ANNOUNCEMENT: Rock That Romance Online Writing Classes with Roni Loren

November 13, 2018 Roni Loren

ATTENTION WRITERS & ASPIRING WRITERS

If you’ve followed me for a while, you might know that I started off in this bloggy world with a website for writers called Fiction Groupie. Once I landed a book deal and was published, I had to switch things up and didn’t have the time to maintain that website. But I’ve never lost my love for teaching and sharing what I’ve learned with other writers.

In the past few years, I’ve given many in-person workshops throughout the country and have truly enjoyed that experience. I can’t do it as much as I would like because travel is tough, especially when you have a kiddo, and the majority of my time has to be spent on writing my books. However, with all the new platforms for presenting classes online, I realized that I could provide these classes without having to leave the house (introvert dream, yes?). So, in 2019, I plan to launch Rock that Romance Novel classes that you can take from the comfort of your very own home.

I don’t have all the details to give you yet because right now I have to focus on finishing book 4 in The Ones Who Got Away series and need to hammer out a few more things, but my goal is to launch the first class in Spring 2019. My plan is to offer classes for new and aspiring writers and also some for the more experienced writers who want to amp up their writing skills. Classes will mostly focus on the craft of writing, but there may be occasional classes about other writing-related topics (focus, organizing, etc.) if there’s interest.

So, if you’re interested in being the first to know about the classes and to have the chance at beta prices (AKA discounted) for the initial classes, sign up for the mailing list below.

Here’s the official pitch in which I talk about myself in third person. :-p

Sign up for updates about the launch of Rock That Romance Novel classes

Ready to take the leap and learn how to write that novel you've always wanted to write "someday"? Or maybe you're already writing but you want to raise the bar from "good enough" to "top shelf" writing and need to hone your craft. Either way, New York Times bestselling and two-time RITA-award winning romance author Roni Loren is here to help you get there. This email list is for those who are interested in hearing about Roni's online writing workshops when they launch (tentative launch date: spring 2019). In the future, this list also may include newsletters about helpful writing tips and topics.

*This is separate from Roni's newsletter for readers.

Stop Letting Your Inbox Distract You: Making Rules Work for You

October 5, 2018 Roni Loren

I talk about productivity often on this blog and that means I often end up talking about avoiding distractions. I’ve blogged before about taming social media and how I use Hey Focus and block distracting sites when I’m writing. However, one major distraction I haven’t covered before is email. Why? Because I hadn’t figured out how NOT to be distracted by it except to close it and only check it at certain times. But that has some issues if you’re waiting for important emails.

So this is what email distraction usually looks like for me.

*Sits at my computer*
“Okay, before I get started on anything, let me check my email to see if there’s anything urgent I need to take care of.”
Maybe gets one or two emails that need quick action.
Then the pretty, shiny emails stare back at me. Ooh, these books are on sale. Ooh, this is a list of the best planners. Ooh, this is an interesting article about writing. Ooh, Audible’s got 100 books on sale, I should click and scan that list. Ooh, someone’s commented on my facebook post.
Two hours later…no real work has gotten done.

Does this sound familiar to anyone else?

It was getting bad for me. And, worse, it often felt like I was being productive because a lot of what I was reading from my email was educational. If anyone is familiar with the Strengthsfinder personality test, my top two strengths are Learner and Input. This basically means that I want to learn all the things about all the things and want constant input to get my brain going. Those superpowers can be used for good, but they also are the same ones that lead me down the email rabbit hole of click click click.

So, a few months ago, I decided that something needed to change. I wasn’t doing well at avoiding. If I saw it in my inbox, I wanted to click. I knew the only way that has worked for me in the past on other distracting things is the “out of sight, out of mind” approach. I didn’t want to unsubscribe from everything. I do learn things and get inspiration from articles and posts and other people’s newsletters. But I need to control how and when I saw it. Enter the magic of email rules.

