The last couple months have seen a lot of thinking and soul-searching.

And resulted in some new goals for my life.

I’ve long struggled with how to ensure that I’m working toward the things I really want in life.

In reading Far Beyond the Stars, Everett Bogue’s site on minimalism, I found the answer.

In his post, The Stunning Truth About Focusing on the Important, he says this:

1, Identify the four areas of your life that are most important to you.

Simply write them down. It can be powerful to know what is most important to you, because then you can begin to focus on only the essential.

My four priories are: Writing, Yoga, Cooking, and Reading.

Wow… what a wake-up call for me.

I could limit my priorities to just four things and maybe, actually get something done.

And what an easy system to use.

I sat down and wrote out my four priorities in life. Took a while to narrow it down.

Here they are:

Writing
Make money from writing
Eliminate credit card debt
Minimalism

Writing is a no brainer. This is what I do. I love to dream up stories and write them down.

Make money from writing – This is the marketing activities necessary to sell books. It’s on my list because while writing comes easy, marketing does not, so it needs to be a separate priority.

Eliminate credit card debt – I made an impulse decision a couple years ago and signed up for some online training that cost a LOT of money. I’m still paying it off. I want to wipe out that debt.

Minimalism - I’m getting rid of the excess in my life so that I can focus on the important things.

To make my four priorities work, I select one task in each area to work on each day.

That’s it.

I might do other stuff that’s not on the list, but not until the four daily tasks are done.

I might do more than one task in an area, but not until I’ve accomplished my daily task in each of the other three areas first.

Simple. Effective.

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To read more about Minimalism, check out Far Beyond the Stars. The original site is shut down, but the archives are still available. Start in October 2009 and just begin reading.

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After much planning (to avoid the need for five rewrites this time), I’ve started the first draft of Words of Stone, the second book in the Words of Power series. This book tells the story of Rayyan, a young woman of power, that catches Tesher’s eye, and the trouble that draws them together and threatens to separate them.

You can track my progress on it in the sidebar.

Off to write!

I’ll be presenting a chat at the Savvy Authors website on Nov. 30 at 9 p.m. Eastern with information from the case studies I’ve done over at Learn to Write Fiction.

When, Where and How – Stealing the Process and Habits of Other Writers for Yourself

A writer’s method of producing an entertaining story is unique to herself. Each writer has to figure out what works best for her to get words down on the page. Two writers might have similar habits or processes, but no two writers will write a book in exactly the same way. But just as athletes and artists copy the moves, techniques and habits of the masters in their field, writers can do the same with bestselling authors to speed up figuring out their own process.

In this workshop, Cheryl Corbin will share some of the habits and processes of well-known writers from her case studies on over 100 bestselling authors. Learn the tricks that these authors use and put them to work for you.

The chat is free to attend, so stop by for some fun discussion on how you write.

I’ll be at the Great Iowa Book Event signing copies of Words of Spirit. I’ll have print copies for sale, as well.

Place: Southridge Mall near Pritchard’s Books, Des Moines
Time: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Date: November 12, 2011

There will be over 40 Iowa authors there, representing many genres (non-fiction, children’s, inspirational, mystery, sci-fi, paranormal, fantasy, romance, YA).

Stop by and say hello!

Writers need to work out the goals, motivations, and conflict that their main characters will face, so that they build interesting, intriguing story people to read about.

In working these up for my second book in the Words of Power series, I came across a shorthand technique for writing down these character components that is working well for me

I substitue these words for Goal, Motivation and Conflict:

Goal – Wants
Motivation – Because
Conflict – But

Here’s how it plays out:

My main character, Jane Doe WANTS to get a new job BECAUSE she feels like her current work is meaningless BUT her current job pays really well, her dad is sick and needs her financial support, and meaningful jobs are scarce.

This gives me her goal – a new job, her motivation – her work feels meaningless, and the conflicts standing in the way of her goal – sick dad, lots of bills.

I then take it a step further and add in the character’s first steps in achieving her goal by adding a SO into the middle of my sentence.

My main character, Jane Doe WANTS to get a new job BECAUSE she feels like her current work is meaningless SO she starts begins to search job listings BUT her current job pays really well, her dad is sick and needs her financial support, and meaningful jobs are scarce.

By adding the SO in there, I’ve ensured that I don’t have a passive character at the start of the story. She is taking some kind of action to meet her goal, even if it doesn’t work out for her.

This method gives me an easy way to figure out what each character wants, why they want it, what their first step is in achieving the goal and how many obstacles are standing in their way that goal.

What methods do you use for developing your characters?

It’s official! Words of Spirit is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

For centuries the Magisters have ruled the land, but their control is slipping as they squander their magic with reckless abandon. They need new Adepts to bolster their ranks and Magister Yamantheru reluctantly sets out to find some.

