Kitty at one month.

If you’ve been following Aliventures for a while, you’ll know that my husband and I have a baby daughter. She’s two months old now and, over the past weeks, I’ve come to realise that although parenting is an exciting new adventure, it’s not so very different from my life as a writer.

If you’re a novelist or a parent (or both!) then I suspect you’ll recognise a few of these. And if you’ve got novel-writing-and-parenting experiences to add, just pop a comment at the end of the post.

#1: It’s Harder Than You Imagine

Your novel might take years of work: researching, writing, rewriting, editing, searching for a publisher (or self-publishing). That initial moment of inspiration is easy; the rest isn’t. If you’ve never written a novel before, there’s no way to be fully prepared for what you’re letting yourself in for.

Becoming a parent is a massive commitment: pregnancy and preparation and birth, then a baby, toddler, child, teenager. The moment of conception is easy; the rest isn’t. If you’ve never had a kid before, there’s no way to be fully prepared for what you’re letting yourself for.

Tip: Take it one day at a time – and every so often, look back to celebrate how far you’ve already come.

#2: It Can Become a Massive Guilt Trip

If you’re not working on your novel, you feel guilty. If you are working on your novel, you feel guilty because you’re researching when you should be writing, or writing when you should be researching, or you’re writing fiction when you should be doing paid work, or you’re writing what you’re sure is derivative rubbish…

If you’re a parent … well, the guilt trip starts with that glass of wine you had before taking the pregnancy test, and I suspect it never really ends.

Tip: Try not to wallow in guilt. Your finished novel – or grown-up kid – is very unlikely to suffer from one or two mistakes along the way.

#3: Your House Will Never Be Tidy Again

Even if you write straight onto the computer, your novel will probably generate a fair bit of mess: books that you’re consulting, pages of manuscript that you’re editing, scribbled notes to yourself all around the house, mugs of cold, forgotten tea…

Babies come with a quite astonishing number of accessories: clothes, bibs, muslins, rattles, bathing stuff, nappies, cuddly toys, socks (that fall off), mittens (that fall off), plus larger things like travel systems and Moses baskets and cots…

Tip: You can never have too many bookshelves, or too many big plastic boxes.

#4: You Might Get a Tad Obsessed

Your Facebook page is a series of updates about your word count. Every conversation you have inevitably ends up being about your novel. You constantly spot interesting people in the street, and wonder whether they’d make great cameo characters.

Your Facebook page is a series of photos of your cuter-than-cute kid. Every conversation you have inevitably ends up being about nappies and sleepless nights. You constantly spot awesome-looking buggies in the street, and wonder whether they’re better than your travel system.

Tip: Hang out with fellow novelists / fellow parents; you’ll be less likely to bore them.

#5: You’ll Lie Awake in the Middle of the Night

You’re staring at the ceiling at 3am with an awesome new idea for a scene in your novel. Maybe you should get up and write it down before you forget it…

You’re staring at the ceiling at 3am, listening to your kid burble in their sleep. Maybe you should get up and see what they need, in case they’re about to start crying…

Tip: If you’re a parent and a novelist, multi-task: combine middle-of-the-night feeds with musing about your novel-in-progress.

#6: You Need Support

You’re worried that your dialogue is stilted, your descriptions are trite, and your plot is riddled with holes. Your novel is never going to be publishable, and even if you get it out there to the world, it’s never going to be read.

You’re worried that your kid should be eating less, sleeping more, and doing that cute thing that your friend’s kid can do. They definitely shouldn’t be headbutting you in the mouth then laughing. Are you raising a baby psychopath here?

Tip: Find a group of writers / parents, and get help and encouragement from those who’ve gone down this path before.

#7: Lots of the Advice is Contradictory

One book tells you to plot out your novel in detail – with paragraphs of description for each chapter. Another book tells you to just start writing and let inspiration guide you. One agent says begin in the middle of a scene. Another says they never take novels that start with a line of dialogue.

