Someone very smart* once said that if you want professional results as a writer, you have to treat your writing as if it is your profession. In other words, the best way to get published is to behave as if you are a publishable author. This can include sutdying your intended genre, interfacing with fellow authors that you respect and admire, and, most important, writing. And then writing. And maybe doing a little writing in your spare time.
This is, without a doubt, fantastic advice.
But as much as I, and I’m sure a LOT of want-to-be-published-authors out there, want to spend all our time being professional-like, the reality is that there is a certain balancing act required and many times we bump into the demands of everyday life. For a lot of us, that means Monday through Friday at the Dayye Jobbe and evenings and weekends with the spouse/partner/significant other/hockey team/new speices being spliced in your basement/etc. Then there are errands, kids, pets, busted pipes, small rodent infestations, and a myriad of other items that seem to bubble to the top of our To-Do list. Not to mention the ever elusive “sleep”.
Personally, I try to set aside time every week that’s my writting bubble: a few hours where I am sealed off from society and left alone with just my plots and characters. Sometimes this works and sometimes other matters are more pressing.
How about you? When do you fit in writing? In the early hours on a Saturday morning when the rest of the world is asleep or in the few minutes between buying groceries and cleaning up cat barf? How do you maintain the balancing act?
*No idea who it was.