Getting to “The End” with Amanda Cabot

Welcome Amanda Cabot back to Thyme for Writers with the first in her series on time management and getting to “The End!” Amanda is no stranger to getting to “The End.” She juggled a sixty-hour a week job with nonnegotiable deadlines and building a house long-distance at the same time that she wrote two books a year. Whether or not she kept her sanity during that time is debatable. Amanda is the best-selling author of over thirty novels, eight novellas, four non-fiction books, and what she describes as enough technical articles to cure insomnia in a medium-sized city. Her most recent release is A Borrowed Dream, the second in the Cimarron Creek trilogy.

Getting to “The End”

Have you ever started a book, filled with enthusiasm and certain that this will become the next #1 New York Times bestseller, but somehow you never finished it?

Have you ever said, “If only I had more time, I’d write a book”?

Have you ever wondered how some writers manage to complete multiple books in a year when you still haven’t finished the book of your heart?

If you’ve answered “yes” to any of those questions, I’m here to tell you that you’re not alone. While these can hardly be classified as the great mysteries of the universe, they are questions that plague many writers.

The good news is that there are solutions to the problem of not reaching the elusive “The End.” The bad news is that the solutions are multi-faceted. While you might believe that a course in time management will solve your problem, it’s only one aspect of the solution and not even the first one to be addressed.

APODS

Over the next five months (maybe more, if I become too long-winded on any of the posts), we’re going to talk about a system I’ve given the acronym APODS. This not-so-catchy name stands for Analysis, Priorities, Organization, Discipline, and Support. (See what I mean about time management being only part of the solution?)

Let’s take a quick look at each of the five subjects.

You can’t solve a problem unless you can identify it. Remember the adage about the person whose only tool is a hammer seeing every problem as a nail? You don’t want to be caught in that trap. That’s where Analysis comes into play. It helps you determine why you haven’t finished that book.

Establishing Priorities ensures that you’re working on the right things and that you understand the implications, what some call the opportunity cost, of each decision you make.

Proper Organization helps you make the most of the time you have by using some hints from industry experts.

Discipline could be nicknamed “just do it,” but we’ll talk about techniques that will make just doing it easier.

And finally, you can’t succeed without Support. While you may think of all support as coming from the people around you, we’ll also discuss the internal support process, which is equally critical.

There it is in a nutshell: the APODS technique for finishing your manuscript and living to tell another story.

Have I intrigued you? I hope so, because I’m looking forward to your comments and questions as we journey from those initial moments of wild enthusiasm along the long and sometimes difficult road to “The End.”

(C) 2018 Amanda Cabot

You can find Amanda at:

 

www.amandacabot.com
https://www.facebook.com/amanda.j.cabot
https://twitter.com/AmandaJoyCabot/
http://amandajoycabot.blogspot.com/