Wednesday, January 7, 2015

#IWSG - My mantra for 2015 and beyond....


Welcome 2015 and to the first 2015 
post of the Insecure Writer's Support Group! 

The awesome co-hosts for the January 7 posting of the #IWSG will be Elizabeth Seckman, Lisa Buie-Collard,Chrys Fey, andMichelle Wallace!

I am a bit late to the party with Alex's request to share a little about ourselves. So here I go...

  • I have a fraternal twin sister and my next children's book is about our first day of kindergarten. 
  • I am a terrific cheerleader for other writer's but when it comes to my work, not so much.
  • I just started a new job with The Salvation Army ~ amazing place to work and it's only ten minutes from home. 



I have always been a planner by nature and I've come to discover I'm allowing myself to be stuck in the planning and not forging forward with my writing. I'm working hard at breaking this "old and bad habit" by staying true to my dreams and focusing on my writing before email, book promotion and social media networking, etc.

How about you, what are you doing daily to achieve your writing dreams?

Wishing you an inspirational and productive 2015!

Interested in staying up to date of my writing world and special offers, join 506 parents, teachers, and publishing colleagues and receive two FREE e-Books... "The Story Behind the Book" and "Marketing Tips e-Book"...
iContact Email Marketing You Can Trust ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Best wishes,
Donna M. McDine
Multi Award-winning Children's Author


Ignite curiosity in your child through reading!

Connect with

A Sandy Grave ~ January 2014 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2014 Purple Dragonfly 1st Place Picture Books 6+, Story Monster Approved, Beach Book Festival Honorable Mention 2014, Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

Powder Monkey ~ May 2013 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ Story Monster Approved and Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

Hockey Agony ~ January 2013 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ Story Monster Approved and Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

The Golden Pathway ~ August 2010 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc.
~ Literary Classics Silver Award and Seal of Approval, Readers Favorite 2012 International Book Awards Honorable Mention and Dan Poynter's Global e-Book Awards Finalist

24 comments:

  1. Hi Donna, Happy New Year and good luck with your writing plans. I'm a bit of a planner too and often have to tell myself "just stop and write!" So far this year I'm making myself a day by day time table (although it hasn't worked so well today as the blitz on my 5 year old's bedroom took longer than planned). However, now I've said hello to you I'm off to write for a while. Angie :)

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    1. Hi Angie, hope you got to your writing today. I started a new full time job this week and I'm in the process of reorganizing my schedule to get writing done and networking! Happy New Year! Best, Donna

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  2. I think that's me. I tend to plan and outline to death. Hopefully we can both kick that habit.

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    1. Alex, Here's to kicking the habit! Yippee! Happy New Year! Best, Donna

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  3. I actually do a lot of emailing, promoting, and social media networking for my writing career. ;) Writers have to do a lot of that these days, unfortunately. I have to set aside time during the day to work on writing or editing so I can reach my goals.

    I hope you have a very productive year of writing! :)

    IWSG Co-host

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    1. Hi Chrys, yep it's a necessary "evil" and I know I do the social networking much better when I get my writing done first. Happy New Year and best wishes for your continued success! Best, Donna

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  4. I have discovered I CANNOT jump on Facebook or Pinterest or email until AFTER I work on my WIP. Suddenly the day is gone and I haven't even edited a chapter or opened a fresh clean page to write. Back at ya' for a productive new year of writing! Thank you.

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    1. Hi J Q, I'm right there with you. I know if I don't work on my writing first it's a lost cause! Best wishes for a wonderful and successful writing year! Best, Donna

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  5. It's so easy sometimes to get distracted from our writing by blogs and email and family. I catch myself, like now when I'm supposed to be working on my story, checking blogs and emails instead. One of my goals this year is to write first, let other distractions wait. Looks like I need to work on it. :)

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    1. Hi Bev, I will be cheering you on through cyberspace in hopes we both stay with our writing first! Happy New Year! Best, Donna

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  6. Well said, Donna! This is so true for me as well. I am going to save this saying as the background on my computer for motivation. Good luck with your writing. I am going to do the same and try to write first as well.

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    1. Hi Karin, good for you. Now that we are back from our holiday break from critiquing let's get the creative juices flowing. Happy New Year! Best, Donna

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  7. Oh Donna, I am totally right there with you. It can be so easy to get caught up in the networking and "run out of time" to write for the day. :( I block out weekends to help me meet my writing goals and so far, that's how I managed to finish my latest novel in a few short months.

    Congrats on the new job at the Salvation Army! I donate there every year. Bless your heart for helping those in need!

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    1. Woo hoo...carving out the time on the weekends. That's what I'll be doing too! Thanks for your lovely congrats note! Have a great weekend! Best, donna

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  8. Social networking is important to build your author platform, but if you're not careful, it can be such a time-suck!
    If you can balance writing/editing/networking then you're on your way.
    I donate to the Salvation Army in our area. A wonderful organisation!
    Thank you for visiting my blog on IWSG day.

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    1. Delighted to visit your blog on #IWSG day! Thanks for visiting me too! Thanks for the Salvation Army mention, much appreciated! Best, Donna

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  9. it's hard to balance all that, plus home life and still have time to write! great goal! happy 2015!

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  10. I started keeping a writing journal where I can log in how many words I get done and how many blogs I visit- just to remind myself that I am getting some stuff done. Love the meme- couldn't agree more!

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  11. A book about the first day of kindergarten sounds like a great one for small kids. What a great way to prepare them for school.

    Often I tend to wander aimlessly until I stumble on something. Sometimes it works really well, but I probably waste a lot of time as well.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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    1. Thanks for dropping by Arlee! I appreciate your support!

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  12. I'm the same way... I'm so much better at promoting others than myself. I'm working on it. Hope your 2015 started off well. I'm just now getting around to January IWSG posts, but I hope to be more on top of the February responding. :-)

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    1. Thanks for dropping by Tia. Life is hectic glad you had a chance to stop by. 2015 started off well here, hope yours did too!

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