Directory Writing Workshops  

Writing Workshop: Time Management and Writing Goals

Dancing Word Writers Workshop

with Debra Kastner

September 24, 2000

Hosted by: Anne McDonald

Dancing Word Publisher/Editor

*This chat has been edited for clarity.

Tonight, we have with us Writers University instructor and author, Debra Kastner. She has some tips for us on time management (what is that?) Deb, Welcome! the floor is now yours.

Debra Kastner: Hello everyone. I'm glad to be here tonight. I'm speaking on one of my favorite subjects and that is developing and reaching your writing goals. I'm so passionate about the subject, I teach a class here at iUniverse.

First, a little bit about me, so you know I'm not some hermit with 24/7 to write. I'm married, with three girls. I homeschool all three. Enough said, for those who homeschool.

I also teach writing for iUniverse, run a homeschool board here, and write Christian romance novels for Harlequin's Steeple Hill Love Inspired.

I also have poor health--a very serious migraine condition that lays me out at least 6 days a month. Ugh.

Anyway, I was tired and frustrated, and decided to go to the Bible and find out what God said about time management. I'll share a little of what I found tonight.

What I want you to come away with is the desire to seek dynamic equilibrium--the balance that will allow you to pursue your calling to write. The basic premise is this--many people desire to "get somewhere," but fail to narrow down their "target," if you will. For the Christian writer, that "target" would be your writing, both in the broad and narrow sense.

Okay, so what I'm saying is, you'll never hit your target if you don't HAVE one. So you need to set goals for your writing...life, long term, and short term. Here are some thoughts on goals:

Make them SPECIFIC. The more, the better. You can more easily reach a goal you've defined well.

Make goals REALISTIC. Don't make goals that are out of your ability to reach--for example, saying you'll be published with Harlequin. That's a hope, a dream, but once that manuscript is gone, it's out of your hands. See what I mean?

On the same token, many writers shoot their arrows too short. Really work yourself for your dreams.

Make your goals PERSONAL. If it doesn't matter to you, it doesn't matter.

Finally, make your goals BIBLICAL. I know--every dream and goal doesn't come directly from Scripture, nor does the Bible speak on all subjects. But make sure you aren't going AGAINST the Holy Scriptures, and see what the Bible might have to say. Many people forget how relevant the Scriptures are to everyday life.

Okay (TAKING a  breath, here) Now I'd like to make a big jump and talk a little about how--practically--to reach for your dream. Sometimes the hardest part of reaching for a goal is to get started. Every day. So here are some hints I've learned--First, Know Where You're Going. This is where your goals are helpful. Sometimes if you can SEE the TARGET, it's easier to understand its importance, and give it "fair time." This is especially true of writing (which is very easily put off), and, at the risk of sounding sexist, of women. There is just TOO much to do, and I've seen it happen over and over, where a woman with excellent potential "loses" her vision.

Second, find yourself some Triggers. No, those aren't the bouncy, trouncy things with tails and stripes <G>.What gets you in the "mood" to write? Candles? Music? I know one woman who puts on Sousa--I'm not kidding you!

Another great example--I have a friend who was writing a story where the hero thinks of the heroine in "strawberry,"...Strawberry hair, strawberry scent, etc. So what did she do? Surrounded herself with strawberries--even shampoo! My favorite was her strawberry (literally) slippers. LOL!

Third, start thinking like you MEAN IT. Tell people you're a writer. Take writing classes. Read writing books, research books, etc. Buy business cards and put "Christian writer" or whatever under your name. They aren't that expensive, and they do the world for courage.

Also, go to conferences and rub elbows with other authors, as well as editors, agents, etc. MEAN IT.

And last but not least, reward yourself, frequently and liberally. Did you meet your page count for the day? Chocolate! Did you write ANYTHING on an especially painful day? Go out to dinner. And when you hit those milestones, really CELEBRATE. There are too little positive strokes in writing at home alone. I don't have much money, but there are other things to do...bubble baths, a long walk ALONE. You get what I'm saying? I hope these ideas will stimulate your thinking in this area, and that you truly will reach for your dreams. That said, I want to make a confession and tell you how I write.

