So often when we talk about writers, we talk about their physical spaces as being crucial to what and how they write. But it seems to me that “place” where writers write is more of an internal construct than an external construct. This idea was validated for me when I read psychologist and creativity coach Eric Maisel’s terrific book, A Writer’s Space, which I reviewed here.

In our space, he says, “Like a surgeon, your goal is to focus. You want to muster your resources and canalize your energy.”

Canalize. Is that the perfect word or what?

He also says, that we are not merely seeking “a quiet room” but also “mental health.” In other words, we are seeking that sane inner space as well as the calm external space before we even start to write. And in my experience these are both prerequisites for successful productivity.

I know that I write better without interruption (although ironically I am being interrupted as I type this sentence by my daughter who wants me to come and see her latest acrobatic trick). This is why I typically get up early to write when the house is as quiet and still as it gets (with the exception of the cats, who are typically pretty active at this time).

I also like to write when the house is empty. When Jason and Samantha are at school, for example. Or in the summer mornings, if they have gone over to the high school so Jason can work at his desk there.

I know that I am a morning person. I know that I do my best and most productive writing in the morning. When all else fails. When I have to write in the afternoon or evening, I try and remove myself to the most quiet spot in the house like the basement or out on the patio under the Redwood tree. Whatever it takes.

A lot of the movies that depict mom writers portray them running away from their life circumstances. This was the case with the film “Motherhood” (2009) with Uma Thurman.

Chaotic as home life can sometimes be when you have a family, I don’t relate to this depiction of the frustrated would-be mom writer fleeing her life because my most productive years as a writer have come since motherhood, not before.

I think the premise that makes writing and life all work together under one roof for us is that everyone in the family has creative work that is important to him or her and it is the job of each person in the family, which operates as a team ideally, to support the goals and dreams of each of the other members of the family.

I suppose this requires a lot of understanding and flexibility on all of our parts, but it has also become so habitual that it feels completely natural at this point.

So if Samantha needs help mastering her bridge back-bend, we support her in that.

If Jason needs help working on his play prep for “Les Mis,” we support him in that.

And if mommy (that’s me) needs time and space to write her book, they support me, too.

There is no room for keeping up with the Jones(es) around here. We could care less what the Jones family is doing. We are not in competition with them. Nor do we wish to be like any other family other than our own.

Though, naturally, we wish them the best of luck with all of their creative projects.

How do you balance writing time and the needs of your family?

Does everyone under your roof get to have and pursue their dreams?

How does this uphold their desire for self-expression?

And is your family happier as a result of family members supporting family members?

I look forward to your insights.

Photo by afterthetone

Every three months, my blog is badly in need of an update. It’s been six months since the last update and so much has happened that many things that were posted were embarrassingly out of date. I could have let that throw me but I just used it as motivation to really dig in and get everything ship-shape.

Does this happen to you? I imagine it does. Part of the reality of the platforming writer/author is that we are building, building, building our business and networks all the time. So if we don’t stay on top of what we are communicating, it’s going to become stale quickly.

Here’s a list of the kinds of things that I fixed, maybe they will inspire you to check your blog too:

1. Blog title/subtitle: I tweaked these to a variation of what they used to be. I never wanted my blog and my e-zine to have the same name but I let that slide for a while. It feels good to finally have a separate identity for each of them. Basically my blog now says what I do. And my e-zine says who I serve. That works.
2. Consolidate Info: The information about my books was on two separate pages. In retrospect, that made no sense, so I consolidated all the relevant into onto one page.
3. Remove Out-of-date Info: Some of the information on my classes page was no longer relevant since I am not offering those classes at this time. Down the copy came.
4. Clarify Any Fuzzy Ideas: My page headers were too esoteric. Now they pretty much say what they are. I had gone with an idea that seemed clever to me at the time. But in retrospect, the vagueness of the page headers might have been impeding navigation of the site. And that’s always a bad thing. I think they are more clear now.
5. Proof All Copy Carefully: Even though I had partially updated some pages, I spotted several examples of my old e-mail address where my new one should have been and other mentions of timing that needed corrections. Always check your fine print!
6. Change Your Mind: When Author Mama came out in the Alpha edition, I raised the price from $5.99 to $9.99. In retrospect this was a bad idea, even though I suppose it must have made sense to me at the time. So back down to $5.99 it went and that’s where it’s going to stay.
7. Say What You Are Going To Do: Not what you already did. Are your upcoming appearances posted? Or do you still have your past appearances up there? Guess which I had? All better now.
8. Amplify Your Credibility: I had not listed where I’ve spoken or listed my credits. It took a bit of time to gather all this info together. But it should be shared since it’s an important part of my credibility.
9. Don’t Just Do What Google Does: On my Creds page I made an effort to compile the works that Google would not necessarily list for a person searching for me by name or book. I have, in the past, linked to a lot more online sources, but those links go out of date and need such constant updating that I’m going to let Google take care of it.
10. Share What Others Say About You: It’s difficult to remember to request testimonials from folks unless you make it a regular part of what you do. I realized that I had been collecting feedback from students but not audience members or coaching clients. So I’ve started to make this part of my routine.
11. Don’t Forget Your Mission: My Trust page is a way to let folks see what I’m all about. I want them to see both that I have a mission and that I’m a real person. I have a family and pets and a life and other responsibilities I balance with my work. I’m a person, not a brand. I’m a real person who works with real people. I want my blog to express this.
12. Comply As Necessary: I also state in my Trust page that I run a blog as part of my business and list my affiliations to comply with Federal Law.
13. Tweak Your Bio: My bio didn’t change too much except to say that I am working on my third book for Writer’s Digest. I think I must have already updated it several times since the New Year because it was pretty good.
14. Remove the Non-sustainable: I took down what is no longer sustainable for me at this time. Be careful that you don’t over-promise. Better to under-promise and over-deliver. The unsustainable was posted on both my Contact Me page and my Free page. My schedule has changed to include the writing of a 100,000-word book, so what I can freely offer has been tweaked accordingly.
15. Offer Some Things for Free: I noticed that my Free page needed a new post to share. So I decided to include this one. Please feel free to re-post it in your blog.

