It’s all about balance. I know a lot of authors. But I know very few full time authors. Most writers, even those multi-published, have a ‘day job’. A full time position that brings in regular paychecks. Writing can be a fickle career and unless you are independently wealthy, or have a supportive spouse / partner that can bring in enough funds to pay those pesky utilities, that’s what you will have too.
So how do you bring balance to your writing/ day job / home life / social commitments? Very carefully. It takes planning. One of my good friends, author Kelly Boyce, gets up about an hour and a half early in the mornings to write before her day job. Another friend writes when she waits for her children at various sports / school activities after work. Yet another writes only after her kids are off to bed, from 9PM until 11PM. These are dedicated writers, all published. They know that they have to schedule their writing time.
Review your daily routine. Is writing part of it? If not, where could it be a regular part? Don’t forget that reading is a part of writing. Reading other people’s work helps you to learn about your own. So count that in too. And be honest with yourself. Are you too tired to write every night? What if you said you were only going to write a hundred words? Don’t think you can write in a limited time frame? Try this exercise (scroll down to where it says ONLINE) with WRITE OR DIE – you have to keep writing, or you lose!
You can write every day, make it part of your life without losing your family or your day job. The social life though – well, you might lose a little of that. But someday your friends will be able to say they know an author.
Nancy
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