Evicted from her home, Amaya just wants to get back what she’s lost, but when she accidentally angers a Magister, her life changes forever.

A shortcut through the Tanglewyld becomes a rescue mission when Cabren stumbles across a frightened blind woman being chased by unknown men.

Attraction grows between them as they hide from the Magister searching for her, but when Amaya discovers she has the potential to be a Magister herself, she must choose between a life of love or one of power.

It has a 4-star review on Amazon and has been deemed fast-moving and interesting by a YA reader. Woot!

My fantasy novel is finished! Yippy Skippy!! Happy Dance!

After months of work, it is finally finished, except for the minor tweaking I expect I’ll do on it. I was actually feeling kind of giddy and nervous as I neared the end of the edits.

Now I move on to the release activities:

1. Finalizing the cover art.
2. Formatting the electronic version.
3. Formatting the print version.
4. Announcing to the world that I’ve released a book!

5. Starting the next one in the series.

I have two more planned in the Words series with the possibility of expanding to more. Blame my friend Amy for giving me ideas for making this a longer series.

After that I’d like to get back to my scifi series and I have an idea for a young adult fantasy series. LOTS of work on the horizon.

I’ve been working hard on my novel – book one of my fantasy series. I’m on the fifth draft and in the final revisions. FIFTH DRAFT! I’m definitely not a pantser. I anticipate the next book in the series will go a lot smoother because I’ll be planning it out completely, rather than just winging it.

It has an official name – Words of Spirit. I have the cover art (I type that as “covert” art every time) done by Claudia of PhatPuppyArt. She is fabulous! Highly recommended to every writer out there. Such gorgeous work. I’m not revealing the cover until I have it completely finished, but trust me, the artwork is incredible.

I’m on track to have the novel released by the end of the month. Then I’ll be working on a short collection of fairy tales with a twist. Following that are the next two books in the novel series. Plenty of work ahead!

I love my Kindle. I use it all the time. I’m particularly fond of downloading free stories, novellas and books to try out new authors. Found some great ones that way and I’m buying up everything else they write.

But here’s the downside of the Kindle.

When I’m browsing the list of books I have to read on my Kindle, I can see the title and the author name.

That’s it.

No cover art. No book description. Nothing but the title to remind me what the book is about or even what genre it’s in.

Think that doesn’t sound so bad? Try out these examples and tell me what genre they’re in:

Making Waves – would you guess that this is a turn-of-the-century light-hearted romance? Yeah, me neither.

Marry Me – definitely a romance, but historical? regency? contemporary? futuristic?

Paid in Blood – fantasy? paranormal romance? thriller? murder mystery?

A Chance in Time – probably a time-travel story, but straight scifi or romance?

I never realized how much I rely on the cover art for clues as to the story until I got my Kindle. Without that visual clue from the cover art, I have to rely on just the title to help me pick something to read.

When I guess wrong – selecting a historical romance when I was wanting to read a contemporary, it’s jarring. It makes me not want to read the historical, even if it is a great story.

How descriptive is your title?

Does it tell me the genre?

Does it give me a hint of the conflict in the story?

Is it memorable enough that I’ll remember it when I’m scanning a list of 100 books?

If not, pick a different title. Don’t settle for the generic or boring title that could apply to a story in numerous genres. Make sure I’ll remember it when I’m looking for something to read.

I’ve been slacking some the last month. I finished the first draft of my story, but something wasn’t right about it. Finally figured out what.

I’m not a pantser.

I started this story with an idea for a scene between a man and a woman. I quickly created some backstory to get them to this scene and then started writing with no plan or worldbuilding.

Turns out, that doesn’t work for me.

Sure, I finished the story, but I didn’t like my female main character’s personality or motivations. And I was unclear on my male MC’s motivations. And the world/culture were too vague and similar to other generic fantasy stories.

So I started over and reframed it.

It then changed from a fantasy romance (emphasis on the relationships) to a romantic fantasy (emphasis on the magic and world).

I realized I had strayed very far from my original idea of this man and woman and I didn’t like that. I wanted to write about the relationship between these two people and how they come together.

So I’m back to a fantasy romance story. I’ve done a lot of character and conflict planning along with worldbuilding. Next up, planning new scenes to fit the modified characters and conflicts.

Lessons Learned:

1. Pantsing is great for exploring a bit of a story idea or a character voice. FOR ME. (your mileage may vary)

2. For actually writing the story, I must do the planning work first or I end up with a chaotic mess that needs far more work to get it into readable shape.

3. Lord of the Rings soundtrack station on Pandora.com is excellent music to write and plan with.

4. All writing activities go better with Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs.

Have you ever started over completely on a story because your chosen method (pantsing or outlining) wasn’t working for you?