Tools for the business of writing

by Julie Hood

Home Book Store FREE Articles Writer-Reminders Resources Media Room

  Writer-Reminders > 2003, Issue 39

wvu Write More in 2004™ Teleseminar!  uvw

 

Writer-Reminders

Dec 31, 2003 -- Your Get Organized to Write More in 2004 Plan...
Volume 2, Issue 39

    
The weekly ezine with a road map for sidetracked writers.

"Be better writers today than we were yesterday."

Welcome to our subscribers (new and old)!

Thought for the Week -
Your Get Organized to Write More in 2004(tm) Plan...

Here we go! Following are the first four days of the 2004 
plan. I can tell it's going to be one of our best years
yet.

This week we are going to focus on what it is you really 
want and getting our time and planners organized. Next 
week we'll get into the nitty-gritty of how to get from 
here to there. 


Let's Write More in 2004!

Best, 
Julie
julie@organizedwriter.com

    

P.S.  "This week, I had the pleasure of reading The Organized Writer and interviewing author Julie Hood. This is a book no writer should be without....
-- Michael Knowles, http://www.WriteThinking.net

Read more from our chat and his review....

or you can read more reviews or buy the ebook from Booklocker.com. 
  


In This Issue

==> What's really, really REALLY important?
==> Your Master List and Writer's Planner
==> Your Personal Mosaic
    
Thu, Jan 1, 2004
New Year's Day
Day One - The New Year

Don't you just love New Year's? Parties, the apple dropping, 
and clean calendars. And resolutions. And holiday bills in 
the mail. Hmmmm.... maybe it's not so fun anymore?

I know every one of us has set a resolution for the new year, 
and then blown it within a couple days. Let's make this year 
different, OK?

First, you are allowed to jump on and off this goal-setting/
resolution wagon with no guilt.
If life gets too crazy and 
you quit writing for a few days, no big deal. Just jump 
back on wherever you were.

Second (and this is really important), I want you to work 
with yourself this year.
Make sure everything you decide to 
do in 2004 fits with your personality and your life. Make 
sure you really, really, REALLY want whatever you're going for 
this year.

Take a look back at your successes. What worked 
for you in prior years? What was different about that event 
from other events where you weren't as successful? What 
motivates you to stick with projects even after the initial 
excitement has worn off?

If you own The Organized Writer EBOOK: Ctrl-N, page 10. 
Take the personality quiz. Are you a messy, piler, pack rat or 
procrastinator?  What other personality traits affect how you think 
and work?  Learn tricks for working with each personality type.

Tax Note: Set up two taxes folders - Taxes 2003 and Taxes 
2004.  You'll be getting lots of tax papers over the next couple weeks. 
Then, run out to your car, and jot down your mileage on two slips of paper. 

Stick one copy in Taxes 2003 (your ending mileage) and one copy in Taxes 2004
folder (your beginning mileage). Or write it  on your Writer's Calendar.


Copyright Update: Then, hop out to your website, and
update all the copyright notices to include 2004. Updated
copyrights give the impression you are really on top of
things! Now, to fix all mine....


Day One Checklist:

___ 1. What successes did you have in the past year or prior years?
___ 2. What worked for you to help you succeed?
___ 3. What motivates you?
___ 4. Take the personality quiz on p. 10 and note your personality type: ______________________________________
___ 5. What tricks will help you with this trait?
___ 6. Set up your Taxes 2003 and Taxes 2004 folders.
___ 7. Note your beginning and ending mileage.
___ 8. Update the copyright notice on your web site.

Fri, Jan 2, 2004
Day Two - Your Master List

Where do you file your papers? What about your favorites on 
your computer? Or your computer files?


What if I had one solution for all of these?

Consider using a Master List.

What is a Master List? The Master List, your organizing
bible, drives nearly everything you do. The Master List 
categorizes your most commonly used topics into one 
handy list. 

The Master List is based on a pyramid scheme. The top of
the pyramid contains only a few Main Categories. They are
subdivided into Subcategories. At the lowest level are your
Ideas and Topics. You should have lots of these.

For more info, check out the excerpt from The Organized 
Writer: 30 Days to More Time, More Money and Less 
Frustration .

Today, create your own Master List, or update the one from 
last year.

