Your Writing Environment and Energy

Welcome to Writing Week on Author Audience.

Welcome to the Author Audience show the podcast that helps you reach more people with your message, create a book, connect with your audience, change lives. Here's your host, Shelly Hitz.

Welcome to Day six of Writing Week. This is a special week for my podcast where I'm talking all about my free seven day nonfiction writing challenge that you can join@writingweek.com so day six is all about your energy and your environment. When you write, there are several factors that can impact your writing and I talked yesterday about mindset and I know that mindset is huge. Huge for all of us. In fact, when I got ready to sit down and do my first day in this writing challenge for the first time when I was creating it, I actually was doing the same things I recommend that you do. And what did I write and journal out? This is the exact thing I wrote in my journal on my first day of the writing challenge. It feels too hard. I'm overwhelmed as there is so much to do before I can truly write. Oh, I know some of you can relate to that and even myself, after dozens and dozens of books, I can still have mindset blocks. So if you didn't listen to yesterday's episode, definitely listen to that. And in day five of the members area, I also have those 72 affirmations you can download to help as well. But back to environment and energy. If you have been tracking your writing through the writing journal that I've provided for you, then you'll notice I ask you to write your location and.

To write your energy level for that day. And there's reasons. There's a reason for that. I want you to start looking for trends and to see if any trends occur. For instance, you know if you've written at different times of the day, did you get different results consistently? Did you notice you tend to write better or more or easier in the morning, or maybe for you it's in the evening after you put your kids to bed and you have some quiet time. You can just your fingers fly on that keyboard, but you won't know unless you track it. Now typically you will find a sweet spot during the day or night when you are at your best. It doesn't always correspond to number of words, but usually it does. But that doesn't mean you should never write at other times because we're all busy and some of you may have full time jobs and you may not be able to write at your sweet spot except on the weekends. So you may have to find other times that you can still get your writing in for that week. Another thing to evaluate in your environment is how the background noise or lack of background noise impacts you as you write. You know, some writers work best in a coffee shop environment where there's all that background noise. But again, you won't know until you track it. I was working this week on a project that I just needed to get done. It was a fairly short project, but it was something I had to write. And you know what helped me? I have certain playlists that I put together and I put on my earphones, I started playing a certain playlist that I have. For me personally, it's a worship playlist playlist. And that really helps me get in the mood to write or to produce or create whatever God has created me to do that day. For you, it may be something else. I put on that music and for me personally, it helped me. I was, I set my timer, I used the pomodoro technique, and in 25 minutes I had that project that I had been dreading done. So not only was it the pomodoro technique, but it was also having that music. And for some of you, it may be that you need noise canceling earphones so that you don't hear anything. Some of you may want to play some soft background noise like rain or something else. White noise or something like that might help you, but you have to know what is going to work best for you. Also, energy levels can play into it. If you haven't been getting good sleep and your energy is low, you may find your mind a little more foggy or sometimes even your diet and the food that you're eating. If you're eating a lot of extra sweets or things that you're not used to eating, I know for me personally, I've noticed that that can impact the clarity of my mind. So you know, those things can also play into your energy levels. But again, I encourage you to at least track for a short time. If you've done Joined Writing week, then you've been using the tracking sheets, you've been tracking your writing and you should now start to see trends. So I'm so excited for you to join us. Just come on over to writingweek.com and jump right in and I want to share with you the results that Carrie Zorno is getting as a result of Writing Week.

Hi, my name is Carrie Zorno and I'm currently writing Tattooed by Grief, a handbook for walking with teens through the turmoil of grief. I can be found@carriezorno.com.

My writing before this had been undisciplined. It's the best way to put it. I had reached a point where I was tired of writing. My book seemed to drag on and on, and I had set it aside. And this challenge that Shelly gave me gave me the motivation. And I have a competitive streak in me and a little bit of competition saying, do this for seven days. I could do it for seven days. Despite knowing I was going to be traveling and visiting with friends, I set that as a goal. Each day became easier. The first day, I believe I got 25 words, and it took me 30 minutes because I just really struggled with how to put what I was thinking on paper. It was getting that.

Momentum going. And after the momentum began, it just doubled and doubled and doubled. I feel very satisfied that the information that I was able to write and what I was able to put to paper helped me to get my book to the point of submitting it to my beta readers, something that had been in process for years. I want to thank Shelley for that opportunity. And throwing down the gauntlet.

I was able to achieve the seven days. And I'm very satisfied with what was put down. Matter of fact, one of my writings I set aside halfway through because I was on a plane and I had to turn off my computer, and I'm going to sit down and finish that.

But having the results of my Last day was 1500 words, and it was kind of the icing on the cake. So I thank you and I challenge anyone else that questions if what they have to say is worth saying. It is. We each have a story that needs to be told, and I challenge you. Those seven days is a great length to begin, and then you can see that you can do more. So thank you once again. My name is Carrie Zorno. I'm writing Tattooed by Grief Handbook for. For walking with teens through the turmoil of grief. And I can be found@carriezorno.com thank you.

I love hearing this from Carrie. Kerry and I met at a writers conference and. And she told me about this book that she wanted to write. And it is tied in to a powerful testimony she has of losing her own children in traumatic ways. And she just has a powerful story. Just talking about it right now gives me chills. So, Carrie, I am so thrilled for you that you are getting this book done, that this book is going to be able to be published and help so many people that are walking through. Through that exact situation. Teenagers that are. That have lost their friends or lost their grandparents and actually have two teenage friends that lost their grandmother this year and they're struggling, and I know that what you have to offer could help them. So I'm just thrilled that Writing Week helped you get unstuck and cannot wait to see that book published. And I just recommend the rest of you jump in. What do you have to lose? Nothing. It's free to sign up. Come join us@writingweek.com and I'll see you next time.

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Author Audience Show. Connect with us online@authoraudience.com where you'll find all the resources mentioned in today's episode. While you're there, grab Shelley's free video training on how to write and publish your book using her Six Step Ascent method. Join us again next week to learn how to reach your audience with your message.