TBT: 9 Things to Do Before Starting Law School #1Lhell

It's that time of year! The time of year when new 0L's law students begin stressing obsessively about becoming 1L's. (They don't call it 1L Hell for nothin'). Ah, I remember those days. It seems like a lifetime ago.

I wrote this post after wrapping up my first semester exams. I had some perspective at this point and could reflect on what you should do before you even step foot in the building. Take your freedom seriously, because it's about to end. Embrace your last bit of summer.

Enjoy!

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I'm done with my first semester of 1Lhell. Which means I'm sleeping as much as humanly possible and trying to have fun (you know, that three letter word that was so familiar BEFORE school). So I thought I'd take a moment to reflect over the beginning of it all. If you are starting law school in the future maybe these things will come in handy.

Here are my top 9 things to do before starting law school:

1. Talk to everyone! Tell everyone who will listen that you are going to law school. I mean, don’t be a jerk about it but get the word out. Who knows, someone may know someone who is an attorney and *boom* instant network connection. Networking is a constant in the professional world. For those who haven’t worked in a career before this will come as a shock. For those of you (like me) who are pursuing law as a second (or third) career you know networking starts now. Heck, maybe it started yesterday. Just get to it and don’t worry about sounding silly. You’re a 1L – no one expects you to know everything.

2. Get a good, light weight, laptop. This cannot be understated. You will already have about a billion pounds worth of books to lug around. Who wants to lug around a 5 million pound 17 in’ laptop? No one. *insert aint no one got time for that meme* I use a Microsoft Surface (pro 2) and I love it. Some people will tell you to get a Mac – I’m not a super Mac fan but if that’s what floats your boat then, by all means, float your boat.

3. Get your job sitch figured out – you don’t need any extra stress. Set expectations early with your employer that you will need flexibility in order to make school work.

4. Get your home sitch figured out – home is essential. It’s where you unwind. It’s where you relax. It’s where you spend your time when you aren’t at work or at the library. So start talking to your SO’s or family now. Set expectations with them early and often. This is going to be a HUGE change and they need to be on board. They are your partners in this endeavor. You need their support.

5. Have as much fun as possible – this is your last moment of freedom before you commit to a grueling lifestyle of hard work. Take this moment to celebrate EVERYTHING and ANYTHING! Celebrate getting into school. Celebrate the fact that it’s Thursday. Just be sure you are enjoying life because when things get hard you’ll want happy memories to see you through.

6. Visit family – you may not be able to travel for every holiday anymore. Sure, you have Thanksgiving week off from class but it’s also the last week before finals. You’ll want that time to study. So maybe that means spending turkey day at home instead of with the fam. Plan now for how you will spend your holidays and set those expectations. You’ll feel a lot less stress if you take care of it now. Not to mention the total awesome feeling you’ll get from spending time with your loved ones.

7. Get your personal medical issues in order – I was getting headaches as I studied for the LSAT. I had Lasik about 10 yrs ago and knew it was guaranteed so I made time to visit with the eye doc and find out what was causing my headaches. The issue was nothing that could be corrected with a repeat procedure so it was determined that I needed glasses. Better that I got those glasses before school as opposed to suffering through and then getting them in the middle of first semester. This applies to mental health issues as well. I’m glad I didn’t wait until the semester started to discuss my mental health with my provider. This is serious stuff. You need to take it seriously.

8. Plan to protect your time – a lot of people will tell you that just because you’re in school doesn’t mean you need to give up on the things that you love. If you’re like me and you enjoy running and fitness then schedule time in your day to work out. It’s not enough to schedule the time. You need to protect that time like a momma bear protects her cubs. Luckily for me I’ve learned this skill because I love to write and writing is a task that can get easily run over by the rest of life. Now, this is easier said than done. For example, I regularly miss my workouts and have had to drop writing sessions completely for a while. But it’s not because I didn’t try. I did. I am. And I’m adapting my schedule to what will work.

9. Sleep. Sleeeeeeeeep. For the love of god sleep. You will likely run on less sleep than you thought possible once school gets underway. So make sure you aren’t going into it already operating at a deficit.


Hope these tips help you as you get ready to start your law school journey.

Have you been through 1Lhell? What did you wish you could have done before the semester started? Share here.

TBT: On Burn Out

In some circles burn out can been a dirty word. Or a dirty secrete at lest. But burn out happens everywhere: in relationships, in hobbies, and even in your deepest passions (be it writing, reading, or running).

