SPA Girls Podcast – EP194 – A Day In The Life Of A Writer
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Ever wondered how the SPA Girls spend their days?
Imagining champagne and caviar at fancy hotels?
This is the episode where you find out for sure…
We talk through how we spend our days; from when we get up, how many hours we work, how many words we write, and how much marketing we do. We talk about our distractions, how we structure our days and the challenges of working from home.
Before you ask, this was a reader question, so we’re not just doing it because we like to talk about ourselves… 🙂
Learn more about each Spa Girl’s books at:
Wendy Vella’s website
Cheryl Phipps’ website / CA Phipps’ website
JOIN the SPA Girls at an in-person event – check out their upcoming workshops here
Episodes 100 – 200 List
200 What we’ve learned so far…
199 Interview with Adam Croft – Mindset and Marketing
198 Find Your Sparkle – with Julie Schooler
197 Hack Your Muse – with Kelly McClymer
196 Public Speaking For Authors – with Alena Van Arendonk
195 The Magic Pill – with Laura Van Arendonk-Baugh
194 A Day In The Life Of A Writer
193 Keep It Simple
192 Interview with Skye Warren: Money Mindset and Facebook Ads
For Authors (Part Two)
191 Interview with Skye Warren: Time Management & Advertising
For Authors (Part One)