If you own The Organized Writer EBOOK:  Press Ctrl+N and 
go to page 14 to read about the master list. Page 18 has the 
blank form, and page 19 has a sample master list.

Day Two Checklist:

___ 1. Make your own Master List, or update it if you already have one.
___ 2. Print copies on colored paper to put in your planner,  
by your computer, and in the front of your filing cabinet.
    
Sat, Jan 3, 2004
Day 3 - Create Your Planner

If you haven't done it yet, get your planner in shape for
2004. I'm so excited. For those of you who keep saying, "I'm 
going to get that planner put together," I've got the solution 
for you. You can now buy a planner directly from 
OrganizedWriter.com.
Find out more

If you'd rather, buy your planner supplies. You need:
-- binder
-- dividers (15-20)
-- page/tape flags as subdividers
-- three-hole punch
-- clicker pens

Print planner pages
from the file you received when you
subscribed. Not sure where it is? The file is called
writersplanner.pdf, and use Start > Search > For Files or
Folders... to locate it.

Or, as a subscriber, you can access the file at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Writer-Reminders/files/

Don't forget your 2004 calendar.

No ink in your printer?
Send your documents online to
Kinko's or Office Max, and ask them to mail them to you.

http://www.kinkos.com
http://www.copymax.com

If you created a planner last year, clean it out, and start 
fresh for 2004.



For those of you who own the EBOOK:

The planner pages are listed in the appendix. Be
sure to print the 10 new forms you didn't get when you
subscribed to this newsletter:
-- Idea Grabber,
-- Publication Analyzer,
-- Time Map,
-- Three new accounting forms (income and deposit records,
expense records, and credit card payments),
-- Pre-designed Hanging Folder Labels,
-- A proofreading checklist, and
-- A query checklist.

Day Three Checklist:

__ 1. Buy your planner or planner supplies.
__ 2. Print planner pages or send pages to a copy center.
__ 3. Clean out last year's planner.

    

Sun, Jan 4, 2004
Day 4 - What Do You Want?

Today you get to put together a mosaic of what you really, 
really want. 


Remember how much fun it was in kindergarten to cut out 
pictures from magazines and catalogs? We're going to do 
that again for a couple reasons. First, our minds tend 
to think in pictures so the more vivid you can make the 
images for your mind, the better.

Second, I want you to visit that fun time when you were 
a child and got to pull out the scissors and glue (and 
crayons and markers, if you like!).

As you flip through the magazines and catalogs, look for 
what appeals to you, things you love. One writer cut 
out the New York Times Bestseller List and added his book 
and name to the list. 

What can you do with all these pictures? You can glue 
them to posterboard or a presentation board. You can 
also collect the pictures in a scrapbook. Pick whatever 
appeals to you. 

I'm pulling together several pages for each area of my 
life: writing, hubby, kids, other family, home, financial, 
time and organization, business, health, philanthropy, 
spiritual, and FUN! I love quotes so I'm adding my 
favorites. 

I did a simplified version of this last year, and 
I was amazed at what I got
. I wanted a portable of my own (my 
husband and I were sharing one). Well I didn't get a new 
one, but he did, and I got the old one all for myself --
yay! I also wanted a new handheld PDA (personal digital 
assistant), but I knew there was no way I could afford 
it last year. Guess what? My hubby gave it to me for 
my birthday! Yes, this is the man who gave me a hard 
drive for my computer when we were dating <grin>. 

What amazed me was how these two items materialized 
in my life even though I was certain they would not 
when I cut them out. 

For those of you who own the EBOOK:

Ctrl-N, p. 41 - What works for you? Fill out the
assessment form with ratings from 1 to 10 to see which days
over the next month will be the most helpful for you.

Day Four Checklist:

___ 1. Create mosaic of what you want for 2004.
___ 2.  Determine which days over the next month will be 
most helpful for you.
  


Here's a virtual toast to your success this past year and wishing you many more in 2004!  Happy New Year! Julie

Click here to continue with Day 5

 

Like Organized Writer.com?  You'll love the ebook..... 


"Julie, I love your book. I have read (or at least opened) more than a trunk load of books about writing over the years. Yours is the first I have seen that gives readers so much in one place. For me, the Master List and putting that together was more than worth the cost."