One book tells you to carry your baby everywhere, all the time. Another book tells you that your baby should only ever sleep in their cot. One expert recommends controlled crying. Another says that you should never, ever leave your child to cry.

Tip: There’s often a happy middle ground.

#8: No Amount of Theory Can Replace Hands-On Experience

You’ve read ten books about novel-writing … but now you’re actually doing it, a lot of that theory doesn’t seem to be helping as much as you thought it would. When you’re in the middle of writing a scene, how can you possibly remember everything you read about crafting descriptions and showing character and writing snappy dialogue?

You’ve read ten books about parenting … but now you’re actually doing it, you’re lucky if you can remember to brush your teeth, let alone keep track of that complicated schedule your baby is “supposed” to be on.

Tip: We live in the real world, with all its complexities and compromises. Consult the books when you’re stuck or confused, but don’t try to follow them slavishly.

Does any of this ring true for you? Do you have any tips to share, or #9 and/or #10 for the list? Just pop a comment below…

I’m back! And the picture above hopefully gives you some idea what I’ve been up to…

Our little girl, Kitty (Katherine Constance Luke), was born on Saturday 9^th March 2013, weighing 8lbs 6oz. She’s two months old now, and a big, healthy baby. I’ve been very much enjoying being a mum … but I’ve missed my writing and blogging.

So I’m glad to be back, and I’m looking forward to catching up with you.

(Just so you know – I’m only working Tuesdays and Fridays during May, so you might have to wait a couple of days for a reply to emails, blog comments, etc.)

The Baby Bit (Feel Free to Skip This!)

I know some readers will be keen for baby details – so here they are! If you’re more interested in finding out about Aliventures-related happenings, scroll on down to the next section.

Labour…

Kitty was born two weeks and two days late (and yes, I was getting very impatient!) All told, it was a good labour – not so painful as I’d expected – and I’d definitely do it again.

I went into hospital on the afternoon of Thursday 7^th March to be induced. The process was started that evening, and I began having small, frequent contractions straight away.

By eleven a.m. on the Friday, Paul and I were down in the “delivery suite”, and things were progressing well. The midwife was concerned about my blood pressure (which is normally really good), so I was hooked up to a monitor for the rest of the labour.

Kitty was in the “back to back” position, which meant that the contractions were most painful in my back rather than my stomach, and the most comfortable position was standing up. I was very glad of my TENS machine, and (once Paul taught me how to inhale it properly!) also very glad of the gas and air.

By late afternoon, I was really tired and had an injection of meptid (similar to pethidine), hoping it would dull the pain enough to let me doze. All it did was make me very, very sick!

As the meptid wore off, I started to get strong urges to push. I wasn’t quite dilated enough, and Kitty hadn’t turned into the right position, so the midwife got me to kneel on the bed and breathe through the contractions.

Birth…

Eventually, I was fully dilated and ready to push. It took a while – and Kitty was a tight fit – but she came along safely at 1.15am on the Saturday morning, without needing forceps or ventouse. Until that moment, I’m not sure I’d been quite convinced there really was a baby in there!

I held Kitty and fed her while there was some consultation between our midwife and another, who concluded I needed to be stitched up in surgery. The surgical team were great, and though I’d been scared beforehand about tearing, I was just glad that Kitty was fine. By 5am, I was back with her and Paul.

Baby…

Kitty was a very alert, healthy baby right from the start. Unfortunately, this (and perhaps my exhaustion and the painkillers I was on post-surgery) made me a bit over-confident. Paul and I were a bit bothered that she wasn’t sleeping much, but we didn’t realise it was because she wasn’t getting enough milk from me.

At our Day 5 check, Kitty had lost 18% of her birth weight, and we had to go back into hospital, where we found that she was very dehydrated. It was a scary time, but after a few days in special care, her weight was back up, her jaundice had gone, and she was absolutely fine. We’ve had to formula- feed, which wasn’t what we wanted – but we’re very happy that she’s doing so well now.