Email rules are nothing new, and I’d used them on occasion for minor things, but I’d never looked at them as a way to truly take control of my inbox. Before now, I’ve always relied on organizing by folders—but folders that I used after the fact. Like a receipt would come to my inbox, and I would manually file it away in the receipts folder. That’s not helping with the flow of incoming email.

So I decided to really go after the problem with rules. I set up folders for the main categories of things that come into my inbox. This will be different for everyone, but here are mine.

Categorizing

Screen Shot 2018-10-05 at 9.36.41 AM.png

All the Input - This includes all the non-bookish newsletters, article round ups, the New York Times newsletters, what’s new on Netflix and Hulu, announcements of local concerts and events, the local newspaper’s newsletters, blogs I subscribe to, etc. Basically, all the things I love to read and feed my brain with but that aren’t urgent.
Bookish Things - This includes Daily deal book emails, bookish blogs, newsletters from BookPage, B&N, Audible, BookBub, Goodreads. I separate these out from the input folder because they include time-sensitive deals. So it’s something that I want to check daily, but that I know I need to check at a break time because it will suck up time to scan lists of what’s on sale.
Promotions - This is where all the coupon emails go from stores I’ve subscribed to. Good news is I don’t even have to look at these. They are just stored there in case I find myself in a particular store and need a coupon. I don’t have to be distracted by—oh what is this new thing this store wants me to buy?
Social Media - This is where all the facebook and other social media notifications go. This is also one that used to clutter up my inbox, but now I barely have to look at. And it’s an easy “select all” and “delete” at the end of the week.
Planners - Because I’m a planner nerd, I separate out the emails from all the planner companies into one folder.
Book Notes - I used the Pensieve app to send quick notes to myself when I get an idea about my book and am away from my computer. So this one is more a storage system than avoidance distraction.

How does this work?

You set up all your rules in your email system. I’m sure every program is a little different, but this is what it looks like in Apple Mail. This will take a while because you’re tackling your whole inbox. Bring snacks. You’re going to have to go through and see exactly what you’re getting, what address it comes from, and what folder you want to auto-send it to. Then you set up your rules and just start adding all those addresses. If you are using apple mail, if you highlight an email, click Mail—>Preferences—>Rules it will auto-populate the email address when you start a rule or add to an existing one, which makes things quicker.

This is what my rule looks like for the Bookish Things folder:

Screen Shot 2018-10-05 at 9.37.47 AM.png

This can feel like a painstaking process, but once you get through the tedium of it, you’re all set. When your emails comes in, it will automatically sort into these folders. So you never have to see it until you click on that folder. All you will get in your main inbox are the emails that you want to see or need to see. I’ve kept my main inbox to where I get emails from my family, my publisher, my editor, my agent, my kid’s school, and emails from my website. Also, any emails from new sources will land there as well.

How has this new system changed things?

I can’t explain how big of a difference this has made for me. It truly is an out of sight, out of mind solution for me. I see the little numbers of new emails in those folders in the morning, but I KNOW they aren’t urgent, so I don’t have to check those folders “just in case”. I know I can leave them alone, and they will be waiting when I get time to take a break. It also gives me comfort that I’m not missing anything important in my main inbox because I can leave that box open.

And maintenance on this system is easy because when you get a new email from a company or sign up for a new newsletter, you just have to click and add it to an already existing rule. Done. The folders and rules even work on my phone, which is amazing. It’s email magic. : )

So, if you find yourself getting lost in the black hole of email during the day, maybe give this a try. It’s nice to sit down in the morning and not have a giant pile of email to sort through. You can take care of what you need to take care of and then move on.

Anyone else sucked in by the email beast? What do you do to tame it? What would your folders be named?

The "Done" Planner: Combating the Dark Side of the Traditional To Do List

September 17, 2018 Roni Loren

Earlier this month, I did my annual post about what planners I’m choosing for the upcoming year. In that post, I mentioned that a new thing I’ve added to my system is a 90-Day “Done” planner, meaning a place where instead of marking down my To Do list (which I do in my main planner), I mark what I’ve done separated out by category.

