Pushing Forward and Pulling Back

Photo Credit: Elisa Ventur on Pixabay

 

“Don’t push yourself.” This was advice I gave to a friend who wanted to go for walks in spite of her ongoing bouts with dizziness.

 

It’s advice I had to follow this week, as well.

 

Writers are known for pushing forward in order to meet a deadline, finish writing a WIP, or to get to that next chapter. We go without food, sleep, water, exercise, and social gatherings in order to meet these goals.

 

And that has been something that I have been doing this week, as well.

 

For the most part, I had daily writing goals to meet: Work on at least one of my WIP, get some writing done in a certain article that is due at the end of the month, work on the SPARREW Newsletter. And so far, I met those goals.

 

But it was rough going.

 

Part of the recovery process from my eye surgery includes using eye drops several times a day. At first, it was four times a day, and with three different eye drops to use at five-minute intervals, that took some time out of my days. Now it’s three times a day for just two of them. They still require some time away from the work I am doing. Even so, I am certainly investing that time in the post-op care for my eye, as it is very important and contributes to the overall healing process for my eye.

 

I also had to take time to rest when I was dealing with headaches. (Yes, unfortunately, I’m still having those darn headaches! I guess they weren’t a result of my vision problem after all.) There was also a day I had a really bad dizzy spell, which also required rest.

 

These are times I pulled back from my drive to Get Things Done. I was out of commission. Unavailable.

 

But there were times that I pushed forward, too, in spite of everything going on. I pushed forward to get writing done in books. I pushed forward to read manuscript submissions. And I pushed forward to finish writing one thing or another.

 

Yes, as writers, we tend to push forward to meet obligations, but sometimes, we gotta know when to pull back too. If at all possible, pull back if you need to. Your health is more important than the writing or attending a con. Your mental health is especially important and should not suffer all for the writing cause.

 

Make sure you know when it’s okay to push forward and when you need to pull back. And if you really do need to pull back, then do so without guilt. Step away, slow down, and rest. We aren’t machines that can operate 24/7. We need breaks, we need rest. But, ultimately, we need to take care of ourselves. If we don’t take care of ourselves, then the writing suffers. So push forward if you are able to, but pull back when you need to.  

 

Setting Aside Time to Write

 

Photo Credit: Ron Lach via Pexels

 

As someone who spends Monday through Friday setting aside time for Twisted Dreams Press as well as working on anything related to the newsletter and reading books I am reviewing, it can be a struggle to find the time to work on my own writing: Books, short stories, poetry, essays, articles, and anything else my creativity comes up with.

 

But the thing of it is, we don’t really find the time for the important things in our lives. We MAKE the time for them.

 

So, at the end of the day, even if I’m tired or physically drained, I still made time to get some writing done this week. I have reviewed all the work I have got done this week (so far!) and I was happy to see that, in spite of everything else I had to do, I still made time to work on my own writing.

 

I am currently revising a short story and I got some VERY helpful feedback from a reader on things to add to this story, so I have been working on making those additions.

 

I have been revising my book, 365 Tips for Writers, because it is currently out of print, but I am at the stage where I am not only revising it, but adding more to it as well. This is necessary in order to make the new format of this book work. So, I made time to get some writing done for this book as well.

 

And of course, I’ve worked on the two articles I needed to finish writing this week. One is finished and sent off to the editor. The other one is almost done; I hope to complete it by Sunday, 3/29. I made time to write in these articles as well. And even on those days, I also got some writing done in one of my WIPs (I am working on several books) or something of my own to write (such as poetry!).

 

I have noticed that some people who work in publishing have said that they feel guilty if they set aside time for their own writing. I think this is nothing to feel guilty about. If you are a writer, you owe it to yourself to set aside time to write. Don’t give your whole time to the job in publishing. It is not the only thing that you are. You are also a writer, and you are doing yourself a disservice if you don’t set aside time to write. Just as you are also a student or spouse or parent, etc. You need to manage your time so that you are able to have a slot of time for each of the things that are a part of your life.

 

This is why I stick to “business hours” with the press – well, usually. Last night, for instance, I remembered an anthology we plan to announce an open call for in the near future, so last night, I emailed a writer who submitted a story for an anthology that wasn’t right for it to let him know about this project, and ask if he wanted a spot in it. I wanted to do this before I forgot to do this (again!). But usually, yes, I stick to “business hours” with the press. Once I am done for the day, I am done. And THEN I can focus on my own stuff.

 

Having business hours and sticking to them is the key to being able to still do other things with your life when it comes to a job or career. Don’t let your job in publishing take up all of your time during the workday. By sticking to business hours, there is no reason to feel guilty about spending time working on your own writing. If you are a writer, you need to write.

 

And you need to make that time to write, too. If you only have five minutes to write, then use that five minutes to write. That’s what I did this week no matter how busy it was and you should try to do that too. It is YOUR time to manage and figure out how to spend it.

 

If you are able to spend your free time writing, then write.

 

But some people will think, “Oh, I can’t concentrate on the writing right now” or “I don’t feel like writing.” But, maybe you can? And maybe you do? Try it. Try writing something in a journal, write a few sentences in your WIP or try writing some notes for a piece you need to write.

 

I did, and I feel a lot better that I still got some writing done every day this week. Any week that I am able to write every day is certainly a good one, so make it a good week for yourself too when it’s Monday again and get writing. 

 

Remember, what you write doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be written.