(Quick aside: yes, I tried everything I could to get the breast milk supply going properly – plenty of fluids, specialist help with latching Kitty on, double pumping eight times a day, herbal supplements, even medication. Nothing has worked. So please hold back on any tips in the comments – I’ve almost certainly given it a try already!)

Kitty’s now eight weeks old, and, looking back at the photos from her first couple of weeks, we can’t quite believe how much she’s grown and changed already. She’s a very happy, easy-going baby who loves to smile – at people, and at her own reflection.

What’s Coming Up – New Posts, Ebooks and Projects

I’m very much enjoying the experience of being Kitty’s mum – but I’m also looking forward to getting back into the swing of my work. I love writing – and working with writers – too much to stay away for long.

Over the next few months, you can expect to see:

• More posts on Aliventures – I’m planning a series on The Novel, taking you from first idea through to publication. If you’re a novelist with advice to share, or a would-be novelist with questions to ask, get in touch.
• More guest posts – I’ll be touring the web, popping up with posts on various blogs. I’ll link to these in the weekly Aliventures newsletter, as well as in the Aliventures blog sidebar.
• More Facebook and Twitter action – I took a break from social media while I was on maternity leave, but I’m keen to reconnect with readers through Facebook and Twitter. You can find the Aliventures Facebook page here and my Twitter account (@aliventures) here.
• More freebies – I’ll be adding more mini-ebooks, audios and videos to my library of free resources. To access this, you just need to join the newsletter.

Month-by-month, look out for these highlights:

June:

A reopening of Writers’ Huddle – this may well be the last opening before next January. As part of the reopening, I’ll be making one of the seminars free to Aliventures newsletter readers.

July:

An update to The Blogger’s Guide to Effective Writing. (I’ll be updating all of the Blogger’s Guides over the next year, and I’ll also be adding bonus material like videos. Once you’ve got a Guide, you receive all updates and bonuses for free, even if I raise the price in future.)

August:

The first of a new series of guides, provisionally titled Social Media for Writers. This will include videos, and will cost around $19 – though there’ll be a discount if you snap it up in the first week or two.

September:

An ebook compilation of some of the best posts on Aliventures, plus new material. This will be available through Amazon, and won’t cost more than a couple of dollars. I’ll probably be giving it away for free for a short time for Aliventures blog and/or newsletter readers.

I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to – how your writing’s been going, what projects you’ve got planned over the summer, or simply what’s been happening in your life. Do pop a comment below to tell me.

More bump photos here.

As you can probably tell from the photo above, I’ll be having a baby soon (due date is 21st February). This is our first child; my husband and I are very much looking forward to welcoming her into the world.

So I can concentrate on being a  mum, I won’t be publishing any updates on the Aliventures blog, or sending out the Aliventures newsletter, from now (January 24th) until late April.

Don’t Miss Out Once I’m Back!

To make sure you’re the first to know once I’m back at my desk, pop your email address in below to receive my blog posts straight to your inbox.

(You can also get updates by RSS.)

While I’m Away…

If you’re a blogger, check out my Blogger’s Guides. The discount code “babytime” will give you $5 off any individual guide, or $5 off the four-pack of guides. (Enter it after adding the Guide(s) to your shopping cart.)

The four guides are:

The Blogger’s Guide to Freelancing – make real money from blogging, by finding freelance writing jobs (suitable for confident writers)

The Blogger’s Guide to Effective Writing – learn how to write great blog content (suitable for new and established writers)

The Blogger’s Guide to Irresistible Ebooks – write and publish an ebook on your blog (suitable for anyone who’s been blogging for a few months or longer)

The Blogger’s Guide to Loyal Readers – attract more readers to your blog, and keep them there (suitable for established bloggers and those yet to start a blog)

Image from Flickr by Vassilis Online

If you’re looking for some writing-related reading, try these popular posts on Aliventures:

7 Habits of Serious Writers

Eight Secrets Which Writers Won’t Tell You

The Four Essential Stages of Writing

What it Feels Like When Your Writing is Rejected – and How to Bounce Back

I’m off to start a new adventure … but I’ll be back soon with plenty to say about writing, blogging and self-publishing.

