Tag: productivity

While You Were Writing: Tips and Tricks

IdeaIn case you’ve been too busy writing or watching cat videos to notice these small conveniences, I thought I’d round them up and bring them right to your eyeballs. Hopefully these tips and tricks will enhance your authorly productivity so you can go back to keeping up with the Kardashians and such. You’re welcome.

1. Google Chrome Tricks

Right-click on an image, and select “Search Google for this image.” Not only can you hunt for the original source of that image you intend to use on your blog, to make sure you have the necessary permissions, but you can try it on your book covers to see where else the image might be in use. It can avoid unpleasant surprises later, like finding out that image you’ve fallen in love with is being used on fifty other books in your genre. Continue reading “While You Were Writing: Tips and Tricks”

Some Time-Saving Keyboard Shortcuts for Google Chrome

Fast typingI came across some very handy keyboard shortcuts recently. Some IU followers may already know them, but for those who don’t, you might like to try them out. These could be especially helpful to authors who do a lot of research online.

I have a very bad habit that inevitably results in me tut-tutting away and cursing my laptop. Or my broadband. I’m a taboholic. I have an addiction to having as many open internet tabs as possible. I just can’t help it. Technically savvy husband is forever ticking me off and telling me to ‘for goodness sake, close some of those tabs’ when I’m muttering that my laptop isn’t playing nicely with me.

But I NEED them all open. I really do. I need to look this up. I need to look that up. I need the dictionary open. I need the thesaurus open. It saves SO much time if the pages are open, ready and waiting.

I admit that, yes, I do have a tendency to have just a few too many tabs open. I’m sure most of you are far more moderate and only have a few essential ones open whilst you’re writing/researching/editing. Continue reading “Some Time-Saving Keyboard Shortcuts for Google Chrome”

Discipline in Writing: Necessary or Overrated?

discipline-clipart-clipart-bootcampWe’ve all heard about the authors who sit down at the computer and crank out 1,000 words a day, every day. Or write 50 or 100 pages, every day. Maybe some of you reading this are just that kind of writer. You believe in discipline. You believe in practicing your craft every minute of the working day. I’ve heard some say that it doesn’t even matter if what you write is good; it only matters that you write. Continue reading “Discipline in Writing: Necessary or Overrated?”

Fighting for Focus

Kathy RoweSummer’s almost over and I find myself languishing in writer’s hell. The kids here in Kentucky are getting ready to go back to school, and I personally feel I have little to show for it in a literary sense. Sure, the first six months of the year I was busy publishing three new books, but after June, things got blurry. Where had my focus gone? How could I get it back?

It’s hard juggling two very different careers. Farming requires a lot of outdoor work, while writing is usually reserved for the relative peace of my office—although having six dogs in the house means it’s never truly quiet! And then there’s a new other factor: my husband and I decided to expand the poultry side of our farm business. So I’ve spent the last three-plus months dealing with baby chicks, ducks, and turkeys. Oh, sure, they look adorable and everyone wants to cuddle them, but they are A LOT of work. Collecting eggs, checking incubators, feeding, cleaning, rotating into larger homes, and finally hoping the rest of the flock will accept them, is a time sucking task. I’ve spent more hours covered in feathers and poop than pounding out my next great masterpiece. Continue reading “Fighting for Focus”