What’s Your Long-Term Plan?

Back when we first started on our writing journey, we might have been writing for ourselves. Maybe we had a cool idea we wanted to capture. Maybe we wanted to see if we could actually write a story. Or maybe we wanted to give the voices in our head a place to live and grow. (That last one applies to me. *smile*)
But for many of us, we expanded our goals somewhere along the line. Instead of writing only for us, we now have additional purposes in mind.
As soon as we look beyond ourselves and think of sharing our writing with others, our focus changes—at least a bit. We might…:
- work with a beta reader or critique partner
- write a query letter to pursue traditional publication
- submit directly to publishers
- publish on our site or a site like WattPad
- find an editor or cover artist to make our story more appealing
- list our book for sale on Amazon or another retailer, etc.
Each of those choices is a commitment to a purpose outside of ourselves. We’re now at least partially focused on what others think of our work and might even be trying to sell our work.
That means we’re one step closer to thinking of our writing beyond just being a lark that we’re doing because we feel like it. The question is, are we ready with a plan that will support that next step and the steps after that?
The First Step: Thinking Like a Business-Person
Ugh, really? Do we have to? What if we don’t have a business mindset? (I can hear it all now… *grin*)
The truth is that whether we want to think of ourselves as business people or not, as soon as we take one of those actions above, we’re turning our writing into a product. We might still give our work away for free or decide not to publish it at all, but at those points above, we’re thinking of our writing as something to be consumed by others—i.e., a product.
Did you shudder in horror at that thought? *smile* Many of us would rather think of our stories as our babies or as artistic endeavors, not as products. That can sound so cold and calculating.
But the business mindset doesn’t have to be that way. Some people paint all businesses and business people with a broad brush that makes them out to be greedy, selfish, single-minded, etc. Understandably, we might recoil from the idea that our creativity would get anywhere near that concept.
Yet we can be a business person and still be an artist. Really. *smile*
The Difference Our Goals Make
I’ve written before about the differences between artist-authors and professional-authors, but as I mentioned in that post, the choice isn’t exclusive. For all my posts about business plans and branding, I also have posts about all aspects of writing craft. In other words, I’m a mix of the two extremes.
I’d guess most long-term writers are a combination of artist and business-person. Those who start off as pure artist-authors can’t spend unlimited time on a non-paying activity. At some point, they’d have to either limit their writing time to focus on their livelihood, or they’d think about how to make the time investment worth it.
Those who care only about the money would be equally rare. Maybe they started as a speculator, tempted by a “get rich quick” scheme touting the “new gold rush” of self-publishing. When they discover the truth isn’t quick or rich, they’ll lose interest and move on to something else. Or if they do get lucky with a lot of income, they’ll get bored if there’s no artist’s passion driving their work.
In short, neither extreme is sustainable. That’s an important concept because it gives us a way of thinking of ourselves as business-people without even a hint of the mercenary stereotypes.
How Do We Sustain Our Dream of Writing?
I really liked this quote by Danny Iny, a marketer who emphasizes people, connections, and relationships more than money:
Truth… If we want to continue writing, we need to have a sustainable way to continue.
Short-term goals won’t cut it. A plan to work ourselves to the bone will lead to burnout over the long run. We can’t count on income from this book bringing in enough money to afford a second book. Etc., etc.
Thinking about how to have the ability to continue to write is thinking like a business-person while acknowledging our artistic desire:
- At the avoid-all-business-stuff extreme, we could give every story away for free, but we need a plan somewhere else in our life to make that approach sustainable. Do we make money in different ways? Do we live on our parents’ couch? Do we ask for “pay what you want” donations?
- At the all-business-all-the-time extreme, we could focus only on making money, but if we’re over-charging compared to the market, that’s not sustainable either. People won’t support businesses that charge too much, and competitors will come in and undercut those high prices.
Again, neither extreme is sustainable long term. If we want a long-term career, we need a long-term plan.
