The Ups and Downs of Writing Full-Time by Kait Carson

 

Part-time writer dreaming of full-time

Today I’m riffing on Heather Weidner’s recent blog, Getting Your Writing back on Track. In 2020, the pandemic brought me a massive surprise. After what felt like a zillion years of working sixty-to-eighty-hour weeks for a law firm in Miami, Florida, and carving out time to write, I found myself laid off and ultimately, unemployed.

The writer in me shouted “Yea!” I had visions of cranking out books by the score – well, that’s a slight exaggeration, but you get my drift. For the first time in forty years, my time was my own. Real time. Not time carved out from vacation, or turn the phone off and huddle in for a long weekend time. This was nobody is watching and you have only yourself to report to time. Bliss, luxury, nirvana. Reality check! 

Full-time writer office ready to rock

It's been almost four years. What did I do with all that delicious time? Not nearly as much as I planned. In fact, last night while I was procrastinating, I mean writing, I discovered my writing calendar from 2013. It was eye-opening. I was far more productive while working a full-time job. How was that even remotely possible? Let’s circle back to that ‘my time is my own’ statement above. It is, and then again, it isn’t.

 

I was far more protective of my time when someone else was paying me for my hours. Come to think of it, so was my husband. Well, there was that one time he interrupted a Zoom hearing because he couldn’t find his cell phone, but hey, that happens. And he learned to knock. Now he breezes in and out of my office on a regular basis. And I let him. So, where’s the problem? It looks at me from the mirror every morning. The situation hasn’t changed. I’ve changed. I allow myself to be distracted and interrupted, and seriously, oftentimes I’m my own worst enemy. While I was writing this blog, I took time off to do dinner prep. Take gun, roll cylinder, shoot self in foot.

 

Piper wondering when the magic begins

Finding that ancient calendar was quite the revelation—and a lesson. The luxury of “all that time to write” still exists. The onus is on me to use it properly. Since I opted to self-publish, my day cannot be entirely writing. There’s marketing, social media (for fun and hopefully profit), and volunteer work that keeps me connected to the writing world. All of that takes time, but it’s also writing related. Clearly, I’m one of those writers who needs structure. And possibly a deadline. It’s time to re-think this luxury, make a plan, and stick with it. It also wouldn’t hurt to set a deadline or two and make those happen. It worked before.

 

I’m taking several of Heather’s suggestions and rededicating myself to the writing life. How about you?