-- David Stoddard
Motivational writer, trainer and publisher of the
Terrific Life Concepts ezine.
http://djstoddard.net
PRINTABLE CHECKLIST 
Click HERE for a separate screen for printing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PRINTABLE CHECKLIST
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DRAW daily (Declutter-Read-Assess-Write)
What is this? 

M T W T F S S
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1. Declutter (only 5 minutes)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2. Read (only 5 minutes)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 3. Assess (30 seconds to 5 minutes)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 4. Write (at least 5 minutes)


Weekly Checklist

For freelance writers: Use this weekly checklist to find, write and send a query every week of 2003!

Monday
__ Make notes on a new idea.


Tuesday: Accounting Day
__ Post your accounting records.
__ Pay bills.
__ Follow up on outstanding invoices and queries.


Wednesday
__ Find a new market using links below.


Thursday: Errand Day
__ Make copies.
__ Return books to library.
__ Make deposit at bank.


Friday
__ Finish query and submit.
__ Match your query to the market.


Saturday Weekly Review
__ How was this week?
__ What's up next week?
__ Review your Projects list in your planner and check the
status.
__ Jot the next action steps for your projects on next week's
calendar.
__ Backup your computer files.
__ Virus scan your computer.
__ Update windows software at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
__ Update Microsoft(R)  office software at http://office.microsoft.com/officeupdate/default.aspx


Sunday
__ Relax and enjoy!
__ Do something fun today!

JOB/MARKET LINKS 

Organized Writer's Guideline Database
Absolute Write's Market Archives
Writer's Weekly Jobs
Writing-World.com guidelines
Writing-World.com writers wanted
Funds for Writers - Jobs and Markets
Paying Markets List
Freelance Job Bank 
Writer's Write Writer's Guideline Directory
Writer's Digest - Market of the Day
Writer's Market.com (subscription only)

Writer Gazette Job Board 
Writer Gazette Call for Submissions
Sell Writing Online
Writer's Crossing

 

Thanks for visiting Writer-Reminders! If you have comments,
success stories, or suggestions, reply to this message or e-mail
me at :julie@writer-reminders.com

- Julie


Writer-Reminders.com: reminders for all writers who want
more time to write. http://Writer-Reminders.com

OrganizedWriter.com: tips and tools for your writing
business. http://OrganizedWriter.com
 


THE FINE PRINT

Your privacy is very important to me. Your email address will never be sold by Writer-Reminders. For more on Yahoo's privacy policy, visit http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us/

Copyright 2002-2003 Finally Organized LLC. All rights reserved worldwide. This newsletter is provided with the understanding that the author is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If legal or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Writer-Reminders and OrganizedWriter.com provide links to other Internet sites solely as a convenience to its users.
Writer-Reminders and OrganizedWriter.com do not guarantee, approve or endorse the information or products available at these sites, nor does a link indicate any association with or endorsement by the linked site to Writer-Reminders and
OrganizedWriter.com.

I'd hate for you to leave. To stay subscribed but put your email message delivery on hold, send an email to
Writer-Reminders-nomail@yahoogroups.com To be removed from this list, send an email to
Writer-Reminders-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

To subscribe,


or email.

 

Search this Site
PicoSearch

Free Planner


For weekly tips, tricks and resources, sign up for the free weekly newsletter,  Writer-Reminders!

Get the FREE ebook, 
The Sidetracked Writer's Planner, when you subscribe. 

Privacy policy


or email.

For advance notice of site updates, new products, and special offers, sign up for the Organized Writer newsletter!
Privacy policy


or email.

Tell a Friend

Like this site?  Tell a friend:
[ FREE referral systems! ]
2004 Calendar

The new 2004 Writer's Calendar is now available!  

It has inspirational quotes, my monthly routines, and places to record your monthly writing goals. 

Print it here and please telll your writing friends and discussion groups to help spread the word about OrganizedWriter.com.  Thanks!

  

Home  |  Book  |  Store  |  Free Articles  |  Writer-Reminders  |  Resources  |  Media Room

Terms of use/Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | About us
© Copyright 2001-2008, Finally Organized LLC
All Rights Reserved. E-mail: julie@organizedwriter.com

Home | Book | Store
Free Articles | Writer-Reminders
Resources | Media Room