Category Archives: Life and stuff

by | April 12, 2011 · 6:49 pm

Tax Tips for Writers

“Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors…and miss.” Robert Heinlein

It’s tax season, and for me that always means the necessary frustration of figuring out what I owe the government on my freelance earnings. (I make enough to have to pay them something, but not enough that I can pay them quarterly throughout the year. Go figure.)

Doing my taxes is made even more interesting because my mother is my accountant. I thank her for her help when I can’t figure out what a capital cost allowance is, and bite my tongue when she chides me for spending so much on reference books.

As a freelancer with a day job and some surprisingly complicated tax scenarios, I’d like to share some key lessons I have learned when it comes to doing my taxes. (Keep in mind, these are my experiences only! Get advice from your accountant or tax preparer, or visit the Canada Revenue Agency website. I am certainly no expert.)

  • DO claim your office chair. DO NOT claim your cat’s basket just because it happens to be in your home office and your cat is your muse.
  • DO keep track of your costs from that writing conference out west. DO NOT think that you can claim the in-room massage you splurged on the first night.
  • DO consider how much of your home is dedicated to your professional activities and for what portion of the day. DO NOT say your whole house is your office just because you write in the kitchen, laundry room or TV room, depending on your mood or where the fridge is.
  • DO calculate how much of the costs of your new hardwood floor can be allocated to your home office. DO NOT assume that your accountant will agree with claiming the cost of your mammoth new walk-in closet because your “work clothes” live there.
  • DO realize that doing your taxes takes a bit of brain power and elbow grease. DO NOT giggle and say “Oh, I’m no good with math,” so your nebbishly cute tax preparer will give you a break.
  • DO file on time and as accurately as possible. DO NOT assume that because you’re not bringing in a big freelance income the feds won’t audit you. The Canada Revenue Agency likes to take a closer look at the self-employed.

I’d love to hear some more tax-related “lessons learned” from our fellow restless writers.

Maria

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by | April 5, 2011 · 8:46 pm

Taking a Vacation from Myself

I spent last week in a drunken stupor with my family and some friends in a rented condo on Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. It was away from the touristy all-inclusives and my kids were thrilled to spend every day in the pool (fun fact: I totally could’ve taken them to the Hilton in my hometown for a week and saved a few bucks). My point being, I had some free time on my hands.

I expected to make progress on outlining my current WIP, but had zero interest in pursuing it. I’d scheduled some prewritten blog posts and even managed to scribble some off-the-cuff blog entries, but those were done in under ten minutes while my kids showered. It wasn’t writing as much as a public e-postcard.

For the first few days I was like an antsy college student the week after school ends, when your brain won’t turn off and you feel guilty for not studying or finishing a paper. Although I had my journal with me at all times should the muse strike, a funny thing happened: it didn’t. At all.

Instead I read a ten-year-old John Grisham novel I found in the nightstand.

It’s not like I was too relaxed to write – too drunk maybe, but only after five o’clock (p.m.) – I think my brain just needed a break. From me.

I’m back now and it’s not like I’m suddenly invigorated with dozens of new ideas. I’m not even that relaxed (anyone who has kids or watches Modern Family knows how stressful vacations can be…for the moms, anyway). But it was nice to get out of my head, put the iPhone away and stop tweeting for a few days. Focusing on other things (i.e. does a Mojito taste the same with Splenda?) may be just what I needed to re-focus on my writing.

What about you? Does getting away help you connect with the muse? Tell us all about it…

LD

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by | March 22, 2011 · 10:17 pm

Music to write by

Like writing, music is a big part of my life. I am married to a musician, and that means plenty of song, heaps of sound, and loads of (real) rock band. I have consequently become a “drummer-in-training” for accompaniment purposes. Yes, my (writing) life is a melodious one.

When it comes to writing, there is always music playing in the background (in some form or another), and I’d probably be lost without it. As I write this, I am listening to Arcade Fire (The Suburbs), their “sprawling but intimate new album.” Some other faves from the soundtrack to my writing life, are: MGMT, Weezer, The Cardigans, and (forgive me for this), Vinyl 95.3.

According to research from the University of California, listening to music creates new neural pathways in our brains that stimulate creativity. Music can train the brain for higher forms of thinking (bonus!). For me, music definitely inspires and sets a mood. It can also unleash writer’s block, relax the brain, jump-start a session, and infuse fiction with rich emotion. Music might just be my perfect muse.

