Blog Chain: Elusive Balance

Source: Maxwell Holyoke-Hirsch

Lisa's farewell topic for the Blog Chain - The balancing act. How do you balance your writing time with everything else in your life--including, kids, job, book promotion?

Answer: I don't.

Honestly, this is just life, and balance is a lifelong pursuit for everybody. Somebody can think she's got it all figured out for a week or two, and then fate or God or the devil throws her a curve ball and it all falls apart again. 

Examples of curve balls in my personal life:

• death in the family
• near-fatal car accident
• pregnancy
• new baby
• restructuring the group blog

Then there are the things you choose, which come at you straight on like fast balls:

• coordinating with authors/agents on writing conference
• coordinating with authors/agents on mystery agent contest
• agent revise and resubmit (hasn't happened to me)
• editorial notes (hasn't happened to me)
• release week for your own book (hasn't happened to me)
• writing three books at once (living it, loving it)

Whether you choose your stress or merely suffer through it, balance is an ideal and not an actual destination. The best I can hope to do is cope. How do I personally cope with the struggle for balance? Why not throw some more bullet points in this blog post? :)

• Prioritize: God/spiritual health first, family (husband, kids, parents, siblings) second, career (blogging, writing, reviewing, reading, editing) third. This is the ideal, not the reality in most cases. But it does help to remember my ideal.
• Be flexible: Remember that the best-laid plans of mice and men are not going to turn out perfectly. This is easier said than done, too. It's disappointing to see a plan foiled by a curve ball. As fast as those fast balls are, at least they come at you straight, and you know what to expect. When something goes askew at the last second, that's the worst kind of stress. Expect detours.
• If all else fails, breathe: Literally stop what you are doing, take a breath, and do some purposeful relaxation. Yoga, running, ice cream, dance, karaoke... whatever does it for you personally. For me, it's running and ballet, or curling up with a non-required-reading book. 

Since I haven't had the fun or stress of publishing a book, my insights are restricted to juggling the usual writing-with-a-family stresses (well, plus homeschooling). 

For more insights from people further along in their publishing road, check out Christine Fonseca's thoughts from yesterday, and meet our newest blog chain member, taking Lisa Amowitz's place: Demitria Lunetta.

Welcome to the Blog Chain, Demitria!

Writers Write

Writers write, bloggers blog, and some say blogging doesn't count as writing. I hope they're wrong because, not counting blogging, I haven't done any new writing in weeks.

I'm reading THE PLOT THICKENS and critiquing for some fabulous people (CPs, cousins, contest winners, auction winners), and eyeing my teetering TBR pile with a mixture of excitement and despair.

I'm also teaching my son addition, subtraction, phonics, handwriting, reading comprehension, art, music, science, and social studies.

And lately I've been cleaning my house, which has to be done during these dry creative periods (because when I'm feeling inspired, I can't be bothered to dust or vacuum).

But all those things up there don't make me a writer. Only writing does. So, referencing my own post on bite-sized goals, I plan to cheat on my overwhelming to-do list and write 1k words tonight anyway. Even though I should be doing other things. I just can't stand not being a real writer. Not really writing.

Do you get into slumps like this that aren't really slumps? Times when something else trumps writing just because it has to be done? 

After all, it is September. I know half y'all are dealing with school beginnings either as teachers or students.

May we all find the time to express the stories fighting to burst free from our innermost fancies!

*rides off into the sunset*

(I never know how to end these things.)

Midnight Writing: My Guilty Pleasure

The other night I was lying in bed after a Ghost Whisperer marathon with my husband. He was about to drift off to sleep in that infuriating way husbands do (I don't think he's ever had insomnia a day in his life) when he made some joke offhand about dreams.

BAM.

Book idea. I do love writing about dreams and all the possible twists on that human phenomenon. So I lay in bed for a good ten minutes trying to decide if I should go to sleep or keep thinking about the book idea.

Psh! As if I had a choice!

The book idea kept swirling around in my mind, growing into a substantial plot with some pretty lovable characters, darn it. And I just couldn't say no to them anymore. So I slipped out of bed in complete darkness and tip-toed into the living room to get on the desktop computer where I do my best writing.

I wrote 1700 words without even trying. It was bliss. And then I went to bed.

Does this happen to you? Do you secretly love it or hate it?

P.S.s


Amparo linked to 10 Killer Queries That Worked from her favorite authors. That's a don't-want-to-miss lesson in how to pitch your work to an agent. 


Kristal's continuing her series on self-publishing on Operation Awesome, today featuring our own Angela Townsend's recently published adult novel, FROZEN FURY.