I also like the above quote because it embraces the artist’s side of why we’re doing this at all. We want to make an impact with our words. We’re passionate and care about sharing our words.
So the best long-term plan for us probably has a mixed focus:
- We need to find the place between the artist-author and professional-author extremes where we can share our work with others by using a sustainable plan—one that allows us to continue writing and continue sharing and continue making an impact.
Each of us might be more comfortable somewhere different along that spectrum, but long-term, we need to find the balance of artist and business-person that works for us.
How Do We Come Up with that Long-Term Plan?
Are we panicking yet? “Wait! I don’t even know what I want to be when I grow up yet. How can I come up with a long-term plan for writing?”
Don’t worry—we don’t have to come up with a detailed plan. *smile*
Coming up with a long-term plan might just mean that we’ve thought through:
- our priorities (writing vs. school/day job vs. family vs. other hobbies, etc.)
- our goals (income vs. number of readers vs. reviews, etc.)
- what our ideal life balance looks like
- what aspects of writing make us happy
- what we could change to be even happier
- what we’re willing to sacrifice
- what writing goals and commitments won’t lead to burnout
- what schedule we could maintain indefinitely, etc.
Why Is a Long-Term Plan Important?
What we’re willing to sacrifice (watching TV, etc.) or commit to (2K words a day, etc.) short term can be very different from what we’re willing to sacrifice or commit to long term. We can certainly make short-term sacrifices and commitments too, but somewhere in the back of our head, we need to think about the expiration date for those.
If we’re looking for buy-in from our families, the difference between short- and long-term sacrifices can be critical. Support from our family to dedicate every hour of every weekend to writing during NaNoWriMo is different from asking for writing-weekends indefinitely.
I’ll tell you right now that my publication schedule of 4 books this year will not be continued. I managed to pull it off this time because I already had those books written. This year has been full of short-term sacrifices to make that schedule work, but I wouldn’t want to continue those sacrifices forever. In future years, I’m aiming for 2 new novels a year.
We don’t want to be one of those who makes commitments to our publishers or readers and then flake. The consequences of making—and then missing—deadlines can be major.
When we’re making long-term decisions, it’s better to think about what schedule and commitments we could keep up with long term. That kind of thinking can keep us from making decisions that will leave us broke, burned out, frustrated, or feeling stuck, lost, or like a failure.
Focusing too much on our artist side or too much on our business side can cause problems and lead to an early end of our writing career. If it’s important for us to be able to write for many years to come, then we should think about how we can sustain our writing over the long term. *smile*
Do you know writers who dropped out or failed because they didn’t think long term? Do you agree that the best long-term plan would have a mix of artistic passion and business logic to be sustainable? Do you have a long-term plan? What aspects are easiest for you to think about? Which aspects are the hardest?
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I totally agree that a long-term plan must have characteristics of both business and art. I just hope i end up doing it to maximize my own potential. It is scary and a little off putting…am i doing it right? Am I writing enough? Marketing enough?
This job isn’t for the faint of heart. But i love it and wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Thanks for your wisdom, Jami!!
Have a great day,
Tamara
Hi Tamara,
Yep, I understand. 🙂 I’m definitely not doing enough marketing and whatnot. LOL! At least we know we’re not alone. 😉 Thanks for stopping by!
I’m actually trying to hold off on making a long-term plan. I just finished my first full-length novel, and it’s currently in its “rest phase.” I need to figure out how long it takes me to do a self-edit (I’ve already contacted an editor), and see how long that process takes before I know what I’m capable of realistically doing. I actually love my dayjob, but those two need to be integrated. What I want to do and what I can do make be totally off the mark, but I won’t know until I get further into this process, if that makes sense.
As a reader, one of my favorite authors was well over a year late with a book release. As in, I pre-ordered it 3-4 months in advance, took it off pre-order after a year, and then purchased it when it came out last week. The book was great, but I don’t know if it was a year late great. Another reason long-term goals and realistic expectations are so important. I do not want to be that author, even if it means slowing down my production schedule.
