Topic #538
What are you working on right now? (as far as writing goes)
What’s going right? What’s going wrong?
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I’m no stranger to talking about the realities of a writer’s life. We’ve all read about those giants of the literary world and their goings ons. What about the average writers of today? What are they doing? Is any of that stuff still true among them or was it ever true? You’d be surprised.
Just like any other group, we are just a slice of the population. There are addicts and straights, gays and closeted, faith driven and atheist. We cover the gamut in gender and backgrounds. There are writers with pasts and writers making pasts. Some of us are striking while others are unassuming. Pick your flavor. We are like Baskin Robins!
Once you understand that about writers, you see why some only ever write a book and others write loads. There are multiple factors that feed into an author being able to write the next book. Ideas aren’t the only limitations. Finding the research you need is another hurdle. Time yet another. Resources and so on, all play their part to slow us down. For me, it’s maintaining this blog, the social media, raising a child on my own, working full time at another job because writing won’t pay the bills, traversing the screenwriting scene (or not), convincing others I’m legit, and all the minor tasks of living (from using the facilities to feeding myself) that take time away from writing time.
This question has come at a time when I am deciding what my next steps are. I have a draft of OP-GHO, and have had that draft for several years now, resting while I focus on being a mother. I also have plans for Trailokya, but I can’t decide if I should deal with OP-GHO first, which probably I should to even out the number of historical versus paranormal books in my list. The overwhelm I feel at the start of that project is real. Where do I start to consume the elephant? Making the wrong decision now can make more work later. So I just spin on decisions unmade.
Don’t despair. Yesterday (Friday evening before this post), I was googling about the creatures in Trailokya and re-confirming for myself that I had gotten the language around it right. The idea is to start now. If I have to make pivots, this way I can. It was really wild to have my own books quoted back to me! Holy cow that blew my mind. That was not expected at all. And, I thought seeing my image online was wild. Yes, you can ask google about the Trailokya Trilogy and me. Weird, wild stuff.
The great news is that I feel confident that I will get back to this stuff when I feel like I have time to spare to it. The day job takes a lot of mental energy, so I find myself deeply tired at the end of the day. In fact, I resent that job for making me feel I can’t give my daughter more. It’s really draining me and it doesn’t pay me enough to be doing that. Retirement is on the horizon, and I think, despite the lower funds, that it will be worth it to walk on. Something has to give.
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Yes, wait until you have time to write. I didn’t start to write until I was in my mid fifties after my sons had left home. You can’t be everything to everyone.
Thank you. I’m glad to have your perspective on this. Not just because you echo my own thoughts, but because you know! You’ve been there. I can better put my efforts into learning and growing my platform. That doesn’t take away from time with the kiddo.
A local author found his book quoted back at him, too. He was researching a minor point in his already-published book, and found his book used to prove the concept.
It’s crazy! But this was specifically on concepts around mythology and theology. It was wild!
I have always thought that the story won’t appear until it’s ready, no matter what you might try to do to speed things along. As for googling myself or my characters, I’d be too worried about what I might find.
It won’t, but you can ‘meditate’ on it, and keep playing scenes in your head until it pops. hahaha! I was asking google about hindu concepts and specific entities in the theology. I bubbled up somehow. crazy stuff!