Don't be ashamed of burn out. It happens to the best of us. I wrote this post after struggling with some pretty serious burn out for a few months. I hope my experiences help you through the frustration of burn out.

Enjoy!

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I mentioned my burn out in my May recap.

It’s been tough. A lot of times I can sense burn out coming. And sometimes I can take steps to stop burnout in it's tracks. But in May I was blindsided by burn out. I was riding the sugar high of just finishing a rewrite. My energy was good and I rolled that into outlining not one – but TWO – potential WIPs.

In April I was reading a ton as well. But I burned out there, too. In May I started a lot of books and put them down right away. I just wasn’t connecting with anything.

And I think I know why –

I’m going to law school in the fall. I start in August. It’s fantastic, terrific, thrilling news. I’m ecstatic be going. I love the law and I love learning. I’ve wanted to go to law school for more than ten years so getting in and actually making this dream a reality is amazing….and also not amazing. Because there’s this nagging guilt that seeps into my daily thoughts, whispering “you’ve given up, haven’t you? You’ve given up on your dream of becoming a writer.” Ugh…hate that feeling.

And that feeling is total bull because it doesn’t have to be that way. My rational mind knows that I don’t have to be one dimensional.

Yes, being a published author and writing full time is a goal of mine. It’s been my dream for as long as I can remember. But I need a Day Job for the time being and I don’t see why I shouldn’t work a Day Job in a field I am passionate about: law. So why does it feel like I tied my writing dream to a chair in the basement?


Why can’t I have both? Why can’t I be both?


I think I can. I see men and women all the time who work as husbands/wives/mothers AND as writers, AND some other job (be it part time or full time). Not to mention all those folks likely have hobbies, and friends, and other commitments or obligations (some fun and some not so fun). People are not one thing.

So being a law student, an employee, a wife/sister/daughter/friend, AND a writer shouldn’t feel impossible. It can be done. A singular passion does not define me….so why do I feel all this guilt?

I think I’ve imposed an arbitrary dedication meter to my passion. If I am not writing 1000 words a day or 3 hours a day while braiding the mane of a unicorn I’m no longer a serious writer. I doubt I’m alone in this belief but it’s arbitrary. And if this dedication meter is helping me to be more disciplined then great! But if this arbitrary dedication meter is making me feel terrible then it’s no longer useful and it needs to go.

Because the reality of writing as work is this: sometimes you must to step back. Sometimes you must take a break. And we shouldn’t feel guilty about resting but we do. At least a lot of us do anyway. Ugh. It’s the worst.

I don’t know what my life will look like after I start school. I know this new path means I will need to make a lot of changes in my life. And change is uncomfortable. Waiting and anticipating this change is uncomfortable. It’s a lot like riding home from the beach with sand in your shorts.

I don’t know what my new normal will look like. But I do know that in the new normal there will be writing. Not just writing for school but writing for me. Fiction. My stories. The plots and characters I love. It’s important to me and that won’t change. But what and how much I write is still a mystery at this point.

That should be okay with me. But it’s not. It’s uncomfortable.

This anxiety and uncertainty contributed to my burn out. Here's a glimpse inside my brain over the past few weeks.

Should I start this project? Probably not because you’ll just have to put it down in Aug and you may not be able to pick it back up for a while.

Should I read this book? No, it’s part of a series and you won’t be able to finish the entire series before Aug so don’t bother starting it now.

Should I revise this project? No, there might not be time to finish it all before Aug.

Should I continue to query this project? No, because if it gets picked up by an agent they will want you to revise and you may not have time to revise it before Aug….


These are actual thought’s I’ve had. These are self limiting and self defeating thoughts. And there is a lot of fear there. A lot of fear masquerading as practicality. I am scared. I’m scared I won’t have enough time.

So I need to evaluate this further. Maybe I don’t send queries for a while. Maybe I don’t revise that WIP right now. Maybe I don’t do anything for the next three months….But if that’s the case I want the decision to be evaluated on more than just fear. I want to get passed the fear so I can understand this anxiety.

I don’t have an answer for this burn out yet. I plan on going through some of the burnout-fighting steps that worked for me in the past. And in addition, I plan to really get to the bottom of this fear.