Hi Rona,
Actually, that sounds like a good start to a long-term plan. Like I said, this doesn’t have to be detailed, but we do have to think about what we’d like to do. (A detailed plan would be a better fit for our business plan.)
What I see from you here is that you want to be able to fit in time to write additional books, but that you don’t see giving up your day job as a goal (unlike many other authors–so that right there gives you an idea of the type of advice to ignore 😉 ).
While our business plan might be about specifics, this can be more of our feelings. What would a career that is sustainable feel like? What would make us not get sick of it, frustrated with it, give up on it, etc.? For you, you’re acknowledging that balance for other aspects of your life is important. So for any plans that required short-term sacrifices, you’d probably feel better if you’d consciously thought through the expiration date of those sacrifices so you’d know when you could get back to your balanced life. 🙂
Good point about delays! They can lead readers to have even higher expectations and feel disappointed in the results. Thanks for the comment!
This is certainly my problem right now. I used to HATE the term “Day job” because to me (when I was younger) that meant I had to “live a lie” to make a living, I don’t feel that way anymore, but I don’t want to it to be too much a “Jeckyl and Hyde” 180 situation. I don’t think that’s either professionally or emotionally healthy, at least for me. But the biggest challenge is finding something outside the “college bubble” most careers are trapped in. At this point, I feel like the only thing I qualify for is to be somebody’s janitor, and again, not something I could live with. Nor would that pay well. Yet apparently that’s what most people think someone who’s not an academic marvel is able to do. Since I don’t fit in most established fields, I thought the only way I’d make any money was to be in business for myself, but since that involves skills I don’t have and “investments” I can’t make, I’m at square one again. It always seems the careers that attracted me were the ones that are the hardest to succeed in. I’ve always been enamored with the arts. At 4, ballet (don’t laugh!), at 10 concert pianist/singer-songwriter, from 12-16 a chef, and 16-28+ I still want to be an author (even launch my own REAL publishing house WAY in the future) So, I’m kind of mad with God (or whatever high power there is) that I wasn’t blessed with… — Read More »
Hi Taurean,
I understand. (You know how I feel about the push for college. :/ )
I know you’ve said that the school environment isn’t for you, but the issue of a high school diploma isn’t likely to go away either (if you find that’s holding you back from what you want). Are there online GED programs that could help?
Culinary doesn’t have to mean running a restaurant. Cafeterias abound in big companies and hospitals, for example. (Not sure if the pressure would be less there, but the need to “stay afloat” would be less.)
As for a skilled job that might fit with your creativity, I’m by no means an expert, but things like tool and die and machinist come to mind. I remember reading an interview with one who talked about getting to design dies on the computer and then the machining would create the tool (like the metal equivalent of a 3D printer). If anything like that has the “paid while being trained” feature (or have grants or scholarships), you might find another type of creativity to enjoy.
Just a couple of thoughts. 🙂 I know you’ve probably considered these before, but I know you’ve also talked about tunnel-vision, so I’d rather share my thoughts just in case. *hugs* Take care!
I hear you, Jami, and I do appreciate you get where I’m coming from, this is something that divides me from most multi-career people I know, on top of being the only man in the group, and the only non-parent, but you know all that. (Whistling awkwardly…) There are online GED programs, Jami, but I don’t want to face taking that test again. Few things have made me feel dumber than I am than these “Tests.” Besides, it’s harder now, and it costs more money to take, and I don’t want to spend what little money to my name on something I can’t make use of. That’s part of why publishing appealed to me, unless your writing for the educational, academic, or technical markets, you don’t need a degree to create a decent book. But as you said, and I’ve know for YEARS before now, I need to do something else. I just don’t know what that is. Even assuming the “degree” issue was a non-factor, I’m no closer to figuring this out than I was a starry-eyed dreaming kid. I haven’t looked into trades much because I don’t want to work in welding, plumbing, or sanitation. The top three jobs I think of are in those areas. So unless there are trades outside those specific fields, I’m in trouble. I have a book that’s supposed to help me study for the GED, but every time I see it I cringe and freeze. I get what you’re saying about the… — Read More »
Hi Taurean,
Ah yes, that makes sense. It’s not just the classroom environment but the testing situation. I get it. :/
That break sounds healthy for you. I hope an answer will reveal itself to you, and if nothing else, a break from the pressure to just reconnect with what you love might help. Take care!
