Life of A Writer

Have you ever had one of those days where you sit down to write but found yourself uninspired to do so? Don't worry; you're not alone. Writers have experienced this on more than one occasion. The worst part, however, is when -- despite not being inspired -- you know it has to be done so you force yourself to do your job. But because you're not feeling motivated, the ideas don't flow, so you discover yourself surfing the web or doing other things with the hope that you'll be able to write or get an idea within a few minutes. Surprise! Next time you glance at the clock you realize several hours have passed and your work day/night is over! This, my friend, is called procrastination, and because Michele from Writing the Cyber Highway tagged me, I'm going to share a few of my tips for overcoming procrastination with you. Not just because Michele tagged me, but also because I enjoy sharing what I've learned over the years.

Are you procrastinating at this very moment? If so, keep reading and maybe you'll leave my blog and be able to get back to writing… before you lose track of time.

Overcoming Procrastination in Seven Easy Steps:

1. Night owl writers, go to bed. Day writers, take a nap. Seriously, all I have to do is lay my head on the pillow and the ideas run rapid. By then I'm up turning on the lamp. Next, I grab the notebook and pen from my night table to record those ideas (as I did for this post). Ok, maybe it won't work for everyone, but it works for me. In fact, it works even when I'm not trying to overcome procrastination.

2. Soak in the bathtub or take a shower. When I do either of these two things, it refreshes my body as well as my mind. Go ahead, give it a try.

3. Get organized again. Instead of surfing the web, focus on re-organizing your workspace or office. I learned that an organized workspace does wonders.

4. Go for a walk. Sometimes a little fresh air rejuvenates my mind. Who knows, it could work for you too.

5. Read a book about freelance writing. What better way to procrastinate than learning how to become a better writer. Many times when I procrastinate, I head to my bookshelf and grab one of the books on freelance writing, and 99% of the time, it inspired me to get back to work.

6. Go for a drive on a country road. I've found the best time to do this is in the spring, so you can open the windows and take in all the springtime smells: honeysuckles, flowers, etc. Besides, if you're going to procrastinate, then at least you won't loose track of time by taking a drive on a country road. Well, you may, but you won't waste as much time as you would surfing the Net, because you may run out of gas if you drive for too many hours.

7. Take advantage of those writing exercises and prompts. Since you may surf the Internet when you procrastinate, surf to the tons of websites that list free writing exercises and prompts. Pick an exercise or prompt and do it. By the time you've finished that writing exercise or prompt, I'll bet you overcome procrastination. If not, then at least you can say you didn't waste your writing time.

Those are my seven easy steps for overcoming procrastination. I hope they help you, because they've certainly helped me over the years.

Instead of tagging seven others, I would like to invite you to take part if you like. All you have to do is link back to me, list your seven tips for overcoming procrastination and then tag seven others to do the same. Oh yes, comment and let me know where to find your post. I'd love to read your procrastination tips too.

Photo courtesy: Flickr

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Michele from Writing the Cyber Highway passed on the award, A Roar for Powerful Words, to four others and me. When she named me as one of her choices, she had this to say, "Misti Sandefur, at Life of a Writer, who is a freelance writer, novelist, blogger, and an inspiration to anyone struggling to be a mom, wife, and squeeze in the many duties of the writer's life." Thank you for the kind words, Michele. I'm glad to hear I'm an inspiration. After all, that's what I strive to do. Nevertheless, it can be difficult at times to "squeeze" in those tasks while trying to keep the kids and hubby happy. I'll admit, though, without them I probably wouldn't be where I am today, and although I'm still a struggling writer, I've come a long way. Hubby may complain at times, but he does offer encouraging words from time to time. Mostly when the big paychecks come in, but hey, that just motivates me to work harder for the bigger bucks.

By accepting this award, I'm supposed to share "three things [I] believe are necessary to make writing good and powerful," and then I should pass the award on to five others. So, without further ado, here are my three tips for writers:

1. Study the craft. This is something I'm always doing, and believe it or not, the more you study and learn, the better writer you will become.

