Writers: don't be ceremonious. When time's available, WRITE. - Cory Doctorow

Writers: don't be ceremonious. When time's available, WRITE.

- Cory Doctorow, in Locus ("Writing In An Age Of Distraction")

A Cautionary Comic For Writers (plus one of my New Year's Resolutions)

Almost all of my comics are based on my own experience as a freelancer, as you might have guessed. This one is particularly relevant. One of my constant challenges is that for me, social media is more fun than work....but as a result, it can be way too easy to justify time I spend on social media as work.

This year, one of my work goals is to get my middle grade novel finished. 

While I can't control IF my novel is ever published (and I've become positive that this angst has a lot do with why I've been spending way too much time fussing about the outline and prep), I can focus on getting the book finished.

Which is why I've decided I really need to pull back a wee bit from some social media, especially Facebook. I suspect I'll be on much more than the average person, but I'm going to try being more conscious about when I use social media, and how I use it.

My favourite social media these days: Twitter and Instagram. Some people find Twitter too negative but I find that so much is about what feeds you follow, and how you interact.

Time management tip for writers & illustrators: Guard your creative time by learning how to say no. (I find this tough sometimes, too!)

Productivity tip for writers: see how long you can stay offline

Know the difference between actually being productive and the illusion of productivity, especially when you're online.

A Fine Line

Productivity Tip: Learn how to say no

Those of you who have no trouble saying no can just skip the rest of this post.

Some of you, however, may be like me. I like making people happy and don't like disappointing them. I also dislike conflict. I like helping people. So when people ask me for things, I used to usually say yes....even when I knew I'd probably regret it later.

I'm gradually learning how to say no.

While it's true that saying yes to one "just have a quick favor to ask, would appreciate just a few minutes of your time" is no problem, saying yes to a LOT of these favors accumulates. And in my experience, "just a few minutes" inevitably turns into hours or sometimes days.

What's hardest: saying no to projects that DO sound like a lot of fun and/or worthy and that I really, really want to do. There are many of these. One of my challenges (and I suspect some of you feel similarly): I want to do EVERYTHING. There are so many good causes, so many people I want to help, so many projects I'd love to be a part of.

By saying no more often, however, I'm able to focus and enjoy the projects I say "yes" to more fully AND have more flexibility about when I do take on a new project. 

Good luck!

Tip for aspiring writers & illustrators: Make a routine and then stick to it.

A tip for aspiring children's book writers and illustrators: Try not to let yourself get sucked into too much fussing over preparation and ritual. Make a routine and then stick to it.

Now to follow my own advice...

Finding Time To Write and Draw: Tips For Busy Parents

I continue to be in awe of you parents out there who manage to carve out time for your writing and illustrating in the midst of taking care of children, household chores and (in some cases) a day job as well.

At a recent conference, several working parents told me how they were still struggling to find the time to write and illustrate.

Having no children myself, I can't offer practical advice, but here are some online resources which might help. If you can offer tips from your own experience or know of other other helpful resources, please do post them in the comments below. Thanks!

Some inspiration: Cynthia Lord wrote her first book, Rules, between 4-6 in the morning, every morning. "I have a son with autism and our days have always been full of his schedule and his needs." Her book ended up winning a Newbery Honor! More via Kate Messner's blog.

RESOURCES AND TIPS:

Finding Time To Write - Parents' Version - by Julie Duffy on StoryADay.org. Main tips: coordinate your work sessions with your kids' energy levels, work to an outline, stretch sessions when you can, sit where you can hear your kids, be willing to stop after 2-3 sessions.

Finding Time To Draw - On Step, Skip, Pause. Main tips: Work in the early morning before everyone else is up. Sketch while watching tv, while waiting, on the public transport, at friends' houses, in short snatched moments, at concerts and plays.

Writing and mother: how I (sort of) do both - Shannon Hale explains how she does it. Main tips: Enlist help, constantly reevaluate your balance, set priorities, take a day of rest, commit fully, separate writing from publishing.

Busy Moms Write - A blog by Marcia Fowler, who is a mom of two boys, a freelance writer, and a certified elementary school teacher and reading specialist. "Busy Moms Write is a blog to inspire other moms to finally sit down and write, even if it’s only for five minutes a day."

