose rewards in the future. It’s like, One small step for the writer, one giant leap for the writer in my head.

If your hand is over your heart right now and if you’re thinking, Oh, poor thing, then STOP IT! I do not visualize these things in a woe-is-me-for-I-am-just-a-lowly-peasant sort of way. That stereotype of the lonely, depressed, self-loathing writer persona does not fit me. I’m one of the happiest people I know. I bounce around my house (yes, literally bounce, often bumping into things) chattering to my husband about my latest ideas and sharing status updates on all of my projects. When he won’t listen to me anymore, I talk to the dog. I am thrilled with every contest opportunity that comes my way, ecstatic about every new story I start, and annoyingly content with my life in general. And while I toil away at my drafts and revisions and query letters, I keep my eyes focused on those prizes at the end. They keep me headed in the right direction.

Some would say this is putting the cart before the horse, but I don’t care. Maybe I just haven’t hit the hard part yet. Maybe someday I’ll sink into the gloom that is supposed to envelope me. But right now, I’m enjoying the writing life, in all its elusive glory. If I’m putting the cart before the horse, then at least I’m stocking it full of rainbows and chocolate first. I suggest you do the same. Stand on your tiptoes and look down the road a bit. See what prizes await you at the end of your hard work. Even when things are difficult (especially when things are difficult) imagine the good stuff. The publishing contract. The first sale. The day you see somebody in a coffee shop reading your book and you sit near them and try to act nonchalant while waiting for them to realize that you look just like the person on the back cover. Toss these things in your cart and carry them around with you. Enjoy them. Then get back to work.

(Note: If I do ever hit depressed-writer-rock-bottom, I’ll try my best to blog while I’m down there and, if I remember, I’ll link to my tormented ramblings here. <– Until a hyperlink appears, you can assume I’m still doing all right.)