Is Your Writing Life Super Highway Clogged?

Hello and welcome to my post. As I sit here writing this post, I am also thinking about how many other things in my writing life need to be done. Can you relate? Does any of the following look familiar:

The Writing Life Super Highway- A Traffic Jam?

• I need to continue to read good "how-to" books on fiction writing.
• I need to continue to read good Christian Fiction to balance out my reading about the craft of writing..
• I need to continue working on new plot, character, and story ideas...
• I need to continue to revise my existing manuscript....
• I need to check my email.....
• I need to update my website with new content......
• I need to tweet, blog, check Myspace, and update my Facebook page.......
• I need to research agents and editors.........
• I need to network with other writers.........
• Oh, I need to remember to eat and sleep............
• Oh, my significant other just reminded me that I am married (and thus that I have a significant other)..............

And the list just goes on and on (and keeps growing). For many of us, there are deadlines, kids, and even your "regular" job (if writing is not your primary occupation) throwing up detours and traffic-cones. In fact, it's entirely possible to divide your time in such a way that you actually get nothing done. Have you ever been at that point?

I would wager that most of us feel the need to better our writing, keep up to date with technology, and be able to move our tassels over to the "published" side of the hat. Furthermore, we should all want to communicate to our followers, fans, and fellow writers. Several of us help out in book clubs, writing critique groups, and also serve as mentors to other writers.

Let me say right off that all of these are important, but let us not forget that the most important thing is that we want to grow in our Faith and our relationship with The Lord. I don't want to be the one standing before the Lord with Him telling me I didn't get much accomplished and me responding, "But look how well I multitasked!"

As a writer myself, let me say again that I believe all of these things are important and necessary. Each item on the to-do list, however, should have a different ranking of importance based upon where you are in your writing life (are you a beginner, recently published, several books published, etc.).

I know each of us has our own systems of checks and balances. For me, it actually helps if I write a monthly and weekly focus list regarding things that need to be done in my writing life. This way, I can track how much time (at least what days) I devote to each element of my writing life. Seeing this on paper really helps me to visualize, focus, and keeps me from spreading myself too thin. This type of planning also helps me to realize when I need to say "I'm sorry, I can't do that right now." The important thing is to have a system in place to keep you from spreading yourself too thin.

At the end of the day, I am all for accomplishing as much as possible, multitasking to the extreme, and bettering my writing. I must remember, and I suspect I am not alone in this thought, that I still need to live, devote time to my family, and devote time to my Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that your writing life super highway is clear, traffic-cone free, and flowing smoothly.

If it comes down to your writing life taking over, remember that when you look into the rear view mirror of that writing life, that the Lord always has a bright set of red and blue flashing lights at His disposal. :)