The intray is full again…

I was talking to a friend of mine last week, and she was saying how overwhelmed she felt with everything she had to do. We talked about getting to the bottom of the ‘intray’ (of our lives, not the overflowing one on the desk).

It got me thinking - what’s the intray on your desk for? All my working life (long time passing), I’ve tried to use my intray for something other than the launch-pad to the rubbish bin; the place I put stuff I can’t get to right now (and clearly never will); the thing I ruthlessly clean out every six months.

It’s surprising what I find in my intray. Things that were so urgent three months ago have somehow been resolved without fuss. Articles I just had to read, that don’t catch my interest anymore. The business card someone pressed upon me at some event, before launching into a ten minute description of all the ways they could make my life better and my business more profitable. Conferences I forgot to go to. A timesheet I’d misplaced (in my intray?). And so much more. All tossed away without guilt…

Like the stuff you have to do in your life that you never get to, the intray kind-of hovers in your peripheral vision and occasionally sends you on a quick guilt trip.

I’ve decided that when I die, of course my ‘intray’ will be full. It’ll be crammed with all the to-do stuff that I never get to - because I’d rather be doing something else. Anything involving fun actually.

So I’m working on developing an immunity to the intray of my life - like the one I have to the overflowing, red faux leather thing on my desk.

I’m going to do what I’ve got to do to survive (and thrive). So is my friend, I hope. Wish us luck…

ciao

Elle

We’re still here - and writing (just)

It’s been too long since Sash and I ventured into blog-land. Both of us are trying to complete manuscripts… Sash for a creative writing masters, me because I’m going to drown in my own neurosis if I don’t (can you do that?).

So we’re both busy writing - or thinking about writing as we taxi the kids around and keep up with work commitments. And the rest.

So I’m laying it on the line here. I’m up to 29,400 words (up from 20,000 two weeks ago) and keeping at it. I’ve been a bit menopausal lately, so I’m channelling the rage and writing all those fabulous confrontational scenes (gotta love women’s issues hey?).

So how about you Sash? What’s happening in your world of Young Adult Fiction??

x Elle

Has the tide turned against writer’s blogs?

I heard an interesting comment in a writer’s seminar yesterday from a very reputable source: Apparently, in the last year or so, the tide has turned against author’s blogs and websites - and some publishers are even encouraging writers to take down their blogs or websites.

The reasoning, we were told, is that it ’scratches the itch’ for information, i.e. it’s free so people might not buy your books. I can see why this might impact on non-fiction authors, but would it affect fiction writers?

Would publishers really be reluctant to work with blogging, web-savvy writers? And isn’t a blog or website the perfect place for published writers to market themselves and their work - and keep their readers engaged until their next novel comes out?

I’ve heard many unpublished writers have blogs to create a readership, which they then use as a selling point to publishers. Some just want to share the pleasure and pain of the writing process…

So… to blog or not to blog? That is the question. I’d be interested to hear thoughts from those of you who are published or unpublished - and who publish.

cheers

Elle

Getting to the bottom of the intray

I can’t believe the Easter Bunny is about to hit the ‘burbs already. Where is the year going? The to-do list is ridiculous and the deadlines are whooshing by at an alarming rate.

I agree with the wise person who said: “When you die, your intray will still be full”.  We have this illusion that if we just keep on top of it, everything will be ‘in order’ when we die (or hopefully in time for us to live a little). We’re always trying to get to the end of the list or the bottom of the intray…and beating ourselves up because we never quite get there.

And here’s the irony…We usually attack all those apparently ‘must do’ things so we can have some guilt-free time to ourselves - and we can do the things we want to do. Like write a novel. Or read one.

I’m in the habit of moving so fast, I’ve actually forgotten how to slow down. So guess what’s on the top of my to-do list today? (1) Write my blog [tick!!] (2) work on my novel for at least one hour, and (3) eat an Easter bunny. The chocolate variety.

Now that’s a to-do list I can work with!

Elle

Hold on, you’re moving too fast…

Today I turn 40-something - way too close to F-for-fifty. But before you run screaming from the room (I did!) let me tell you, it’s not all bad.

…even if birthday cakes are beginning to look more like weapons of mass distress than anything resembling a celebratory food item.

But a crazy-lady blog wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the M-word. If you hate PMT, just wait for menopause, dahling. Joy!

Whoever came up with the whole ‘power surges’ thing was a victim of too much positive thinking. Imagine sticking a fork in a power point (usually in the middle of a meeting) and making THAT fun.

But let’s look on the bright side – and with all those surges, we’ve sure got enough power for illumination.

There are good things about menopause. Like giving your daughters every last sanitary product you have left over, and NEVER having a tampon fall out of your handbag at a stranger’s feet again.

Thinking… thinking… okay, I’ll get back to you later on all the other fabulous things about menopause.

Right now I’m being whisked off to a secret location for my birthday celebration. Which this year doesn’t involve dangling from hangliders or jumping out of a plane, I hope.

Elle (still crazy after all these years)

Resolutions, adventures and writing progress

Well, the year is speeding along at full pace again - after only slowing down for a quick bite at Christmas. But I’m not letting myself get sucked into the frantic pace this year, after really burning out in December last. My NYRs are not to take life too seriously and to have more adventures.

So far I’ve got sore shoulders from shrugging and saying “oh well”…and I took adventures one step too far when my first attempt at sea kayaking (on holidays in NZ) ended up with my partner and I paddling frantically in 2 metre swells.

I admit, it was a blast - especially when we finally made it to our destination in one piece. There’s something about near-death experiences that put you right in the moment…

Enough about adventures, the big news is I’ve written 14,000 words of a new novel. It’s supposed to be about being a ‘wicked stepmother’ but I’m having such fun with the divorce and recovery process, I think it might become a series… then again, it may never leave the house.

I’ve also joined Romance Writers of Australia - not because I’m writing a romance, but because there’s a little romance in every story, and I may as well learn how to write it from the experts.

Did I mention I’ve given up alcohol for three months because of allergies. Why can’t I be like a normal person and have a gluten or dairy intolerance?

Well, I can’t hang around here chatting all day - there’s adventures to have and work to be done…

ciao for now

Elle