Since I’ve done that post, I’ve had a number of people ask follow up questions about the details of this planner, so I’ve decided to do a post to explain how I’m using it.

The Concept: Overcoming the Dark Side of the Traditional To Do List

I got the inspiration for a 90-Day Goals planner from author Sarra Cannon. She has some great videos on her site explaining how she sets and keeps track of her 90-day goals. So when I was putting together my 90-Day planner, I grabbed a Happy Planner Teacher Planner because that’s what Sarra was using. But then when I put it all together, I realized that I didn’t need those pages to mark To Dos. I already have my Day Designer that houses that kind of list. So what could I use this shiny new layout for?

Well, the beauty of the teacher planner is that it’s divided into columns so that teachers can have separate lists for their different classes. But I realized it was the perfect set up to break down the different areas of my work and home life to visualize where I’m making progress. This made sense to me because the dark side of a traditional to do list is that you can check off a lot of things and wow look at all those check marks! But you may be checking off lots of inconsequential things that don’t really move the needle on your big goals. If I have a day where I’ve checked off ten things, but those things are like “mailed something”, “emailed someone”, “did laundry”, and I didn’t write any words on a book I’m drafting, have I really been very productive? No, I’ve probably been procrastinating the hard stuff.

So the idea behind the Done Planner is that not only can I see what I’m getting accomplished, I can see if I’m doing things that work toward those big 90-day goals. This has been a huge help. And on the flipside, it’s also given me a different view at the end of the week because sometimes you feel like you haven’t gotten anything done. But now I can look at my Done Planner and see ”Oh, hey, I wasn’t so great at social media this week, but that’s because I’ve really worked hard on these other two important goals.” It’s a clear picture of where I’ve spent my time, and that’s very rewarding. It gives me more a sense of peace at the end of the day or week (and gives me mental permission to take a break that evening or weekend.)

So are you interested? Let’s talk about setup and how I’m using it.

Setting Up the Planner

I’ve put everything in a Happy Planner hardcover discbound system. You can find this stuff at Michael’s and some Targets still have teacher planners on clearance. Amazon also still has a few left in stock. (29.99 is the standard price, so beware if you see any marked up.) The teacher planner does not come with this kind of cover. You can buy the hard cover separately, but it’s not necessary to have if you’re happy with the flexible cover the planner comes with.

Inside the teacher planner looks like this to start:

So here’s where your customization begins. See those blank spaces at the top of the columns? This is where you’re going to choose the buckets you want to focus on. You can simply write the title on top of each column (especially if you have better handwriting than I do), but I love the way the Avery stickers look colored with my mildliners (highlighters that aren’t so bright.) I use the Avery removable 3/4 inch circles (which are cheap on Amazon right now with their included coupon) and the Avery 5424 small removable rectangles. I usually color these all in one sitting while I’m watching TV or something and they last forever. I’ve had all these for probably a year now.

The Columns

Once you decide what you’re going to use to label your columns, now it’s time to decide what you want to name your columns. Really give this some thought because you don’t want to be tracking useless things. For my first three, I used my three main 90-day goal areas:

1. Writing - This is where I mark down word count and anything that has to do with moving my story forward. That means some days I may be marking down brainstorming/thinking time because I can’t write without thinking a lot. Thinking is work and counts as being productive as long as I’m actively focusing on the book. (Can you tell I had to do a mindshift to accept that a while back? lol)

2. Readers - This is where I mark down social media posts, blog posts, and newsletters. Anything that involves me interacting with readers goes here. So if I was going do a booksigning, it would fall under this category.

3. Business - This is the place where I mark down anything I’m doing that doesn’t fit under the two previous columns that is work-related and helping my business. If I’m taking a course. If I’m reading a book about marketing. If I researched something business-related.

The next four columns don’t directly deal with my 90-Day goals but are general life things and mental/physical wellness things that are very important to me.

4. Yoga - This is where I mark down which video I watched and how long the routine was. I’m doing the videos from Yoga with Adriene. Love them.

