Since I received The Call, my writing time has changed. It took me a few months to figure out what happened, but I wasn’t making my word count goals and I felt my attention had been split in ways I didn’t yet understand. Now that I’m farther along in the process, I’ve had some very useful epiphanies. I share them here in the hopes that they will help any other emerging writers who stumble across this blog!
My goal is to be a successful professional writer. This means I need to connect my books with readers, keep publishing, and most importantly keep creating new pieces! My writing time is now divided among these three categories.
Marketing Research—Some people don’t like many of the words associated with marketing. Platform, brand, networking, etc. What it all boils down to is this: what can I do to connect readers with my works? Social media has become a big part of this. My platforms of choice are WordPress, Twitter (@casschandler) and Goodreads (Cassandra Chandler—I’m waiting to set this up as a Goodreads Author account until my first book is listed).
Publishing Work—If my editor or publisher gives me a deadline, I need to be ready to meet it. This means I need to keep myself in good health and not over-commit in my personal life. My friends and family have been alerted that I’m still finding a balance here and they might not see me as much for a while. I’m very lucky to have such supportive and understanding people in my life.
Writing—I also need to keep churning out new pieces! My writing time was originally blocked into outlining/planning, writing, and editing. These sub-divisions stand. Only now, if I have three hours to write, I need to give some—or even all—of that time to the other two tasks above.
It’s definitely a balancing act, and one that I’m still figuring out. Identifying the specific needs dividing my time will hopefully make me more efficient, more productive, and more successful.
Wishing you all great success in your writing as well!
Ain’t this the truth…excellent post. It can take quite a while to find that balance…but in the end, it’s worth it. We are essentially small business owners or entrepreneurs. We do our own marketing, our own research, and create and refine our own products–none of which are minor tasks! Thanks for posting this–and good luck to you, too! 🙂 You’re rocking it!
Thanks! I truly hope my posts help other writers find their way—and that readers gain greater insight into what goes on behind the curtain!