"If you haven't written anything today, you're not a writer."
AND
"A good writer reads something every day."
I've heard both, and I agree. The problem is balance. I got the next book in a series I've been into on Tuesday (Awakened, by P.C. & Kristin Cast) so there went a whole day of writing... and then Wednesday was a personal day (our car not only broke down, but went to heaven, on the 64/264 interchange, and I started reading Vampire Blues, by Aaron Niz) and yesterday my friend brought me the next book in the Noble Dead Series (by Barb & J.C. Hendee). So I've spent the week basically reading instead of writing, and while I know being an avid reader is what brought me to write in the first place, I can't ever seem to find a balance between the two, as a daily habit.
It's frustrating and probably more than a little bit nerdy that books are my weakness, my Achilles Heel. But I've combatted the reading "problem" with being accountable for my work. I tell whoever will listen about whatever it is I'm working on. Right now, my 7 year old tells everyone who comes over that they should really read 'Dirty Blood' because its a great story. Not that they have any idea what that is, but she'll make a great publicist one day. In the meantime, I'm at least accountable to someone...
As for news about Across the Galaxy, I've been doing my homework on Amazon's formatting guidelines and it looks like I might need to go through and make some changes to make the manuscript work properly, or at least look good, on a Kindle. I'm hoping to upload it to my Amazon account or directly to my Kindle, if I can, and proof read it that way. The cover shoot is set for the 22nd. Woohoo!
Can't wait to call myself a PUBLISHED author!
I totally, totally can relate to this. My balance is always out of whack with this stuff too. Right now I'm spending SO much time marketing and blogging and on twitter, I haven't hardly ready or written a creative word in weeks.
ReplyDeleteNot good. Not good at all. Seems you're actually doing better with the whole balance thing than I am!
An E-Publisher's Manifesto
I have to admit I've cut back on the amount of reading I do a *lot* since I got serious about my own writing. I keep saying I need a vacation, just me and my kindle and some pina coladas on a beach. :)
ReplyDelete@lindsey- if you bring me with you, i promise not to speak the entire time. that idea of a vacation sounds like heaven! I think my kindle is my new best friend.
ReplyDelete@gniz- I heard LJ Sellers say on konrath's blog, she spends 2-3 hours a day online doing marketing for herself. So don't feel bad. I think you have to do that to start, and as you build a good reader base, its not so time consuming after awhile.
When I find a good book, huge blocks of time get carved out of my regular schedule too. But since I get inspired by what I read I count it as research. :-)
ReplyDeleteI also count any writing (blogs, articles, research papers, books, etc.) as a part of my daily one page quota. Otherwise I would be too hard on myself.
@bakari- great idea. I too count reading as 'research' especially since I spend time on 'educating' myself every day on all things e-publishing by visiting various blogs, etc. And I mostly read within the genre I write, so I can call reading say, the newest book in the Noble Dead series, 'research' since its the same genre I write. haha.
ReplyDelete