How to use music as part of your writing practice:

  • Claim a starting song: Okay, this is vaguely similar to Pavlov’s famous experiments with dogs. Sound the bell. Play your song—every time you sit down to write. Consider Aerosmith’s Back In The Saddle Again.
  • Reflect the time period: Connect with your characters in every way possible. Are you chronicling the 1980s disco period? If so, you should, like, totally fill your writing brain with M-a-d-o-n-n-a.
  • Set the mood: Play music that reflects what you’re writing. If it’s action, how about some Smashing Pumpkins, Muse, or even Guiseppe Verdi’s, Stiffelio.
  • Keep it light: If this is all too much for you, give Mozart or Vivaldi a try for background music. Higher brain function will be yours.
  • Silence is golden: Use your starting song to get going, and then turn it off.

I. Love. Music. I am always surprised how quickly my brain responds to music. Give it a try. Do it often and be consistent; consistency is, after all, the age-old practice of successful writers.

What is YOUR music to write by?

Bjas

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by | March 15, 2011 · 7:22 am

To Write or to Blog: That is the Question

I started my blog last summer; almost a year to the day after the Restless Writers’ blog was launched. Dipping my toe in the blogging pool through this one gave me the confidence to strike out on my own. As an aspiring fiction writer, I knew that branding myself online (alas, it’s much less kinky than it sounds) was essential.

I contemplated daily posts but quickly realized I could never keep up such a schedule (finding time to brush my teeth every day is pushing it). I decided that Monday, Wednesday and Friday would be my days to post, in addition to a weekly post on this site, as well as continuing to revise my WIP, not to mention the corporate writing I do part-time from home.

After a few weeks of my grandma and friends reading my posts, I was Freshly Pressed and had close to six thousand views in one day. Suddenly the pressure was on and blogging took over my life: it wasn’t just a place to put down the stories that were too long for a Facebook post – it was my calling card for agents, potential employers and ex-boyfriends.

Perfectly crafting every blog post became my focus, plus I discovered that I really loved creating short stories about my ridiculous family. I put off sending queries. I had no new ideas for my next WIP. I dogged it at the day job. I simply didn’t have the energy to write.

I recently took the advice of Rachel in the OC (aka my Fairy Blogmother) who recommends posting twice a week and keeping them fewer than five hundred words – enough to give people what they want while avoiding blogger burnout. My blog is my portfolio and I can’t risk an agent (not to mention ex-boyfriend) dropping by only to read a sub-standard post.

The results have been immediate: I’m working on a middle grade idea that has me crazy excited; I’m getting to bed before midnight; and I have more time to exercise. I realize that this last point has little to do with writing, but it’s helping to combat another side effect of too much time online: excessive blogger butt.

How do you balance a blog, other writing and life in general? To the comments!

LD

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by | January 14, 2011 · 12:00 pm

Writing on the run: paper or pixels?

Do you scribble in pen on any writable surface when you’re out and about?

Or do you record your thoughts on whatever mobile device you happen to be lugging around (i.e. BlackBerry, iPhone, netbook, laptop)?

For me, it depends where I am when inspiration strikes. I was putting on mascara in a late-for-work panic this morning when I had a great idea for some dialogue. Luckily, I had my BlackBerry within reach, and emailed myself the details. (Yes, I had my BlackBerry with me in the bathroom. You’ll never know when I’m tweeting “en toilette,” will you?)

At the doctor’s office last week, I was well prepared with a little spiral notebook and my favourite pen. I was still scribbling when the nurse was taking my temperature.

So how about you? Is it paper and pen, or thumbs and phones?

Maria

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by | January 9, 2011 · 9:22 am

I’m Having an Affair. With My Pen.

My jobs have always involved writing in some capacity and over the years I’ve become adept at hunkering down and getting the job done when deadlines loom. Since beginning my foray into creative-writing-for-myself-and-hopefully-a-paycheck-one-day, however, my capacity to write whenever and wherever has been severely stretched.

Working from home (part-time with flexible hours) while taking care of my kids (double-time with sucky hours) does not an easy writing day make. For instance, this post is being written in bed at seven o’clock on Sunday morning. My husband usually takes the kids to let me sleep in, but lately I’ve been hiding up here to write for thirty precious, uninterrupted minutes while he thinks I’m sleeping.