Ali x

Image from Flickr by lethaargic

Last month, I featured Six Powerful Quotes to Get You Writing from Barry Demp, who’s a great business coach from Troy, Michigan.

Several readers mentioned how much they’d enjoyed those quotes … and I’m thrilled to be welcoming Barry back for a follow-up post. Do check out his site The Quotable Coach, where he now has more than 500 people receiving a daily quote straight to to their inboxes – I highly recommend joining them!

#1: “Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn’t  wait to get to work in the morning. I wanted to know what I was going to say.”

- Sharon O’Brien, author

As a coach, I get to speak with and listen to some pretty interesting people. During some particularly engaging conversations, a client will often ask me to repeat an idea or thought I have shared. In these cases, something I said must have resonated as valuable with their inner voice.

It is this inner voice of creative self-expression that often provides insights in these discussions to support my clients in taking new actions that produce better results.

One way I find things to write about is by exploring the meaning of powerful quotes and answering some deep and meaningful questions. In these questions, I simply see what I have to say on the subject and I project this inner voice in my writing.

Exercise:

How can you use your most creative and reflective inner voice to provide content for your authentic self-expression in your writing?

#2: “Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.”

– Alexander Graham Bell, inventor

When I was very young, I remember using a magnifying glass to focus the sun’s rays and burn small holes in a piece of paper. I bet you did too.

With this idea in mind, I began to take interest in the concept that greater focus is also the source of greater achievement.

In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell established that it takes 10,000 hours of focused practice to achieve personal mastery.

Exercise:

What must you do less of (or stop altogether) in your life, so you can start or do more of other focused activities? Think about what matters to you most on your journey to personal and professional excellence.

#3: “The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, brain surgery.”

- Robert Cormier, author and journalist

Someone once told me the best way to writing something good is to write something not so good and fix it. Ali Luke, the author of Aliventures, has been my coach and sounding board to assist me in improving my writing.

With her help, I’ve written three ebooks and more than 180 blog posts for The Quotable Coach. We must be doing something right – we now have over 500 subscribers.

Exercise:

Consider writing as a multiple-step process, where your own second or third look at the material, or your use of some outside resource, can lift your work to the next level.

The sheer amount of writing you do provides the added practice needed to further improve your skills.

#4: “Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.”

– Edward de Bono, doctor and author

Years ago, I read A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink. The premise of this book was based on the importance and value of right-brain/non-linear thinking. Pink pointed to some of the critical limiting factors related to left-brain or linear thinking: the value of this type of thinking has been decreased due to the advent of technology.

Exercise:

How much of your day do you spend on right-brain versus left-brain activities?

How can you break some of your established patterns and look at your world differently, to develop your creative mind?

#5: “When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.”

– John Ruskin, artist and art critic

We have all heard the quote, “When you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.” A by-product of this mixture of love and work is mastery, due to the amount of practice we experience over time.

Think about famous artists, top athletes, and great entertainers as examples of this synergistic combination.

Exercise:

What are your greatest skills, where you lose yourself in love?

It would be wonderful if these included your vocation. They may be hobbies or similar avocations – and hopefully, they can include building extraordinary relationships, in all areas of life.

What masterpieces have you built to this point and what future works of art are on the way?

#6: “If you want to write, you can. Fear stops most people from writing, not lack of talent. Who am I? What right have I to speak? Who will listen to me? You are a human being with a unique story to tell. You have every right.”

– Richard Rhodes, author and journalist

About 18 years ago, I was given an unusual assignment in a course called “The Wisdom Course.” This year-long program focused on accomplishing more by bringing a greater sense of play into our personal and professional lives.

The assignment we all received was to write an autobiography of our lives that included photos and thoughts for each single year – even if we had to make some of it up. As participants in the program, we often shared our stories and thoughts with one another with great interest and fascination.

Exercise:

Select two to five individual years of your life and write your own autobiography for them.