2. Write often. I believe a good writer is always writing. Sure, we may not find the time to practice writing on a daily basis, but we can write often. Keep a journal to write your thoughts in. Even when you can't find the right words to say, grab that pen and journal and write down how it makes you feel and why you think you've reached that point.

3. Take advantage of writing exercises. Writing exercises are fun and they truly can help you improve your writing skills. In fact, in each month's edition of Coffee Break for Writers, I include a short writing exercise.

I hope you learn from my writing tips and apply them to your writing habits. Now I will pass this award on to five writers and bloggers. I read these five individuals' blogs every night, and each time I read them, I learn from them and apply their advice to my writing habits. Therefore, I believe their hard work deserves this award and would love to read the "three things [they] believe are necessary to make writing good and powerful." I'm not sure if they'll participate or not, but I'll hope for the best. Regardless, I still believe they too deserve this award.

1. The writers over at The Renegade Writer blog.

2. Anne Wayman at The Golden Pencil: The Freelance Writer's Resource

3. Lillie Ammann from A Writer's Words, An Editor's Eye

4. Hope at Hope Writes

5. All the wonderful writers over at Copyblogger

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Jenna Glatzer has tagged me for the Crazy 8s meme, so for those of you wanting to know even more about me, here it goes:

8 things I'm passionate about:
1. Like Jenna, I'm also passionate about being a mom as well as a step mom.
2. Writing, of course.
3. Helping others when I can.
4. Classic country and the older gospel hymns.
5. Reading my Bible as well as Christian fiction and romance books.
6. Reality TV.
7. Animals. I have two ferrets, two Pomeranians and a Blue Heeler.
8. Church.

8 things I want to do before I die:
1. Sell enough of my books and writing so that I can make a comfortable living and hubby doesn't have to work, and finally, enough to also be able to donate to charities often. If I ever reach that goal, the charities are at the very top of my list, and the first charity would be my church (Richland, located in Hardin County).
2. Meet Dolly Parton.
3. See my future grandchildren.
4. See each of my children and stepchildren get married.
5. Take a cruise with hubby.
6. See my house after it has been remodeled.
7. Learn how to play the piano with both hands instead of just one.
8. Take the honeymoon hubby and I never had.

8 things I say often:
1. Never give up on your dreams -- work toward them.
2. I love you.
3. God and his angels will keep you safe (I say this to my children all the time).
4. Quit reading blogs and get back to work. (Yes, I say this one to myself…LOL.)
5. Come and get it! (I say this when dinner's ready, and everyone in the house scrambles to the kitchen.)
6. Do I have to go grocery shopping?
7. I can't, I'm working right now.
8. Can you, please help me clean the house?

8 books I've recently read:
1. Dream or Destiny, by Lillie Ammann. (Not yet released. I had a review copy.)
2. Must Love Mistletoe, by Christie Ridgway.
3. North Carolina, by Terry Fowler.
4. When Love Comes Home (Love Inspired), by Arlene James.
5. The Sheik Who Loved Me (Intimate Moments), by Loreth Anne White.
6. Healing Hearts (Love Inspired), by Cheryl Wolverton.
7. Not Another New Year's, by Christie Ridgway.
8. The Carousel, by Richard Paul Evans.

8 songs I could listen to over and over:
1. Heaven's Just a Sin Away (The Kindles).
2. I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe). This one's on my MySpace profile.
3. I'll Stand by You (Carrie Underwood).
4. Jesus Take the Wheel (Carrie Underwood).
5. Go Rest High on a Mountain (Vince Gill).
6. Angels Among Us (Alabama).
7. Inside Your Heaven (Carrie Underwood).
8. I Will Always Love You (Dolly Parton).

8 things that attract me to my best friends:
1. Their sense of humor.
2. Their honesty.
3. Their kindness.
4. They don't judge you.
5. Their fun to be around.
6. They offer encouragement.
7. They're always there to talk to, and they offer advice or a shoulder to cry on.
8. They look at what's on the inside and not the outside.