When my mom was visiting last week I would drop my son off at school while she watched my daughter and I’d pick up a coffee for her on the way home. Guess who was hiding in the parking lot of Tim Horton’s, madly scribbling on a napkin?

During our New Year’s celebrations I had my iPhone handy throughout the night, not because I was afraid of missing a call from home if something went wrong, but because I needed to take notes (good thing, too – mama had a few cocktails and events were blurry).

So if we ever go for lunch and I disappear into the bathroom for twenty minutes or longer? Never fear – chances are good that the only thing I’m cranking out is a revision on chapter six.

LD

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by | October 5, 2010 · 4:40 pm

Giving my organizational tools a makeover

Fall is a busy time for the Restless Writers. This is when we set our writing goals for the year, and get back into the swing of our meetings post-summer hiatus. We’re writing and tweeting and Facebooking with abandon. Two of us are preparing for the Surrey International Writers’ Conference, and one is also trying to maintain some semblance of a personal life (way to go, Lori!).

Sounds like a lot, right? I for one am feeling a bit frazzled.

I am a natural multi-tasker. Worker-bee by day, writer and indexer by night; full-time wife, aunt, and friend; and caretaker of three demanding cats, I’m a busy gal. Like most women I know.

In general, women are better multi-taskers than men. Yes, I’m gonna throw it out there. I’m not necessarily saying that women are naturally better equipped to handle more than one task at a time—I’ll leave that to biologists and neurologists to make that argument—but somehow women have gotten pretty good at it.

The men I know have the ability to focus on one task at a time, work on it until it’s done, and then get started on something else—piles of laundry, ringing telephones, and deteriorating manicures be damned! I’m envious of this ability. I can almost understand why some young women turn to ill-gotten prescription drugs to finish the items on their to-do lists. (No, no, I kid! I can barely swallow an Advil.)

Busy as I am, I continue to accept new projects and develop new ideas every day. So what’s going to help me hunker down and work with the focus of a man? I’m giving my two main organizational tools a makeover:

Old: The To-Do List – Ah yes, that seemingly helpful list of things that you have to do, today, this week, this month. A to-do list is a mind-numbing, never-ending and self-created abyss of worry and guilt. Toss it.

New: The Get-‘Er-Done List – If I know I only have three hours one day for my projects, I have some idea of what I can get done. My list for today would be 1) write and post a new blog post (check!), 2) edit my latest short story, and 3) find five markets to submit the story to next week. A total of three things that I can achieve in three hours.

Old: Editable Calendar – I did try this. I got one of those big editable whiteboard calendars and installed it in my home office. But moving those little stickers around and re-writing my notes reminded me of that scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where Indy and co. come across a room-full of Nazis in a castle who are planning their conquest on a map of Europe. *shudder* Not really my style.

New: Mobile Calendar – I use my BlackBerry for everything from checking Twitter, texting my husband, tracking my workouts, taking photos of my nieces and sometimes even making phone calls. Why didn’t I think of using its organizational functionality earlier? I’ve started scheduling in dedicated research, writing and editing times right into my BlackBerry calendar, and it’s working very well so far. Seeing how much I’ve accomplished each week keeps me motivated.

What tools do you use to keep your projects on track? And do they need a fall makeover?

Maria

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by | September 13, 2010 · 12:16 pm

Taking It Outside

As a restless writer, I don’t like to stick to my home office. I like to move around, and see if there’s some other chair, or view, or ambiance, that will get my literary mojo flowing. The same is true for my restless colleagues, who mine the creative potential of the local hair salon and the edge of suburbia.

I like to experiment with new places to write. They don’t always work out. Early last Saturday morning, for instance, I drove out to my favourite spot at the Royal Botanical Gardens, the Hendrie Valley Nature Sanctuary. The well maintained trails and boardwalk draw nature-seekers, amateur photographers and amblers like me.

I settled onto a sturdy bench perfectly situated beneath some leafy trees, and overlooking lush wetlands. A few ducks paddled about and the crickets were singing. Some chickadees peeped charmingly at me from the branches. It all felt very Thoreau-like.