Expand this exercise by increasing the number of years, and by sharing the exercise with close friends and family.

If you enjoyed these, head over to Barry’s site The Quotable Coach for many more inspiring and thought-provoking quotes.

Barry and I would love to know if any of these quotes struck a chord with you – or if you have any great inspirational quotes of your own to share. Just pop a comment below!

If you’re on the Aliventures newsletter, you’ll have heard about this yesterday … my newest ebook is out, the fourth in the Blogger’s Guide series.

Last summer, when I was planning what to write next in the series, I ran a survey here on Aliventures, and this was the most popular option. If you took part in that survey, thank you, and I hope this is the ebook you wanted!

The Blogger’s Guide to Loyal Readers is a 112-page ebook, full of advice, ideas, and clear examples to help you grow a loyal and engaged readership for your blog. It costs $29, and teaches you everything you need to know to:

• Get your blog ship-shape, so that you make a great impression on first-time visitors
• Find new readers through social media, and by improving your blog’s SEO (search engine optimisation)
• Grow your blogging influence by creating stronger connections and reaching out to A-List bloggers
• Keep your readers engaged and loyal, and encourage them to interact with you
• Dig into crucial metrics so that you can figure out which strategies are working best for you

You can get the full details on the Blogger’s Guides website, or if you’re keen to snap up your copy, you can click the button below to buy it now.

Important tip: If you’re a member of the Aliventures newsletter, check yesterday’s email for your $10 discount code. If you’re not on the newsletter list, you’re welcome to sign up today and get the discount code before you buy.

And if you’re keen to take your blog further, faster, in 2013, you can get all four Blogger’s Guides for just $57 until 18th January (saving you $59!)

(The three other Guides are on Freelancing, Effective Writing and Irresistible Ebooks. You can find out more about them on the Blogger’s Guides website.)

If you’ve got any questions about The Blogger’s Guide to Loyal Readers, or if you can’t find your newsletter discount code, just drop me an email (ali@aliventures.com).

“This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until it’s done. It’s that easy, and that hard.”
- Neil Gaiman

Maybe 2012 was a great writing year for you. Perhaps you launched a blog, took part in NaNoWriMo, got placed in a short story competition, sold your first magazine article, or had any number of writing-related successes.

Or maybe 2012 was a bit of a disappointment. Perhaps that big goal you had – to finish your novel draft, or to launch your freelancing career, or to get a book deal – didn’t get very far.

Either way, you’re starting again. A new year is like a new chapter, full of promise and potential.

What will you do with it?

Ten Mini-Resolutions

I’m a big fan of goal setting – and I’ve no problem with aiming high. When it comes to resolutions, though, I find that it’s very easy to get too ambitious … and give up entirely.

That’s why I’ve set myself a mini-resolution this year (if you receive the Aliventures newsletter, you’ll have heard about it yesterday):

Write fiction for at least five minutes every day.

However busy I am (and I expect to be busy when the baby arrives in February!), I know that I can find five minutes each day to write. Of course, I hope that, often, I’ll manage to write for much longer than that – but simply managing those five minutes will help me build good habits and stay connected to my fiction-writing.

You’re very welcome to borrow my resolution – or you might want to choose from one of these extra ideas:

#2: Read one writing-related book every other month.

My resolution was inspired by The Five-Minute Writer by Margret Geraghty – a book that my Writers’ Huddle read during December. Reading can be a great way to learn new techniques, to get inspired, or simply to put yourself in a writing frame of mind.

#3: Set up a Twitter account and tweet at least twice a week.

Whatever your writing ambitions are, an online platform will help you reach your goals. Whether you want to self-publish, get a traditional deal, or find freelancing clients, you’ll benefit from a strong network of online connections. Twitter is a great place to meet other writers. (You can find me there at @aliventures.)

#4: Enter one writing competition every three months.

Competitions are great for writing inspiration and discipline: they typically come with a topic, a word length, and a deadline! It might be daunting to enter your first competition – but if you commit to entering at least four this year, you’ll find that it gets easier each time.

