I’m moments from sleep, so this might not be an ideal time to write this, but I feel it is necessary to post something before I hit the year mark. Writing isn’t the challenge. It’s the purpose. It’s the thing that drives me–and others like me. I don’t struggle to write. Ideas are cheap. The words–though not always the best–flow readily when asked to come forth from my fingers. I understand plot, character, setting, etc. I have studied writing not as a chore that needs to be accomplished but as a lover you want to please and bring to a climax–the literary kind. 😉
No, the challenge is all the rest of the stuff. It’s trying to manage my finances in such a way that I can leave my job to pursue the writing career I am trying to start. Thinking day and night about how I can grow a YouTube channel with the limited time I have so I can jump into the book market with a small contingent of readers ready to support my endeavor. Managing my time to get everything done for work, family, and life. These are the challenges.
I had a lot of fun doing a book advent calendar video last year, and I wanted to do it again this year. We got three days into the videos when my Thursday script-writing class pushed my arrival time past the kids’ bedtime. Today, we were going to do a double video showing two books at the same time to make up for the lost day. Now it is too late, and I will have to do a triple video tomorrow or just give up on the videos entirely. The thing is, I don’t have to make the videos. I would enjoy just opening the boxes and revealing the books my wife picked for me. But if I did that, I wouldn’t have the content for my fledgling channel.
And this is exactly why everything else is the challenge. I love writing and like learning about book marketing. Doing them both while juggling a life filled with a full-time job, family, class, and other societal obligations is hard. And I don’t feel like I am doing a very good job of it right now.
So if you see this post after watching one of my videos, know that a little support goes a long way. Leave a comment so I know you are there.
Also, if you are like me, know that perseverance is the key. I just calculated my projected publishing date for my debut novel: June 2027. That’s a long way off, but it is also not. I have to stick with this slog for a while longer before I can commit fully to writing and managing this new career I am building.
I have quite a few days like today ahead of me–and so might you. But I know it’s worth it, so just keep going! I will, too.
