Reflections Of The Past Year

     Hey fellow writers!  I have some great news to share with all of you!  2011 has been my best writing year ever thanks to the tips that Suzanne Lieurance offered last year.

Last January, I was very confused about my writing goals. I was an aspiring children’s writer with no publication credits.

After attending Suzanne Lieurance’s first Teleworkshop of the year on goal setting, I worked very hard to come up with my three major writing goals for the year. At first, I brainstormed about six goals. But after thinking and much refining in the first quarter of the year, I chose three of these six goals to start off with.

By the beginning of March, I became focused and was taking small steps every day to accomplish my three main goals. I wrote my three main goals down on a sheet of paper and tacked it on the wall in front of my computer where I wrote every day. I completed one small activity towards each of my three goals every day. This process brought me closer to completing my three main goals every day. The strange thing is I only spent half an hour a day on each of my three goals.

The end result was nothing short of miraculous. By the end of the year, I wrote two Nonfiction books, which are currently out to publishers, and I published eight nonfiction articles for teens and tweens in magazines. I went from an unpublished children’s author to a published one all in one year! 

And you can do it too by being part of Suzanne Lieurance’s Working Writers Club.

If you’re interested in joining, please visit, http://www.workingwritersclub.com/ Just mention that Irene Roth sent you. 

Don’t wait.  Make 2012 YOUR best and most productive year ever!

Irene S. Roth, MA

Keep Tracking Your Progress

     As a writer, it is important for all of you to track your progress. Unless you do so, you won’t know if you are accomplishing your goals.

     After reading one of Suzanne Lieurance’s Morning Nudge’s last week, I discovered one very effective way to keep on track my progress.  She mentioned that writers should write down their three main goals on a sheet of paper across the top of the page. You could even create this chart in a spiral notebook. Then divide the page into three vertical sections. Then list your three goals across the top of the page. Put today’s date on the extreme left side and list the activities you will perform each day to fulfill these three goals.

     Here is a visual representation of what I mean.

Goal 1:  Become a published book author
Goal 2:  Become a published magazine author
Goal 3:  Make money from website by creating courses and workshops for writers

__________________________________________________________________________________

Date                                  Goal 1:                              Goal 2:                                   Goal 3:

________________________________________________________________________

January 2^nd               

January 3^rd               

January 4^th                

January 5^th                

January 6^th                  

As you can see, this is a doable schedule. All writers can schedule their writing this way and be very successful.

Try it!

Irene S. Roth, MA

Freelance Writer for Teens and Tweens

NaNo Ends for another year

How did you guys do? It is two hours away from December 1st, and I must say I am very proud of myself. I did complete another novel manuscript!

It was cool and dark outside but light and productive inside my office surrounded by my three large 100 volt table lamps. And it was as productive as it was shiny too.

Now I’ll set aside the novel for a few days and start redrafting it. I hope to get that done by end of December.

~ Irene S. Roth, MA

Freelance Writer for Teens and Tweens

Book Review of A Wonderful and Inspiring Book For Writers

Seizing Opportunities That Propel Your Forward
By: Charlotte Denise Sutton

It’s been a while since I enjoyed an E-book to this degree. I found Charlotte Denise Sutton’s book motivating, inspiring, and full of wisdom and tidbits that all writers can take with them to bring their writing career to the next level.

New opportunities are thrown our way daily. But we must recognize them as opportunities and actually do something to bring them about. Opportunities are any situation that allows a person to prosper or become much more effective than before. Most of us lack opportunity because we don’t recognize an opportunity, and we don’t actually know what we want. On the flip side of things, we may recognize the wrong opportunity. That is just as bad as not recognizing an opportunity at all.

Before an individual can look for the opportunities around, however, she must know what she wants to accomplish in life. In other words, the person must have goals and must be trying to pursue them. Thus, to grasp the opportunities that are around us, we must be prepared for the opportunity. Charlotte believes that this can take time and effort. How far we go depends on how well we plan.

In addition, we must also stop comparing ourselves to others. This is such a big problem for writers. We are always comparing ourselves to others and it seems we’re in competition with writers we don’t even know. This can make us feel awful about ourselves and it can put a damper on our writing career.

