Author Guest Post: Time Management as a Teen by Elisabeth Wheatley

Hi Guys! As you all know, I'm actually on vacation now! Yay! This means that I'm actually away from my blog for three weeks. So, scheduled posts like these might be cropping up while I'm gone.....Moving on. Today, I'm actually a part of author Elisabeth Wheatley's blog tour! I'm so excited to have her here, because she is a sixteen year old girl, who's been making a splash in the publishing industry. Did you hear me? SIXTEEN! So, I've decided that she is one awesomesauce author. I elected to have a guest post, so here you have it!

*Guest Post*

If something is important enough to me, my procastinating self can usually find the time for it whether that means getting up earlier than normal, doing my chores faster, or not watching the latest episode of Grimm or Doctor Who (but I do prefer when it doesn't come to that, I'm hooked on those shows!). I usually set aside a certain time during the day for my writing after I've gotten my chores done. More than once I've stayed home from a dog show or some other fun event because I "had to finish this."

Some days I can easily write 3,000 words (about 10 pages) in about three hours. (More recently I set a record of over 7,000 words, or about twenty pages in a day, but that is extremely rare). Other days, I can barely finish writing a page in six hours, it depends on how high or low my inspiration levels are at the time. While editing one book, I'm working on the next, but once I'm done with the editing, I take a break from writing. I feel like I've run a marathon and need to rest.

About two or three months after I finish editing the previous book,  I go back to work on the next book until it's finished and the process repeats itself. During my breaks, I read as much YA Fantasy as I can, and enjoy watching movies from beginning to end.

When I'm waiting for my classes at school, I'm often scribbling down story ideas, sub-plots, ideas for character names, sometimes even dialogue in a tattered spiral notebook. I work out snags in my storylines, and in my scenes while I feed my dogs or make dinner. Time management is something I've been forced to learn since I started writing.

We live far away from any of my friends and I don't often talk to them on the phone. We text instead and they have learned not to take it as an insult when I don't respond right away. They know I'm probably poring over some scene or other.

When I'm in a writing mode, it's not so much of a question of "when can I find time to write?", but more a question of "when can I find time to do everything else?" Often times my mother will ask me something like, "Are you done folding the laundry?" And I'll stop typing, look up from my computer screen, and reply, "What laundry?" Or my brother will ask, "Did you finish the take-home portion of the quiz?" and my response is, " What quiz?" My mother is normally a very patient woman, so when I say she's had to take away my computer until I got my work done thrice, you know it was bad. (I kept count because it was so traumatic. I pratically went into physical withdrawal.)

When I'm not in writing mode is when I have to force myself to write, but after I've forced myself to write for a while is usually when I get inspired and have fun with my writing again. In short, I write when the time is given me, and seize the time when it's not.

*Author Bio*

Elisabeth Wheatley started writing short stories when she was as young as seven years old. She began working on what would eventually become The Key of Amatahns when she was eleven. The story went through countless total rewrites until Elisabeth began working on what would be the final version when she was fourteen. When she completed the draft at fifteen, her parents (being supportive) sent her manuscript to a professional editor in West Texas. The editor, Suzanne O'Bryan, was so impressed with Elisabeth's work that she recommended it to a friend at a small publishing house, Chengalera Press. Chengalera Press was also very impressed, and wanted to publish the manuscript. The Key of Amatahns was reviewed and edited by Professor Emeritus of the english department at Southwestern University, Dr. T. Walt Herbert. The kindle version of The Key of Amatahns was released on June 30, 2011, when Elisabeth was still fifteen. The paper version followed days later. Elisabeth is currently working on the second and third installments in the Argatallam Saga, while continuing to attend high school in the Texas Hill Country. Her hobbies include beekeeping, cheesemaking, mythology, and studying American Sign Language.


*Book Info*Please note, this is for the second book in the series, and I really suggest that you start with The Key of Amatahns.

After her adventures with the Key of Amatahns, sixteen year old Janir Caersynn Argatallam returns home to find Brevia on the brink of war with a neighboring country, Stlaven. Her foster father and even Saoven--a brave young elf warrior--think it will be safe at the castle where Janir grew up. However, while trying to unravel a looming mystery, Karile--self-taught wizard and Janir's self-appointed best friend--becomes certain that there is danger in the mountains surrounding Janir's childhood home and that it has something to do with Stlaven's most powerful family, the Vanmars....

 

There you have it. So, what did you think?