190 Dragon Wrangling with Scott Baker: secrets for
Successful dictation
189 Interview with Patricia McLinn: Writing by the seat of
Your pants
188 Interview with Morgana Best: Writing & Marketing
Cozy Mysteries
187 Interview with Geoff Symon: Wounds & Crime Scenes
186 Interview with Natasha Bajema, WMD for Authors
185 The Writer’s Detective with Adam Richardson
183 Facebook Advertising with Maria Luis ~ Part Two
182 Facebook Advertising with Maria Luis ~ Part One
181 Learn dictation with Kilby Blades
180 Interview with Brian Meeks, Mastering Book Descriptions
179 Interview with Tara Cremin, Kobo Writing Life
178 Interview with Larissa Reynolds – Newsletters Part Two
177 Interview with Larissa Reynolds – Newsletters Part One
175 Wrangling Facebook: How To Make It Work For You
174 How To Write A Regency Romance
173 How Do You Identify Your Writing Weaknesses?
172 Interview With Dan Wood, D2D
171 Interview With Serenity Woods
169 5 Goals You Need To Make In 2019
168 Jumpstart Your 2019 Marketing with 31 Quick To Dos for Jan.
167 Scheduling For Writing Success
166 Our 2018 Roundup
165 He Said, She Said: Creating Dazzling Dialogue
164 Interview with Steffanie Holmes: Reverse Harem
163 Interview with YA author Kelly St Clare
160 Amazon Excl v Wide – things to consider and how to market
159 Interview With Kathryn LeVeque
158 Some Like It Hot – Or Not. Heat Levels In Romance
157 Interview With Louisa George
156 The Kindness Factor: Helping You Achieve More and Stress Less
155 Editing
153 Characters: From Cookie Cutter to Kapow
152 Interview with Tina Dietz: Audiobooks
151 Interview with Grace Burrowes
150 Should You Prune Your Mailing List?
149 RWNZ18 Interview with Damon Suede & Geoff Symon
148 Interview with indie superstar, Bella Andre
147 Top Ten Traits for Success
146 Write Better Faster with Becca Syme
145 Newsletter Ninja Tammi LaBrecque
144 Looking After Your Creative Health
143 Interview with Carlyn Robertson from Bookbub
142 Personal Branding For Authors with Lauren Clemett
141 Ten Free Online Tools For Authors
140 Tempting Taglines & Heartstopping Hooks
139 Findaway Voices with Kelly Lytle
138 Get Your Writing Mojo Back
137 Interview with Toni Kenyon: facebook live & serials
136 Dealing with misinformation and change in Sp-ing
134 Interview with Kevin Tumlinson, Draft2Digital
133 Interview with Sara Rosett
132 Organization For Authors – how to keep track of your
research and book details without losing your mind
131 Interview with Ricardo Fayet of Reedsy
130 Critical Care: Leveraging feedback for success
129 Brand You
128 SAS Special: Interview with Johnny B. Truant & Sean Platt
127 Industry Insiders with Damon J. Courtney of Bookfunnel
& Christine Monroe of Kobo
126 SAS Debrief with Jami Albright
125 SAS Special: Interview with Michelle Spiva
124 SAS Special : Interview With Michael Anderle
123 Sports Psychology for Authors – Interview With Nate Vella
122 Using Sub Plots To Amp Up Your Writing
121 Interview with Scott King: Outlining Your Novel
120 Pen-names Pros, Cons and Possibilities
119 Reader Engagement with Nalini Singh
118 Writing the Small Town Setting
117 Handling Negativity and Naysayers
116 Tough Mindset Questions For 2018
115 Interview With Nicola Davidson: Sex and Sensibility
114 Tropealicious
112 Interview With Honoree Corder & Ben Hale: Write Like A Boss
111 Ten Health Hacks For Writers
110 Interview with Kathryn Burnett: Your Writing Audit For Future Success
109 Interview with Melissa Storm: What Readers Want
108 Interview With Zoe Dawson: Writing Across Genres
107 Interview With Dave Chesson, The Keyword King
106 Pros and Cons of Kindle Unlimited
105 Why YOU should do Nanowrimo
104 Ten Truths For New Self Publishers
103 Find 30 Minutes A Day EXTRA!
102 Your Christmas Presence: Maximizing the Holiday Season for Authors
101 The Writing Life: Interview with Katie Cross
100 100 Episodes! Retrospective with funny moments; changing AO title
SPA Girls Podcast – EP39 – Finding Focus as an Author
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This week we decided to bring back the challenge episode. It’s the middle of winter here in New Zealand – it’s cold, wet and dreary, and we’re all feeling a little frustrated with where we’re at. So we decided to talk about finding our focus again and pushing forward in our writing careers.
We talk through the issues that we’re each having, from changing family schedules, to slipping in our usual writing and marketing routines or recovering from illness. And then we talk through the plans we have to solve some of these issues and get ourselves back on the track that we’re aiming for. Once you’ve listened to the episode, head over to the Facebook page and check out the posts on what we’re planning to do, and comment on how these things work for you in your life… 🙂
This episode began with the thought of writers we admire, and why they are so successful. To be prolific while maintaining an acceptable financial level (which will be different for all of us) a writer needs to be organised and focused. So many of us are frustrated by not having enough time. Or do we?
Circumstances change – environmental, family, work, distractions, demands on your time. Combine these with housework, cooking etc, and it becomes too easy to justify putting things off for another time or day.
Here’s a few tips to find your focus or, in our case, to refocus:
Set up your habits early.
Make a business plan for six months (more or less if that works for you) – Write down what you want to do, what you need to do, and what your goals are.
Make these visible – use a diary and/or a whiteboard with monthly and daily goals. Tick them off as you achieve them and then add more.
Use your time wisely – no e-mails or phone until you have reached your goal or target.
Be more organised – Break up the day into tasks eg. admin, writing, editing etc. and focus on what you have to do.
Be accountable – ask for help and support to achieve your goals.
Be flexible – figure out new routines when life changes for you.
Health does affect productivity and mind-set. Look after yourself and don’t burn yourself out by pushing through the work when you are not well.
Make a to do list – add audacious goals to push yourself if that’s what you need, otherwise make them realistic.
Note: It is far more important to spend your time writing than all other aspects of the business, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore them. Apply the 80:20 rule. (80 % of your time should be for writing and 20% for business).
Our Challenges
Wendy – Making herself accountable, and stop using outside influences as a crutch. Using her diary and whiteboard to make her goals visible.
Cheryl – Appreciating she can’t do it all. Looking for an assistant to help her with promotion and social media.
Trudi – Miracle morning – Concentrating on her writing, her newsletter, and perhaps Facebook.
Shar – Miracle morning – finding creativity time amongst heavy load work and volunteering. Follow along and, if you’d like to join in, tell us what your challenge is.
Change can be good. J
Steve Scott – Miracle morning
