Writers are often either stuck in a waiting mode or pedaling faster to keep up with deadlines. Maybe that’s another way of saying writers are never satisfied, but it does seem like a feast or famine biz. One day you are praying for a contract, or that you’d make that first sale (or the 2nd one which often feels harder to snag). The next you’re buried under a series contract with a three-month lead-time, or three magazines that all want your article, yesterday. Although these extremes may seem like opposites, in many ways they’re alike. Keep on top of your writing life with these simple tips.
Writing Tip for Today:

• No matter whether you are swamped or going through a selling drought, show up every day and write as if your life depended on it.
• Set goals and write to those goals.
• As I’ve learned lately, eating right, exercising and getting enough sleep will help you write your best.
• Always have several projects going at once. If you’re waiting, it helps to be versatile. If you’re buried, those other projects can go on hold.
• Stand up and stretch at intervals. Nobody wants to see you crippled by writer’s back.
• Be nice to your family–someone may even take over your chores for a time.
• Resist the urge to put yourself in a funk. If you tell yourself “I’ll never meet this deadline,” or “No one will ever want my stuff,” you’re helping to defeat yourself. If you’ve been successful in the past, odds are you’ll be successful again.