11 Ways Stay-At-Home Moms (and Other Busy Folks) Can Find Time To Write - by K.M. Weiland. Be stubborn and endure, find your focus, connect with family every day, remember there are others in your boat, take your work seriously, it's never too late to start, be realistic in your goals, give up on the idea of trying to please everyone, enjoy your blossing career guilt-free, being a mom and writer are not mutually exclusive.

How Busy Writers Can Stay Productive & Keep Their Sanity - by Jeff Goins. Give up the ideal workspace, don't sacrifice your family, use the "write, edit, write" method (longer pieces) and self-edit method (shorter pieces), know your limits, stay positive and grateful.

A Parent's Time To Write - by Liz Boltz Ranfeld. Prioritize, know what can and can't be done, get up early, ask your partner for help, create a specific writing space but be flexible, carve out time at work to write, let your kids know how important your writing is.

How To Find Time When You're A Busy Mom - on WikiHow. Be prepared, cut down on tv viewing, help your kids understand, adjust your sleep patterns and get up earlier, get the children involved, always carry a notebook, use multiple writing tools or resources, persevere.

Finding Time To Write - by Moira Allen. Treat time as an investment and figure out your "time budget," examine your priorities, eliminate time-wasters, teach others to respect your time.

Cautionary comic for writers (and illustrators!)

Finding Time To Write Tip #176: Teaching Others To Respect Your Time

Productivity tip: Use AwayFind to stop checking email so often

I mentioned earlier that I'd be sharing any tips and tools I've been using to help me focus. One of the biggest discoveries I made last year is a service called AwayFind.

I used to check email obsessively throughout the day. At first it was because I didn't want to miss anything important that came in, but then I realized that even if I wasn't expecting anything super-urgent, I'd STILL regularly (as in at least a few times an hour, sometimes more often) check my email, no matter what else I was doing.

It was only after I started timing myself, seeing how long I could work before I checked email, that I had to admit I had a real problem. The action of frequent email-checking was so automatic that it happened without conscious effort, making it impossible for me to sustain focus for more than a very short time. Gah.

The brilliance of Awayfind: You can set up a list of email addresses and get alerts when mail arrives from any of them. You can even customize these alerts, to avoid getting alerted for groupmails, etc. I added agent's address, for example, as well as other important work-related contacts.

There are different pricing plans, but you can try out the Personal and Pro for 30 days for free. I ended up opting for the Pro account.

End result? I no longer feel compelled to check email so often, giving me more distraction-free time to focus.

You can check out Awayfind yourself: http://www.awayfind.com

(and no, I'm not getting any affiliate fee for this recommendation)

Do you have another productivity tool to recommend? Feel free to post below!

Happy New Year's! Plus thoughts on New Year's Resolutions, time management and finding focus

 Above: Quickie sketch experiment -- First I did the ink drawing by hand using a Pentel Pocket Pen Brush on sketchbook paper. Then I scanned it, imported into Photoshop, and digitally colored the drawing.

Happy New Year's, all! Apologies for the hiatus. Between the Toronto ice storm (we were one of the households that lost power) and work (auditioning for a veryveryvery cool book-related project; please cross your fingers for me!), I didn't have time to do much blogging.

For 2014, I've decided not to post any specific resolutions except for one: Strive for focus. 

Those of you who have been following my various blogs over the years already know that I have a wide variety of creative interests. Some come and go while others have remained constant. My challenge: there are WAY too many things I want to do and learn to do well, but not enough time. Plus I tend to be prone to the "ooo shiny" reaction when I come across cool and inspiring things. Which, um, is often.

This year, I have a pretty intense work schedule in terms of book writing and illustration work. I'm very excited about it all and want to find ways to be more productive. Don't get me wrong: I strongly believe in the importance of CREATIVE PLAYTIME, but I also think that I have way too many creative playtime interests at present. 

This year, rather than try to do them all and just feel frustrated and scattered, I'm going to deliberately cut back on my usual "going to find time to do more xxxx this year" goals as well as cutting back on related Physical Stuff.

