Get It Together Blog Hop!!! An attempt to organize the Writing Life....

I love organization. And I love office supplies. Highlighters. I really love highlighters. And lists. Lists are my favorite things.  There’s a point in every book when the fog clears and suddenly I’m able to make lists of all the scenes coming up. Lists of the big changes. The character reveals. It’s a huge breakthrough moment every book. 
But I can never start with a list. 
And I love the idea of all those things making writing easier. I mean, I’m prepared for that. I really am. I have ALL THESE HIGHLIGHTERS. 
Sadly, my books start with a mess. And they are written in an even bigger mess.  
For some reason, the better it’s going, the more chaos I need.  I end up working at my dining room table.  (check out my Instagram accountfor what that looks like). And then when it’s really going well I write in my daughter’s bedroom. (Again, I instagramed that – don’t tell my daughter).
Last year I was rewriting The Truth About Him – and the rewrite was good. Hard, like crushing. Like  don’t-shower-for-days-who-needs-pants? kind of hard. But I was really pleased with how it was going.  So, everyday I found myself on the old couch in the play room with all of my kid’s toys stacked beside me. This pile of toys would fall down on me through out the day and I’d shove it away – not put anything away because that would mess with the chaos. 
My husband called it my hamster cage.  I called it my hamster cage.  My hamster cage was magic.
But it’s September and that means the kids are back to school and I finally have these days back after taking most of the summer off reading great books and getting new ideas. And while organization doesn’t help me write books it does get me motivated to do it. The way going shopping for school supplies made me excited for the school year - getting out my calendar and planning ahead makes me excited for the work to come.  It creates a framework around the chaos - makes the chaos seem like a good idea. A safe place. Something normal. 
I'm looking forward to the rest of these blog posts and getting some tips and ideas but mostly seeing how everyone else frames the mess and chaos of their writing life. 
There's an amazing giveaway attached - and anything organized by Lexi Haughton is about the most amazing thing - so you're going to want to enter this!!







And here are the rest of the participating authors! 
Monday, August 31st
Lindsay Emory      Molly O’Keefe                         KK Hendin                             Cherri Porter                           Meredith R. Stoddard              Tuesday, September 1st
Shari Slade                               Julia Kelly                                Karen Booth                            Derek Hawkins                       Rebecca Grace Allen               Jodie Griffin                            Wednesday, September 2nd
Jeffe Kennedy                          Alexandra Haughton               Mary Chris Escobar               Tamsen Parker                         Laura K. Curtis                        Thursday, September 3rd
Jennifer Lohmann                    Alexis Anne                             Kelly Maher                             Erin Satie                               Sandy Williams                                    Ophelia London                      Friday, September 4th
Vivienne Thorne                      Rebecca Paula                         Delphine Dryden                     Kristi Tuck Austin                   Edie Harris                              Serena Bell