NEWSFLASH: I am a mono-tasker (and so are you)

I am VERY pleased to report that the New York Times has confirmed what I have long suspected: that multi-tasking is not humanly possible. Not. Humanly. Possible.

To quote:  “Think you can get more done by juggling multiple tasks? Think again.”

Earl K. Miller, a neuroscience professor at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology says that when you shuttle back and forth between tasks, the neural networks of your brain have to backtrack to figure out where they left off and then reconfigure to go forward again on that particular subject. This extra brain activity causes you to slow down, not speed up, with the stuff you’re doing.

But here’s the paragraph that justified my one-thing-at-a-time mindset:

“Trying to multitask impedes creativity. Truly innovative thinking arises when we allow our brains to follow a logical path of associated thoughts and ideas, and this is more likely when we can focus on a single mental pathway for an extended period.”

The article acknowledges it’s not always realistic to block off hours for a single task, but even committing to mono-tasking for five minutes at a time can yield productivity benefits.

And there were a few suggestions that can help:

Remove temptation.  Actively resist the urge to check social media. You can even install an anti-distraction program if your self-control is nonexistent.

Work on just one screen. Put away your cell phone and turn off the TV or any second monitor.

Move.  If you find yourself losing focus, get up and briefly walk around. When you’re done, it’s easier to refocus on the task at hand.

Work in intervals.  Set a timer for five or 10 minutes and focus on your assignment (whatever it is) for that amount of time. Then allow yourself a minute of distraction, as long as you get back to your task for another five or 10 minute interval.

Hey! It works! I just wrote this blog post in five minutes by sitting my butt in the computer chair and concentrating on finishing it. Now, about that distraction/reward suggestion above? I’m off to watch one (only one!) episode of House Hunters International.

Then I’ll get back to my WIP. Promise.

Best,

Jenna

www.jennaives.com

What's in a Desk?

Okay, so I’m here in Los Angeles for five weeks while my husband works on a business project. We’re staying at a well-known Beverly Hills hotel, and since we’re going to be here for more than a month, I brought along my laptop to do some writing while he’s at work. There’s just one problem…

There’s no desk in the room.

What? A hotel room without a desk? There WAS a desk in this hotel room when we were here last January, but now it’s gone. How the heck does a business person (or a girl with a laptop) work in a room without a desk??

Answer: Blame it on the millennials…

I asked about the missing desk at the Concierge Desk in the lobby (oh yes, THEY have a desk!) and was told that their primary hotel clients these days are millennials, and millennials work without desks. Huh? They work on computers, right? Just like the rest of us?

Yes they do. But I was told that their preferred way to work on their computers is to have them propped on their laps on the couch, or else in bed.

I actually confirmed this with my niece, who’s 25. Yep, while at home, she works on her laptop mostly in bed. (Hmm. I forgot to ask her if she has a desk at work.)

Boy, I feel totally out of touch with the modern world.

However, I’m glad to report that this story has a happy ending. The hotel says it regularly deals with Hollywood stars and their outrageous demands (not that I think a desk is an outrageous demand). Thankfully, they had a desk in storage, which they graciously brought up to our room.

So now here I am, writing this blog post. But ironically, I’m sitting on the hotel couch!

Maybe there’s hope yet that I can be trendy…

Leigh

www.leighcourt.com

Dealing with Discouragement as a Writer

There’s been a lot of discussion on one of my writing loops this past week about how to deal with discouragement.

If you’re a writer, I think I can safely say that every single one of us has dealt with discouragement at one time or another, caused either by publisher rejection or writer’s block or self-doubt over one’s abilities, or whatever.  But how is this for encouraging?  (I came across this list about six years ago, so many thanks to Dan Poynter’s website for this info; www.parapublishing.com)  The list below is taped it to my computer. It helps me to remember that we all write for the love of writing, not necessarily to make money. Which puts us in some good company:

REJECTED BY PUBLISHERS:

Pearl S. Buck – The Good Earth – 14 times
Norman Mailer – The Naked and the Dead – 12 times
Patrick Dennis- Auntie Mame – 15 times
George Orwell – Animal Farm
Richard Bach – Jonathan Livingston Seagull – 20 times
Joseph Heller - Catch-22 – 22 times
Mary Higgins Clark – first short story – 40 times
Alex Haley – before Roots – 200 rejections
Robert Persig – Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance – 121 times
John Grisham – A Time to Kill – 15 publishers and 30 agents (he ended up publishing it himself)
Chicken Soup for the Soul – 33 times
Dr. Seuss – 24 times
Louis L’Amour – 200 rejections
Jack London – 600 before his first story
John Creasy – 774 rejections before selling his first story.  He went on to write 564 books, using fourteen names.
Jerzy Kosinski – 13 agents and 14 publishers rejected his best-selling novel when he submitted it under a different name, including Random House, which had originally published it.
Diary of Anne Frank

Stephen King’s first four novels were rejected. This guy from Maine sent in this novel over the transom, said Bill Thompson, his former editor at Doubleday. Mr. Thompson, sensing something there, asked to see subsequent novels, but still rejected the next three. However, King withstood the rejection, and Mr. Thompson finally bought the fifth novel, despite his colleague’s lack of enthusiasm, for $2,500. It was called Carrie.

