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Home » Career » Page 8

Career

Be Proactively Lazy

By Bob Hostetleron April 7, 2022
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In James Clear’s excellent, bestselling book Atomic Habits, he writes about a man who set up a number of systems and habits that impressed others, who commented on his energy and hard work in getting so much done. He shrugged off the compliments, however, saying something like, “I’m actually not that hard-working; I’m just proactively lazy.”

I love it. I think “proactive laziness” is a good modus operandi for working writers.

As the man in the book used it—and as I’ve practiced it for years without having that label to use for it—proactive laziness is the application of a habit or system that over time saves effort—mental, emotional, physical, etc. With such habits relating to your writing in place, it may look as though you’re energetic, hard-working, frantic, even, in accomplishing tasks. In reality, however, your habits allow you to be methodical, even lazy. But purposefully so. 

As Ricky Ricardo would say, “I can essplain.”

Say you’re a blogger who must produce several inspired and insightful posts every single week. That takes a lot of work, no? Yes. But let’s say also that you’ve cultivated a habit in your weekly schedule—right after lunch, perhaps—of brainstorming at least three topics for upcoming posts, which you add to a posting schedule. Thus, on writing days, instead of stressing or straining to come up with a topic, you just write. Easy peasy, right? Of course, right.

Or say you’re working on a novel. You sit down at the same time and in the same place on certain days and write 2,000 words. When you reach that goal, you stop—even in mid-sentence—and give yourself permission to be lazy the rest of the day.

Or (to steal again from James Clear, who calls this “habit stacking”) you’ve attached a writing task to an already-existing habit, so that after you get the mail from the mailbox, you immediately write a short poem. The poem doesn’t even have to be about mail, or particularly good. But because it’s attached (or “stacked”) with another habit, it will eventually become as automatic; and who knows what inspiration will arise out of your routine?

These are only a few examples of the power of proactive laziness. I can testify that, in my case, being both obsessive-compulsive and lazy, habits and systems like these have worked wonders for me. I keep a bullet journal that helps to focus me. I plan my workweek every Sunday right before retiring. I have “habit-stacked” recurring tasks so that existing habits lead automatically into those tasks. (For example, I eat breakfast every day, and I’ve long followed that up by unloading and loading the dishwasher. So, when I had to start taking my blood pressure, I started doing that on leaving the kitchen and added my morning stretch routine immediately after taking my blood pressure. One leads to the other now, automatically.) My phone automatically activates “Do Not Disturb” at regular intervals, so I can focus on writing. And so on.

People occasionally say to me, “I don’t know how you do all you do.” I like hearing that, because I still like to think I’m energetic and hard-working. But I’m really just proactively lazy. 

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Category: Career, Encouragement, Inspiration, The Writing Life

Chemistry Matters

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon March 24, 2022
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We’ve all heard about the stars who turned down roles that turned out to become cultural icons. For instance, at least six actors turned down the part of Neo in The Matrix.  Perhaps those who turned down roles might say, “Wow, that could have been me! I missed a great opportunity!”  Maybe. Or maybe not. Why? Because those films wouldn’t have been the same with the other actors. Perhaps the …

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Category: Career

Fearful Writing

By Dan Balowon March 23, 2022
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It is important for Christian writers to be bold, not worrying so much about who might be offended by the gospel or who might take biblical truth the wrong way. Despite society being fragile these days with so many people triggered by the littlest thing, this situation shouldn’t stop us from proclaiming God’s truth. We all need to be more fearless in the way we live and communicate. After all, as …

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Category: Career, Christian, Inspiration

Not Only the Lonely

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon March 16, 2022
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Since many publishers ask that authors have a robust online presence, I’m revisiting a topic that, sadly, hasn’t gone away since I wrote about it a few years ago. This article is worth everyone’s time if I can save even one person from being scammed. Recently, I received a private message on Facebook from a man I didn’t know, saying that he liked my profile and would like …

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Category: Career, Social Media

A Is for Agent

By Steve Laubeon March 14, 2022
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by Steve Laube

I thought it might be fun to write a series that addresses some of the basic terms that define our industry. The perfect place to start, of course, is the letter "A." And even better to start with the word "Agent."

If you are a writer, you've got it easy. When you say you are a writer your audience lights up because they know what that means. (Their perception is that you …

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Category: Agents, Book Business, Book Business, Career, Creativity, E-Books, Legal Issues, Publishing A-Z, Writing CraftTag: Agent, Book Business, publishing

An Agent’s Curmudgeonly Rant

By Bob Hostetleron March 9, 2022
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Sometimes I just have to rant. You understand, don’t you? Maybe it comes with age, and you’re not yet old enough to understand. Or grumpy enough. Or OCD enough. Nevertheless, I hope you’ll allow me to vent for today’s post. And I should say that I’m not asking you to agree with me, though my regard will certainly increase if you do. It’s just that there are some things that get on my nerves as I …

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Category: Career, Get Published, Grammar

A Dozen Things to Do While You Wait

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon February 2, 2022
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Have you just submitted your New Year’s Resolution manuscript and now you’re waiting for a response? Do you feel adrift? Are you unsure what to do? Then it’s time to launch another ship! Years ago, I recall reading an article (probably in a writers magazine, and I apologize to the author and magazine for being unable to give proper citation now) suggesting that authors think of each project as a …

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Category: Career, Common Questoins, The Writing Life

Writing Rocks and Hard Places

By Dan Balowon November 10, 2021
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Many writers find themselves caught between fulfilling their creative writing desires and activities that pay living expenses. More often than not, they are different things. Throughout history, highly successful authors had other vocations while they developed their skills for writing books. If you go online and search for “day jobs of famous writers,” you’ll discover the only thing they have in …

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Category: Career, The Writing Life

One Approach to Problem Solving

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon November 4, 2021
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I appreciate receiving daily delivery of The Washington Post newspaper. When the paper’s delivery became irregular, I felt disappointed. I figured we had gotten a different carrier. This new person on the job was proving to be a departure from the former prompt and faithful delivery person. But when the paper didn’t arrive three days in a row, I wanted the replacement carrier to be informed and …

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Category: Career

A Peek at an Agent’s Emails

By Bob Hostetleron November 3, 2021
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As a literary agent, I send and receive a lot of emails. A lot. And that’s not even counting the emails offering my helpful diet tips and donut recipes. My emails aren’t always so practical, but it recently occurred to me that some weary or woeful writers might be helped by a peek at some of the wise and witty responses I’ve sent to clients and nonclients (because I’m just that kind of guy). Here …

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Category: Agency, Agents, Book Proposals, Career, Pitch, Pitching
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