It has been a really exciting few weeks for me. I have attended a couple of training sessions for the day job, and they have proved to be great fodder for the novels I'm working on- and even gave me some pretty incredible material for the already published Date with Destiny, which is making me consider a re-write to add all the amazing new stuff that is springing to mind!
This is the joy for me of self-publishing. It means that I have absolute control. If I find a new scene or number of them I can easily add them,and make my book better. Once a book is completed with a publisher that's it, nothing mroe to be done.
This dilemma made me think about the tings we shut of in life as 'finished' because someone else has sanctioned them so. I think it is why many people can feel a little flat when they achieve a long cherished goal - they simply don't feel it really is complete, someone else is telling them that it is so.
In business we are often told to set goals and targets, because the achievement of these makes you feel good,and begins the process of momentum. Personally I'm not entirely sure about this. I find I work much better without definite goals to achieve - because once I achieve goals I tend to take my foot of the pedal, and start letting things slip! Writing is the same for me. I recently tried to set myself the goal of writing a chapter a week, and an alternative of this was to write for an hour a day. I never managed to achieve these goals - yet when I took the pressure off of having to place a tick in a box at the end of the day/week I have managed to write some really great scenes (I hope you will love them too when I get these books finished and published for you!)
In my business I find it hard to set goals, because my goal is to help anyone who wants my help to have a better life. That excites me and gets me going - the idea of aiming for 1,000 twitter followers, or facebook likers, or 10 blog comments a week or whatever is tough for me to get excited about. It isn't as tangible as seeing a person blossom in front of me. In the same way as a writer, all you can do is hope that people will like what you are publishing, you rarely see the expression of joy, or the tears of compassion as they are actually reading that book.
My goal is to make people happier, healthier, to get them enjoying every aspect of life. It isn't to earn £100,000 a year (though I wouldn't say no to that!!), or to have certain number of clients on my books, or to know that 1,000 copies of my books have been sold. I live for the connection I have with people, with you my lovely readers.
So, let me know about you, I want to know what you want, what you dream of, what you hope to be.
Get in touch!
love always
Rosie xxx
Friday 6 July 2012
Saturday 23 June 2012
Bob is a Furryhead!
It's been a pretty quiet week, just typing up some bits and pieces of scenes from my notebooks to see if anything was worth using. Not sure where these little poems would fit, and I don't think they are worth spending much time on revamping or re-crafting, so thought I would post them here for you all. Hope you enjoy!
Murmur,
shout, backfire.
Self-Help!
What will
happen down
Nose to the
grind, pedal
And be, love
and live,
Bob is a Furryhead
The Green Chair – Alzheimers comes to stay
Clunk,
splutter, giggle.
A mass of
household goods,
a chest, a
table, some cutlery
sliding on
every bend.
Scrape,
gasp, wriggle.
The pigtails
bounce with glee,
a whole new
world of discovery
contained in
a blue work van.
Mum tells us
to sit and behave,
the huge
chair holds safe
as we all go
along for the ride.
Screech,
crunch, retire.
We make it
safely home,
the blue van
now stands empty,
Grandma now
reigns over our home.
Self-Help!
An evening
to reflect
A day that
started bright
An afternoon
of contentment
And an
evening to relax.
the line,
who knows, but
giving our
all will make
it surely
like to succeed?
to the
metal, pull those
socks up,
and show fine
fettle. Do
what you do
The rest
will follow, and
all your
results will be
for whatever
input has been.
Find your
way to work
the rest
will follow your
lead to the
joy and
greatness
you have found.
Bob is a
furry head. He
squeaks and
tweaks.
Curly pawed
he gambols
and
twitches. Paws on
a sixpence,
big-eyed
and playful.
Bob is a
furry head.
He growls and
he hisses,
bites like they’re
kisses. Play
lace, or chase
mouse. Bob
is in charge
of our
house.
Friday 8 June 2012
have a great weekend....
