Yesterday I headed to the gym to run on the treadmill. While I was there, I learned it was an advantage to know your process. I went to the gym, not because I hate running in the rain, I kind of like it actually. But I didn’t think I’d want to run in the rain AND THEN go back out and play ball IN THE RAIN with the dog. Plus, I may have wanted a strawberry smoothie with flax afterwards.

But, I digress.

As you may have heard me mention in the past, running on the treadmill is not ideal for me. Why?

1. I get bored.
2. I spend a large amount of my run trying to convince myself not to get off earlier than I should.
3. I get a strawberry smoothie with flax afterwards. Yum! But let’s be honest, it’s not a lunch replacement.

Know your process. Running outside combats these three treadmill challenges rather nicely.

1. Lots to see–nature and wildlife–never bored.
2. If I run out as far as I can, I still have to come back. No one is going to give me a lift back home. I’ll get there quicker if I just run it out.
3. After running, I’m way too lazy to make a smoothie. And the dog isn’t going to wait for more than a shower and pouring a cup of coffee to go out and play ball.

So, in general I’m aware of what works for me–I know my process. But sometimes, even when I know what’s good for me, I end up on the treadmill, despite my best intentions. As I listened to music I could barely hear in my broken headphones (asking for new ones for my birthday) while watching the really bizarre closed captioning that used to be so much better when humans did things, I realized that it helped to know my  process in a different way. Or maybe the best way to phrase it is I needed to create a process for the situation I couldn’t avoid.

As I pushed myself through my treadmill run, I pictured my favorite outdoor run route–the one that I do so often I no longer need to hear a voice in my ears telling what mile I’m at. Envisioning this was helpful to me. Instead of selling myself on the benefits of getting off the treadmill, I over layed my outdoor run process, on top of the treadmill run I was struggling with. I knew When I hit the one mile mark I knew I’d only gotten to the top of the very first hill and quite honestly, I’ve never in my life run that route and turned around at that point. Or the two mile mark for that matter. Why would I do it now? There was no reason to stop running.

I made it to 6.3 miles by knowing my successful outdoor process and using it to inform my treadmill process. Hey–whatever gets it done, right?

Additionally, part of my process when I’m running outside is to think. I realized I could still do that if I stopped some of the noise pollution around me, like the Live with Kelly and Michael Show subtitles which looked something like this…

Kelly: That tat two back is Adam Levine.

Michael: 6 mthdsa….hurt…xdhxdnl

Kelly: Never had–

Michael: Pain…

Kelly: Yeah, Buddy–childbirth! yahdl.,,sxsss

You get the picture. Or maybe you don’t. Instead of trying to follow the Adam Levine, tattoo, childbirth indecipherable subtitled conversation, I started planning this blog post. And the more I thought about my running process, the more I also thought about my writing process. How could I carry over the idea of…know your process…from one activity to another.

Here’s the facts. I’ve heard hundreds of authors, more experienced than me, talk about how every book is hard in it’s own way. I believe that.

We all struggle at some point–or at many points in the journey.

But I also think that if you know your process–your writing process–you have a template you can use to help get you through any manuscript. It’s all about being aware of your mile markers. Do you struggle with getting started? Do middles make you mad? Is the wrap-up your biggest hurdle? Is character development killing you? Or maybe the plot fairy never shows up to your house. Knowing what obstacles make you want to get off the writing treadmill isn’t a quick fix for your speed bumps, you’ll have to put in the work in the area that challenges you, but it is still helpful. The more you know about where you get stuck, why you get stuck and how you got unstuck in the past–the more likely you are to keep pushing through the miles of drafting and revision you have ahead of you–no matter how much they make you feel like a turkey on a treadmill…

Do you know your process? How does it help you through the tough spots? Is your process always evolving? How does it change with each manuscript you write? Any runners in the house? Treadmill or open road? And by the way, who likes strawberry smoothies????

Tags: Adam Levine, drafting, Kelly and Michael, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Know Your Process, revising, running, strawberry smoothie, treadmill, writing

Comments

Hello Friday! What took you so long to get here??? Even though this week seemed endless, with very little sleep, it also simultaneously sped by at the speed of light. Yup. That’s exactly how it happened. Trust me. I’m feeling the need to recap, mash things up and write in bullets today. It may be the lack of sleep thing. Just go with it.

*Don’t forget you still have time to support a great film…PROMISE LAND…and earn yourself one of five signed copies of TOUCHING THE SURFACE or a 10 page ms critique from me. GO HERE!!!!

*The winner of the caption contest is….

At 11:02 am A.N.Remtulla said:

Your mouse? I eated it.

I’m still chuckling about that one. <3 Beans loves a good mousey. Reeces on the other hand loves a good hair elastic. Cat diversity.