Sure, there’s always more you can do. I will add a slideshow by the end of the summer. I’m creating podcasts of my books for fall. I’ll have more e-products by then, as well. But for now, all we are talking about is getting everything up to speed. I hope this tour of my blog tidying helps you tidy your blog/site up, too. Give yourself some time and just go for it!

~ Photo by Pewari Naan

In my first book, Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids (Writer’s Digest Books 2007) I said, “Writing is a rhythm, not a formula.”

What I meant is: Writing success comes from finding your rhythm, not following someone else’s formula.

In a recent interview over at Key Business Partners, LLC, I said: “Writing career success is all about finding your rhythm and then repeat, repeat, repeat.”

In 2010, I wrote a column for “The Writer Mama” e-zine on the topic of mom writers finding their success rhythms across all the kinds of tasks that mom writers must focus on, which include Craft, Pitching, Platform-building, and Professional Development.

So do you think I think that every writer needs to find his or her own rhythm in order to be successful?

Yes. I think that’s pretty obvious.

I have my own rhythm, you have your own rhythm, and I really don’t believe that any two rhythms are alike. I just know that a writer has got to find her rhythm and then groove in it.

But never has it been as clear to me how true this is than when I watch the participants in my Dream Teams, writing for publication and platform practice groups that began in January.

As soon as someone checks in with the group, I can tell if this person has found her rhythm and if she is groovin’ it or if she’s still struggling to find her rhythm.

You want to know why?

Because a person who has found her rhythm has momentum and a person who hasn’t found their rhythm is always trying to get some momentum going.

Now, don’t think I can’t relate to needing/wanting/trying to get momentum going. We just moved and I have been missing my momentum for a couple of weeks now.

But here’s the thing about momentum, once you’ve had it, and experienced your own groove for any length of time, it’s easier to get it back when and if you lose it.

Let me rephrase that: if you are a writer mama, you will lose your rhythm at some point. This is practically a given. You might lose your writing rhythm, your pitching rhythm, your platform-building rhythm, or your professional development rhythm–you might even lose them all at the same time, as I have recently.

But the good news is, once you’ve had any of those, you can quickly pick them right back up and move forward again. Because you know what it feels like. You have the muscle memory to get yourself back into your groove.

The purpose of my Dream Teams is to help writers find, experience, and sustain their own momentum for a sustained period of time. And then they really don’t need me busting their chops any more. At least not for awhile, because once you’ve got rhythm, you’ve got it.

And I love that. Because I am not in the business of trying to get writers hooked on me or addicted to me or thinking that I am going to be their ticket to success.

No. I am very clear. And I have always been clear that you are the ticket to your own success. The only thing I can do for you, as a teacher, is help you find your groove. And then you are on your way…

How about you? Got rhythm? Share your thoughts.

P.S. This post undoubtedly contains typos. I just moved. Cut me some slack in this department, please.

Photo by Bess Grant

I let go of #platformchat on Twitter for good at the very end of 2009 after taking a couple of months hiatus. I’ve had some time to think about why I made that decision. Here’s the short version:

As a teacher, I’m really all about the doing, not the talking about doing. Therefore, #platformchat wasn’t accomplishing what I ‘d hoped it would accomplish as a teaching-learning context.

My focus in 2010 is all about creating more teaching-learning contexts that will move writers forward in grounded, fulfilling, prosperous ways.

While there was some teaching and learning going on in #platformchat, the context was not ideal for my intentions.

Additionally, Twitter as a context for a conversation about platform building was problematic and the process didn’t feel sustainable for me as a host. (I’ll spare you a detailed account of the many burps that happen on Twitter.)

Which is not to say that Meryl and I didn’t round up amazing guests who didn’t offer extremely insightful information. Because if you were there, you know we did round up great guests and they surely offered wonderful insights. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them all again for coming and sharing. You guys rocked!

The way I see it is that #platformchat on Twitter was an experiment—a fairly successful one—but one that ultimately failed to deliver the best of what I know I am capable of offering.

