Life Without Internet

My unplugged week was extremely productive. I didn't unplug completely (I had to at least check my email everyday), but I did send my ethernet cord to work with my husband, so I had no internet access during the daytime. It was GREAT.

I made a few discoveries that I'd like to share with you:

1. Checking email every half hour is no better that checking it twice a day. It will wait for you--really.

2. Without an ethernet cord my house became clean and my manuscript became longer. It was like magic.

3. I have no willpower. Just like I can't have a piece of chocolate cheesecake sitting in front of me for more than 30 seconds without devouring it, I cannot have a working internet and not check my email/your blogs/Yahoo News hourly.

4. A while back Lisa and Laura suggested trying a program that disables the internet for a set amount of time so I CAN'T get on it (and I can write). Last Friday I tried one. BRILLIANT. I highly recommend this kind of thing if you are like me and have no willpower.

5. When I unplug all the seasoned bloggers out there start writing about stuff I NEED to read. There were some truly awesome posts last week that I missed (until my husband came home with my cord). If you didn't see them you should check out:

Jody Hedlund's series on: Why We Should Blog

Kiersten White's post about Why Being on Submission Sucks

Elana Johnson's post about How She Does it All

It's going to be a really busy week for me (I leave for the SCBWI conference on Friday!) but I'll be back for sure on Wednesday.

Do you accomplish a lot more when you unplug? Have you ever unplugged? (If not--you need to try it!)

SCBWI and Unplugging

In less than two weeks I'm headed to the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) Conference in NY. I am so excited, because not only do I get to go to to MY FIRST writing conference, I also get to finally meet all of the girls in my writing group (Marie, Karen, and Megan) IN PERSON.

We decided that we're going to do a critique session the night before the conference starts. I haven't ever done a live critique, so I'm a little nervous. We promised to send our manuscripts to each other by Monday the 25th. So I'll have to have at least a few chapters from my WIP that I'm not embarrassed to let them read by then.

Which is why I've decided to send my ethernet cord to work with my husband this week so I can FOCUS on writing and editing. I will miss you all, but don't worry I'll be back next week.

Have you ever participated in a live critique group? How do you prepare?