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Creative Minds Need A Monthly Planner

Writer's picture: Pamela PoolePamela Poole

The Creative Minds Monthly Planner is a Southern Sky Publishing FREE download.


This week started with anticipation - I signed up to attend a week-long conference about writing crime novels. I've included crime in my first novel series and short stories, but I'm not a writer of Mystery, Suspense, and Thriller genres. Since I'm brainstorming a Cozy Mystery series with supernatural suspense, I'm preparing as best I can, short of the REAL learning, which is the trial and error of writing.


So, I gathered my business notebook and opened it to jot down the daily time commitment of the conference. Sabotage lurks when I'm trying to carve out time dedicated to writing and it was no surprise when I was faced with a rabbit trail: the space for this week was used up, and it was the last page left of the planning system. I'd been putting off printing more because I needed a new printer, which I fortunately purchased a couple of weeks ago.


With a frustrated sigh, I went online to find the free downloadable planner for authors that I'd been using the past 3 years, and found that the resource links no longer work.

Wow. So much for focusing on the conference and applying it to my next book series! I eyed the clock for timing the next speaker and quickly logged in to my presentation software to design something simple that I'd enjoy using.

Lots of lines and boxes on forms make me want to run away, so I got rid of them in my version. I call it the Creative Minds Monthly Planner, and it's simple and fun! It has an airy, dreamy look when the PDF is printed out - there's more space at the top and bottom that appears in the photo on the poster above (see print sample below).

Here's how I fill mine in.




Special note: When printing the download, you may need to select the Acrobat view to see the entire page. Also, be sure to remember to change your printer setting to Landscape mode to get the wide area needed for the planner.


This sample would be much busier to look at if April had been a typical month's schedule, but I had time off to enjoy my adorable grandson (yes, I'll post a pic!) and take a week off to stay on the island with my hubby and son. I'll likely use several colors of fine point markers or ink to draw lines and section off the artist and author business aspects of my schedule. Maybe I'll doodle something fun under those palms and surfboards :-)


As so often happens in life, what seemed like an inconvenient challenge was instead a blessing! I have a monthly planner system that's much better than the one I was using, and I can share it with you. If you're inspired by my Creative Minds Monthly Planner, I hope you'll give it a try and pass along the link to your friends! I use it as an artist and author, but it would be useful for craft and sewing schedules, lesson plans, social media planning, and other creative pursuits. If you're a writer or author, you may want to take a peek at my other FREE download tool, a Character Profile Template. They are on the same "Free Writing Tools and Art Lessons" page on the Southern Sky Publishing website. A unique feature of the Character Profile is that it has a place to explore the Christian faith aspects of a character, which shapes his or her actions in a story.


 

Blog content copyright Pamela Poole, Artist and Author, 2021 Photos and posters may only be used by permission from the author.

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Pamela Poole
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Hi, I'm Pamela Poole, and I live an amazing life as an artist and author! The alluring charm and distinctive characteristics of the coastal Carolinas are my creative muse, so I describe my work as "Inspiring Southern Ambiance." It is always family-friendly!

My novels and short stories in the Painter Place Saga take place on a fictional island on the coast  of South Carolina, between Charleston and Myrtle Beach. I was inspired to write Painter Place when my son encouraged me to write the kind of book I wanted to read, but couldn’t find. My original paintings are used in the covers and inside the pages of the novels, adding a unique appeal to this unusual series.

The Strange Sands Novella Series is inspired by my convictions that in American culture, we've been educated and shamed out of recognizing the Bible is true about a spiritual realm at work all around us, where the real battles are raging. The stories in this series are deep - a reader who flies through books will miss a lot! These novellas center on a main character, but she lives in the LowCountry of South Carolina and faces challenges in places like Hilton Head, Bluffton, Savannah, Beaufort, and Charleston. This series may expand away from her home base.

 

I write to the same audience I paint for--myself--and all my work is meant to glorify Christ (1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians  3:17). I share with readers and art collectors, hoping they will feel as if they've taken a walk in a warm Southern breeze and the sunshine we're famous for.

My perspective on writing books and painting is like that of the iconic artist Norman Rockwell, who once said he knew life was not ideal, but it should be, so he chose to paint it that way. I hope readers will laugh out loud, sigh with longing, be inspired to reach higher, and feel refreshed when they reach the end of my novels.

I write clean fiction from an unapologetically Christian worldview and paint inspiring family-friendly scenes. My stories often feature artists and art perspectives that will help any reader have a deeper appreciation for painting.

I live life loving Jesus and my family as a wife, mother, and GiGi to my handsome grandson here on earth and his twin sister waiting on us in heaven. My hubby and I love our home in the LowCountry of South Carolina, and I wake up every day with a heart gushing in gratitude! 

 

Sketching, painting, and coloring soothes and heals, so I offer free coloring pages on my websites. My YouTube channel has free art demos, Inspired Art Appreciation art history education lessons, and my blogs take readers behind the scenes for insider secrets.
 

To get updates via email newsletters for sales on my novels, free featured downloads and giveaways, blogs and insider looks at the settings in my stories, use the form below to send me your email address. To interact on social media, I'm on LinkedIn, YouTube and BookBub.

Authors and the reading community LOVE reviews! I appreciate the time you will take to leave a brief review on your favorite book site. Thank you for blessing me!

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