During his entire lifetime, Herman Melville’s timeless classic, Moby Dick, sold only 3,715 copies.

And who needs to be reminded that J.K. Rowling was on welfare, pitching the last publisher in all of England (after being rejected by all the rest) when she sold the first Harry Potter book?

FAMOUS SELF-PUBLISHED BOOKS:

Remembrance of things Past, by Marcel Proust

Ulysses, by James Joyce

The Adventures of Peter Rabbit, by Beatrix Potter

A Time to Kill, by John Grisham

The Wealthy Barber, by David Chilton

The Bridges of Madison County

What Color is Your Parachute

In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters

The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield

The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. (and his student E. B. White)

The Joy of Cooking

When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple

Life’s Little Instruction Book

Robert’s Rules of Order

OTHER FAMOUS AUTHORS WHO SELF-PUBLISHED

Deepak Chopra

Gertrude Stein

Zane Grey

Upton Sinclair

Carl Sandburg

Ezra Pound

Mark Twain

Edgar Rice Burroughs

Stephen Crane

Bernard Shaw

Anais Nin

Thomas Paine

Virginia Wolff

e.e. Cummings

Edgar Allen Poe

Rudyard Kipling

Henry David Thoreau

Benjamin Franklin

Walt Whitman

Alexandre Dumas

William E.B. DuBois

Beatrix Potter

Bottom line lesson:  hang in there! Calvin Coolidge said “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

A writer writes. It’s what we do. Don’t ever give up that spark of imagination which fires your unique ideas and helps entertain people. Give birth to the stories inside you, and let them come out into the world!

Happy writing!

Jenna

www.jennaives.com

A New Book Contract!

There’s nothing more exciting for an author than to sign a new book contract. It’s always a thrill to find a publisher who loves your characters and story just as much as you do!

I’ve just signed a contract with LooseId for my sci-fi romance The Edge of Time, which is tentatively scheduled for release in November.

I’m about to start the editing process, which is always nerve-wracking for an author, especially when you’re working with a new editor you’ve never dealt with before. How many changes will she want? Will I be able to make them to her satisfaction? Does her vision for the story match my vision?

But I know how this process works. As much as I love the world and the characters I’ve created, an editor always seems to improve the story. Her feedback is valuable. An extra pair of eyes can sometimes see things an author can’t, and an editor’s insight often affords an opportunity to make the story even stronger.

So… game on! I’m ready to go.

The name of the book will likely change, too, and I’m okay with that, as long as I have some say in the final title. As I said, I’ve done this before.  

Every new book is a learning experience, a chance to improve my writing skills, an opportunity to reach new readers. A career in publishing can have its lows (rejections), but it can also have its highs. Like this one! Authors are in this for the long haul, and I’m looking forward to the next step in my journey.

Wish me luck!

Jenna

www.jennaives.com

Why Do I Write? Let Me Count The Ways...

I guess I was destined to be a writer. I’ve always been a great reader, and I believe that’s the best foundation for becoming an author. You can learn so much about writing just by osmosis from reading good books!

There are 688 fiction books in my house (yep, I just counted them). They're in the room I affectionately refer to as 'the library.' Plus, there's another 462 non-fiction books (including biographies, reference books, travel guides, etc) in the family room.

Don’t believe me?

Half of the bookcase in the library

The non-fiction titles in the family room

There are books in nearly every room of my house. Here’s a shot of part of the 3-shelf bookcase of reference works I keep on hand in my office for research for some of my stories…

Reference books

And here’s the growing To Be Read pile sitting by the side of my bed…

To Be Read pile

And let’s not even count the e-books waiting on my Kindle and iPad! So many books… so little time [sigh].

Is it any wonder I became a writer? Louisa May Alcott once said, “She is too fond of books, and it has addled her brain.” NOT! If anything, reading has expanded my brain, letting me learn about amazing places, historical events, and allowing me to escape into adventures I would never be able to experience in my real life.

I’d rather offer my own quotes:

-Romance authors have the write stuff

-Who needs a man when you can have a book between the covers?

-Buy a book, and a tree lives forever!

-I have the need to read.

-If romance is the spice of life, marinade me in it!

-A good book is better than a bad man, no contest.

But I’ll leave you today with my favorite romance author quote of all…

“…and they lived happily ever after!”

Until next month,

Jenna

www.jennaives.com

Real life vs. Reel life

I’ve been having a problem lately that I imagine affects a lot of authors, romance and otherwise. I find that the lives of my fictional characters are much more interesting than my own life.

Duh. Logically, I know this is a given. Heck, it’s why people read books – for escapism.