It's not from 2-5 in the afternoon, if that's what you're thinking. Pretty much, I write whenever I get the chance. My computer is in the crook between my living room, dining room, and kitchen. Anyway, the computer is ALWAYS on. If I have a moment--and I mean a MOMENT--I'll sit down and write.

And I have a notebook and pen that travels with me wherever I go. I've developed the ability to always "be" in my story, so I CAN write when I have the time. At deadline, things sometimes change.

Fara: If I may add my ten cents here. I don't wait for the mood to want to write. I just write. Every day. Even if it kills me and I just write crap.

elizabeth: Ok - so - I keep reading and hearing that people should just write - mood or not - But I always wonder, what gets written in such "down" times, and what the value of it is?

Debra Kastner: It's much harder to create than to edit, Liz. Fara's "crap" is a good word for it, sometimes. But in the long haul, it's your book. You just keep living through your characters, the bad with the good. It is the people who write no matter the mood that write "The End."

denverone: Stephen King has a new book called On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Has tips on writing. There is an article in USA Today (today) just for everyone's information.

Debra Kastner: And to get the darn book done, Annie.

elizabeth: True - just went through a horrendous week - didn't write a thing - then decided that maybe the journaling counts as writing!

Debra Kastner: Journaling counts as writing...but it depends on where your vision is as to how much it counts, lol!

Fara: I think the difference between a serious and not so serious writer is the discipline to develop the writer's muscle by writing regularly, even when you don't feel like it.

Debra Kastner: Absolutely. And read them regularly. CHANGE them if need be.

Jane: Do you have a little notebook that you write your goals in?

Debra Kastner: Yes. Along with my daily schedule and appts.

Debra Kastner: Yep. If I didn't, I'd NEVER be where I was supposed to. Migraines make the brain cloudy.

elizabeth: Are you talking about general goals for a book or idea - or daily quota type goals?

Debra Kastner: Both, and more. I set out goals for my writing career, each book, and each month/week/day.

Marcia: Deb, could you tell us a little about the classes you teach at iU?(or is that not to be included in this topic?)

Debra Kastner: Sure. I have Write on Target, which of course is much more in depth than this material tonight. Then I have Christian Fiction, Christian Nonfiction, and Adding Depth and Texture to your Novel. I'm glad to talk about them! Students use their own Work in Progress in my classes.

Idjut: Adding Depth and Texture sounds interesting

Debra Kastner: Id, it's a hodgepodge of techniques. My students have given me great feedback.

Fara: Deb, do you work from an outline or are you the digger kind of writer who digs out the story as it goes along?

Debra Kastner: I have to write a synopsis for my editor, but it never turns out that way. My characters always take over.

Idjut: Do you use character sketches? I found a great outline for character sketches on the web and found it a great tool. groan--too many "greats" and "founds" in that question.

Debra Kastner: No, I don't. This is going to sound really odd, but my books start when my characters "introduce themselves." They already come with names, backgrounds, looks, etc. Don't ask me how...I don't want to know!

Debra Kastner: Okay--what do you want to know?

Debra Kastner: I usually have some vague "meeting scene." (I write romance, remember). Something funny, usually. Then I just wait, and my subconscious produces the hero and heroine who will "work" for that scene.

elizabeth: Mine are all people I know - with literary cosmetic surgery! lol!

Jane: My latest character came to me just as I was getting into bed one night. He wouldn't stop talking until I got up and started to write.

Jane: That was "the Marshal," Annie!

Jane: lol

Fara: My characters scratch at my brain. I'll be writing a scene and one will enter and I'll wonder, 'hmmn, who is this now?'

denverone: My story was a little different. I was able to find most of them in a book tilted The History of The Presbyterian Church Of Trenton, written in 1859. It was very convenient.

Idjut: I have a vision of the character. I have done a little romance too, Deb. A lot of my stuff is my own personal experience, so I know the character well, but with fiction I just have a visual, and the character grows from there. What I liked about the character sketch tool was the questions it asked.