The way I see it. The “chat” about platform has only just begun…and it’s happening everywhere. If you participate in any chats about platform, and you think I should be there, feel free to give me a holler. I’ll do my best to show up or chime in.

~ Photo by nuanc

I’ve talked a lot about how I’ve streamlined my career for 2010. And even though, you’ve heard plenty about how I’ve cut, cut, cut back, I haven’t really offered a through-line of the constructive steps I took to relaunch my new identity as The Prosperous Writer. So let’s take a look at that.

Choose A Time When You Are Not Frantically Busy

I have learned the hard way, that it’s difficult to make solid decisions about my future when I’m moving too fast. In fact, I would go so far as to say, that if you can’t create a lull in your usual workload then maybe it’s not really a good time to change directions. Changing directions smoothly for me this New Year has had everything to do with the fact that I could create something of a trough where, free from the pressure of a lot of deadlines, I could hunker down and concentrate on the major shift at hand. The year before, I’d wanted to make changes at the New Year but I was so busy and had so much momentum going under my new book that, I can see in retrospect, it really wasn’t the best time for making changes. Waiting for a quiet time, like over the holidays, was a good plan.

Take Your Time, Do It Right

I didn’t make any impetuous decisions. I spent a good nine months just getting ready to make the change, studying what was going on in my niche, noticing the folks who were setting the most integrating examples, and being clear that I would not get mixed up in any way with those I either don’t trust or who I perceive as not acting with integrity. I’ve worked too hard and too long to follow the example of people who are making it up (sometimes questionably) as they go along.

Zoom In On The Essence of Who You Are & What You Offer

Of course, how to get to the crux of who you are and what you offer is outlined in detail in my book, Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths To Grow An Author Platform (Writer’s Digest 2008).  I sure did not expect to have to use my own tools to refocus my career so soon after the book coming out. But I did and fortunately they work just as well for refocusing as they do for focusing.

Take Advantage Of The New Technology, Because It’s All At Your Fingertips

Once you are committed to integrity and you know who you are and what you are all about, it’s a lot easier to appraise the vast array of technology at your fingertips and decide which tools will best serve you. For example, I am currently using blogging as a primary tool for creating a centralized online presence. Having studied the examples of other people for many months, Wordpress.org emerged as a highly recommended host. I also noticed that the people who are really informed about blogging, like Chris Brogan, use a template called Thesis which was touted as offering ease of use and great SEO. So far, so good.

Making Smart Choices Takes Patience

If you are in a hurry while you consolidate, you are going to get frustrated. One stumbling block I encountered was that all of my previous websites were hosted by a provider that was no longer working out. My old provider had been sold about a year and a half ago and I hadn’t had the time to decide what the next best move was with my many websites. After repeated technical problems with the new provider, I knew I was leaving. I did some polling on Twitter and Facebook, and narrowed the choice of my new provider down to two. Ultimately I chose the provider I felt would allow me the most ease of use because it is the most popular provider on the Web. Since I do everything web-related myself, I wanted the provider with the best DIY tools and customer support. That’s why I ultimately went with GoDaddy.com. (For the record, the other host I’ve heard lots of good things about but chose not to go with was Bluehost.com.)

To Be Continued…

Well, isn’t this interesting?

Here I am encouraging myself and others to make good things happen, and good things are happening…for me.

Huh. What do you know. Funny how that works.

I can’t say anything about what’s happening yet, and likely won’t be able to say anything for a while.

But I thought it was worth noting that something fairly amazing is happening in my life and it sure feels connected to all the streamlining and re-focusing I’ve been doing.

So, I just wanted to say, make good things happen, people!

P.S. I got that line—make good things happen—from Tim O’Reilly of O’Reilly Media at last year’s Tools of Change Conference in NYC. He was answering the often-asked question: how can publishers survive in the changing economy?

His answer was, “Make good things happen.”

I decided that making good things happen applies to writers like us just as much as it does to publishers. What do you think?

Perhaps a more interesting post could be titled, how did I get to be so prolific online and what made me think I could keep up with all of this stuff?

Answer: I did stuff because I could, not because it was a wise decision.

I’m laughing because I have a post thread going on this blog called: “How do you juggle so much done, Christina?”

These are the things I have eliminated from my online life, so I can continue to be productive.

I’m sure I’ll continue to need to do this on an annual basis. So perhaps this is the beginning of an annual tradition.

Here’s the online pages by me that I’ve killed, for the sheer frustration in dealing with them on an ongoing basis:

• My MySpace Page
• Two Squiddo Lens
• An old Wordpress.com blog I never used but once seemed like a good idea
• An old Typepad blog I never used but once seemed like a good idea
• Two websites that I couldn’t update due to an error with my Adobe Contribute software. I am transferring them to a new host and forwarding them to this blog instead.
• An extra Constant Contact account (I love Constant Contact but I had two accounts, feel free to use my affiliate link to get a discount if you decide to start using one—it’s in the sidebar).
• All of this cutting back was on top of the cutting back I already started at the end of 2009.

I may be forgetting some. If there are more, I’ll add them later.