And yet, as an author the danger lies in the fact that I’m spending more time in my fictional worlds these days than in my own. The laundry doesn’t get done. The dust builds up on the furniture. Hubby has to call me for dinner.

What’s the right life/work balance when a person wants to spend more time at work in front of her computer, living among fabulous characters, creating interesting worlds?

The answer is… Get out of your routine. Do something different. Travel.

Jenna Ives and I recently returned from a trip to South America. Spending time in a foreign country and seeing other people’s lives made me really appreciate my own. I no longer find mine boring. I no longer spend every moment at my keyboard, escaping from it. Now I look forward to my time with hubby.

Especially our evening cocktail out on the patio.

In fact, I’m off to have that cocktail right now. See? It’s no longer hard for me to push back my computer chair and walk away from the keyboard.

How about you? Ever have a job or hobby that was so obsessive it took up too much of your time? How did you cope?

I’d love to hear your advice!

Leigh

www.leighcourt.com

THE END is not the end

I’m about to type THE END on my third and final book of The Tau Cetus Chronicles. This one is called Programmed For Power, and it centers on Theus, Tau Cetus’ powerful and intimidating premier, and Leora, the woman whose love tames him. Hopefully I will have it finished by the end of the month, because I’ll be in New York City for this year’s Romance Writers of America conference July 22 – 26.

But along with the satisfaction of finishing a book, comes the anxiety of thinking about the next one. For the past three years, I’ve been working on this trilogy, so the writing went from police agent Jai Turner’s story to Beautiful Doll sexbot Ginger’s story, and now to premier Theus’ story. But what do I do next?

I think every writer has experienced those nightmare moments of, “Crap! What if I never have another idea for a book?!?” That’s the time wise authors take a week or two off in order to refill their creative well. It can be as simple as doing something mindless. Not thinking about writing at all. In fact, give yourself permission to NOT think. Maybe you like to knit or garden or your passion is tennis. In my case, I’m an insatiable reader, so I just might give my brain a break for a month or so and enjoy what other authors have written. “Grey” by EL James is on the top of my TBR pile J

And while I’m not thinking about thinking, who knows? An idea can come from anywhere. We all have countless areas of our lives that can inspire us or spark a great story plot: a difficult boss, a yoga class, an annoying sister, a school car pool, a monthly book club meeting. Can you create a composite character from the best or worst people you know? Sometimes that’s all it takes for your creative juices to start flowing.

In fact, writing this is helping to ease my own anxiety about my next story. While in New York, I’m going to see at least four different girlfriends I haven’t seen since I moved to Florida, and that’s not counting the 2,000 people who have signed up for the RWA conference. There must be some good stories there, right? Or maybe I’ll just walk the streets of New York in my free time and eavesdrop on people’s conversations. You never know what might spark an idea!

Wow, I guess the possibilities are endless. I’ll let you know next month what I come up with!

How about you? Any tips or tricks for jump-starting story ideas? I’d love to hear your advice.

Jenna

www.jennaives.com

Dream Vacation

Summer is usually a great time to get away and have some fun, or at least get some rest. I've been lucky enough to have had some great vacations in the past. I've gotten to visit family and friends. I've enjoyed the big city and sandy beaches. I've gotten to see amazing landscapes and meet lovely people.

This year we plan to visit family in the northeast, which will be nice because we don't go there often. However, as I'm planning the trip, I find myself wishing for a different kind of vacation...a writing vacation.

My job, although better than it was before, still requires more time than I'm thrilled with, so I don't get to write as much. I have one major story I work on, but there are bits and pieces of others that are just hanging, and that bugs me.

Therefore, if this trip got canceled for some reason and my DH asked me where I want to go or what I want to do, I'm probably going to say "to my computer" and "to write." I would also add that the computer would be a charged laptop on the beach, like this one.

If he argues, I would tell him that sights--like this sunset--inspire me and that I need a little inspiration. Usually when I say that, I'm sucking up to get jewelry for my birthday or something. I think the sunset would be much cheaper. See how easy I make it for DH to agree with me? There's an art to it, I tell ya'.

For right now, I'm packing for our trip. I am taking my laptop along in case I do get the chance to act on any random inspiration or one of the fifteen story ideas banging around in my imagination. What about you? What's your dream vacation? Does it involve summer reading? Summer writing? Summer love? Please do share!

Happy Reading!

My muse is not amused

Okay, of all the excuses, er, I mean reasons that authors have for not finding the time to write, getting a new pool installed is probably one of the lamest. So go ahead and scoff at me.

For the last few months, construction crews have turned my back yard into a disaster zone. That's because with a new pool comes a new, er, larger, deck. And, oh, did I mention they first had to excavate the old pool?

Yeah, it's been a nightmare. 

But then came the excitement of the new construction!

And then, day by day and week by week, things started to take shape.

We’re not done yet, but hopefully by June I’ll be able to go for a swim! And by June my muse will be amused at how much time I’ll have to write J

How about you? Any major projects that sidetracked your writing for a while? Share!

Jenna

www.jennaives.com