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It’s All In A Day’s Work

Written by Vicki Hinze

On December 26, 2010

WARNING:  This is a no-edit zone…

Every writer goes through periods of it, and I’m neck-deep in one such period now.  That is, periods where the professional To-Do list is several pages long and for every item that finally gets ticked off, two more go on–and one of the additions is typically needed ASAP.  What that means down at the bottom line is that it’s a struggle during such times to get to the actual writing.

If someone came to me with this challenge, I’d tell them to prioritize.  To put the actual writing first and let everything else follow when the writing goal for the day had been met.  But in this situation, my advice wouldn’t work.  Why?  Because I’m in the middle of launching three major projects at once and chairing a contest committee that requires constant monitoring.

Now, I can hear you say that it’s my own fault–that I should have properly planned and then I wouldn’t have three major projects launching at once, and ordinarily I’d agree with you.  But in this case, two of the three major projects fell into my lap and were terrific opportunities.  I had to make a choice:  seize them or forget them.  I chose to seize.

So what’s my point?

Sometimes things happen that aren’t bad but good things.  And we have to work through the discomforts they cause to reap the benefits.  While we’re going through them, it’s not a lot of fun and we do grow weary.  (No doubt my darling husband would describe that “weary” a little differently; with far more colorful a description.)  But if we stay focused and remember that these seeds we’re planting will enjoy a harvest, and then we’ll be glad we endured the discomfort during its season.

So I’m enduring discomfort, sleeping less, putting a lot of extra time in the office and looking forward to harvest time.  Seriously looking forward to it–and to the reunion with my characters and stories.  And I’m seriously working at keeping a constructive mindset and positive attitude.

Because the simple truth is that when you write for a living, you do get to do less writing.  You have to share your time with all the other writing-related endeavors that go with it.  And there are more of those endeavors all the time.

Writers love the writing.  But not many love the related endeavors.  If there’s any advice for someone new to this, it would be to find a way to love the related endeavors.  Because they’re a large part of the big picture, you’ll be doing a lot of them, and it’s all in a day’s work.

Blessings,

Vicki

c2007

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