5. Input - This term comes from the Gallup Strengthsfinders system, which is a personality framework. But if you’re not familiar with that, this is basically my “refill the well” column. As a writer (and a writer with my particular personality), I need vast amounts of input to refill the creative well. This means reading, TV shows, movies, podcasts, audiobooks. When I let this slide, this is when I get writer’s block. So I’ve made it a priority to make sure I’m refilling the well. I mark down what I’m reading that day, if I watched or listened to something, etc. This is a good example of stuff that wouldn’t be reflected in my traditional To Do list. I wouldn’t write down “watch tv show”. But this done planner let’s me see if I’ve neglected this during the week and worked too much.

6. Budget - Simply where I record anything I spent that day outside of ordinary expenses. (If it’s a lot, it’s often a sign I’ve been surfing the internet too much and avoiding working lol.) I may change this one in the future, but for now, I’m testing this one out.

7. Home - The catch-all category for anything I did for home: laundry, groceries, meal planning, stuff for kidlet. I also usually mark what I’m cooking for dinner there.

So those are my seven categories, but the beauty of this system is that you can choose whatever categories that work for you and your life. What are you working on that you want to pay attention to and track?

Tracking

Remember, this is not a planner to write down what you hope to do that week. It’s what you’ve done. So it’s probably going to be something you need to keep open on your desk or easily accessible because if you wait to record what you did later, you’re going to forget. Plus, it feels good when you’ve done something to go mark it down. And hey, if stickers are involved, even better in my opinion. ;-) I’m currently using tiny icon stickers from FayeCreates on Etsy, but you can use whatever works for you. It may just be a bullet point you make with your pen or a colorful little dot sticker. But this is what mine looks like after a week.

And here’s a close up of the icon stickers if you want to see the variety.

Because this is a 90-day plan, I’m only keeping three months at a time in the binder. I’ve found this helpful because it makes the planner less bulky and also keeps me focused on the plan. Like hey, there’s only one month left to go, where am I on these goals?

I’ve been using this system since August, and I can say that I’m loving it. I’ve felt much calmer at the end of the day because I can clearly see what I’ve accomplished. Or I can clearly see which areas have fallen through the cracks. And hey, sometimes that’s okay. Like the week pictured above, I sucked at doing yoga that week but I got A LOT done in many other areas, including starting a book, so I was okay with yoga taking a backseat.

And really, if you’re not a planner fanatic like I am and don’t want to maintain more than one planner, this could easily be modified to be both. You could hold-punch (or disc-punch) a sheet of paper with your To Dos for the week and insert it into this system. There are lots of options because this system is so flexible.

So that’s how I’m using it. I hope you found this helpful! Please let me know if you decide to give it a try!

Resource LIst

Here’s the round-up of supplies and resources if you don’t want to pick through the post to find them:

See you next time!

You Might Like My Book Recommendations If...

August 3, 2018 Roni Loren

If you've followed my blog for a while, you know I love to recommend things...books especially. I depend pretty heavily on other people's recommendations to choose what I read next, so I like to try to provide the same service for other readers because omg, SO MANY BOOKS TO CHOOSE FROM AND NOT ENOUGH TIME. #readerproblems And generally, I haven't given my personal recommendations much thought beyond "I loved this and I hope you will too!"

However, I recently took a writing class with author R.L. Syme (she gives the BEST writer classes--if you're a writer, go take it. You'll thank me.) and one of the lectures was about how what different readers are looking for in their books is based on their own unique personalities. This may seem like a "duh" concept at first shine--we all are unique and are going to like different things. But it's much more layered and complex than that. We like things in books as readers (and if we're writers it guides our writing too) because of our personality strengths/qualities guide what we value in a story.

So, for instance, one of my strengths (according to a super fascinating test called the Strengthsfinder) is Individualization, meaning I have a particular ability to understand the "unique qualities of each person" and am "impatient with generalizations." This probably contributed to me wanting to become a therapist--seeing all the layers in people. But it's also what guides much of my writing. If you read my books, you'll (hopefully) see that I spend a lot of time on characterization, on building each person layer by layer, giving in depth backstory, making their motivation and feelings clear. That's what I love to do. Plot always comes second to me. Character-driven fiction is my thing. But not just as a writer, this class made me realize it's also what I seek as a reader.

