Exclusive: Sharon Shinn’s Time Management Tips!

I was recently thrilled to have the opportunity to interview bestselling fantasy / science fiction / romance / young adult novelist Sharon Shinn. Why all the genres? She’s incredibly prolific. Moreover, she’s prolific while holding down a full-time job. A writing job! It’s just incredible. I just had to find out how she does it–especially because she also happens…

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Upcoming Workshops and Classes (May – July 2015)

Online, July 6 – August 3 The 7 Secrets of the Prolific: The Basics of Joyful Production SavvyAuthors.com More info / To register Inspiration exists and is available to everyone at almost any time. Underproductivity, procrastination, and blocks are solvable problems. The secret to achieving a state of near-perpetual inspiration (a.k.a., “flow”) is to switch…

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Don’t Let Unintended/Unwanted Consequences Hold Back Your Projects

Reblogged from the Thesis Whisperer. The anonymous author of this piece, originally entitled “What’s it like to Finish?”, does a great job of articulating how even a great success, like finishing a thesis, will almost always yield some unwanted consequences. Often we at least intuit these, and the fear of them can cause us to…

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And for those of you who happen not to live in Cleveland :-) …

Don’t forget my upcoming online classes! ALL writers are invited to take the next two classes, including fiction, nonfiction, academic, nonprofit, business, and “other” writers. Online classes are cheap, convenient, fun, and there’s lots of free parking. 🙂 Plus, you’ll get loads of support and individual attention. – Hillary Online (Everyone welcome!), May 11 –…

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Why People Quit Big Projects (And How Not To!)

The below fantastic article from ThesisWhisperer.com is aimed at graduate students, but really pertains to anyone who is struggling, or has struggled, with a big project. (Just substitute “boss” for “supervisor” if needed!) Thanks to the the Thesis Whisperer herself, Dr. Inger Mewburn, Director of Research Training at the Australian National University, for kind permission…

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On The Importance of Going OFF the Internet

Going off the Internet seems a radical act, but for most people it’s essential for creativity. The Internet is inherently and continuously interruptive, and that’s not a good mix with creative work, or productivity in general. In classes, I quote Jonathan Franzen (“It’s doubtful that anyone with an Internet connection at his workplace is writing…

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