I’m going to make an assumption, that many of you work at a day job, and fit in your writing as best you can. Which is pretty normal, because for most of us, writing doesn’t pay the bills or put bread on the table.
I’ve been given, for various reasons (not all of them good), the opportunity to be a full-time writer, and am very grateful for it. All day long I get to do writing stuff, be it working on a novel or short fiction, writing posts like this one, doing Frazz-related work, and generally taking care of business. As the man says, if you love what you do then you’ll never work a day in your life.
And I do love it, and feel very blessed.
At any given time, I generally have several projects in train. At the moment, I’m working on:
A new short story.
Planning two new novels.
Reading submissions and coordinating the reading effort for our upcoming issue.
Doing preparity work to put the issue together.
Managing my new Substack project, Into The Workshop - if you haven’t checked it out yet then do please pop over there and see if it might be of interest to you. Your support would be very much appreciated!
Beta-reading for my writing pals.
Preparing for my trip, later this month, to the University of Limerick Creative Writing Winter School in the west of Ireland. It’s a pretty big deal, and I can’t wait to get there!
Working on edits for a client.
Submitting work to competitions and open calls.
Reading published work, because that’s also a part of the job. I’m currently reading The Wren, The Wren by Booker-winning author Anne Enright, because… well, because she’s Anne Enright, whom I class as one of the best Irish writers of her generation, if not ever, and I greatly admire her work.
Staring out the window.
Freaking out about how much I have to get through today, because there aren’t enough hours in which to do it all.
I’m not bragging here, just saying it as it is, and it’s all good, guys, it really is, but being a goal-oriented person, I can drive myself pretty hard, and that’s no good for anyone. I need to manage my time well, and adopt good working practices so that I work smarter, not harder (these practices will likely be the subject of a future post).
In the midst of it all, I need to take care of my well-being. Exercise, diet, these are important for the writer. Awareness of posture, not becoming isolated, are crucial. I’m a keen golfer, so that takes care of some of it, but any form of exercise is good, as are mindfulness and meditation. The answers often come when our minds are quiet, not when they are busy.
So this is the writing life, and it’s a dream come true. Mostly, it doesn’t feel like work, but I do regard it as my day job. I’m more fortunate than most writers, I recognise that, just as I recognise how difficult it can be for other writers to fit their art around work, family and other committments. I have the greatest admiration for anyone who can do all that, and still produce quality material.
Seriously, my hat’s off to you!
We are writers, creators, visionaries, and in whatever capacity we can be these things, we do so with the fullest of hearts. The rewards tend to be intangible at times, perhaps even most of the time, but it is so very much worth it. Even if only one person reads our work and gets what we are trying to do.
It means something.
It has value.
So keep doing what you’re doing, and I’ll do likewise, but we cannot do it alone. Be a part of the community of creatives. Give to others, and be generous and honest in your praise and criticism of their work. Help those starting out, because you’ve been there too, and you’d have loved to have had someone like you to help you in your early days.
Cherish your writing friends. Be joyful about their achievements, commiserate with them in their losses. We need each other on this often lonely literary adventure.
Most of all, enjoy the heck out of every writing moment, because each one is a blessed gift.
Okay, best get back to it - deep, calming breath, and here we go!