This is why I'm often disappointed with the latest thriller everyone is raving about (whatever it may be) because I read it and can't see what others are so excited about. But that's because often in thrillers, the characterization doesn't have to go very deep (though it can and certain writers do that well) because people aren't reading it for that. They're reading a thriller for the tension, the twisty plot, the surprise ending. So to someone with lower Individualization, they don't even notice that the characters may have been depicted in very broad strokes with not much depth. That doesn't bother them at all if the plot and story are fantastic. (I realized this is why a good friend and I often can't recommend books to each other because we're looking for totally different reading experiences.)

So, this got me to thinking about the book recommendations I give (and the ones I seek out.) If you hear me saying that is a book is fantastic, it probably means that most of the following key points were hit because those are the golden nuggets I'm searching for when I pick up a book. (And it's also what you'll hopefully find in the books I write.)

1. Very layered characters - I need fully fleshed-out characters with backstories and flaws and motivations that make them feel real to me.

2. A character I can root for - Unlikable characters can be done well, and this isn't a dealbreaker for me (I've even written some), but I've found that, in general, I need at least one character who is likable or sympathetic (meaning I understand why they are acting the way they are) and who I can spend a whole book with. I want them flawed because that's human, but I don't want to hate everyone in the book because then I don't care what happens to them.

3. A page-turning pace - As much as I love deep characters, I don't read a lot of traditional literary fiction because I still need stuff to happen in the story and for it to move at a good pace. Slow books can put me in a reading slump and I hate that.

4. A non-ambiguous ending, preferably happy - I'm a romance writer. I love my happy endings. I don't mind if a book puts me through the ringer if I have some hope and happiness at the end of it. I don't read to be depressed. That's not to say I always have to have a bright and shiny ending, but I at least need a satisfying, clear one. I don't want to be left wondering what the hell happened. The couple needs to end up together. The killer needs to be caught. Revenge needs to be had. Whatever it is, wrap it up.

5. Great writing - I'm a writer so I just can't help evaluating the writing. Plus, part of my personality profile is being picky and perfectionistic. If the writing is weak, even if the premise is interesting, it pulls me out of the story.

So those are my things. If they are yours, then I'm probably a good person to trust for book recommendations (and hey, you'll probably like my books, too!) However, if you're a reader who is more interested in a twisty plot or intricate world-building or lots of back to back sexy times with no time wasted on character history/relationship development (hey, no judgment!) then my recommendations might not land as well with you. It's important to find the friends/book reviewers/recommenders that match up with your tastes.

If you'd like to keep up with my book recommendations, you can find them in a number of different places. Come join me!

Sign up for newsletter and get my recommendations straight to your inbox (along with blog posts like this one and other fun stuff)
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What makes a book a "must read" for you?

What I'm Watching This Summer

July 31, 2018 Roni Loren

Summertime is the time of sunshine and the outdoors...well, in other places. Here in Dallas, summertime is full of sunshine and unbearable heat. Today it's 90 and it feels like autumn to me because we've been dealing with 105-110 temperatures for over two weeks and 90 truly feels like relief. We'll get a few days of this before the temperature races back up again.

But all this is to say that in summer, I often end up catching up on TV watching because we're indoors hiding from the heat. So I thought I'd pass along what I'm watching this summer both on TV and YouTube. And I'd love to hear what interesting shows you've found recently!

For pure soapy reality TV

Big Brother on CBS

If you've followed me for any length of time, you know that I'm a long time Big Brother fan. I look forward to it every summer, and it's become a family tradition. Hubs and I love all the strategy and personality dynamics. Kidlet loves all the competitions. (We fast forward through any not-safe-for-10-year-olds moments.) It's quite a commitment with three episodes a week, but I eat it up like candy. My favorite contestant this year in Tyler. I love that he came on and was all "I'm just a dumb, cute lifeguard" and has turned out to be the most socially strategic and smart player so far. The writer in me loves characters, and Big Brother always gives me good fodder for analysis.