I am a busy therapist in mh day job, and it never ceases to amaze me that people are often unaware of the importance of the words that they use. You know, those words that we constantly allow to run around our heads and pop out of our mouths before we even think about it. As a writer it is essential to make sure our words and sentences convey exactly what we mean. We write and rewrite sentences and phrases, consult dictionaries and thesauruses (thesauri?) to be certain we have conveyed our exact meaning to our readers.
Yet in our actual day to day lives we don't pay this level of attention to the words we use or think. With this in mind is it any wonder that others misconstrue what we say, and so often we manage to confuse our own unconscious minds too?
Obviously I'm not advocating the level of precision given by a master wordsmith to his magnum opus, but I think we could all benefit from choosing our words and constructing the beliefs and values we hold (which are really just sentences and phrases we have chosen to believe after all) with a bit more awareness of their actual meaning, and making informed decisions as to whether they really are serving us well or not.
Yet in our actual day to day lives we don't pay this level of attention to the words we use or think. With this in mind is it any wonder that others misconstrue what we say, and so often we manage to confuse our own unconscious minds too?
Obviously I'm not advocating the level of precision given by a master wordsmith to his magnum opus, but I think we could all benefit from choosing our words and constructing the beliefs and values we hold (which are really just sentences and phrases we have chosen to believe after all) with a bit more awareness of their actual meaning, and making informed decisions as to whether they really are serving us well or not.
Thursday 31 May 2012
Why is it hard to find the time....?
I've had a really hectic time of things with my day job recently, and this has got me thinking just how easy it is to allow ourselves to stop doing the things we really love. You know, those ones we look as a bit of time just for us, when we relax and unwind, and I have realised that my writing seems to come under this category for me. Now, my writing is actually a valuable part of my income, and I spend as much time working on building a network of fans for it as I do for my work as a therapist - yet I still see the actual writing part as my hobby.
I wanted to try and work out why this was the case for me, and probably for many writers out there - who are making money from their writing yet still prioritise other aspects of their lives as having more importance. I started by looking at what I get from writing, what I need to do to write successfully, and when I have been most successful at doing so and getting a finished article/book/blog post (or whatever I want to get written).
Firstly I realised that I get utterly immersed when I write. I am not someone who can sit down and just write for an hour or so, and feel that I have managed to get something created that has any value. I like to utterly lose myself in the characters lives, and just let them write their own stories - I simply can't do this if I am snatching a few 100 words here or there.So, for me writing is very time-consuming. I need to know that I have two or 3 days straight (often working through the night) to just get the story out there, get it onto the page and then I can use the odd hour here or there to edit it, and fine tune it over a number of months, but the actual initial push needs dedicated time with no distractions.
I get a huge amount of release from writing, it is a cathartic process for me. I often write about characters that have similar problems or hangs ups to me, or have had similar upbringings, or things happen in their lives. This can obviously mean that often it can be quite difficult for me emotionally, as I am working through my stuff alongside my characters working it out too. I also get a huge sense of pride and achievement when I complete a story. The other thing I get is a lot of love. It sounds crazy but many of my characters are like family to me, and by giving them my undivided attention I feel that they give me the privilege of seeing everything about their lives, and they give me a great story line.
I realised that my most productive patch to date was one in which I had very few clients in the day job, was working through a lot of things to do with where and what I wanted my life to be, and how I was going to achieve it. Recently however my life has been very highly focussed on building my business, and helping others - there simply hasn't been the time for me, or my characters. So, the lesson I have learned is that I either need to change the way I write (which I don't want to do) or I need to find the time to write. That said I am going for the latter. I am going to try and book myself a two or 3 day holiday from my business every month so I can work on my writing.
So, what is holding you back, and how can you make a change so you continue to get pleasure from your hobbies that make you money, whilst maintaining a normal job/life/family etc?
I wanted to try and work out why this was the case for me, and probably for many writers out there - who are making money from their writing yet still prioritise other aspects of their lives as having more importance. I started by looking at what I get from writing, what I need to do to write successfully, and when I have been most successful at doing so and getting a finished article/book/blog post (or whatever I want to get written).
