And I’m pondering your last paragraph there. My writing career balances on some version of a knife edge. I’ve got a four-book contract (the last 2 books recently signed, the first book to come out in October) and my agent is shopping something else around under a pen name. I make a living–and a pretty decent one–writing nonfiction. I got a huge nonfiction business market report I’m in the middle of and I’ll probably be able to do these types of things as long as I want to (unless I screw this up), and it’s lucrative, but man, does it suck up the time and energy. Maybe it should, since it pays so well, but there’s a part of my brain that says, “Until this point you’ve had a lot of fun with this writing career, and this is a pain in the ass. You sure you want to go down this road?”

Life is compromise, I guess.

Keep learning in public. There are enough brick walls to go around. My brick walls may not be your brick walls. It’s comforting to hear as you go through the darkened room a thump and someone else call out, “wall.” That way you know others are doing the same thing, and eventually you learn most of the walls and know where to step.

I’ve also learned the lesson about the day job (and the night job) slighting the writing time. I just haven’t been able to follow it, yet. So mostly I now notice when it happens and grind my teeth harder. I have also noticed that when I’m either “not in the mood,” don’t have a writing deadline (self imposed), or a brand in the fire, the other jobs don’t press as hard at those times. I once thought it was a matter of perspective, but after five years and different jobs, there is some correlation. I’ve also learned to write, or at least edit, when there is no mood. Then I read when I’m too tired to focus on writing. I’ve made the commitment that I either have to write or read everyday. Most nights I do both.

Cheers,

Rob