*I’ll be at BEA on Friday May 31st!!!! I’ll be having lunch with my spectacular agent and hunting down ARCs with my roomie from last year, Lisa Lueddecke. <3 It’s our friendship’s one year anniversary!!! I’m also hoping to finally see Rachel Simmons in person. We just miss each other every where we go. LOL! I’m also going to miss my girl, Grace Smith who made me smile every time I saw her last year. 🙁 Hoping to see a bunch of people who I connected with last year and of course make some new face to face friends. If you see me, don’t let me pass you by–I’m a little bit of a spaz when it comes to remembering names of cyber friends and then attaching them to real live people. HELP ME OUT!!!!

*On June 2nd I’ll be participating in the Chronogram Kids & Family Fun Day. When I have more information on the author panel, I’ll let you know.

*Interesting observation: I’ve been cleaning and prepping the house for sale and I’ve been writing and revising. One of those things burns a lot more calories than the other. Damn.

*On June 12th I’ll be a guest speaker at the Orange County Librarians Dinner. I’m super stoked about that!!!! Watch out Orange County Librarians, I’m giddy with excitement about hanging with you.

*And I’ll leave you with my very entertaining Goodreads review of…

“I’ll be honest. My boys and I LOVE Roald Dahl books. All of them. Rather than review this book in my predictably gushy manner, I thought I would tell you a funny story that happened during our nightly reading sessions…

For those unfamiliar with the story, a grandmother is instructing her grandson on the multiple ways one might recognize a witch in disguise. While giving this info to my eight year old, he checked me over to confirm that I was indeed, not a witch. When he heard they wore itchy wigs, he checked my hair line. He investigated my toes and fingers for cat like claws and block like feet without toes.I thought I’d passed inspection, but a few days later, I caught him staring deeply into my eyes. (There had been a mention of a witches pupils being multicolored.) After a good hard look, he pronounced that I was definitely not a witch–I didn’t have multicolored NIPPLES. I corrected him and indicated that he meant PUPILS. His response was…whatever…it’s the same thing.

And there you have folks.”

I figure I’ve given you enough information for the comments without having to light your way. ROTFL! Have a fabulous holiday weekend. I WILL NOT BE BLOGGING ON MONDAY (Memorial Day) I’ll be picnicking and celebrating my 12yo’s graduation and move up to middle school. I’ll also be very busy being proud to be an American. May the force be with you!

Tags: BEA, Caption Contest, Chronogram, Contest, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Memorial Day, Orange County Librarians, PROMISE LAND, review, revising, Roald Dahl, The Witches, Touching the Surface, writing

Comments

Right now I’m waiting for my lovely critique partners to turn around THE OPPOSITE OF GRAVITY so I can send it to my agent!!! *bites nails* If you haven’t already heard, publishing is all about hurry up and wait. LOL! Yup, get used to it. One day you’re rushing, the next day you’re waiting with the crickets chirping in the background. What am I doing while I’m in a holding pattern?

I think I mentioned how I’ve been doing some critiques. I love getting to help newbie writers when I have the time and I adore getting to read what my close friends have been working on. Of course, I’ve been doing laundry, especially since my dryer was broken for two weeks. I should probably be doing more, but seriously, it’s NOT FUN! And joy, bliss, rapture–I’m reading books for fun and books that inform my next project!!!! Woo hoo!!!! New projects are always soooo exciting. Preparing for a new project is just as fun as drafting, maybe even more fun. I plan on jumping into the writing part (which a dabbled with during NaNoWriMo) as soon as GRAVITY is officially out of my hands. And I FINALLY, I did some updating on my FAQ’s Page! I’ll be adding more, so if you have any burning questions feel free to ask them.

What do you do while you’re waiting in the writer’s twilight zone?

Tags: Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, New projects, revising, The Opposite of Gravity, Waiting, Wolfson Literary

Comments

Remember how I told you yesterday would be my first day with the boys all back in school again??? I’m a liar. The 7yo was home again. *head thunk* Now he has an ear infection. WE HAVE THE COOTIES AND THEY WON”T GO AWAY!!!!

What does this mean in the big scheme of things? Well, a chunk of my morning was eaten up by a Dr. visit and w-a-i-t-i-n-g at CVS. Grrr So my big plans to get EVERYTHING done on my domestic and professional list didn’t happen. Not like it was possible anyway, but at least now I can blame it on all those minutes that I used making toast, puncturing juice boxes and giving kisses. Ha! More than anything, I just want him to feel better–he’s been one off for quite a few weeks now–in and out of school. We joke that he’s allergic to academia this year.

As for you dear reader, I’m keeping this short and sweet because the school bus arrives with the 9yo in 45 minutes and I need to go grab my time turner and get some more stuff done. But my question to you is, what is the biggest obstacle you encounter when trying to work on your writing? What are your cooties and how do they mess you up? What slows you down the most? Are your cooties in your control or out of your control? 

COOTIES!!!!

Tags: Cooties, Kids, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, revising, Time Sucks, writing

Comments