Getting Up The Hill
This post is part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group blog hop. The first Wednesday of every month is Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. The awesome co-hosts for the December 7 posting of the IWSG will be Jennifer Hawes, Jen Chandler, Nick Wilford, Juneta Key, JH Moncrieff, Diane Burton, and MJ Fifield!
My insecurity this month revolves around the fact that I’m feeling a little drained right now. Okay, a lot drained. I recently got a promotion at work and the adjustment has taken a lot of my energy and caused a shift of focus. Christmas is also coming and all the buzz surrounding that. As a result, I’m finding it hard to concentrate. I’m not working on writing much, struggling to keep my blog up, and generally just feeling drained and zoned out when I sit down at the computer (so then I screw around online instead of doing work).
I know all writers go through this from time to time, when life climbs on your back and slows you down. I’m hoping as things even out at work and the holidays pass, I’ll get the spark again and be able to concentrate. The funny part is, it’s a vicious cycle: the less I write, the worse I feel, and then the more drained I am. I have to break it!
December 7th Question: In terms of your writing career, where do you see yourself five years from now, and what’s your plan to get there?
My ultimate ‘writing plan’ has always been to be a career writer. That is, I want to make a living off writing and not have a day job. Far-fetched? Definitely. Improbable? Maybe. Impossible? Only if I don’t do anything to reach that goal. I know it’s something that will take a lot of hard work and needs a little bit of luck thrown in as well.
In five years I hope to at least be paying some of the bills with writing, even if I’m not making a total living off it. How do I plan to do it? The only way an author can make a living off writing: write, publish, repeat. Unless I happen to land a bestseller, it will take lots of work and lots of available work to make a living. Though even if I do magically hit it big, I’ll keep writing more books because–I love writing!
My plan is to do a job I love, which is writing, and live comfortably on it. But it’s going to be a long, hard, sometimes uncomfortable road getting there. I think that’s true of a lot of professions, though. No one becomes a doctor or lawyer overnight, either.
This plan seems incongruent with my insecurities this month, doesn’t it? I guess that’s a sign for me!
How are you feeling this month? Have you ever been drained and unfocused?
Filed under: IWSG Tagged: blog hop, creativity, insecure writer's support group, personal life, wellness, writing