Like:

SEWING STUFF - Back in 2008, I decided to learn how to use a sewing machine and a serger (I won the latter in a raffle and had no idea what it was at first), learn how to sew my own clothes, make all kinds of cool sewing thingies, blah di blah blah. Years later, I am having to admit to myself that I simply Don't Have Time. So I just gave away my serger, dressmaking form, and am also giving away most of my sewing notions, extra fabric, and throwing out all the partly-finished projects I abandoned a while back. Keeping my one simple sewing machine, though. :-)

CRAFT STUFF - I am a craft supplies addict, I admit it, and am inexorably drawn to the sales at local craft shops. I have accumulated jewelry-making notions, beads, glues, rubber stamps, inks, different types of paint, scrapbook stuff, glitter etc. etc. over the years. To make more room for my sketchbooks, drawing materials, mini photo studio (a Christmas gift from Jeff, for my found art doodles), higher-end printer, watercolors and other materials more directly related to my current work, I am also giving away boxes of other craft stuff.

I did a huge office purge over the holidays, and am pretty happy with the result so far.

Next step: Reduce my online clutter and distractions to improve focus and productivity. I've already found some great tools and tips, and will be sharing this over the coming year, in case it helps anyone else. 

Anyone else have a New Year's Resolution they'd like to share? Or tip on focusing?

Work deadline organization: My new book deadline custom cork board

With multiple book projects coming up, I've been looking for a way of listing upcoming deadlines in such a way that I could visually scan everything at a glance from where I sit at my desk. I do have digital tools like CulturedCode's Things and Evernote to help me with day-to-day task organization and looking up project details, but I really wanted a way I could easily see an overview. (Note: I'd love to hear about YOUR project organization system! Please post in the comments section)

Reason I like to get an overall picture in one glance: If I find myself in a quiet period (waiting for feedback, for example), I can be working ahead on another project. Before committing to other events or projects (whether personal or work-related), I can quickly scan my board and check feasibility. I also like being able to look across my office while I'm working and remind myself of the overall picture any time I want.

I spent a lot of time researching Gantt chart solutions, but found all of them either too expensive or too complicated. I knew that if it wasn't super-easy to use, I would end up abandoning the software after the "oo, this is so slick and cool" honeymoon period.

In the end, I opted for an old-fashioned physical solution.

The challenge: my basement office has very, very little free wall space. I started out with a paper chart that I taped onto one side of a supporting pillar. This system was ok, but the paper kept tearing and shifting, so my husband volunteered to cut and install a custom cork board for me (he's a programmer/techtype but also loves building physical stuff as well).

I created a template in Photoshop for each deadline listings, using different colours for different types of project deadlines:

Light blue = manuscript deadline

Yellow = sketch deadlines

Red = final art deadline

Green = publication of the final book

Some issues I still have to work out:

- I'm finding that the deadlines listed in the book contracts get changed around. So do I list the contract deadlines or the modified deadlines? Or both? I'm opting for the latter, but I'd still like to be aware of the contract deadlines as well.

- Right now I'm working with three publishers. What happens when/if I start working with more? I'll probably end up shrinking the size of my listing template. Or maybe find a different place in my office for another cork board? 

Advantage of having a physical project deadlines board:

In addition to other reasons listed above, it's super-easy to move listings around. I can also make quickie temporary changes by adding a small handwritten note that I can "formalize" later on in my Photoshop template.

Disadvantage of having a physical project deadlines board:

I can only use it in my office. The only way I can see it from my mobile devices is to take a photo, make that photo accessible, and then zoom in the see details.

Summary:

While not perfect, this solution works pretty well for me right now.

p.s. If I could tell my younger self that I'd eventually need a system to help me keep all my book projects organized, I wouldn't have believed me. 

p.p.s. I've blurred out a few of the projects because I'm not allowed to announce them publicly yet. Hopefully soon, though!

My 2013 Goal: To Make More Time To Read and Create Books (plus a New Year's Resolution Comic)

I used to set ambitious New Year's goals every year ("I'm going to write 2000 words a day, every day!") but then get discouraged when I inevitably realized that, once again, I had set a goal or goals that were unrealistic. Or that had originally realistic but then got put on the back burner because of circumstances out of my control that had to take higher priority.

This year, I'm taking a different approach. While I am going to set some realistic work-related goals (to be posted on the MiG Writers blog) which I have tried hard to make realistic, I'm also going to work toward an overall goal:

Make more time to read and create books.

It's so easy to say, "I wish I had more time to xxxx" but the truth is that it's up to me to MAKE more time for what's important to me.