8 people I think should do Crazy 8s:
1. April Aragam.
2. Kathy Kehrli at Screw You!
3. Writer Mama, Christina Katz.
4. Michele L. Tune over at Writing the Cyber Highway.
5. Alicia Sparks from Writing Spark…
6. … and anyone else who feels froggy or needs something to blog about.

That will do it for the Crazy 8s meme. Thanks for the tag, Jenna… I enjoyed it.

As always, friends, I shall return. I know, "Thanks for the warning, right?"

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Both Michele and Kathy Kehrli tagged me for the Random 8 Meme. First, I must post the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. List eight random facts about yourself.
3. Tag eight people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving them a comment on their blogs.

Now, here are eight facts that you may or may not know about me:

1. I despise driving, and thanks to Michele, I now know I'm not the only one out there who prefers to ride. ;)
2. I have a terrible fear of spiders. Eeek! I shiver just mentioning it.
3. My favorite food is Mexican. Yum!
4. Unlike most women, I don't like shopping, and I have always hated grocery stores.
5. I've been writing every since I was eight, and I wrote my first short story using only a pencil and paper when I was 10. The main character in that story was a boy I had a crush on in school…LOL… My writing has improved a lot since then, but it's always fun to dig out the stories I wrote back then.
6. I owned my own wholesale business, which I ran for six years.
7. I use to teach Sunday school; I love teaching children about God.
8. In person, I'm shy until I get to know you better.

According to the rules, I'm supposed to tag eight others for this meme. With that said, I tag April Aragam, Jenna Glatzer, Lillie Ammann, Lonnie Cruse, Chris Bibey, Michael Kwan, Writer Mama and Jenny Rough.

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Mommy's little angels :)

Well, I went in search of a MEME to do on my blog today, and surprisingly I discovered that with most Memes it seems you have to be tagged. Since I don't do Memes often, I've never been tagged. I thought a MEME would be fun, and that's why I searched. I did manage to find a MEME that didn't require tagging. This meme I got from Another day in the life of… Amanda. Thanks, Amanda! Oh, by the way, Amanda, I love the music on your blog. :)

1. What kind of soap is in your bathtub right now?
Actually, we have a shower, but I'm looking forward to the day we put in our bathtub; there's nothing like soaking in a nice warm bath. With that said, there's Dove in my shower.

2. Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator?
Sure don't, but now I wish I did.

3. Is there anything moldy in your refrigerator?
Can't say that there is.

4. Are there any dirty dishes in your sink?
From supper, yes. I can't seem to talk the children into loading them into the dishwasher.

5. What would you change about your living room?
Well, we're in the process of remodeling right now, so I'd say… hmmm… to finish cleaning the walls with bleach, and then add the paint.

6. Are the dishes in your dishwasher clean or dirty?
Clean.

7. Do you have a can of mushrooms in your pantry?
Nope.

8. White or wheat bread?
White.

9. What is on top of your refrigerator?
Dust… LOL… I bet you weren't expecting that. Aside from the dust, paper towels and a soup pot.

10. What color is your sofa?
I have two. One is black and the other is a dark blue.

11. What color or design is on your shower curtain?
A white plastic panel (I guess that's what you'd call it), and a white fabric panel.

12. How many plants are in your home?
None.

13. How many candles are in your home?
Oh dear, I couldn't even begin to count. I collect the scented candles so there are several of them.

14. Is your bed made right now?
Nope, Hubby's in it sleeping.

15. If you have a coffee pot, what color is it?
White.

16. Electric or standard can opener?
Electric.

27. Comet or Soft Scrub?
Neither. I use Mean Green on just about everything. Not only do I use Mean Green, but I highly recommend it. This stuff cleans well!