I’ve found a menial job can be really handy as a writer, because it doesn’t require your mind. So while your hands are pushing a mop around (or sweeping up popcorn, in my case), your brain can be quietly ticking away on your writing work. Plus you get to eat regularly 🙂
Hi Deborah,
Excellent point! Besides a crap job to bring in money might lead to a better job next month. Whatever job we take doesn’t have to be long-term. 🙂 Thanks for sharing that insight!
I was going to say the same thing. A monotonous job can be great for writers, in that they can let their imagine explore while doing something else. For me, that was data entry before I started actual work as a lawyer.
Oh, and I have a client who worked as a janitor before back issues prevented it. He started at $12 (still well above minimum wage), and ended at $25. I’m just saying, on the pay scale, it wasn’t awful.
Hi Rona,
Good point! When we think about the times that we work through writer’s block, we see many of the same mindless activities: doing dishes, vacuuming, cleaning, etc. So no matter how awful the job, we could make it work for us. 🙂 Thanks for chiming in!
This is where I wish I could be less rigid, but I struggle here, but I’m glad the colleague Rona mentioned made being a janitor work for him.
I can’t deny part my stigma to being a janitor is because that was often the only job post organized slavery black people could do, which depending on how you view it, is like a variant of being a slave, except now you get paid, however meanially.
But mostly because if I can barely keep my own space clean, to do it for a living doesn’t make sense to me, esp. since my standards are bare minimum, but being a professional cleaner requires a far higher standard than what I can give.
Plus, you have to be fast and efficient, and I can’t be both and clean well, that’s not being defeatist if it’s true.
As I say often, sometimes honest isn’t positive, even if there are drama-free ways to say it, which I hope I’m doing now.
All I can say is that I’ll keep investigating my options, even if I had my dang GED now, that career uncertainty would still be there.
Hi Taurean,
I understand, and as you’ve said before, your autism doesn’t help with the rigidity issue either. (While you might not technically be a perfectionist, the combination of rigidity and desire to do a good job might add up to something very similar.)
It might be a good idea to keep your eyes open for menial non-cleaning jobs that might work though. If nothing else, they might come with benefits, which might allow for more help for you as well. And I hope that awareness of the rigidity and other issues in your life might help you find a way to work around them. 🙂 As always, I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for you!
Hey Jami,
I did look into being a machinist (as much I don’t find that appealing to me) and that requires a high school diploma (or a GED in my case *Shivers*) and nothing else I find seems feasible.
Recently, I’ve been considering doing volunteer work, if only to get out of the house, and feel useful to something bigger than me.
But it’s hard to face that because while I don’t mean to sound vain or selfish, but I do need a way of earning some income than what I have now, and just like how authors and illustrators can’t always work for free, it’s the same for me.
This is the part of my autism I wish didn’t exist because it’s clearly getting in my way. I’m you and other writers I know have found ways to get through this, I can’t help feel a bit jealous I don’t know what this looks like for me, knowing full well you and others didn’t have an “Easy Ride” of dealing with this issue.
I hope I’ll have happier news to report in 2016. Until then I’m trying really hard to stay stable.
Hi Taurean,
I understand the need for income. I wonder, though, if volunteering could help you make contacts for other opportunities, or help your sense of achievement or stability. If you have time to fill, it wouldn’t hurt to try volunteering.
