School started, and I'm back to the three way pull of home-school-writing. It becomes this constant shifting of balance from one foot to another, like trying to stand on a boat at sea in a storm.
I'm grateful to have interest in my writing at all, of course. And I know I'm in this for the long haul, so it doesn't have to everything all at once.
But (you knew there would be a but, right?)…
there's not enough interest yet to pay the bills, which means that I'm straddling worlds: teaching to hold up my end of the bills-insurance-mortgage game AND building a writing career at the same time.
When I'm trying to fit my writing life into one or two hours a day, I struggle with how best to spend that time.
- I need to write new things.
- I need to promote what I've already written.
- I need to connect with the writing community.
Here lately, I'm trying a rough every-other-day approach. If I write on the WIP today, then tomorrow is a "business" day in which I handle emails, make arrangements for things, and contribute to social media.
( Seriously: I mean look at all these links for all the social media play-lands I visit: )
FacebookTwitterGoogle PlusInstagramYouTubeTumblrMeWeKit
They keep making more platforms, and they're all fun! Plus I maintain this website and my author pages on Amazon and Goodreads. Jeez Louise. That's a full time job in itself.
I want to be on social media every day for at least a little while because besides being business, it's also fun. My friends are there. They are funny and clever, or they need support and I want to be a good friend. But you can lose entire days down that tube, let alone the whole two hours a day you have for writing stuff.
So, I have to protect me from me.
Other creatives out there, especially if you have a day job or other serious time demands, how do you decide where to focus your time and energy from day to day?
When I was working, all I wanted was time to write. Now that I'm not working, I never seem to have anything to say. If anyone can achieve a middle ground, though, it's you. I wish you success.
ReplyDeleteWhen I had a day job, I struggled to write. I'd have time in the evening, but I'd be too whipped from working to get much writing done. Needless to say, I have no advice other than to clone yourself.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I only write superhero science: hand-wavium. I don't have the expertise. But I wish!
DeleteI think its great that you keep trying different ways to get some balance and still do all the parts of your life! In many ways that is the trick no matter what it is we do. Keep on keeping on! all the best, Maude (Maureen)
ReplyDelete