The Writing Lifestyle: It’s a Juggling Act

I’m still trying to find a middle ground between juggling a Day Job and making more time for working on my writing projects. It’s not easy and it often involves lack of sleep and some weeping and gnashing of teeth. Okay, I’m exaggerating a little about the weeping and gnashing part but you get the point. This particular article was inspired by Danny over at Dream Big, Dream Often. He’s got a great blog so you should really check it out.

Unfortunately, our modern society often preaches, subliminally, about instant gratification and an emphasis on end results instead of the in-between parts. Let’s face it, hardly anyone goes from Point A to Point Z without dealing with the 24 points in between. It’s a fact of Life that is often glossed over when we are bombarded with media images of people who seemingly come out of nowhere and achieve instant fame and fortune.

I’m not going to tell you how to get where you want to be. Instead I’m going to relate my situation and perhaps you can glean something useful from it.

First off, OF COURSE if we had an opportunity to achieve major success with little effort, we would do it. You’d be dumb not to jump on that. But Real Life doesn’t work that way and changing your personal reality takes Work. Lots and lots of Work. I’ve said many times that I’m not pursuing a writing career for the money or fame. Fame is fleeting and there are easier ways to make money.

For me, having a Day Job means having a support system for both myself and my writing. I’m also good with money so working with less income isn’t an insurmountable obstacle. Still, when you count on particular times of the week to write and the Day Job calls you in for one reason or another, it can be frustrating. I suppose I’m lucky that my Day Job is usually at night, on the weekends, and the boss doesn’t mind if I set up my laptop and work on stories in between motel customers. Not every job is like that.

If there is one take away from this article, I want it to be that my example is that working hard, sacrificing, and planning go a long way toward achieving goals. It’s not easy and it’s certainly not fun nor sexy, but it’s also not forever. Thanks for your time. 🙂