Slowing down in the Writing Rat Race

Life, if you haven’t seen the updates on my social media pages, has been a bit chaotic for me since the end of December. I made the decision to apply for a role that was a major change from my front-desk reception role. Given that my entire work experience revolves around customer service, and admin work, this was an abrupt change in direction. But only if you view my “normal” work. Instead, the focus became almost solely on my novel writing. My “hobby” is what synched me this new role. Every novelist dreams that their writing will bring them the big bucks to continue writing. This new role has done so, in a manner of speaking. The bucks aren’t huge compared to coasting the bestseller lists, but they are stable, AND, most importantly, the role is entirely about writing. Just non-fiction instead of fiction *grin*.

Finally, for the first time in my life, I have a job I love. A job I utterly yearned for from the moment of its hinted inception (receptionists listen – always remember that!). But it is taking up more of the most precious commodity we all have.

Time.

I’m not one to write well under anxiety, and the application process took close to two months. Plus the constant voices in my head, swinging from assertively positive, to pragmatically negative, meant that inspiration for novel writing completely evaded me. And that in turn has made me rethink my writing.

I love to write. I love creating worlds and characters that take me away to foreign worlds/times.

I DON’T love feeling as if anything I do is never enough. I really don’t like feeling that I’m part of an intense never-ending marathon run at a sprint. It’s just not sustainable.

I had intended to write and release the Bound by Blood trilogy this year. Now, however, I’m adjusting that goal. I have every intention to write and release Pandora’s Curse, book one of the Bound by Blood trilogy. But the other two books, well they may take me a couple of years.

And that’s okay.

Sometimes, when you get so involved in a Community that seems to have such a tunnel vision of an end goal (bestseller list, bestseller list, bestseller list), you forget what your original goal was.

To write.

To enjoy writing.