Well, the holidays are fully upon us! I’m officially looking at the Christmas displays (some of which have been up since before Halloween!), and I’m allowing some Christmas music on my iPod mix. I’m fixin’ (as they say here in Texas) to have a house chock full of people in a few weeks, so things are getting cleaned up and cleaned out. Whew! Makes me tired to just think of it. Plus there are the regular “holiday joys” of shopping, decorating, wrapping, partying, sending, baking and more.

It’s an exciting time of year, but as writers (and business entrepreneurs–which describes any writer with the goal of publishing and promoting a book), we still have to make the time to pay attention to the craft and business of writing.

I wrote MAKE on purpose. We only do what we make time for. And with time at a premium during the holiday season, we must MAKE our writing and book promotion a priority. I understand that you have a lot of other things on your plate; I totally get that. I do too! Here are some ideas to help you continue to meet your writing, publishing, and promotion goals in December.

• Set aside 20 minutes when you first get up (or get up earlier) to get your writing or promotion done. Set a timer and don’t do anything else–not email, not Facebook, not web surfing. (You can have your prayer time and your coffee first–but that is it!) Just focus on writing or promotion until the timer goes off. If you do that before you do anything else, you’ll still make forward progression on your goals even during the busiest (oops, I mean happiest) time of the year!
• If you can’t set aside time every day, make a point to write for 30 minutes 3 times a week. Again, do it before you do anything else.
• Take an old fashioned pad and pen with you on errands. Then, if you are stuck in traffic or waiting in line you can jot down plot lines, character profiles, marketing ideas, blog posts (about the joys of the holidays!), and the like. This will help time pass more quickly and keep you jolly.
• People watch! As you are out and about more, notice how people dress and interact. Take note on what they wear and what they do when they think no one is watching. Be an observer of life. Be a collector of scenes. Be a note taker on people!

Ding! There is my timer! I must go prepare dinner and take a break from the written word.

I can’t wait to share with you some things I’m preparing for 2012…but alas I must. My tummy is growling.

Write On!

Alane