I hope you’ll have happier news to report in 2016 as well! *hugs*
I’m not sure how volunteer work would help my stability (in terms of earning income which I need to do) but I certainly could do with feeling like I’m accomplishing something. As far as the whole “making connections through volunteering” I have my doubts. I wish I felt smart enough to pass the new GED but I don’t. Yes, I can get a dang tutor, but that’s not the issue. It’s probably fear, a person’s worst enemy. I took more assessment tests, and when “Writer” doesn’t come up, it’s now “Teacher” and you’ve even said in a recent post I have “Teacher Qualities”, but I couldn’t handle being a teacher and the divisive school politics that comes with. Not to mention the additional schooling that’s required, and even then, you’re treated like a no-nothing rookie because you didn’t also do eight other “Type A” things on the side. And that’s before we even get to the expense of getting your own supplies for your classroom, being “Godly Serene” in the face of challenging students, and doing it all in the brisk efficient manner often projected in media and real life. That’s just far too much responsibility for these shoulders. I don’t see how teachers who also are authors pull that off and have a minute to BREATHE. Never mind take care of any of their personal needs. But that’s me. For those who can do that, they are heroes far as I’m concerned. In a few weeks my self-ordained break will be over and… — Read More »
Plus, in regard to our different stances on enlisting illustrators/cover designers, this manifesto by an artist (among many I’ve read I can’t remember the links for) explains better than I why I’m so conflicted about the issue, perhaps more-so than you because you can use stock photos and that doesn’t work for my books.
Again, while high prices don’t automatically mean high quality, it’s also about valuing yourself, and I can’t fault people for valuing themselves just because I can’t afford them.
Since writing’s subjective, so is art, but again, there is a level of objectivity in both.
Since our goals and options are different, we’ll just have to agree to disagree here, but I thank you for at least getting I don’t say this to be defeatist for its own sake as it’s really not me at my core.
It’s really my current life situation that compunds this. I really believe that.
I’m just raising awareness on these my replies above. Take your time.
Now that the new year is days away, my self-ordained break from anything about publishing or my writing career is over and I have to face it so I’m seeking wisdom and support from across various channels.
I think I need to get back into a critique group because while I don’t want the more demanding accountability my last group had (great as it was) yet I don’t want it so lax that weeks go by with no critiques going on.
I know people say the best groups have a mix of beginners, intermediate folks, and published or veteran authors, and finding the later who has the time to commit isn’t easy.
I’m starting to think I have to create the kind of group I need because nothing Ifind already established works for me.
Anyway, I hope your holiday was great, my was frankly melancholy, hard as I tried to make it more than that. That’s all I’ll say to avoid being a pessimistic downer.
Hi Taurean,
Yes, sorry for the delayed replies. 🙂 I wanted to give you thoughtful answers, and that takes time that I didn’t have before Christmas.
I’ll keep you in my thoughts for a better 2016!
Hi Taurean,
Oh, absolutely! Your life situation is filled with enough struggles to stop many in their tracks. I admire you for continuing to fight and find a way to improve. 🙂 *hugs*
Hi Taurean, I understand that you have your doubts–for many good reasons–but this might be one of those “you don’t know until you try” things. 🙂 Nothing we try has to be a long-term choice, and we don’t want to succumb to defeatism. That said, fear is completely understandable as well. I’ve let it hold me back on several things throughout my life before I was able to beat it back, and it will probably happen again. So “overcoming fear” isn’t ever a permanent achievement. I think the best we can do is get better at recognizing when our reasons do come down to fear and at finding what will help us overcome it this time. I can see the progress you’ve made in those areas just in the time that I’ve known you, so I hope your struggles will lessen in the future. Also remember not narrow your focus too much, as “teaching” doesn’t have to apply to a traditional teacher in a classroom. The blog posts I do here and the workshops I do for writers both fall under “teaching,” for example. So you might be right that teaching isn’t the right path for you, but I also hope that you don’t get too black and white in your thinking that you reject possibilities out of hand either. That can be another sign of fear talking. Even if our current situation is horrible, it’s something we know and understand, so it can be comfortable on some level. Being… — Read More »
Hmm I also don’t want to give up on my ideal day job. (I’m applying to grad schools for counselling now. ^^) This ideal day job would be something that’s meaningful and enjoyable to me, and though I wouldn’t prioritize it as no. 1 (writing will always be my no. 1), I will definitely want to keep it. So no, I don’t want to be a full-time writer, haha, which would be physically too tiring for me anyway. Oh yes, writing started off as just fun when I was a kid. But when I grew older, I began to be more interested in letting others read, and being less shy about doing so. And of course, now I’m self-publishing and looking for beta readers (which is very hard). Making money is not absolutely necessary, as my goal is still to reach out to readers rather than earning money (I already have my day job for that.) Oh yes, I would probably want to put up at least some of my stories, both English and Chinese, on Wattpad and maybe Fictionpress or other online story sites to maximize exposure, since again, I care more about getting more readers than to earn money. So yes, definitely with you that we can be both an artist and professional/entrepreneurial writer! What I enjoy most is definitely the writing process itself and getting to see and hear my beloved story characters. I’m still so in love with my main villain, hahaha (does that make me… — Read More »
Hi Serena,
LOL! Sometimes when I’m writing my posts, I worry that my ramblings won’t make sense to anyone else. It’s gratifying to see that these concepts resonate with others. 🙂 Like you, while making money is nice, that’s not my ultimate goal, so I just knew that many of the business-side posts out there had a different focus from what I was looking for.
Oh, interesting question! And yes, I’ve thought about how to make sure my smart characters measure up.
Like you said, if our characters are supposed to come up with a ingenious solution, it’s hard to think of something good enough to earn the character the respect for the idea they deserve. I think having other characters react to their idea as we want might help (i.e., having other characters treat the idea as ingenious). But as you mentioned, just like how our characters might be funnier or whatever than we are, we have to trust that the cool ideas will come to us. Beyond that hope, I don’t have any specific advice. LOL! Thanks for the comment!
Yeah other characters calling them very smart helps, haha. Though I find that if their smartness is mentioned too often, the reader might get annoyed. Might. Trusting my muse indeed really helps too, because my main villain’s son is now hatching up some plot that nobody, including the writer, knows. We all know he has something up his sleeve, and we get little hints about what he might have in mind, but we don’t know what it is. When his friends ask him what idea he has, he says that he honestly doesn’t know, and only has a vague feeling of an idea, a feeling that can’t be described in words. And he said they will have to wait for events to unfold and figure things out along the way. Haha yeah my characters are like me. We don’t know what we’re doing, but we’re sure we’ll know what to do when we get there. And keeping our characters’ intentions and thoughts mysterious, while implying that they DO have something in mind, does seem to help make them sound smart. Other characters are like, wow, what on earth could he be thinking about? Even his dad’s like, sometimes even I can’t guess what my son’s thinking about. Lol. Oh and showing that your character has planned for every possible contingency makes them look smart too. Or if your character correctly predicts events, or accurately guesses their enemy’s thoughts. Of course, characters can’t be randomly insightful. It must feel logical that… — Read More »
Hi Serena,
Great points! Yes, we don’t want to be too repetitive. “Planned for every possible contingency”–perfect!
I just finished a book with a character who was supposed to be kind of Sherlock Holmes-ish, and there was definitely a bit of all of this: other characters relying on him to be smart, contingency planning, predicting events, educated guesses, seeing/noticing what others don’t, etc. Fun! Thanks for the great question!
Welcome! Yeah with contingency planning, it isn’t too hard because you have a plot event and then your character says, “Hahah! I knew that might happen! And I already made Plan X to solve that problem!”
And you (the writer) go: ” o_O Really??”
