You’re an Indie writer which means you’re juggling writing novels/short stories/poetry but you’re also responsible for submitting them. You probably have a website to keep up, and let’s not forget social media. Plus you have whatever constitutes advertising and marketing your creations. If you’re self publishing, you’re creating covers, formatting, editing and uploading.
Feels like a full time job, am I right? Except most of us probably already have full time jobs to pay the bills and this is an act of treading water as well as you can for the true love of your life.
So what’s an Indie writer to do?
The answer is, the best you can.
And that means you make yourself to-do lists and you tackle as many items as you can in a week without going crazy. Writing gets the biggest share of the pie chart because when the stories are on, you have to bow to the muse. Then you solve the others on your list.
However, if you have a family, pets and friends, then this time is whittled down even more. You get small windows to accomplish things and frankly, if you’re like me, some nights you just need to blank out–watch a movie, doom scroll, play a video game or goof off.
I’m here to tell you, that yes, you NEED that down time. You need time away from all the processes because it’s what maintains your sanity and your creative spark. It is NECessary.
I had one of those weeks. Took Monday and Tuesday off to catch up on all the things I haven’t gotten too. Seemed perfect. Monday rolled around and when I attempted to update my Project Threshold website, the AWS had a huge outage. Yeah. So I piddled with smaller things but the next day got busy for something important, and here I am on a Saturday night, still catching up. It was mid-week I realized I needed a real break and said, “screw it” and just took the rest of the week off.
Am I behind schedule? You betcha. On the other hand, I realized it’s my schedule. Nothing Earth shattering happens if I don’t stay on top of everything. My deadlines are internal and that being the case, it was time to take breath.
So I did.
And I feel better about things. Got this blog written…a day late (according to my schedule), but it’s almost done. Updated my Project Threshold Logo–it is legally mine with a registered trademark. Yeah, that’s a hurdle that took me a lawyer and almost 3 years of nonsense to get it, but checked off!
It’s cool. I’m content.
The biggest secret to being a creative and trying to get somewhere with your writing or art is to let things happen. We want to push and get to that “next level” but most times, things have to happen in their own time. It’s a process of patience and perseverance and determination. Like meditation or a Zen, you have to walk the path, weather the elements and just keep trudging ahead.
And allow for those days when you just have to sit down on the path and take a breather. Rest, replenish and then get up and start in again.
The key is knowing when you NEED to rest. From everything.
Alright, go create if you need to, or plug in a movie. Do what you NEED, for you. It will keep you going.
Craig