One of my tendencies is to want to do everything. I want to write (and illustrate!) more picture books. I want to work on my new MG and YA novel projects, because I know my writing and knowledge of the industry has improved over the years and I'm much confident about getting these newer book projects published. I have some fun nonfiction book ideas for grown-ups that I want to turn into book proposals so I can start pitching them. I'm thinking of self-publishing a compilation of my writing comics, but I also know that self-publishing requires a lot more admin/promo/marketing time. I want to keep all my webcomics updated but know I have way too many webcomics to keep updated. I want to improve my German language skills before Jeff and I attend Essen in late 2013. I want to improve my French language skills before Jeff and I visit French-speaking friends in late 2013. I want to write a new song for my music group to perform in our concert at FilKONtario. I want to reorg my home office. I want to learn more about non-digital art techniques like ink and watercolour, acrylics and multimedia textural art. I want to turn some of my cartoons and daily doodles into greeting cards. I want to help beef up content in my various collab group blogs. I want to improve my Photoshop skills and also go through Lynda.com tutorials on various creative software packages I've purchased in the last year. I want to write more songs. 

I could go on and on and on. Clearly, I can't do all the above. I need to let go of many of these goals, else I know I'm going to end up not attempting any of them very well. So again, I've decided to focus on the following:

Make more time to read and create books.

Throughout this coming year, in addition to my regular Inkygirl.com posts, I'm going to be sharing my experience in trying to make more time to read and create books.

My first steps:

1. Managing my email more efficiently.

2. Being more aware of how much time I'm spending on social media.

I'll report back on both of these first steps in upcoming Inkygirl posts, so stay tuned. :-)

Virtual Housekeeping and Resolutions

Today was the first day in my new work schedule, where I try to stay offline for most of the morning. As I mentioned before, I resigned as Writersmarket.com publishing industry columnist as of Dec. 31st, 2011. After 10 years, it's hard to break the habit of going online first thing in the morning to check publishing industry news sites, blogs and Twitter feeds.

I did check e-mail once for anything urgent but resisted answering or posting. I got a ton of work finished this morning in one uninterrupted block of time.

I spent part of last week doing email housekeeping. Instead of just deleting mailing list emails and newsletter that I never read, I took the time to unsubscribe from as many of them as possible. I revamped my email filter system. I got my email inbox down to ZERO emails.

I feel virtuous, productive.

But I'm also aware that's only the FIRST DAY.

Time Management and Social Media: Progress Update #1

A little while ago, I posted about needing to rethink my social media habits. I am still rethinking. :-) I was off-line for much of August because of the SCBWI conference in Los Angeles as well as a 10 day anniversary trip with my husband.

I had originally planned to stay offline the entire time. Because we needed to coordinate with friends in California and because Jeff was relying on Google maps and other online navigation information during the trip, I found it impossible to resist the lure.

Yes, I am weak.

I did manage to stay off line for as much as 48 hours at a time, however. This may not seem like a lot to some of you. For me, though, it was an achievement. :-)What I found: I did not miss being online if I had other distractions to keep me occupied.

When I got home, I started experimenting with longer work sessions during which I stayed completely offline. It wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought, especially when I realized how much more productive I could be. A surprising challenge: training everyone else to learn that I wasn't as glued to my e-mail as usual. I can't blame them, really. People are so used to me being able to respond to an e-mail within a few minutes.

As I mentioned before, I have no interest in pulling back completely from social media. I use social media for so much more than just business networking, and it's part of who I am. I have always been a fan of online communities.The people and posts I follow on various social networks inspire me, inform and educate.

As a creative freelancer, I'm used to working for long periods in isolation. When I'm working on something that requires a lot of creative concentration, I need to be alone. However, sometimes it's great to take a break and socialize a bit online.

The key, of course, is moderation.

Here are some steps I've been taking in my attempts to get more control over how much time I spend online and my productivity:

1. Learn to say no. Sometimes a fun project or a project for a good cause will come up, or a potential promotional opportunity that's hard to turn down. I'm keeping closer track of how many of these I take on at any one time, and learning how to say no or to postpone the rest.

2. Learn how to focus for longer periods of time. I've grown so used to an interrupt-driven workday. What I have learned, which I'm sure is already obvious to most of you: being able to work for longer periods without interruption makes me more productive. I try to ignore the phone when it rings, and let people leave messages. I tried to check e-mail fewer times during the day, and am also gradually training people I know to not expect immediate responses.