Until then, I’m just going to take things one day at a time. Maybe I blog, maybe I don’t. Maybe I draft, maybe I don’t. Maybe I read, maybe I don’t.

This doesn’t mean I’m a failure or lazy or undisciplined. It just means I’m still working things out. As uncomfortable as that is….it’s okay.


Want more on book and/or writing related burn out?

Check out this awesome post by Jenny Kaczorowski on why rest does not equal failure.

Or my post on managing book burn out and contest fatigue.

And if your book burn out is actually writer burn out (as in I can't write another book) check out this post by the lovelies at Writer Unboxed

TBT: 5 Reasons to Attend a Writers Conference

Another summer another writer's conference, amirite? Normally, I'd say yes. However, these days my summers are full of classes of the law variety.

But you can (and should) attend a writers conference! If you're on the fence just review my 5 reasons writer conferences are essential.

Enjoy!

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Con or Con, There Is No Not-Con - Yoda.

Okay, so maybe that’s not exactly what Yoda said. I think we all know what he actually said.

But still, when it comes to the question of whether or not you should attend a writing con the answer is easy: YES.

There are so many wonderful reasons to attend a con. If you are interested in any of the following 5 Reasons to Attend a Writers Conference – I’d say do it. Go.

1. Networking – um hello, has to be the number one reason to attend a con. We spend so much time walled up in our writing caves, deep in our own imagination, that we sometime forget to shower, eat, or otherwise take care of ourselves. Wouldn’t it be great to spend some face time with other people who can relate? (BTW, most people do shower before actually attending a con. Just so you know. And pants ARE required. ) Not to mention the fact that you can fangirl at cons, which, if you are like me, is your idea of networking.

2. Learning – Most writer cons have classes or workshops in which you can learn about craft, industry changes, publisher updates, what editors are looking for, and so much more. There are even cons that include workshop elements where your pages are reviewed by industry pro’s. But here’s where you’ll want to do your research. Some cons are aimed more at readers (so there is less emphasis on educating writers). Be sure you know what you want before you sign up.

3. Free Stuff – And I mean tons of it.

You get a book. And you get a book. And you get a book.


You get the idea. At cons you can snag boxes and boxes of free stuff from actual books to smaller swag, Cons are rife with free stuff. Check out these pics of all the free stuff I grabbed at RWA Nationals last year:

Free stuff day 1

Free stuff day 2

Pretty awesome, right?

4. Inspiration – At RWA National’s last year the entire event oozed inspiration. I felt like Mario getting a power up from some invisible mushroom or something. There were so many wonderful stories being shared. Everywhere I turned another author was telling a tale about how they got their agent or how they sold. The message wasn’t “this is some secret club that only cool kids can join” it was “if I can do it so can you.” And the luncheon speakers were amazing. First of all, they took the stage to speak in front of more than 2,000 people so hat’s off to them for having amazing lady-balls of steel. Second, both of them made me laugh and cry. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more motivated to push forward in my writing career than after I attended RWA Nationals (which is why I can’t wait to go back this year!).

5. Exposure – Okay, going to a con won't turn you into a sexy sun goddess. But, a writer con is the perfect place to soak up industry knowledge. So many writers never query. They toil over their work but never find the last resource of strength needed to get their book baby out into the world. Some of that might be due to fear. Fear of failure. Fear of the unknown. And I firmly believe education and exposure can eradicate those fears. At many cons you can attend sessions with editors or publishing executives. Some cons offer workshops where you can spend one-on-one time with publishing pro’s. And still more, like RWA, offer pitching sessions where you actually, live-and-in-person, pitch your novel to an agent or editor. It’s scary. Yes. But it’s also not the end of the world. But it could be the start. A first step on a long path toward publication. And learning to pitch, learning to interact with the business side of publishing, is invaluable (or so I’m told – not that I’m published yet).


But writing conferences aren’t cheap (is anything cheap anymore? Sheesh):

The fact that not all cons are created equal means you should do your research before you drop the big bucks. Know what you’re looking for – if you want workshops and classes on craft a reader-focused event may not be worth your time and money. And if you want a smaller, more intimate setting, with a greater emphasis on critiquing/workshop then a national event like RWA may not be right for you (Remember to check local chapters of writing organizations. RWA and SCWBI have local cons).

I am a huge fan of writing cons and have included in my business plan a commitment to attend cons in the future. I want to stay current and keep improving.

Have you attend any great cons? Share your experience here: