Making & Meeting Goals

I joined the ACFW Novel Track this month. I started a new manuscript a few days before October 1 and thought this would be a great motivation to get a lot of words down on paper...er, screen. My typical history of productivity is inconsistent. I go a few weeks with tons of writing and then I'm dry for a month or more (like way more). It's very hard for me to push through exhaustion, lack of inspiration, the muddle in the middle.

I'm kind of a hybrid of a seat-of-the-pants (SOTP) writer and plotter...so I have a few areas of the book with some great plot threads that excite me. And, where I'm at today, seriously, this is bad writing. It's part lack of research and part just not sure what should come next. A jump in time? A more detailed scene about the building of a friendship?

The good thing is that I'm pushing through it. Am I tired. OH YEAH I AM. But at night when I go to sleep, even if it's 1 a.m., I know that I wrote as much as I could that day. I sleep soundly. I hate going to bed knowing that if I'd pushed through the tiredness just a bit I would've gotten 1/2 a scene down...or even a whole one. Or even 500 words. Anything that moves forward. One day all I wrote before falling asleep at my lappy was 127 words. (sigh)

AND...I love a good bubble bath with a book (I'm reading Tricia Goyer's Beside Still Waters right now...very good, by the way) and that seems a lot more fun than writing almost any night. But I close my eyes when I walk by my big ole nice tub. {sigh} I will persevere! I'm determined!

I have a goal word count for this month...and I'm staying fairly on track. The first week I exceeded my weekly goal so that really helped. I know I need to get the overall word count to around 90k, which seems daunting, but it's just a word at a time.

In the vain of Dory, my favorite cartoon fish, "Just keep writing, just keep writing, just keep writing, writing, writing." Thanks, Dory, I think I will!

YOUR TURN: Are you good at setting goals? Did you set a goal for this month? This year? The year's almost over...keep up your motivation & productivity...and if you have any extra...please cyber-send it my way!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

PS: I just met my goal!!!!! While the words I wrote this month will need lots of editing & polishing...getting them down is the first step. I'm very excited! Now...what's my goal for next month?

Amish Takeaways

From the photoshoot for the cover
of Seasons. My niece Celine here is
wearing one of my grandma's
dresses from her childhood. 

Soooo, I had another question about my Amish background. The question was about what I've taken from the Amish & incorporated in my day-to-day life as a woman, wife, mom in this modern age.

The first & probably most obvious thing is the language. I grew up speaking Pennsylvania Dutch, which is a slang dialect of German. It is unwritten and it's the first language Amish children learn. We still speak it when we're together whether on the phone or visits. The in-laws who have married into our family each have come to understand it a great deal.

I don't speak it with my 2 girls as much as I should, but I'm working on that habit. I love that it's part of my heritage & I really want to pass it on to my girls.

Another thing I'd like to mention is that I like how the Amish still are people of their word. I wish more of the world would govern their actions by their words. Nowadays you need contracts and agreements in writing...NO. MATTER. WHAT. Of course, I know the value of that but I still appreciate the value of saying something and meaning it.

While the old rule of how a handshake could make a deal is gone for the most part when it comes to legal or business transactions...we can still incorporate this into our lives. When we say "I'll be praying for you," then we must. If we say to our children that we'd read them a book when the dishes are done or before we start them...then we must. I'm learning as a mom it is soooo important to say what I mean and mean what I say.

I guess those 2 things are what stand out to me when I consider what I try to incorporate into my life from my Amish heritage.

I'd love to hear from you...more questions or maybe just a comment about what you like about the Amish lifestyle that you wish you could incorporate or do incorporate into your life.

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Up next: Another VLOG book review on Siri Mitchell's Love's Pursuit.

Backs on the Front Cover

At a local store recently I noticed something common among several of the books on a prominent book rack. Do you see it? What is the common thread?

The backs of women! 

I found this very interesting as I am working on the cover design for my first publication Seasons (coming out this fall). I personally love this trend. I'd rather be able to imagine the characters faces anyway. I love an obscure cover, don't you?

I do have a few pet peeves with covers though too. It bothers me when the cover shows a picture of the main character that is contrary to how they are described in the book. Or when they are just too busy, just trying too hard, ya know?

What are some of your favorite covers? What do you love or hate to see?

Cheers,

Elizabeth

Funny Amish Video

Most of you don't know that I am formerly amish. My parents left when I was a preschooler. We have a great relationship with my Amish family & decided to make a funny video based on some things we know about our great heritage and our latest enjoyment...Beachbody workouts.

PLEASE watch this video & share! We want it to go viral! 

by Elizabeth