28. Is your closet organized?
Ha! This is on my to-do list…

29. What color is the flashlight that you use the most?
Black.

30. What kinds of things are in your junk drawer?
Don't have one of those anymore. I finally cleaned it out.

31. Do you drink out of glass or plastic most of the time at home?
Glass.

32. Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now?
Yep, two gallon pitchers to be exact. Usually we have three gallon pictures, but one needs re-made at the present. Trust me, with three kids and three adults in the house, it's easier this way.

33. If you have a garage, is it cluttered?
Don't have one… yet.

34. Curtains or blinds?
Curtains, but as soon as we get to the windows in our remodeling process, I'll have blinds.

35. How many pillows do you sleep with?
Three.

36. Do you sleep with any lights on at night?
Yes, two.

37. How many ceiling fans are in your home?
Three.

38. How often do you vacuum?
Twice a month. That's a writer's life, but the floors don't really get too bad either.

39. Standard toothbrush or electric?
Standard

40. What color is your toothbrush?
Yellow, my favorite.

41. Do you have a welcome mat on your front porch?
Don't have a front porch… yet.

42. What is in your oven right now?
Nothing.

43. Is your microwave clean or dirty?
Clean.

44. Is there anything under your bed?
Toliet paper… LOL. Now, let me explain. We have two ferrets, and when they're out one of them likes to steal the toliet paper and put it under the bed, so we leave it and know where it is when we run out.

45. Chore you hate doing the most?
Cleaning the ferret cage.

46. What retro items are in your home?
Don't have any retro items.

47. Do you have a separate room that you use as an office?
Not yet, but it is in our remodeling plans. I can't wait!

48. If you have a yard, who mows it?
Step-son most of the time, and when he doesn't, my 14-year-old daughter likes to mow.

49. Is there anything on your kitchen floor right now?
Aside from carpet, chairs and a kitchen table, nothing.

50. How many mirrors are in your home?
One in the bathroom, two in the master bedroom and two in my daughter's room.

51. Do you have any hidden emergency money around your home?
Can't say that I do.

52. What color are your walls?
An off white.

53. Which rooms in your house have wallpaper?
None.

54. Do you have a peephole in your front door?
No.

55. Do you keep any kind of protection weapons in your home?
Yes, Hubby is a member of the NRA (National Rifle Association) and a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. They're locked up in a cabinet, though, because of the kids.

56. What does your home smell like right now?
Nothing at the moment, but tomorrow it will smell like one of my Glade Scented Oil Candles (Spiced Roses and Vanilla scent).

57. Fave candle scent?
Spiced Roses and Vanilla.

58. What kind of pickles (if any) are in your refrigerator right now?
Dill.

59. Who are in the pictures you displayed?
My daughter and two sons.

61. Do you have plenty of cabinet space in your kitchen?
Nope, but this is in our remodeling plans as well. :)

62. Ever been on your roof?
Yes, but I didn't like it! I'm not much for heights, but someone had to hang the Christmas lights.

62. Do you own a stereo?
Yes.

63. How many TVs do you have?
Four.

64. How many house phones?
None, we use cell phones; it's cheaper.

65. Do you have a housekeeper?
Nope, just me, myself and I.

66. What style do you decorate in?
Don't really have a style.

67. Do you like solid colors in furniture or prints?
Solid.

68. Is there a smoke detector in your home?
Of course.

68. In case of fire, what are the items you would grab if you only could make one quick trip?
Other than my family, I would grab my CDs, because they have all my writing data on them.

69. Do you know how to work your electrical box?
No, I leave that to Hubby, because I don't like to mess with electricity.

70. What temperature in your home is most comfortable to you?
Around 70 no matter what the season. I like things to be cool.

That completes the MEME. I hope you enjoyed my answers. For future reference, friends: If you create Memes and tag other bloggers, please feel free to tag me anytime. It'll give me something to blog about when my mind's blank from all the writing, and I think they're fun. In fact, if I happen to come up with any of my own, I'll post them here for you to do. I won't tag anyone; I'll just post it here like Amanda did. I would love some writing-related Memes.

Finally, feel free to do this meme on your blog, and if you do, comment and let me know the URL so I can read yours too.

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