Firstly I realised that I get utterly immersed when I write. I am not someone who can sit down and just write for an hour or so, and feel that I have managed to get something created that has any value. I like to utterly lose myself in the characters lives, and just let them write their own stories - I simply can't do this if I am snatching a few 100 words here or there.So, for me writing is very time-consuming. I need to know that I have two or 3 days straight (often working through the night) to just get the story out there, get it onto the page and then I can use the odd hour here or there to edit it, and fine tune it over a number of months, but the actual initial push needs dedicated time with no distractions.
I get a huge amount of release from writing, it is a cathartic process for me. I often write about characters that have similar problems or hangs ups to me, or have had similar upbringings, or things happen in their lives. This can obviously mean that often it can be quite difficult for me emotionally, as I am working through my stuff alongside my characters working it out too. I also get a huge sense of pride and achievement when I complete a story. The other thing I get is a lot of love. It sounds crazy but many of my characters are like family to me, and by giving them my undivided attention I feel that they give me the privilege of seeing everything about their lives, and they give me a great story line.
I realised that my most productive patch to date was one in which I had very few clients in the day job, was working through a lot of things to do with where and what I wanted my life to be, and how I was going to achieve it. Recently however my life has been very highly focussed on building my business, and helping others - there simply hasn't been the time for me, or my characters. So, the lesson I have learned is that I either need to change the way I write (which I don't want to do) or I need to find the time to write. That said I am going for the latter. I am going to try and book myself a two or 3 day holiday from my business every month so I can work on my writing.
So, what is holding you back, and how can you make a change so you continue to get pleasure from your hobbies that make you money, whilst maintaining a normal job/life/family etc?
Friday 18 May 2012
Huge apologies to everyone for my long absence. I have been really busy at the day job, trying to re-establish my therapy business following my departure from raography training. It has been really interesting and I have learnt a huge amount about myself, and about how to market myself better, and the power of social media and blogging when doing this.
I have realised just how little effort I have put in over the years to marketing myself either as a therapist, or as a writer, and so understandably I haven't achieved the huge heights of success that I have dreamed of. I promise, that I am more determined than ever to ensure that I don't blow it this time. It is incredible how much work needs to be done to ensure that your name gets out there, to ensure people realise you written a book - let alone to convince them to buy it!
And then you realise that you could have been saving yourself so much time if you had just put as much effort into the marketing as you did into learning your skills - whatever they may be. I am realising that shortcuts such as HootSuite, having a VA to answer calls, and using online databases to find interesting, useful blog/twitter/facebook posts (that are hopefully easy and enjoyable to read too) can make it all so much simpler. But I still like to make sure I keep the odd personal element in there, such as writing this, or personal DM messages to say thanks when someone follows me.
I'm getting there, and I promise I will try and get back here later in the week - I've been discovering VLogs too - you never know maybe I'll do one of those for you all too!
Oh, and Anna and Jim are slowly getting there - Jim is such an adorable man, but he is downright scary when he's angry - I didn't know that until this week!
I have realised just how little effort I have put in over the years to marketing myself either as a therapist, or as a writer, and so understandably I haven't achieved the huge heights of success that I have dreamed of. I promise, that I am more determined than ever to ensure that I don't blow it this time. It is incredible how much work needs to be done to ensure that your name gets out there, to ensure people realise you written a book - let alone to convince them to buy it!
And then you realise that you could have been saving yourself so much time if you had just put as much effort into the marketing as you did into learning your skills - whatever they may be. I am realising that shortcuts such as HootSuite, having a VA to answer calls, and using online databases to find interesting, useful blog/twitter/facebook posts (that are hopefully easy and enjoyable to read too) can make it all so much simpler. But I still like to make sure I keep the odd personal element in there, such as writing this, or personal DM messages to say thanks when someone follows me.
I'm getting there, and I promise I will try and get back here later in the week - I've been discovering VLogs too - you never know maybe I'll do one of those for you all too!
Oh, and Anna and Jim are slowly getting there - Jim is such an adorable man, but he is downright scary when he's angry - I didn't know that until this week!