3. When I go online, I try to stick to my original purpose. I find it way too easy to start following links and looking things up online, clicking and clicking until I realize I've totally forgotten the original reason I went online. Now I use Instapaper and Pinboard to record links I want to check out later and tell myself (who gets the following nerdy Star Wars quote ref?) to STAY ON TARGET.

How are the rest of you doing? Have you learned any new tips to share?

Creativity & Productivity: Rethinking my social media and blogging habits

Apologies for the hiatus; I've been away most of this month at a writer's conference and then on an anniversary vacation.

Though fun and (esp. in the case of the SCBWI Summer Conference) inspiring, it's been a hectic month, and I'm REALLY looking forward to getting back to work.

And what is that work, exactly? My main short-term goal:

To rethink my social media and blogging habits.

I'm a social media addict. I've been a huge fan of online communities before the term "online community" even existed. These days, however, I'm feeling spread too thin over too many social networks: Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Second Life, various writing and illustration communities, plus all the blogs I either manage or in which I participate as a collaborator.

No, I'm not going to quit cold turkey. Nor do I think social media is inherently a time vampire. It CAN be a time vampire, but in my own experience, it can also be a huge boon to authors and illustrators if properly managed. Most of the publishing opportunities that have come my way have done so because of contacts I've made through social media, or posting and reading blogs.

Recent opportunities, however, have convinced me that I need to better manage my time. There are SO MANY BOOKS I want to write, or illustrate, or write and illustrate. The awards I won at last year's SCBWI Illustration Portfolio Showcase (which resulted in a book contract and heightened interest from publishers) and the Sue Alexander Award nomination I just received for my YA novel in progress have been a much needed kick in the pants.

My long-term goal:

TO GET MORE BOOKS PUBLISHED.

And to do that, I need to finish some projects and get them sent OUT there.

My interim goals:

-- To finish writing my YA novel. Whether or not it wins the Sue Alexander Award, the nomination has convinced me that this novel-in-progress has much more potential than my previous attempts. I've been working on my craft as well as benefiting from the critiques and advice of my MiG Writer group and some of my Torkidlit pals, and I believe that I'm a much better writer now than when I wrote my previous mss.

-- To finish my own picture book projects. Now that I'M BORED (Simon & Schuster, 2012) is nearly finished, I need to have more projects ready to send out: projects that I've written AND illustrated. I've been working hard at improving my illustration craft over the past year. I'm going to continue to work on my craft, of course, but it's time to get some new projects out there.

-- I also have several nonfiction book proposals I need to revamp and send out, such as the compilation of my writer comics.

So....

In order to achieve my long-term goal, I'm going to be taking a hard look at how I spend my time online.

And yes, I do see the irony of blogging about spending too much time online. But I figure I'm not the only one who has this challenge. Some of you have likely found your own solutions.

I'll be posting on my progress (feel free to share yours!)...but not as often as I'd like to. If that makes any sense. :-)

Productivity & the Internet: Update On My Revamped Work Day Progress

Ok, I gave up on the idea of staying offline in the mornings.

Reason: Because of my Market Watch column for Writersmarket.com, I need to surf the Web for publishing industry info each morning. I tried to make notes of stuff that would be good tweet and blog post material later in the day, but found that the info always seemed stale later on, plus distracted me from whatever else I was working on.

For me, it makes sense to do the info sharing while I'm online doing the research; I'm just being more careful about how long I spend doing this. Right now, I'm keeping a detailed time log about how I spend my time each day. I don't plan to do this indefinitely, but it's certainly helping me see where and how I spend my time.

My new plan: To stay completely offline from noon until 3 pm. Thanks to those of you who suggested Freedom, a Mac productivity app that cuts you off from the Internet for scheduled amount of time. The only way to re-enable Internet access is to force-quit the app or reboot. How are the rest of you doing with your productivity goals?

Getting Sucked Into The Time Sink of the Internet...and What I'm Going To Do About It (What About YOU?)

To the left: my comic for Writer Unboxed this past weekend. You can see a bigger version by clicking on the comic and going to Writer Unboxed (a GREAT site for writers, by the way, if you haven't already visited).

I have found this pattern to be increasingly the norm for me up to now.

There are just so MANY great blogs to read, e-mail messages to catch up on, posts to write, collab blogs to participate in, comics to draw, writer & illustrator communities to check out, author and illustrators pals to help promote, etc.