Haha pantser quirks. This scenario really happened with me and my main villain, haha. The villain’s son was like, I knew he would have thought of that, but still it’s kind of chilling that my dad predicted that AND had a big backup plan prepared already!!!
They didn’t say exactly those words, but you get the picture.
Oh I did Google some answers on how to write super smart characters, and many indeed mentioned Sherlock Holmes. Holmes’s many accurate deductions/guesses do really make him look smart.
Some people mentioned book smarts, and smarts in having lots of technical (especially scientific) knowledge and great vocabulary. Haha personally I’m less impressed by the knowledge kind of intelligence and more impressed by the practical /fluid type of intelligence. Since I feel the latter is harder. I think the technical terms were crystallized vs. fluid intelligence (both are involved in IQ tests). But some psychologists see
“practical intelligence” as a separate construct from IQ. LOLL the first thing I learned in my psych course called “Intelligence”, is that psychologists have no idea what “intelligence” actually is, yet they keep making lots of tests to attempt to measure it! Lol.
Hi Serena,
LOL! Yep, that’s a good look at how a pantser’s brain works. 😉
Good point about the many types of intelligence. As you said there’s book intelligence, street smarts, emotional intelligence, etc. That’s funny about how the scientists have no idea what it is but keep trying to measure it. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
I think about this type of thing every time I see a post talking about how writers need to say no to their friends or give up on (insert beloved hobby here) or stay up late or get up early to write. I read those posts and think “that’s not sustainable.” At least, it’s not sustainable if you want to be a healthy person with healthy relationships.
I’m struggling through long-term planning right now because, even though I have long-term business plans, I’ve been working and sacrificing with a short-term mentality, and that will lead me to a breakdown soon if I’m not careful 🙂
Thanks for another great post!
I know what you mean, Marcy, I think part of why people put such hard lines in the sand about what to “give up” is because they’re just trying to point out that it does take great effort to achieve your goals in this business.
But I agree, some people can get too “Drill Sargent Cavalier” about everything.
I got so frustrated with people like that I got myself banned from a forum over talking about this issue.
Truthfully I did get mean and trollish, but it didn’t help when some of the writers on that forum used their parent/writer status as a reason to make me feel like I’m flaky baby because I’m not this
level-headed, no-nonsense tyrant, and yeah I’m exaggerating a bit, but it was how it felt at the time.
I’m certainly sorry for the jerky way I acted, but I can’t apologize for what I struggled with, it wasn’t “All in my head.”
It was REAL.
It. HURT.
I didn’t know how to make it better.
I just regret that I didn’t say it in a better way. I try really hard to do that now, but I know I still get emotional, it’s just a part of me I can’t erase, I just try not be mean about it.
Hi Taurean,
I appreciate that you make sure I keep a balance here and don’t let me turn into a “you must do this” drill sergeant. 😀
Hi Marcy,
Exactly! I can make short-term sacrifices for NaNo or whatever, but that’s not how I want my “new normal” to be.
That said, I know what you mean about the short-term mentality. I’ve been in this ridiculous mode this whole year for my publication schedule, and I’ve been really close to burnout the last month or so. I think that’s one reason I’m looking forward to NaNo–focusing on writing and only writing and not all these other stresses. LOL! I hope you’re able to find a better balance! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
An aside, I don’t want to work in culinary anymore.
I’m fine with that. Jami. I was just giving an example of one of the many things I thought about doing as a career before the notion of being an author came along. It’s not like I came into this world with the burning passion to write as some authors did.
I didn’t learn to love reading (as entertainment) until I was 16! That’s why working through this art and commerce stuff is so hard for me.
Yes, I know you don’t have to have your own restaurant to work in culinary. But I can’t work in that high-power environment.
