The Lost Month March 30, 2006

Meagan and I seem to have lost an entire month here at From Diapers to Deadlines!

The good news is, it’s because we were swamped with work. The bad news is, no new monthly theme emerged here at D2D. So, we’re just going to hop over to April, whistling innocently in that "move on, nothing to see here" manner.

But before we do, I’d like to share some thoughts on when things get extraordinarily busy in your writing life.

I’m not going to use the "b" word here (balance), because that’s not really what March was about for me. It was decidedly out of balance, and just a hair too busy for my liking at this time. I worked quite a bit around the kids, sans child care, because my sitter wasn’t available for more than her usual 8 hours/week. And quite frankly, I can’t afford to pay for more child care at this time. I also worked a few late nights and denuded vast swaths of our family time over the weekends. I’d managed to draw a bright line where work ended and family time began with dinnertime, and to also take at least one full day off of work, even though I work part time right now, to clear my head and also be fully present for my family and just plain have fun. I didn’t mind crossing that bright line for a bit to get things done, since I knew it was temporary. But it was a nice affirmation of why I work in the way that I do, and why I set those boundaries in the first place.

I also came to realize that although I’m meeting my financial goals for 2006, I took two assignments that just didn’t work for me on many levels. So I’m going to cut that work out of my future, because for me, it no longer pays to take work with a high PITA factor. I’m not suggesting that by freelancing, we should be filled with boundless joy and have sunshine blasting out of our backsides 24/7. But if it feels like pulling teeth the whole way through, consider letting it go with the faith that something better will be able to come and take its place.

Finally, I’ve come to learn that having that many deadlines all at once will not work with my life as it’s structured right now. So in the future, I may have to turn down work if it comes to me all at once as it did this time. Deadlines are often negotiable, and most of these weren’t, unfortunately. Lesson learned for next time.

If you’d like to discuss ways that you cope when you’re really busy, stop by our message boards and share what works (or doesn’t) for you:

We’re about to kick off April not by playing any April Fool’s jokes on you, but by starting a theme of "Putting Your Best Foot Forward," with tips on presenting yourself with professionalism and polish. And hopefully, not abusing your use of alliteration.

See you next month!

Toni

One Day Left… March 16, 2006

To enter our "Do Something that Scares You" contest for a free copy of The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide To Freelance Writing Success!

Details here: http://www.diaperstodeadlines.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=160

And coming next week, we’ll talk about putting your best foot forward with advice about looking professional, networking, dressing for success, and more!

Wrapping up the Rule-Followers VS Renegades Theme… March 7, 2006

I hope you came away from February with some usable resources, a better grasp of the basics, and also, the confidence to think outside of those basics when it suits your career and goals.

I think one of my favorite parts of our interview with Diana Burrell (if you haven’t read it, head over pronto–it’s definitely worth your time!) is when she said this:

"One thing I tell moms or people who work full-time outside the house while building a freelance career is that it’s important to construct your own definition of success…with five hours a week you can do one or two short pieces per month. As you get more experience, you’ll build in efficiencies. You’ll figure out ways to borrow more time. One of those editors will give you a feature story to handle. You build off small victories. Focus on what you can do, not what some other writer is doing. "

And that, I think, is the most valuable "take-away" from the Renegade Writer’s principles. Do what works for you and your career. If you find that it’s working for you to, say, send totally unconventional queries, then why would you do it any other way?

One more especially brilliant and useful quote from Diana: "It’s human nature to think everyone’s staring at you and waiting for you to goof up. But when I finally "got it" — that everyone’s so busy thinking about themselves they don’t have time to think about little ol’ me — I just always did what felt right, even if the books said, ‘No, don’t do that, do it this way.’ "

That’s what it’s all about. Being a renegade writer is about focusing on what’s good for you and your career–not what somebody else might be thinking, whether that person is a colleague or that one fabled editor who might, maybe, find your unconventional methods off-putting.

And on that note, I’d like to announce our next contest:

From today through March 17 (St. Paddy’s Day!) D2D will be hosting another giveaway–this time for a FREE copy of the updated version of The Renegade Writer by Diana Burrell and Linda Formicelli! (If you haven’t read our interview with Diana, go to our Interview page now!)

But this isn’t just simple drawing. We’re asking a little more of you this time–that you step outside of your personal comfort level and do things that scare you. It can be anything you’ve been too afraid to do before: follow up on a query. Send a query. Call an editor. Use e-mail to query. Submit a story to a contest. Anything, as long as it scares you. Then, come back here and post about it in this thread. We’ll enter your name in the drawing once for each post you make in this thread on our message boards up until midnight on March 17. We’ll draw a name on March 18 and the person we draw will win a copy of The Renegade Writer.

Ready? Set… Do something that scares you! (And don’t forget to post about it!)

March’s theme is Put Your Best Foot Forward–so be ready for more great content and contests as we talk about making a great impression!

–Meagan