#5: Write in a journal twice a week.

Journaling is a powerful tool for getting to grips with your thoughts and feelings – and it’s also a great way to build a regular writing habit. Your journal is a private place where you’re free to experiment, to break all the rules, or simply to have a good rant about whatever’s on your mind.

#6: Write from a prompt once a week.

You can use writing prompts to warm up at the beginning of a writing session, or as a way to spark off a whole new piece. A couple of books of prompts I’ve used and enjoyed are The Pocket Muse: Ideas and Inspiration for Writing (Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk), by Monica Wood, and The Writer’s Book of Matches by Fresh Boiled Peanuts and Phillip Sexton (Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk).

#7: Write in a cafe (library / park / etc) once a month.

Getting away from your usual writing location can make a huge difference to how productive you are (and how inspired you feel). If you normally write at home, you probably struggle against dozens of distractions. By getting out to a local cafe, library, park, or any other location where you can sit down with your laptop / notebook, you may well find that you concentrate much better.

#8: Open your book-in-progress document (or notebook) every day.

If you’re working on a big project – like a novel or a non-fiction book – it’s very easy to let days go by without any progress. Committing to opening the document that contains your book might feel almost silly – but once you open that document (or your notebook, if you write by hand), you’ll have already taken a big step toward conquering your internal resistance to writing.

#9: Join a local writing group that meets regularly.

Unless you live somewhere very rural, there’s a high chance that you can find a local writing group to attend. It might be anything from a weekly workshopping group to a monthly writers’ circle that invites speakers. Join and attend a group: being around like-minded people is a great way to boost your motivation, and you’ll usually have the chance to gain valuable feedback on your writing.

#10: Identify as a writer.

Do you describe yourself as a writer? Many writers don’t – they think that the type of writing they do doesn’t count (“I’m just a blogger”) or they think that they need to be published in order to claim the title “writer”. The truth is, if you write, you’re a writer – and you have every right to call yourself that, and to take your writing seriously.

Which of the above mini-resolutions will you choose to tackle this year? Or do you have a different resolution for your writing? Pop a comment below to tell us!

Coming next week: I’m putting the finishing touches on the newest book in my Blogger’s Guide series, The Blogger’s Guide to Loyal Readers.

If you’re a blogger, keep an eye on Aliventures for more information, as it’ll be on special offer for the first couple of weeks.

Today’s guest post is from author F.C. Malby, who’s just launched her debut novel Take Me to the Castle. In this post, she tackles a hugely important topic – why you need a mailing list (also sometimes called a newsletter list or email list).

Over to you, F.C.!

Many new authors, faced with the prospect of marketing their books, wonder how to sell their work effectively without it becoming too much for others to read or it looking like spam.

You need permission to send people information, it can’t just be sent out randomly. Building a platform, via Twitter, Facebook, a blog, Goodreads, LinkedIn, Google+, is just part of the work of reaching your potential readers.

You need a mailing list. Why? Here are three reasons:

1. What if any of these sites folded or restricted what you post in a way that hampers your marketing?

You might have built up followers on Twitter and Facebook, but if they ceased to exist tomorrow what would you do?

If you are a self-published author this is all the more important. Amazon might be a giant within the publishing world at the moment, but what if the mighty machine also ceases to exist (unlikely but a possibility), or any of the other publishing platforms like Kobo, BookBaby, or Smashwords?

2. When you release subsequent books, you will be able to reach your target audience quickly.

Youwill have readers already waiting to read your next book, if you have written a great book which is a) well edited and b) has a really appealing cover design.

These are areas that you can’t afford to skimp on if you are self-publishing your work. You are asking people to pay for your writing, so it needs to be at least as good as a traditionally published book, if not better, and worth every penny or cent!

3. It is important to build a relationship with your readers, where they can respond to you and communicate with you as an author.

If you ask any marketing expert, they will tell you that a key to their success is relationship marketing, mainly through email lists. Statistics show that most people will need to be exposed to a product (your book) between four to seven times before they will consider making a purchase.