Further, we must treasure our time, and not waste it answering email when we’re supposed to be writing or putting off a real opportunity because we feel pressed or rushed. Instead, we must realize that time cannot be stored for later use. Once time is gone, it can never be regained or brought back. In other words, there is only one thing we can never have more of time.

Charlotte’s inspiring E-book will be helpful to all writers who want to succeed but who are not courageous enough to take full advantage of the many daily opportunities that come their way. This can make or break writers of all vintages.

Rating: 5 stars

Reviewed by: Irene S. Roth

NaNoWriMo Starts

I love the month of November. It gives me a chance to hibernate more and to write without distractions. Every November for five years now, I have participated in the NaNo Challenge. For those of you who don’t know what the NaNo challenge is, it is to write a 50,000 word novel in a month.

The first year I participated in the challenge, I was a bit lost. I fell behind a few times on my word count. I got distracted, and did too many other things. So, you guess it—I was unsuccessful. But the next year, I wizened-up. I kept focused. And from then, I’m proud to say that I completed a draft of a novel each year for the past four years. So, I am hoping I will be able to produce a draft of one more completed novel this year. I will keep you posted.

And, I’m ready for another NaNo challenge. I have laid in the food supply and office supplies to have a productive month. I plan to write one and a half hours a day for 30 days to complete my novel. By then, I’ll be finished my novel and I can spend December redrafting the manuscript. There is no better, more positive way, of ending the year for a writer.

So, grab that hot chocolate or java and join me on this challenge.

Good luck. Keep those fingers tapping on the keyboard!

~ Irene S. Roth, MA

How to Become a Freelance Writer: Interview with Suzanne Lieurance, the Working Writer’s Coach

Ready to start a freelance writing business but you don’t know how?

Have you been looking online for someone or something that will help you?

Then find out more about the Working Writer’s Club in this interview with the club’s founder and president, Suzanne Lieurance, the Working Writer’s Coach.

The Working Writer’s Club might be just what you’re searching for!

Q: Suzanne, as the founder and director of the Working Writer’s Club what is the first thing you would like people to know when visiting www.workingwritersclub.com?

A: I’d like visitors to know that our club is all about helping freelance writers learn to write better, make more money, and live the writer’s life they’ve always dreamed of living.

Q: Having created your own successful freelance writing career you know what it takes to build momentum. What is one of the most critical steps a writer needs to take consistently to develop their own freelance writing career?

A: The most critical step is to develop your goals – you have to KNOW what you want before you can figure out HOW to get there. Yet, this is the one thing that so many new writers don’t take the time to do – or at least they don’t take enough time to do it well. They may think that “write a novel this year” is a goal. But actually, I think of a goal as something even BIGGER than that. Writing a novel is an action step toward a goal rather than a goal itself. To get to the goal, consider WHY do you want to write a novel? What do you want this novel to do for you or your career? Your answer to that question is closer to your goal (or at least one of your major goals).

Q: What advice would you give to a newbie in freelance writing? And the intermediate freelance writer that has seen some success, but seems to be in a holding pattern at the moment?

A: Whether you’re a newbie or an intermediate freelance writer – or even a very experienced, successful writer – continue to learn from other successful writers.

Join our club or another organization for writers. Then take an active part in whatever group you join. Next, develop a focus for your writing and create no more than 3 major writing/career goals for yourself that you hope to attain within the next 12 months.

Also, constantly evaluate what you’re doing to see if it’s getting you closer to your goals. If it isn’t, then change what you’re doing.

Q: By becoming a member of the Working Writer’s Club what can a freelancer expect?

A: Well, for one thing, you can expect us to help you create a focus for your writing career or your writing business. And, we can help you create no more than 3 major goals – so you’ll get really, really clear about WHAT you want, WHERE you’re wanting to go, and then we’ll help you stay focused so you take the steps to attain your goals and build your writing career and/or your writing business.

Q: With the wealth of freelance writing information available on the Internet what makes the Working Writer’s Club unique?

