Balancing Life And Writing

So, today's post looks at balancing your life with your writing, but also your writing with your life. It comes down to a matter of priorities.

This actually came up after a couple of conversations I have had with my writers among this whole Covid-19 situation. Disruptions like this really do have huge impacts on writers. If you are someone who does struggle with this balance, know that you are not alone. But what do you do? How do you balance these things? Let's look at some ideas.

One of my authors has had some roadblocks with family health issues. We actually hit a period of time where we were both saying, "Are you kidding me? Now this?" It seemed like every time she turned around, something was slowing her down? Her solution? She took her writing with her. As she sat in waiting rooms, she jotted down ideas. She eeked out time to get the writing done. Yes, she slowed down and we let editors know, but she kept going. In her case, the balance came from saying that family did take priority. But there was another side to this. The writing was a way to balance her brain from the continual emotional and stressful things going on in her life.

Two of my other authors have very busy full time jobs outside of writing. Do these take up much of their days? You better believe it. But these jobs are the serious bread winner. Yes, they make money with their writing, but it is the full time, non-writing, that pays the bills. For both of these authors, they have a great support system at home. Writing on weekends becomes key! Having a spouse take care of chores during the week to give each a chance to write. They have also found ways to adjust the work they are doing to fit the writing schedules. This has included using vacation time timed around their writing deadlines.

Another author does a great job with future planning. As we sit down and plan out next contracts, we always adjust times around things she knows will be potential roadblocks. These could be work, vacations, weddings, etc. While she would love to have books come out on a regular basis, she has realized that the balance comes from knowing "regular" might be more of a steady "irregular."

What I do want you to see is that none of these authors quit writing. They kept going.

If you are someone who stopped writing but keep saying, "Some day I'll get back to my writing" then make today the day. It may not be the way you pictured it, but it might just have to be a new vision of how you write.

Have a great weekend.