Our daily timetables are crammed full of work commitments, and people surf the internet at an increasing speed. Many will have up to ten pages open at any one time.

So, do you have a mailing list yet?

If not, I would recommend reliable mailing list services like MailChimp, which lets you add up to 2,000 subscribers for free, or AWeber, which is also very popular. You may also have a mailing list application built into your website. I currently use Network Solutions for my mailing list and website.

I can’t over-state this as a necessity for all authors, whether self-published, traditionally published, or both. Do make sure that your personalize emails with your author brand, so that people become familiar with you and instantly recognise you.

Get building and you’ll be surprised at how quickly it picks up. You may start with people you know joining and in time, as people get to know your work and your readership builds, so too will your mailing list.

F.C. Malby is a short story author and a novelist. Her debut novel, ‘Take Me to the Castle,’ is released this week on Amazon in paperback and on kindle. The book is set in Prague and Letovice, in the Czech Republic, during the fall of communism.

You can find F.C.Malby on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcmalby

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/FC-Malby/118284434987675

WordPress: http://fcmalby.wordpress.com/

Website: www.fcmalby.com

Image from Flickr by peteoshea

I’m delighted to welcome Barry Demp, a fantastic business coach from Troy, Michigan, to Aliventures.

I’ve been working with Barry since early 2011, and it’s been a great joy to see him find his voice as a writer. His project The Quotable Coach, started in April this year, has been very successful, with almost 500 people now signed up to receive a daily dose of inspiration straight to their inbox. (If you’re interested, it’s completely free! Just pop on over to The Quotable Coach and sign up in the sidebar.)

Today, Barry has six great quotes for us writers, plus exercises to get us thinking … and hopefully writing!

#1: “When asked, ‘How do you write?’ I invariably answer, ‘one word at a time.’”

– Stephen King, author

For many years, I was reluctant to write. Perhaps it was my memories of red pen across my assignments, or the need to show my parents my work before I submitted it. I also focused on the big picture – a whole term paper or even the prospect of writing an entire book – and became gripped by fear of failure and thoughts of being judged.

Stephen King’s quote fits nicely with the fact that writing – as well as most forms of goal achieving – often begin with small steps in the direction of your goals.

By taking the first step and then the next, we can create momentum toward our goal (in this case, writing) and make course corrections along the way

Exercise:

How will bringing a “one word at a time” strategy to your writing – and achievement goals in general – support your most important efforts?

#2: “If you want to write, you can. Fear stops most people from writing, not lack of talent. Who am I? What right have I to speak? Who will listen to me? You are a human being with a unique story to tell. You have every right.”

– Richard Rhodes, journalist and author

About 18 years ago, I was given an unusual assignment in a course called “The Wisdom Course.” This year-long program focused on accomplishing more by bringing a greater sense of play into our professional and personal lives.

The assignment we received was to write an autobiography of our lives which included photos and thoughts for each single year – even if we had to make some of it up.

As participants in the program, we shared our stories and thoughts with one another with great interest and fascination.

Exercise:

Select two to five individual years of your life and write your own autobiography for these years.

Expand this by increasing the number of years, and consulting close friends and family so that you can include their thoughts too.

#3: “Genius does take shortcuts, but it rarely escapes initial drudgery.”

– William Feather, publisher and author (attributed)

Have you ever noticed a person with great mastery or skill who accomplishes feats of brilliance with ease?

Whether that’s a writer like Shakespeare, an inventor like Edison, an athlete like Michael Jordon, or performers like the Beatles, they all have something in common. They all experience the not so glowing moments of poor performance, drudgery, or failure.

The eventual “aha!” shiny moments so often come after massive amounts of preparation, without the accolades and standing ovations that we see in the media.

Exercise:

Where does your genius lie, beneath your seemingly mundane daily efforts?

How can you take delight in these efforts, knowing that there’s a great gift just waiting to be revealed?

#4: “When you speak, your words echo across the room. When you write, your words echo across the ages.”