That said, working in a cafeteria doesn’t work for me. I’d much rather cook for myself (and someday someone else) where I don’t have to wear hairnets or compromise on quality ingredients. Plus, it just reminds of my painful times in school I’d rather not relive however tangentially, and yes, I know not all cafeterias are in schools…(Sigh)
Hi Taurean,
Got it. I wasn’t sure if that was still something you longed to do, so I was just brainstorming with you. 🙂
As much as I’d love to trash the business side of writing, I know I shouldn’t. Because I have yet to publish a novel, the business idea is so vague it’s transparent. Yet, I do think about that day when my book is finally ready to be shared with the world occasionally and how I can help it be a succress. I do need to get going on some strategies to help the income right now. I’m leaning heavily toward writing for magazines and the such. Of course, this means selling the establishments on my skills with articles and short stories. More business stuff, yuck.
Hi Glynis,
I understand. I’m still making things up as I go along, so this definitely isn’t about coming up with detailed plans. LOL! Good luck to you when you reach that point! 😀
I think that, for the majority of people, artistry and business need combining, but there are some rare folks who succeed with only one or the other. For instance, some folks can write something they don’t care for in such a way that hides their own dislike, so if they pursue writing for the business rather than artistry, they’ll do better than most others, whose feelings would bleed through.
Artistry and business aren’t hard for me to think about to plan. The hard part is remembering my health and other factors that interfere with my plans.
What’s working best are the long-goal plans, like the posting on Wattpad, that have plenty of room to recover when my self-sabotaging streak acts up.
Hi Carradee,
Good point! Long-term goals and plans can also help us add in “wiggle” room. 🙂
On the issue of someone pursuing writing just for the money (or business)… It’s hard for me to say how sustainable that would be.
I’ve known a couple of authors who chase trends, but they don’t tend to stick around (at least not in those trends/genres) long term. Is that because they burned out without the sense of artistry? Or because they lost interest when the trend faded (and thus still never added in their artistic side)? I don’t know. Either way, they’re not in that niche for long, so as far as the competition is concerned, their career isn’t sustained over the long term. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
I can’t remember who it was, but I remember hearing about a solidly selling mystery writer who disliked writing and liked the paycheck…and from what I recall, she stuck with writing as a career.
Doesn’t every occupation have people who do it as a career without actually enjoying it?
Hi Carradee,
Good point! In every career, people will have different levels of commitment. I would guess the difficulty in finding success in writing would keep that number down for authors though. 😉
How many would try writing just for the paycheck–and then actually be successful at getting that paycheck. LOL! In the fiction world at least, that would seem to be very much an exception to the norm. 🙂 Thanks for chiming in!
I’m glad I don’t think of my writing projects as my babies. It would make it much harder to leave them in a drawer for six months while I work on something else 🙂
Hi Deborah,
LOL! Very true. 😀 Thanks for chiming in!
[…] writing career is stuck and 3 ways to fire up your writing career today. Jami Gold suggests writers have a long-term plan to avoid a dead-end […]
Fabulous insight here. One of the issues I see is one writer suggesting that another writer have the same or similar long-term plan. I hate those “you’re not a real writer unless…” statements some people make. We have to determine our own priorities, and one writer may want to put out 6 books a year while another is happy to put out 6 books in a lifetime. Both should be perfectly fine. What’s important is to understand our own goals and abilities.
Thanks for another great article, Jami!
Hi Julie,
So true! We need to come up with the goals, priorities, and plan that works best for us and our situation. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
Agreed! The only “You’re not a real writer unless…”s true is “You’re not a real writer unless you write”—but there’s nothing that says a writer can’t take a hiatus.
Hi Carradee,
Exactly! The “write every day” instruction is similar too. Obviously, we won’t write anything unless we actually write, but writing every day isn’t always possible, yet that doesn’t automatically mean failure. Good point–thanks for sharing! 🙂
[…] Elgamal has 26 reasons to get up and do it. If you want to keep writing, Jami Gold explains why a long-term plan is necessary, and Janice Hardy shows how to stay motivated with writing […]
[…] we have no passion for writing and are just in it for the short-term money, it’s better to come up with a sustainable long-term plan for our career […]