Idjut: It asks how a character reacts under different circumstances, how they walk, talk, move. It asks about nervous habits, how other see them, how they deal with stress, happiness, etc. I can always refer back to the sketch to make sure I am consistent. The sketch does not teach me how to type though---smile.

Jane: Idjut, where is this character sketch?

kitane: http://www.eclectics.com/articles/character.html

Idjut: THAT'S IT!! That's the one, Kit. Thanks.

Marcia: Thanks, Kitane.

Jane: Good idea Annie, never thought about that!

Fara: Sometimes I will see a person or photo and think that this person looks like such and such a character.

Fara: Deb, how many books have you published?

Debra Kastner: Fara, my sixth will be out in June 2001 (I have one out NOW), and then I'm negotiating my next 3.

Fara: Do you have an agent?

Debra Kastner: Yes, I have a NY agent.

Debra Kastner: Depends on where you're going with your career. You don't need one in the CBA, though they are becoming more popular. Honestly, I think it's mostly personal preference

Jane: CBA?

Jane: Thanks, Annie.

Fara: Deb, what is your writing name?

Debra Kastner: Deb Kastner.

Marcia: Deb, how many stories did you write before one was published?

Debra Kastner: I sold my first, Marcia.

Marcia: I read it. But don't think it was Steeple Hill, was it?

Debra Kastner: Beloved was with Palisades

Fara: Deb, when my book was first bought, I was seized with fear and found it so hard to write for a good month.

Debra Kastner: I get that way after EVERY book.

Fara: Have you ever experience that? I was more cocky before the contract.

Debra Kastner: It's that "can I do it again?" syndrome. My hubby laughs at me. Because it truly is a miracle, to write a book, I think.

Fara: Thank you. It is so very good to hear another writer say that. I get paranoid, thinking the publisher will tell me he suddenly hates my work, and things like that.

Debra Kastner: My agent slaps me when I start second guessing the publisher.

Fara: I always feel like I've "finished" and now what? Although all I write is articles and short stories.

Jane: I think that you could look at each new book and think like it's your very first?

Jane: You always seem to put more into a new story, so why not look at like it IS your first!

Fara:Oh, but I wrote some really bad first books. :)

Jane: But you got better.

Fara: I hope so, Jane. When I read them now, I laugh.

Debra Kastner: With later books, you have to live up to your first books. That stresses me.

Jane: lol

Fara: I think romance writing must be very challenging. I would think it's hard to be original. What do you think?

Debra Kastner: Actually, Fara, it's not as hard as one would think. After all, there are only so many plots in the world. It's the characters that make them different.

Fara: Good point. I'm a horror writer, and ignorant of the romance genre.

Jane: How do you concentrate on ONE story, when other interesting ideas come along and don't want to be shut off?

Debra Kastner: Oh, Jane....lololol! This is SUCH a struggle. You simply HAVE to finish that other project, knowing that new shiny project will eventually feel the same way...the grass is always greener, and all that <G>.

Jane: lol

Jane: Sometimes it is so difficult to put a character aside.

Jane: No, he still talks to me.

Jane: LOL

Fara: Jane, I usually have 2 or 3 books on the go at once. I like the diversity. But I do tune out the ideas or write them down for a later time until I finish ALL my current projects.

Jane: But don't you sometimes get them mixed up?

Fara: No, Jane, I keep good notes. And somehow, I just remember key facts.

Jane: True, Annie

Debra Kastner: Just keep working. That's the main thing--striving toward your dreams.

Fara: Thank you, Deb. You've been very informative and friendly.

kitane: Thank you for speaking with us, Deb

Marcia: Thanks, Deb. It's been a pleasure.

Father, thank You for Your gift of time this evening. Be with everyone as they go their separate ways. Bless Deb and her family. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Dancing Word Workshops Is A Production Of

Dancing Word Writers Network

 www.dancingword.net

Debra Kastner

Click cover to purchase book