Tag Archive for: writing

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Resurrecting Patreon

Yes, I’ve decided. I’m resurrecting Patreon as one of my platforms.

About time management and project planning…

PJD resurrecting PatreonI’d retired it some time ago until I could regroup and consider how Patreon might fit into what I do between my day job and writing careers. And recently, I’ve had a lot of questions come to me about when I’m going to teach more classes or hold more workshops on time management and project planning, particularly as they could be used by writers. There’s a lot of writers who are balancing a day job career with a writing career. Add in life, and family, and friends and finding time gets complicated.

I do teach at least once a year, maybe twice, at various conferences. But not everyone can attend those conferences or the workshops/panels that I might be presenting due to scheduling conflicts. I get a lot of requests for online courses or even asked when I’m going to write a nonfiction book on the topic of time management and project planning for writers.

I don’t have the bandwidth to offer those things and still be able to meet my deadlines for the fiction I love to write. So Patreon came to mind as a platform that would be great for sharing this kind of information in bite-size pieces throughout the year.

And writing via dictation…

PJD resurrecting PatreonI am also learning to find a new normal in my life due to medical challenges and the need to drastically change the way I write… anything. I started to try learning dictation earlier this year, just about the same time I started physical therapy. So I got the basics down. But as soon as the physical therapy started to help me get back my functionality with my hands and I could type again for short periods of time, I went back to typing my manuscripts.

That’s not sustainable.

I will experience flareups in my future and my physical condition will deteriorate. So I really, really need to learn how to dictate now, not later.

Wonderfully generous people have given me their advice, their insights, and some great tips and tricks. I need to practice in order to incorporate what they shared with me. I need to make dictation and writing via dictation a habit. And writing via dictation, for me, means retraining my brain. Patreon becomes the perfect platform again for my adventures in learning how to dictate. It’ll be a place where I can be accountable while I share my trials and tribulations, what works for me and what really doesn’t.

So. There we have it. I’m resurrecting Patreon and I will be sharing information in two major categories:

  • Time management and project planning for writers, particularly with the day job to balance with their writing.
  • My progress as I learn writing via dictation, the tips and tricks I pick up along the way, and lessons learned.

If you’re interested in what I have to share or would like to join me on this journey, I hope you’ll subscribe to my Patreon. I’ll see you there.

 

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Focus on Writing in 2017

Piper Surviving Deadlines by Focus on WritingI made a careful decision to have a stronger focus on writing this year. As an author, one might think I write, therefore I have a focus on writing.

But here’s the thing: when an author goes to events, the author isn’t writing much, if at all. When an author is doing book signings, the author isn’t writing much. The priority is to spend time with you, the reader, and rightly so. It’s important and I love meeting readers!

But all those events take away from writing time. There’s also travel that both takes away from writing time and is generally exhausting.

I maintain a day job career in parallel to my author career and I do travel 85% of my time for the day job. I wouldn’t change it for the world. I worked so hard to even start my career. It took me ages to find a job that was best suited to me. Even though I was a writer, I just didn’t know what I needed to include on my resume to help me stand out. So, if it wasn’t for these professional resume writers (https://www.arcresumes.com/local/maryland/) I wouldn’t be where I am today. As you can imagine, I am very very busy. Add writing events in there and I am sometimes away from home for up to 3 weeks at a time. I don’t take vacations, I take time off from the day job to attend writing events and conventions. There’s no downtime and without downtime, my creativity suffers.

Last year was rough and much of it was due to the killer schedule I set for myself. I wrote 5 full-length novels and several short stories through the course of the year in addition to throwing myself into my day job for the most challenging project of my day job career.  I am proud of my work.

There’s no way I can maintain the pace. I wouldn’t survive.

This year, I’ve decided to manage my time carefully and only attend writing retreats. At these retreats, my writing productivity has been amazing. My intent is to come through 2017 with high quality writing and the foundation laid to do great things with my writing career in the future. My priority is to provide great stories to my readers. This year, I’ll focus on writing.

Even if you don’t see me in person, you can play Find the Piper all over the internet for insight into my writing and hijinx:

Sign up for my newsletter for occasional news about upcoming releases plus exclusive excerpts and giveaway.

Check out the PJRA FB group for fun interaction, shared writing snippets, and occasional contests as my readers track my Travel Hijinx.

Follow me on Instagram for photos of my travels and behind-the-scenes insight into my writing only available here.

Listen to EMEPiper and subscribe to my Patreon to support writing-related creative content.

And of course, I can be found on FB and Twitter, as well as Pinterest and YouTube.

Come 2018, I’ll be looking at events again. I’ll be out there to meet readers and network with pros in the industry. Moving forward, I’ll be carefully balancing these priorities so my writing — the core of me as an author — is still strong as I participate in upcoming events too.

If you’d like me to attend your favorite convention or reader event, please contact the event coordinators and request me. It’s the best way to let events know you want me there. These events are for you, readers. Let them know who you want. 😉

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Advise for the Over-eager Author

10264688_1463370013945045_7725103808870214630_nIt’s exciting to be working on a new project, especially a contracted 3 book deal. I have a basic idea of when the series will be released and am in love with my characters, my plot, my new genre.

But while it’s all very real to me and I’ve plunged into the deep end of this world and this series, it’ll still be a while before you — my readers — get to share it with me. A year is a long time to be teasing you all with little bits and pieces. Especially when I don’t have a cover or a specific release date or an official blurb or pre-order links.

My awesome agent was the first to caution me on frustrating you all. And then the fortune cookie wisdom pitched in its 2 cents.

It’s too early. And there’s not enough tangible to share. So I’m going to keep working on this new romantic suspense series, look forward to learning from an editor at Carina Press I’m super excited to be acquired by, and prepare for the day when I’ve got fun stuff to share with you closer to my first book’s release date in fall of 2015.

Until then, we’ll have adventures in research and writing here. Travel shenanigans too. And mostly, I’ll give you all some peeks into what it’s like to be Piper J. Drake. I hope you’ll enjoy the ride. 🙂

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