My mom told me today I’m spreading myself too thin. I know I am. I’m putting everything before my writing and taking in too many jobs, but to tell the truth, those other things are making me more money than my writing at the moment. I have no desire to be a “starving artist”. Writing is something I love to do, but I need to make money. Hubby’s been out of work, and now we have to have a new heat pump.
So here’s the thing. I need to organize and prioritize. Since I took Virginia Nelson’s class on sprinting, I need to dedicate at LEAST 15 minutes per day on MY book. With the sprinting method, I can do about 500 words in that time. I think I’m going to have a little breathing room through June and July, because I’m going to be working on books that will be easy to proofread. I just tried to do too many things in May and the first part of June. The fact that I had five nights of teaching Vacation Bible School didn’t help. It put me behind. But I’m seeing light at the end of the tunnel.
That brings me to something else. I feel like I’m neglecting ROW80 and the people who make up this wonderful group. What really made me think about this is that my last post was the revealing of who my next cover model will be, and I had very few comments. I was SO excited about this, and not many people came by. And that made me realize I hadn’t really visited many ROWers in awhile. I should be checking up on some of you, even if it isn’t a ROW80 post. All of you have blog posts you write besides those twice weekly ones. So how can I expect anyone to visit my blog when I haven’t been visiting theirs? So I want to apologize for that. It’s just been a time thing, but I need to make time. And we need to visit each other on other days besides Wednesdays and Sundays. We’re friends, right? I know all of us can’t visit everyone. But shouldn’t we pop in on one or two a week besides the check in days? What do you all think? Am I just being weird? LOL
I’m going to try to do better!!!
lauralynnelliott.com 
I think we are all stressed and busy this summer, Lauralynn. I know I’ve been lurking more than commenting, and I don’t think I’m alone in that. I’m getting fewer comments, but I’m also blogging less and visiting other folks less. I feel very guilty about that!
I hope things get easier for you. I’d have you work on my stuff if I had anything finished, sigh. If it helps at all, we are all friends, and we understand.
I have definitely been blogging less, but part of that was because I was starting to get fewer comments. It seems I get more comments on stuff that’s not as important to me and fewer on things that ARE important. But I can’t expect blog activity if I’m not visiting other people’s blogs.
You will finish. It’s not a race, it’s a journey. 🙂
It is a common fault I think this time of year – writing plus outdoor activities, holidays and for me friends funerals and illnesses – but I agree we need to keep the connections and visit more often – am gong to make more of an effort, now life has calmed down a trifle. – Take care of yourself:)
I think we live in a time where life just flies by too fast. Sometimes I wish I lived in slower, simpler times. Then I think…nope, I would miss my technology. LOL
I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with funerals and illness. I hope the rest of the year is better for you.
Sprinting could work toward getting more done in less time, but it takes getting used to. Thank goodness we were both at the class so we know exactly how it works. If I hadn’t been there, I don’t think I would understand it. It’s definitely worth taking.
I wondered how the editing schedule was or was not interfering with your writing. If you ever need to focus on your work, feel free to push my deadline back. I can be flexible with books as long as it’s not with Parchment & Plume. Patty’s Gamble is under that one, but the next two I told you about are not. So I can be flexible on those. I’d like you to also be able to do your writing while you’re editing my stuff. There’s no reason why you can’t do both. 🙂
I don’t know how often people comment or don’t comment this time of year. I do get less emails this time of year, and I assume it’s because people are on vacation or are taking their kids out to the park or something. I notice I haven’t been blogging as much lately, but I’ve been focusing on sprinting books. Hmm… Is there a set amount of time you can put aside to check other people’s blogs and answer them so that it’s easier to get to? I know, it can be easier said than done. Real life has a way of disrupting schedules. It was just an idea. 🙂
Ruth, I think the biggest obstacle to my writing is over now. And your books are really easy, so that’s not a problem. 🙂 Of course, now I have two more books in my head that want to get out. LOL. Vacation Bible School put me behind, but I think it’s going to be a little smoother sailing for awhile.
I do think people are on vacation and doing outdoors stuff this time of year. I just feel like if I neglect other people’s blogs, mine gets neglected. It trickles down. LOL Honestly, I think the sprinting breaks are a good time to check on blogs and stuff like that.
Hey, life happens. I’ll try to stop by a little more often.
Yes, John, life definitely happens. If only I didn’t have my full-time job, I could do so much more! Maybe someday, I can retire. 🙂
It’s all a great big balancing act sometimes, and it all gets a little off-kilter during certain moment, but the nice thing is that it eventually gets back on track. I think you’re dead on about visiting each other’s blogs and the like; one of the reasons I was excited to get back into RoW80 was because I hadn’t been social on the blogsphere anymore and I missed that a lot. But, at the same time, it’s important to remember that it’s definitely not the end of the world if we don’t get around to commenting or if we don’t get a lot of comments, either.
The sprinting sounds like a great idea; it doesn’t take a lot of time, but it’s still getting work done, and then when more time clears up, you’ll find you have a pretty decent mass of words built up. Definitely take your time in adjusting yourself. It’s a necessary things sometimes.
L.S., yours is one of the blogs I try to keep current on, but I still find myself behind on commenting on it. But I guess a few days doesn’t matter in the large scheme of things. I have been trying to be social on FB. I’m a big believer in blogs, but it seems FB gets the most activity.
I’m going to work on sprinting this week and see how it goes. Part of the time, I’m going to use the Dragon software and see how that works with sprinting.
Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with all the blogs and bloggers we like. Real Life has to come first.
So true, Emma. But I WANT to. *whines*
At least you’re blogging, and being productive, and making money. Which is way more than I’m doing (maybe I’m broken, I should look into that).
With editing, I can make in one month what it takes 6-12 months (depending on the number of editing jobs I have) to make in book sales lately. Yes, that’s sad, but book sales are terrible right now. I’ve seen them pick up just a tad in the last week, but those little trends usually don’t last.