While all of these activities are fun AND related to my various work projects and career goals, I realize that I still need to find the right balance between online networking/collab and working on my own projects. My "to do" list is always waaaaaaaaaay long, and my own creative work has been coming last.

Talking to author/poet/publisher Lawrence Schimel in NYC last week has really inspired me.

My goals:

I WANT TO PUBLISH MORE BOOKS.

I have so many book ideas and also so many only partly-finished or partly-outlined projects: some writing (fiction & nonfiction) and some writing & illustrating (picture books, illustrated middle grade novels). I need to get more of these finished and OUT there.

Yes, I have a brilliant agent (Ginger Knowlton at Curtis Brown) but she needs finished projects or project proposals in hand before she can send them out.

I WANT TO IMPROVE MY CRAFT.

Related to publishing more books: I want to work on improving my craft in both writing and illustrating, and that takes time. I don't want to just publish books. I want to keep getting better at what I do, to always be pushing myself to learn more, try new things, and most of all -- to practice practice PRACTICE.

I WANT TO *READ* MORE BOOKS.

I started doing an office purge this past weekend, culling my print book collection and setting aside nearly 200 books to give to non-profits. Many were books that I had always meant to read but have to face the fact that I would never read (books that caught my eye at used bookstores, for example). Some were books I read and enjoyed but will likely never read again. I plan to replace my favourites with e-books, which take up less space, making it more feasible for me to buy new print books. :-)

But as I did my purge, I began to realize that I don't read nearly as many books as I did years ago. What gives? The answer: I'm spending much more time online than I did years ago.

What I'm Going To Do About It:

Ideally, I'd like to say I'm going to stay offline in the mornings until I get some creative work done. I have a daily publishing industry news column for Writersmarket.com to research and write each weekday morning, however, and that inevitably gets me on a slippery slope as I come across all kinds of interesting links and info and blogs as I comb the Web for publishing news.

I'm also aware that going cold turkey will likely end in me falling off the wagon, given that I've gotten used to being constantly online and connected for many years.

So here's my plan, posted here in public to help keep me accountable:

- When I work on my Writersmarket.com, I'm going to stay focused on the task and not let myself get tempted into wandering off the path. If I think of something important I need to do online that's not related to my column, I'll keep a list (I'm big on lists).

- I'll let myself check e-mail ONCE mid-morning (I usually get up around 6:30 or 7 a.m., so that would be about 9:30 or 10) to see if there's any URGENT e-mail. I will resist answering other e-mail or checking e-mail again until noon.

What about YOU?

At this point, some of you out there are rolling your eyes and thinking, "Geez, that doesn't sound like much." And while this may not be for you, it's a big step for me. I'm going to revisit my goals and progress and post here again in a month, to let you all know how I did. And if any of YOU want to post your own related goals in the comments section, feel free! Then you can update us all on your progress in a month when I do.

Some of you may also be thinking, "See? THIS is why I stay off all social media." Let me be clear: I am NOT giving up on social media! In my experience, the benefits of using social media far outweigh the negatives. I just need to be more disciplined in when and how I use it.

Any thoughts? Comments? Anyone else want to post their monthly Internet Anti-Distraction Goals?

My two main takeaways from the SCBWI conference in NYC

When I first saw the word "takeaways" in people's conference reports, I was confused. What were takeaways? Were they giving out free food?!? I was even MORE disappointed that I had missed the event!

But no, takeaways are key messages you've learned at a conference. They can vary from person to person, depending on their own situations and experiences.

I'll be posting more details about my takeaways from various panels and workshops, but overall my main takeaways were:

1. What's most important: STORY and CHARACTERS. Some panelists listed both while others just listed story, but the message was the same. It doesn't matter what format a book is in if the story sucks. Voice and style can help make good writing, but aren't nearly as important as having a story and characters that the reader cares about.

2. Do the work. Get it written. Don't get too obsessed with the process, or networking and promoting, or all the other extras that can be good but NOT if they're keeping you from doing the work. This is something that has really hit home for me, which is why I'll probably be easing back somewhat from social media. (Ok, I'll still be posting a lot compared to some people, but it'll be easing back for me!)

Both of these apply to both writers AND illustrators -- I'll be interpreting the takeaways from an illustrators' point of view and posting them in the SCBWI Illustrators' Mentees Blog soon.