August 29 – Finding the Time

I have been struggling recently with my writing career. The problem is that I can’t seem to find enough time to do everything that I know I should be doing. This includes both the actual writing as well as promoting my work.

The standard advice regarding this is that I need to prioritize my time. If my writing is that important to me I will put aside other distractions and make sure I spend my time on my writing instead of other stuff.

I believe this. I have done this in the past. And I have been very productive while I was focused on writing.

But then I got burned out and needed a break. I decided to watch a movie instead of writing. I decided to read some of the books stacking up in my To Be Read pile. I made a choice to start a new game on Facebook and Google+ (the game is called Zombie Lane if you are interested in being my neighbor). All of these things helped my mental state, but they didn’t help me get any writing done.

And all this time I have been thinking that I need to also work on promoting my work. I have this blog, but there is so much more that I could be doing with it that I haven’t made the time to do. For example, I really think I should put something on this site and my other social networking pages that link to the Amazon page for the book where my first short story was published. That includes Facebook, Google+, MySpace, and Goodreads. I know this needs to be done, but I haven’t made the time to do it.

The advice is right. Getting this all done is a simple matter of prioritization. If I focused all of my spare time on writing I am sure I could get a lot of work done. But I’m not built that way. Most of us aren’t.

If I focused all of my energy on one thing I would go nuts. I need a minimum level of distraction to keep my brain from shorting out. If I can’t take a break from my writing and do something else I will burn out and then I wouldn’t be able to get anything done. There has to be a balance. “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

I need to get back to work on my writing. I need to finish the short story I am currently working on so I can submit it for publication. I need to figure out what my next project is going to be. I need to post those links on my various profiles. All of these things need to be done and somehow I am going to have to figure out how to do it all without going insane.

The alternative is to clone myself a few times. That way I could have one of me go to work to keep making the money at my day job, one to work on my writing, one to work on promotions and web development, and one to keep my wife happy.

So please leave a comment on how you manage to prioritize your time. Or a link to your favorite cloning service. Either way, I hope to see you back here on Thursday!

ROW80 Status – Day 30 (Feb 1)

Word counts:

• 1/30 – 685
• 1/31 – 610
• 2/1 – 581

Six Days To Sabbath is now up to 2,362 words total. Finding Valhalla is up to 57,321 words total. I’m also starting to get ready to edit Dragons At Dawn, and I am getting ready to start outlining three more projects that I have planned. I have discussed them all on my blog before, one is an epic fantasy (A Spark Rises), another is science fiction (Starfire), and the third is a zombie book (untitled so far).

I know. It’s a little bit ridiculous. It is certainly a big difference from a year ago when I barely even thought about writing. I’m lovin’ it!

ROW80 Status – Day 23 (Jan 25)

Not much to report since last time. I am still keeping up with my goals. Word counts are below:

• Finding Valhalla – 53884
• Six Days To Sabbath – 1659

A recent comment praised me on the ability to work on two novels at once. Maybe it’s weird, but I find myself not only thinking about the stories I am writing, but also considering what I might write about next. Years ago I had a time management seminar that warned against the “rabbit habit”, or the tendency to hop from one project to another. The problem is that doing that usually results in nothing getting finished. I want to finish my stories. I also want to go back and edit my first book, Dragons At Dawn. But I’m starting to get all these other ideas whispering in my ear, tempting me to just spend one night with them. And I know that, like a succubus, once they get their claws into me they won’t let go. And I won’t want them to.

Maybe what I need to do is start working on a story file. Something that I can use to put some of my ideas down until I finish what I already have going. Then I can pull one out and give it the attention it deserves. I have read about other authors doing this, and it sounds like a good idea.

What do you think? Do you have a story file? Do you have ideas begging for attention. Are you tempted?