Beady-eyed squirrel

It was wonderful for the first few minutes. My notebook and pen were at the ready. I breathed in the cool, damp air, closed my eyes and grabbed onto a snippet of dialogue that was rambling around in my head. I opened my eyes…just in time to see a beady-eyed grey squirrel creeping along the handrail.

I leapt from the bench with a lady-like squeal and looked around. I was surrounded. Three chickadees were peering hungrily at me from the trees—not so charming any more. A cardinal, normally the shyest of birds, was perched smack-dab in the middle of the boardwalk. Some rustling just off the trail signaled the arrival of one of those cute terrors: a chipmunk.

Turns out this lovely boardwalk that had seemed so promising as a writing spot is also a feeding ground for spoiled rodents and cheeky birds. These little beasties had grown accustomed to being hand-fed by visitors. Without any birdseed to fling in my defense, I was liable to be swarmed.

That squirrel was pretty damned bold. I thought he was going to scramble up my leg. He advanced. I retreated, all the way back to the parking lot. Back in the safety of my car, I realized that I had lost my good pen. I hoped that squirrel choked on it. A gaggle of Canada geese squawked at me as I drove away, probably reminding me to bring food next time.

Sheesh. Nature and I don’t always get along. Next stop on my places-for-restless-writers tour? My local pub. I think I’ll be safe from the outside in there.

Maria

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by | September 2, 2010 · 11:05 pm

I am the midnight gardener

During the day, I am consumed with work and family commitments. But the night—it belongs to me. Sure, mostly because that is when I have the time to think about projects outside of grocery shopping, making lunches, and paying bills.

The night is for garden-puttering. If you happen to follow my tweets on twitter, you will already know that I pull weeds by the light of the moon—all while the hubs works with me, sometimes laying interlock stone and other times playing guitar to a chorus of crickets. You will also know we like to kick a soccer ball around the yard in the dark while stargazing.

Much of my late night activity is the result of being a bona-fide night owl. I am always more inspired (and productive) when the sun goes down. That is my time to write, paint, water the geraniums, and simply “be.” It is my time to postulate my next project and put my dreams on my to-do list. It’s also the best time to see the day in a whole new light. And what a treat it is to wake up the next morning and observe the results of midnight toil-abouts! Now, if only the neighbors would stop leaving garlic on our front porch (for real). We are not vamps, people. We just enjoy the night.

What can I say? Life happens. I happen later…

What keeps you up at night? What is your midnight garden?

Beckie

P.S. Books (with pretty covers) also keep me up at night. I’m reading some great garden fiction right now:

  • GARDEN SPELLS by Sarah Addison Allen
  • THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN by Kate Morton

Looking for more garden fiction? Check out these Library-recommended novels that have to do with gardens or growing green things. Fun titles like: SECOND THYME AROUND, CREEPING JENNY, BAD GIRL CREEK, and TULIP FEVER! You know you want to…. click here.

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by | August 22, 2010 · 1:13 pm

How garage sales are like editing

The weather was good to us today. The rain even held off til the end of our event—a garage sale in the country. Today, we edited our home (and our lives) and it felt GREAT!

It took us about a week to clean out each room in the house in prep to sell our wares. And oh the lovely wares: bikes, beds, games, and gadgets. Accumulation. Everyone does it. And for me and my hubs, two greenies at best, we definitely have our share of objects destined for repurposing and recycling. We are dreadfully guilty of giving treasures new life, which means, parting with trinkets can often feel like selling a kidney.

And people want them organs, let me tell ya. The characters came a-crawlin’ in seek of something for nothing: wedding goers (dressed to the nines) killing time till dinner, dudes ditching family picnics, musicians waiting their gig-time downtown, antique dealers, farmers, cyclists, the boo radleys—the works. We also had the escarpment tourists and the boldest barterers, looking to trade six cobs of corn and a cantaloupe for an old wagon. And what the hell? Guess what we had for dinner? Yep, corn on the cob.

Having a garage sale today felt a lot like editing my manuscript. It went something like this. Clean a room. Remove crap. Change my mind. Put crap back. Take another look. Remove the crap again. Repeat. This is a similar process of revision that I scuffle through with my middle-grade fiction novel. The only difference being: I have sold the damn wagon—and not the manuscript.

Beckie

Progress update: My agent-search continues, with 3 full MS requests & 5 partials. Bring it on. Haggle me. I’m ready.

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