Wednesday 14 March 2012
Being unwell, and trying to write...
Well, it has most definitely been a very up and down year for me so far. I decided to go back to university to retrain as a radiographer, and - much as I love this, and am getting huge amounts of satisfaction from learning new information, and a new skill - I am finding it really hard to establish any kind of balance in my life.
I know those of you that are waiting eagerly for the next Castle Cluny novel, or lets face it anything from me at all, are probably getting more than a bit impatient, but I have found that between keeping up with university, keeping a roof over my head, and staying healthy I don't seem to have much time on my hands! After working from home for 8 years, I am fully out in the real world, and on placement in hospitals too, and so am exposed to a lot more bugs, and my immune system has taken a real battering, I am currently on chest infection number 3 since October, and sound like Muttley from the wacky races!
I was wondering how I managed it all before, the studying, running the business, writing and everything else, and realised that my life goes in definite phases. A friend of mine with bi-polar pointed out that I was just like him before he got diagnosed, and just how much I rely on 'up' periods to get masses of things completed. I did a bit of a reflection on my life and realised how right he was, that everything I achieve is always done in incredible bursts of energy and creativity, and then I spend the rest of the time beating myself up for not being able to maintain that level of achievement, until I hit crashing lows in which I get nothing done at all - and could even appear to be going backwards. A change in my supplement programme seems to have helped to even out my moods - which is great as it seems to mean no crashing lows - but has also taken out the highs which really were my productive patches - I would never have achieved anything in my life if it weren't for these patches really, so I doing it the hard way, and trying to learn to expect myself to be a bit less super-human, but sadly this means it takes much longer to get a book out to you all now.
I am trying to learn to cope, and still make things happen - but it does mean that writing has had take a bit of a back seat to my life - and for that I apologise profusely to any fans out there waiting. I intend to use my summer holiday from Uni to do some really amazing things - so please do keep waiting for me, I will make sure what I put out is worth the wait I promise.
I have Anna and Jim heading in the right direction in the Castle Cluny series, and have an off-the-wall fairy-tale mash-up for you all, and I hope you will love them both, even though they are both very, very different indeed!
xxx
I know those of you that are waiting eagerly for the next Castle Cluny novel, or lets face it anything from me at all, are probably getting more than a bit impatient, but I have found that between keeping up with university, keeping a roof over my head, and staying healthy I don't seem to have much time on my hands! After working from home for 8 years, I am fully out in the real world, and on placement in hospitals too, and so am exposed to a lot more bugs, and my immune system has taken a real battering, I am currently on chest infection number 3 since October, and sound like Muttley from the wacky races!
I was wondering how I managed it all before, the studying, running the business, writing and everything else, and realised that my life goes in definite phases. A friend of mine with bi-polar pointed out that I was just like him before he got diagnosed, and just how much I rely on 'up' periods to get masses of things completed. I did a bit of a reflection on my life and realised how right he was, that everything I achieve is always done in incredible bursts of energy and creativity, and then I spend the rest of the time beating myself up for not being able to maintain that level of achievement, until I hit crashing lows in which I get nothing done at all - and could even appear to be going backwards. A change in my supplement programme seems to have helped to even out my moods - which is great as it seems to mean no crashing lows - but has also taken out the highs which really were my productive patches - I would never have achieved anything in my life if it weren't for these patches really, so I doing it the hard way, and trying to learn to expect myself to be a bit less super-human, but sadly this means it takes much longer to get a book out to you all now.
I am trying to learn to cope, and still make things happen - but it does mean that writing has had take a bit of a back seat to my life - and for that I apologise profusely to any fans out there waiting. I intend to use my summer holiday from Uni to do some really amazing things - so please do keep waiting for me, I will make sure what I put out is worth the wait I promise.
I have Anna and Jim heading in the right direction in the Castle Cluny series, and have an off-the-wall fairy-tale mash-up for you all, and I hope you will love them both, even though they are both very, very different indeed!
xxx
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)