–Bud Gardner, author

The art of speaking and the art of writing are both powerful forms of communication. Unfortunately, the spoken work rarely has the long-standing reach and permanence of the writing word.

Sure we all remember excerpts from powerful speeches of great leaders of the past – yet these rarely have so much impact as written works such as:

• The Declaration of Independence
• The Constitution
• The Bill of Rights
• The Bible
• The Torah
• The Koran
• The Works of Shakespeare
• Pulitzer prize winning books

Exercise:

Determine how the written word has influenced and impacted your life.

List three to five of your favorite quotes that you live by each day – and perhaps consider sending them to me at barry@dempcoaching.com, or posting them in a comment below.

#5: “Good timber does not grow with ease; the stronger the wind, the stronger the trees.”

– J. Willard Marriott, entrepreneur and businessman

I like to go to my health club in the morning to help stay fit. It seems to clean out my mental and physical cobwebs and gets my day off to an energized start.

A key component of my fitness journey is to push myself in areas of strength, cardiovascular fitness, and flexibility. When we push the limits a bit beyond our comfort, we come back the next day stronger and more capable.

The personal growth and development efforts that seem to make the biggest difference are the ones which test and challenge our “timber.”

Exercise:

Where in your writing life can you lean into the wind and find yourself better off through the process?

#6: “Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.”

– William Shakespeare, playwright

I had a hard time reading Shakespeare in high school – I just didn’t fully get it. Maybe it was my impatience or perhaps I can blame my English teacher!

This quote for me is about fear and how it stops just about all of us in our tracks. Perhaps if we really, really focus on the good we wish to do, then we will find that secret life lever that will have us try, leap, and attempt, in spite of this fear.

Exercise:

Where is fear keeping you from the good you might do?

Where can you find the courage to overcome this fear and make the attempt?

If you enjoyed these, head over to Barry’s site The Quotable Coach for many more inspiring and thought-provoking quotes.

Barry and I would love to know if any of these quotes struck a chord with you – or if you have any great inspirational quotes of your own to share. Just pop a comment below!

Thanks so much to everyone who purchased the Blogger’s Guides at half-price between December 6th and December 11th.

We raised $508 for Divya Shanthi, which is one of the nicest birthday presents I could ask for.

This is more than enough to sponsor Ayshu for another year, so the money will be split between her sponsorship and the new Hazel Sargeant Memorial Fund for college / university students.

(If you’d like to find out more about Ayshu, see the previous post.)

Huge thanks again for your support!

Ali x

Just a couple of days after opening this year’s sale, I got a lovely letter from Mrs. Cheryl, one of the wonderful teachers at Divya Shanthi in Bangalore, India. She wrote to update me on Ayshu’s progres (Ayshu is the four-year old girl who Aliventures’ readers sponsor through this sale).

Here’s the middle part of the letter:

Ayshu’s first term exam was held in the month of October, and she did extremely well in it. She scored ‘A’s in Rhymes & Recitation, Picture Reading and Recognition of Animals, Birds, Fruits, Vegetables etc. Ayshu has also got many stars on her Conduct chart.

This term she has started writing her alphabets and numbers too.

(Yes, that’s alphabets plural … the children at Divya Shanthi learn three languages, each with a different script.)

In her school report, Ayshu is described as “a bright student, quick learner and eager to learn new lessons, and takes part in all activities.”

I’m so thrilled to hear how well Ayshu is doing; education really is the way out of poverty for the kids at Divya Shanthi, and it sounds like she’s getting a wonderful start.

Get Your Blogger’s Guide(s) … Time’s Running Out!

There’s a day and a bit left for you to snap up one of the Blogger’s Guides at half-price, or all three if you prefer. (There won’t be another half-price sale until December 2013.)

All the money raised through this sale will go to Divya Shanthi in Bangalore, India; half will be for Ayshu’s sponsorship, and half for a new fund for students going into further education.

You can find out more about Divya Shanthi and the Blogger’s Guides (and buy the Guides!) in last week’s post.