[From the Archive] When the Publishing World Doesn’t Hand Me Articles
From early 2010… one of the first “blathering” posts…sadly, not the last.
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When the publishing world doesn’t hand me my articles on a silver platter (like it has for the last couple of weeks), I sometimes struggle to come up with something interesting. So I fall back on the day-to-day struggle of writing and dealing with the real world. This is one of those posts.
Last Fall I pledged to consistently write 300-500 words of new fiction five days a week. And I did pretty well, even through the holidays. But lately, I have to admit, I’ve not been as consistent as I would like or as I have pledged. I haven’t lived up to my goal. The “Real World” has gotten in the way – again. Pesky thing that — the Real World.
During the kerfuffle between Macmillan and Amazon and the upswing in e-piracy as topics looming large, I’ve mentioned that most writers who are “working” writers also have Day Jobs. In fact, MOST writers you read have some source of “outside” income – whether it’s freelancing or a “real” job – in order to afford to entertain you (hence the uproars and kerfuffles about writers actually getting paid a living wage). I’m one of them. I’ve temped, freelanced, substitute taught, and had “real” jobs. I’m currently in a position that I really do love, which is weird, but necessary. It’s also eating into my writing time because of a very hard and fast deadline which means crazy hours. This interferes with word counts. It happens.
So, what have I done? I haven’t given up. Even if I only get a couple dozen words in, I still give it an effort – to keep the habit alive. To keep the muscle memory active, so on the days that I have more time – more breaks, or lunch, I can get my 300-500 words in. I do what I have to do to keep the momentum going. I also give myself permission to write crap, because I know – on the really busy days that’s all that’s getting written. I’ve also given myself permission to jump in narrative. I’ve seen scenes stall and spin out of control, and you know what? It’s okay to say, “I’m done with this bit. I need to do this other bit over here for a while”. Smoothing out the rough spots is why we edit and rewrite.
The point is to keep going even when you’re tired and busy – but within reason. Unless you’re under a contracted deadline, there’s no reason to endanger your health by pushing yourself too hard. I know some writers who’ve had to do just that, but those are the exception not the rule. Know yourself and your limits. Right now, I have to pace myself to get through the next month, and if that means some days I only write 30 words instead of 300, so be it, knowing it’s temporary and that when I come out the other side, getting back up to where I need to be won’t be as much of a struggle as if I’d let the “habit” go and started over. So, know that even (especially) working writers find life overwhelming and struggle to keep up – if you’re new, you’re not alone. This isn’t something only you deal with – we all deal with it on a daily basis. Just keep writing – even if just a little bit – and stay accountable some way to getting it done, and somehow it will all get done.