Every writer and writing book and writing class and writing group (you get the idea) will talk about how important it is to make time to write. Which is true. And yet, here is my argument:
How do you make time to write when you're already writing every single day?
Now in my situation, I'm not writing for me. I'm writing for clients, for businesses, for work. Not for my personal projects. I haven't worked on my book manuscript in weeks. And I've only worked on it a handful of times in the last two months.
So I'm back to my dilemma: How do you find time to write when you're already writing all the time?
And let's just assume (well, because it's true) that I'm not someone who can write for 8 hours a day. Or even 6, much of the time. My brain just can't do it. By the time I've squeezed out every last drop of copy for my clients I'm ready to shut it down. I want to do something else with my brain cells. You know, surf...or read...or stare blankly at the wall. Ok, I only do that last one sometimes.
I'm going to have to strike a balance at some point though, because at this rate I'm growing my business like crazy (yahoo! success!) but I'm losing my ability to work on the things that are really important to me from a "dreams" perspective. But then, a lot of times it doesn't feel like a bad trade-off. I really love my job. I love writing for people. I love learning about a whole lot of different things. No week is ever the same.
I love that.
I also really like being able to pay my bills. And I'm finally at a point where my income is comfortable. And in order for it to stay that way, well..I have to work.
So maybe it's just not time to make time for writing when I'm writing all the time. Not yet. Did you catch that? That's my attempt at a tongue twister. I digress.
Maybe once I'm chugging along for a while and feel confident that my client list won't evaporate in two months' time (because let's face it, it's an unpredictable business), I'll be able to cut back to only those projects I really want to work on. And that can free me up for Art Fridays like I've been talking about doing.
Yeah. Good plan.