A: I think the one thing that makes the Working Writer’s Club unique is that we’re not out to get you into our club so we can sell you a bunch of other high priced programs or products. We just want people who love to write and want to build a business or a career around writing to join our club and make use of all the resources, information, training, networking and support they’ll receive for just $9.99 per month. I think another unique thing about the Working Writer’s Club is that we all genuinely have fun helping each other be more successful.

Visit the Working Writer’s Club www.workingwritersclub.com  today and explore all they have to offer.

Thank you for your time. We look forward to your visit.

Creativing and Noise: A Dilemma for Introverted Writers

Many writers don’t have the luxury to write in an ideal environment. Writers are busy people, and there are many different aspects of their lives only one of which is writing. What conditions do writers need to write?

Most writers have different preferences about their most ideal environment. These preferences depend on their personality type more than on anything else. If writers are introverts, they’ll probably want to work in total quiet. Most writers prefer to be alone at home and they don’t want anyone coming into their office when they are hard at work.

There are other writers, however, who don’t mind if there is some noise in the house or even in their office. Such writers may have kids playing and carrying on in the rec room or living room and they have no difficulty whatsoever focusing on their writing. They are usually known as introverted extroverts. Then there are the rare writers who can write anywhere with any level of noise. These writers are usually regarded as complete extroverts in that they can cope with noise and not be bothered by it at all.

Thus, one of the first things writers should do when determining their ideal writing environment is to determine whether they need solitude when they write. If writers don’t know if they are pure extroverts or introverts, the best way to find out is to try working in a totally quiet environment and then going to their local coffee shop and see if they could write there as easily. This will give writers the necessary information for them to create the ideal working environment.

In conclusion, extroverts can deal with interruptions more easily than introverts. This is because introverts are much more sensitive to noise and interruptions. Many writers are introverts. This means that they are bothered by outside distractions much more than extroverts. Are you an introvert or extrovert?

Irene S. Roth, MA.
Freelance Writer for Teens and Tweens

The Five Golden Rules of Goal Setting

Did you ever think of where you’d like to be in your writing career in five years? Are you clear about what your main writing objective is currently? Do you know what you want to achieve by the end of the day?

If you want to succeed as a writer, you need to set precise goals. Without goals you will lack focus and direction in your writing. You will be distracted and there will be no rhyme or reason to what you are setting out to accomplish every day. Goal setting allows you to take control of the direction of your writing. It also gives you a benchmark for determining whether or not you’re succeeding at accomplishing your tasks.

To accomplish your goals, you need to know how to set them over the long-term, short-term and weekly. You can’t simply be wishing that you accomplish a particular goal without actually planning to do it and then doing it. Goal setting is a process that starts with careful consideration of what you want to achieve, and ends with a lot of hard work to actually accomplish your goal. In between these two levels of goal setting there are some well-defined steps that transcend the specifics of each goal. Knowing these steps will allow you to successfully accomplish your goals.

Here are five golden rules of goal setting.

1. Set motivating writing goals

When you’re determining your long-term goals, choose ones that excite you. If you don’t, you probably won’t be motivated to accomplish your writing goals. Also, pay attention to how you feel about your goals. If you feel unsure about your writing goals, you’ll probably not achieve them.

2. Set specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time bound writing goals

When you set your goals make sure that they are specific, clear, and well-defined. Second, make sure your goals have precise dates of completion so you could measure your degree of success at any particular time. Third, ensure your goals are not out of line with your timelines and talents. Nothing will tear down self-confidence faster than setting goals you know you can’t achieve. Lastly, make sure your goals will move you in the right direction to achieve your long-term goals

3. Write your goals down

The act of writing down your goal makes it much more real and tangible. Psychologists say that once you write a goal down, you take the goal much more seriously than if you didn’t write it down and simply thought about it. By writing your goals down, you won’t forget them either.

4. Create an Action Plan for each week

Often you may avoid creating an Action Plan because you think it’s a waste of time. It is essential you not to be so focused on the outcome of your goals that you forget to plan the necessary steps to take each week to complete your short-term and long-term goals. Also, by writing down each of these steps, and crossing them off as they’re accomplished, you’ll feel inspired.

