My organizational system is one of stack management. I try to keep elements to any given project in the same general vicinity on my desk, but sometimes I don’t work at my desk. Then all bets are off. Luckily, every so often there’s a meeting at my house, or a relative visiting, or a holiday, and I have to clean. I’m always amazed at what I find.
This time of year I have to clear out the stacks of books and papers in the living room to accommodate the Christmas tree. More often than not I try to hide everything under the piano bench, but that wasn’t an option. There were already stacks under the piano bench. So, I had to grit my teeth and put things in their proper place.
To my surprise, most of the books were there because my husband emptied a bookcase, intending to build a new and better one, then got distracted before he finished that project. However, there were two books about building author platforms at the bottom of one pile. One of the books had a checklist that I had actually started, then I got distracted before I finished.
The good news is, I mostly like surprises, especially when I can spread the blame for the chaos. The better news is, now I have a new project to fill those few odd moments I’ll have to myself over the holidays. With any luck, by the time the new year rolls around, I’ll have myself a fabulous author platform.
Sounds just like my management system. Somehow the bottom of the stack is always lost in darkness. Then, when I have to clean it up, I just pick up the whole stack and hide it somewhere I’ll never see it again. Maybe, someday, we’ll move and I’ll find things I had long forgotten about. But it’s more likely it will be unearthed by some future archaeologist who will wonder what the hell I was doing.
My question is, how do you get time for those “few odd moments”. I have a project list at least a mile long but no moments, odd or otherwise. My other question is, what’s an author platform?
I choose one project on the list and vow to spend 15 minutes a day working on it. If it’s a difficult writing project, 15 minutes gives me enough time to put a note or two together. After a week of putting a couple of notes together, I might actually have enough material to write a scene. It’s not as productive as barricading the door and working for hours in peace and quiet, but we all know how well that scenario plays out. An author platform is what you’ve got to introduce yourself to the world – website, blog, public speaking tours, Twitter, Pinterest, soapbox in the park . . .