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Q&A with Kristen Hamilton | Focus on Your Writing

Kristen Hamilton is sharing her best writing advice in the second part of her Q&A interview for Everyday Authors. You can read her introductory post here, and part 1 of her Q&A interview here. 

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Connect with Kristen – Kristen{at}onwingsandwaves{dot}com

Twitter | LinkedIn | Pinterest

How do you find the balance between writing and life?

I struggled for a long time with balancing, following through on my priorities, and time-management.  Recently, I have finally found some ways to relieve some of the tension.  Here are some tips:

  • If you can, write with a portable device, such as a laptop or notebook computer, during downtime like waiting in the car or at an appointment.
  • Make lists & deadlines, keep at least one calendar, and review both frequently.
  • Plan ahead as much as possible…and try to also work ahead and schedule posts for your blog.
  • Keep priorities straight.
  • Consider taking time off for the weekends.  (Sometimes I still write on weekends, but offline.  For the most part, I check email periodically over the weekends, but it is rare that I actually log into social media.)
  • Consider restricting social media, period.  It has the potential to suck me in for hours on end and I get zero accomplished.  So when I do log in, I usually have a list of what I need to do/check/share and I do that stuff and get right off.  I might run down the first 3 or 4 posts on my newsfeed or check in on a group or person who is on my mind quickly.  But otherwise, I have to put “blinders” on and do what I went there for and log out.
  • To help with restricting social media time, consider using a tool such as HootSuite or TweetDeck, where you can schedule posts for your social media accounts.  This can cut out the time it takes to manually promote your blog posts on your various platforms.
  • I do a lot of my blog writing and any social media interaction during the day when my two oldest kids are in school.  And then I write for the book, with either my laptop or notebook computer, on the couch with my hubby in the evenings.

Where do you go for help?

I follow bloggers like Michael Hyatt, Jeff Goins, and Mary DeMuth, who specifically post about writing, platform building, blogging and publishing.

Something else that was a huge help in learning about publishing and book marketing, was that I applied to be on a few book launch teams for well-known authors.  I was turned down from some because my blog was too small.  But I did get accepted on Mary DeMuth’s team for her book, Everything.  It was an awesome experience, and even though our launch tasks are done, we have changed the name of our Facebook group and remained together to help promote each other.

What would you say to new writers/authors?

  • Practice and write a lot!
  • Identify topics and passions you can easily write about.
  • Start a blog and build a platform.  Write a mission statement and some goals.
  • If you have an idea for a book, make an outline and begin writing.
  • Attend writing conferences.  It helps to meet agents & editors in person!
  • Purchase a current copy of the Writer’s Market Guide.  (Get the Christian version if you are writing faith-based books.)
  • Follow people like Michael Hyatt, Jeff Goins, & Mary DeMuth on social media and their blogs.
  • Follow other agents, editors, and publishers on social media and their blogs.  {You can identify agents, editors, and publishers that fit in your niche from the Writer’s Market Guide.}
  • Find a good resource for writing a proposal and follow it.  When submitting proposals, be sure to specifically follow the guidelines of each agent or editor that you submit to.
  • Above all, HAVE FUN!

Kristen, thank you so much for contributing your thoughts to this series!

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