5. Stick to your plan once you write it down

In order to achieve your plan, you may have to build in reminders to keep you on track. Review your goals often to remind yourself to stick to them. Stick to your action plan and to your goals in order to be a successful writer. Unless you stick to your plan, you won’t be successful.

Goal setting consists of more than just telling yourself you should accomplish a goal such as writing a book or article. You actually have to plan to achieve your goals. Unless you write down your goals and are determined to succeed, you probably won’t accomplish most of your writing tasks, frustrating yourself even more as a writer. So, envision your long-term goals, plan your short-term goals and accomplish your fluctuating weekly goals in your Action Plan to be a successful writer.

By: Irene S. Roth
Freelance Writer, Teacher, Reviewer, and Interviewer

A short Guide to Effective Public Speaking

Many speakers feel that delivering an effective presentation to 20 or 200 people can be difficult. Listeners have better access to information, and many times speakers feel like they are being tested and criticized as they present their material. Thus, listeners expect more content from their speakers today. In addition, because of the entertainment frenzy in the media, audiences want a presentation with animation, humour and pizzaz.

If you’re a beginner speaker or an experienced one, you may be struggling with crippling fear because of how you perceive the audience will receive your message. Here are a few tips to help dispel some of your fears.

1. Start your presentation with something that will grab the audience’s attention. This can be a startling statement or question. Listeners will pay closer attention.

2. Be energetic in your delivery. Speak with different tones. Slow down for dramatic emphasis and speed up to show excitement. Pause occasionally for effect. Also, don’t just stand behind the lectern but move around the room.

3. Tie points together with effective transitions. These could be signposts such as first, second, or finally. Or, it can be an internal summary of what you would like to present.

4. Look directly at the audience when you speak. If it’s a small audience, you can look at each person in a short period of time. If it is a large group, look at the audience in small clumps and move from one clump to another.

5. Include a ‘wow’ factor in your speech. It could be a story, a dramatic point, an unusual statistic, or an effective visual. With a “Wow” factor, you will have something to look forward to in your speech which will impact your audience.

6. Consider using humour in your presentation. This doesn’t mean that you have to be a comedian. But it means that you should add a short humorous story about yourself or someone else to add emphasis at some point in the presentation.

7. Leave the audience with something to think about. There is nothing better than to have an audience that will stick around and talk to you and each other at the end of a presentation.

By following these tips, you could be an effective speaker, and look forward to your next speaking engagement. Just remember, you always know more than your audience because they have absolutely no idea exactly what you will be talking about. That’s a reason to hold your head up high and smile.

Irene S. Roth

The Perils of Redundancy

Redundancies can make your manuscripts look amateurish and unprofessional. Yet many writers will write with redundancies from time to time if they are not careful and don’t edit their manuscripts carefully. A moment’s inattention to detail will do it.

Redundancy can cause wordiness and a lack of economy in your articles. To be a professional writer, you don’t want to waste your reader’s time by using too many words that either say very little or repeat themselves over and over.

Here are a few reasons why you should avoid redundancy in your manuscripts.

1. The flow will be hindered. When you’re redundant, you will repeat words, phrases, and sometimes whole sentences throughout your article. This hinders flow. In addition, the logic of presenting your topic will also be hindered by repetitions. Therefore, it is important to weed out redundancies from your articles.

2. The article will be clunky. Clunky writing has passive verbs, unnecessary strings of prepositional phrases, run-on sentences, repeat words in close proximity, and repeated words in the same paragraph. There is nothing that screams unpolished and amateur more than clunky articles. So, try to write your articles with the least amount of words and convey your points clearly and economically.

3. Your credibility as a writer may be undermined.  Redundancy in your article says volumes about your ability and professionalism as a writer. When you’re redundant, you are telling the editor or agent that you don’t take extreme care to edit your own work. This will definitely ruin your reputation with publishers.

By avoiding clunky, flowless, and redundant articles, you will be helping yourself by looking like a professional writer when you submit your articles. And you may even be get a lot more acceptances from Editors and Agents.

Irene S. Roth