Fun for the Whole Family

The Middle

Last summer kidlet and I picked a show to binge watch together for device-free summer. Last year was The Goldbergs, which has become a family favorite (and kidlet obsession) now. This summer, we've picked The Middle. (Side note: finding a truly family friendly modern sitcom is a challenge! But this one fits the bill.) We're almost done with season 2 and are really enjoying it. If you want to binge watch this one, it's not streaming anywhere for free (last I checked) but Freeform and the Hallmark channel have been running the seasons marathon style and we've been taping them, so look for that.

For the Music Lover

The Big Interview with Dan Rather

This is one hubs found on one of his favorite channels AXS. Dan Rather interviews famous musicians. (He may interview more than musicians, but the ones we've watched have all been musicians.) These interviews were taped a few years ago, but they are fascinating. Dan Rather is a master interviewer, and if you love music, you'll love the stories he pulls out of the people he puts in his interview chair. So far we've watched interviews with Greg Allman of The Allman Brothers, Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Even if you don't know much about the particular band/artist (I knew hardly anything about The Allman Brothers) the interviews will pull you in. Highly recommended.

For Nostalgia or a Peek Inside 90s Teenhood

My So-Called Life

I mentioned a while back that I was so excited that one of my favorite podcast duos were starting the My So-Called Podcast where they rewatch episodes of My So-Called Life and then comment on them. This has been so much fun--to rewatch one of my very favorite shows from my teen years through adult eyes and then follow each episode up by listening to Jillian and Patrick pick apart the episodes in a funny yet respectful superfan kind of way. It's made it such a multi-layered experience. It's made me laugh a lot but also has made me wonder what the hell I was thinking loving Jordan Catalano (played by Jared Leto) back when I was 14. I mean, yes, he's beautiful, but dude, he was SUCH a jerk on that show. Adult Me totally wants to yell at him for his behavior. Anyway, if you want to rewatch or watch for the first time. Here's where you can stream it and here's where you can find the podcast.

For Your Brain

The 2000s on CNN

CNN has made series about many of the decades and every time, I am so here for it. I believe they started with The Sixties. That's the first one I watched at least, and they've gone on to make a series for each decade. This summer it is The 2000s. The show is produced by Tom Hanks and is done in such a great way that I get hooked every time. Each show will take one topic of that decade and do a deep dive. So, for instance, the episode we watched this week was all about technology and the "I-Decade"--the iPod, iPhone, iPad, social media, etc. Even though we all lived through it, it's fascinating to look back and really think about how much has changed so quickly. There was also an episode on TV shows in the 2000s and then there are the political ones (9/11, the Iraq War, etc.). I believe there is a music one coming up. All very well done. And if you haven't watched the previous seasons--60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s--they've all been fantastic.

For Your Body and Mind

Yoga with Adriene

I am trying to create a yoga habit, but I have trouble making it to classes because the timing never works out. So I've started doing yoga in the mornings at home. There are tons of free videos on YouTube, but I've found that the ones I like the best are from Yoga with Adriene. The videos are well shot, the routines are doable, there are lots of routines of varying length if I don't have a lot of time. Plus, Adriene is easy to follow and comes across as very down to earth. If you're looking to get some yoga into your life, check out her channel.

For the Planner Lover and Writers

Heart Breathings with Sarra Cannon

Y'all know I love a planner and anything having to do with productivity systems. I recently returned from the RWA (Romance Writers of America) conference where I met up with the writer/planner group I'm in online. So fun! And I happened to sit next to author Sarra Cannon who had brought her 90-day planner. I loved her set up and found out she has a YouTube channel where she talks about all things planning and writing. I blame her for the kanban board I put together this week. But if you're a planner girl (or guy!) like me, her channel is worth checking out.

That's all I've got for y'all today! Tell me what you're watching and loving this summer. : )