Guest Post & Giveaway: Priscilla the Great by Sybil Nelson

First off the guest post with Sybil Nelson!!

When I’m not writing

Considering I have two small children, a husband, and I’m currently working on my PhD in Biostatistics, I actually have a lot to do when I’m not writing. I also have to factor in my couponing obsession (which by the way takes more time than you think, but is totally worth it because I save hundreds of dollars each month.) Anyway, I think the better question is: when do I find time to write? Writing is my passion. It’s something I have to do because I just have too many ideas in my head. To date, I’ve completed ten full novels. Only three are published. Two under my pen name Leslie DuBois. Plus I have a collection of short stories about Priscilla’s twin brother called Twin Shorts. All are available at Amazon.

Before starting my PhD program this year, I was a full-time math teacher and a part time master’s student. How in the world did I find time to write ten books over the past five years? Well, I thought I’d share a few of my tricks that allow me to carve away precious time to commit to my dream.

First of all, I’m a notebook addict. I always have one in arms reach. Whenever I have an idea for a book, or a chapter, or a character, or whatever I’m sure to write it down. In order to stay organized with my notebooks, I carry two with me in my purse: one for my current project and one for all my other random ideas. Then when I get a few minutes in front of a computer, I whip out my notebook and type out that chapter or that character sketch. So, I highly recommend a notebook addiction.

Once you have a notebook system, (and it really does have to be a system. Otherwise, you’ll end up with fourteen different notebooks in fifteen different places and you’ll have no idea what’s going on.) take advantage of any and every opportunity to write. For example, when I take my children to the playground, I also take my notebook. After I play with them for a little while, I sit down on the bench, take out my notebook and write. While I’m sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, take out my notebook and write. I also take out my notebook and write while waiting in line for my latte, sitting in the passenger seat during a car ride, and waiting for my five-year-old to find her shoes so we could leave the house. Hey, I’ve been known to whip out my notebook and jot something down while waiting to flip the bacon at breakfast! Whether it’s twenty seconds or twenty minutes, everything counts and adds to that scene I’m working on.

Next comes that invaluable time I actually get alone with my laptop. For me, this comes when my children are asleep. If I’m home when they take an hour and a half nap, well that’s an hour and a half I have to write. Then at night, after they go to sleep, that’s when I get to break out the computer and type till I can’t type no more. By that time, I have so many ideas in my notebook, that I’m literally overflowing with words and I usually have to force myself to go to bed for the night or put the writing away in order to work on my grad school homework.

Schedules and deadlines also play an important role when you have many things to juggle. Each day I write a to-do list of what I need to accomplish whether it be school related, home related, or writing related. I set mini goals for myself in each area so that I don’t get behind. In writing, I have a daily goal of 1000 typed words. If I have extra time one day, I’ll go over that limit. But if I’m strapped for time, I make sure I stop at 1000 and move on to something else I need to accomplish. Right now since I’m in promoting mode, I’ve relaxed the word count goal in exchange for a daily marketing goal.

Writing is my passion and my dream. If you feel the same way, you have to make sure you give it a place in your life. You have to nurture it and let it grow just like you would any relationship. If you neglect it, it will shrivel up and die like an unwatered plant or just drift out of your life like that boyfriend from sophomore year whose name you can’t even remember. At one point that plant or that boyfriend was probably really important to you. But it’s so easy for other things to get in the way. If you really love it (writing…not that boyfriend) you will find away to give it the attention it deserves.


Ok now the giveaway details:

Also, Sybil is giving away one big prize pack, and entries are from the comments on the tour posts:

Win a Priscilla the Great Prize Pack!
Prize Pack includes:

1 signed Priscilla the Great book,
1 Priscilla the Great t-shirt,
1 Priscilla the Great totebag,
and a $15 iTunes gift card!

That's over a $50 value! All you have to do is comment on one of the posts during her blog tour March 14th to April 8th and you're automatically entered!