I don’t know how your typical day goes, but if it’s similar to mine, more days than not I end up with a few items left on my to do list that roll over to the next day. In my opinion, roll over minutes are much cooler than roll over tasks. :)That got me thinking recently about good work habits.

I recently heard about a favorite company of mine moving to a four day work week. They take Fridays off and guess what. They’re just as productive.

How can that be?

They cut out all the procrastination, dilly-dallying, and small talk that creeps in to the day.

This makes me wonder not only about my writing life, but work life and just life in general. Am I as effective as I could be? How can I develop better habits (in all things)?

I know there are dozens (okay, probably thousands) of articles, books, and tapes on this. Surely you’ve read one over the years. Help me out. I’d love to hear your tips and recommended reading. If I get any great advice I’ll post it to CataU so we can all benefit.

Happy Writing,
Ally

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I stumbled upon a post over at Booksquare today via my trusty Google Reader entitled Why Publishers Should Blog.

Just as authors need to better market themselves and their books, so do publishers. While the audience for a publisher website is diverse - authors, booksellers, journalists, agents, readers, and more - talking about books on your website the same way you talk about books in your catalog simply isn’t cutting it. In printed material, you have various constraints. On the web, you have the ability to do something special: tell the world what excites you, the publisher, about a particular book.

Bravo, well said. While I agree that publishers do need to get with the program, I don’t think that blogging is the only way to do it. The last thing the world needs is another blog, no kidding. There are way too many as it is. And I say that lovingly… I have at least 40 RSS feeds on my Google Reader.

That’s not to say that a publisher shouldn’t have a blog. It’s just my plea for great content. Not yet another place to post the same cover and blurb that appears in their catalog.

A couple of publishers do have great blogs and I think they add to the publisher’s community as a whole.

But what I really think is important is the interaction. The enthusiasm.

Enthusiasm needs to return to the book industry. People talk about their favorite TV shows at the water cooler. They don’t talk about the books they’re reading. Most people don’t read. I read the statistics recently, I’ll have to find them.

Publishers have the money to get into the social networking scene, to contribute to existing communities, to support their authors, to show their enthusiasm for the books they publish. The best part is, most of that only costs time.

Readers and fans alike are developing communities all over the web. Blogs, group blogs, groups, then there’s places like Goodreads and Shelfari, not to mention Bebo and Myspace.I think at the core readers want to connect. They want to know what’s new. They want to know what new characters they’re going to meet. And I think they’d appreciate a publisher’s enthusiasm for their product.

Popularity: 5% [?]

If you’re floundering in the middle of your novel, here is a collection of articles (with highlights) that will jump start you toward the end.

Tightening the Sagging Middle by Alicia Rasley

cataurl.com/jsFDG
Highlights: The important middle scenes develop conflict and explore the setting, characters, and theme, while moving the plot forward.

The plot purpose is the most obvious– the middle scenes present most of the events of the story, showing how each leads into the next. The cause-effect chain of the story events must be strongest here in the middle.

The middle is the time of rising conflict, where the “on-the-brink” situation in the opening chapters gets more and more intense.

Sagging Middles by Vicki Hinze
cataurl.com/XimUF

Highlights: Often the middle of a novel sags because the writer has not created sufficient conflict to sustain the story.

Remember, conflict is the story’s spine. It creates motivation in the characters not only to act, but to act now.

Conflict creates immediacy, evokes strong emotions-and it often offers new perspectives that deepen the existing conflict or create a new conflict.

Tips for firming a sagging middle
cataurl.com/HGvfY

Highlights: Pace and punch - have a read for pace and punch and see if you’re lacking. Pace and punch are key drivers in writing and if you lose them you can let your story go off the boil.

Is the piece emotional? Are you losing sight of what matters to your characters? Remember emotion is the key seller and if you haven’t ‘dug into/tuned in’ enough you may be losing the heart of the story.

That Ol’ Sagging Middle  by Catherine Avril Morris

cataurl.com/KlIxF

Highlights: I was thinking about that sagging middle, not as a writer, but as a reader. The middle of the book is always where things are getting really good. Where I know the characters pretty well, the plot is complex, the stakes are high. I’ve formed some theories about how things are going to go from here, and yet I’m nervous about what’s going to happen next. The middle is a really interesting, layered, complex part of the story.

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