The Balancing Act

One of the things I love most about the Writers Alley is that we are all doing this together. Published, pre-published, novice, seasoned, single, married… we all come from different places but we all share a common goal... or LOVE. Creating stories.

While we hope to inspire, encourage, and even teach on occasion, sometimes we just want to bond over what we share. Dreams. Struggles. Successes. Rejections.

Since the grind is so universal, it was my intention this week to come up with strategies for balancing the general craziness of life—whether yours includes any combination of marriage, parenting, dating, working, ministry, school, ect—AND finding time to not only WRITE, but build a platform, work your social media muscles, blog, edit, critique, and for the love of books… READ!

How do you do it all? Wear all of those hats and somehow managed to do even some of those things well? At some point we all get scattered. Too many pieces to juggle and eventually you will drop the ball. Maybe just one. Maybe the whole lot.

Where is that groove? That sweet spot? How will I know if I get there? And even I somehow manage to have a successful day spinning all those plates, how do I keep it up without burning out?

Man, I wish I had some magic formula! Some swear keeping a schedule is the best course. Even planning their day down to the hour. Social media for one hour in the morning. Check. Email correspondence from nine to eleven. Break for lunch. Noon to four, write your fingers to the nub. Check, check, check. Get the kids off the bus. Make dinner. Have some family time. Tuck in the little terrors. Compose a witty and brilliant blog post before it’s late. Write some more until your eyelids collapse. Check, check, check. Day over. Wake up. Rinse and repeat.

How many of you know it’s not always that simple. Schedules are great, but they meet an undeniable force that sadly holds no regard for your best intentions. Life. The unexpected. Change. Shifting the pieces to accommodate the puzzle you’ve constructed doesn’t always work.

Others claim you should wait for inspiration to strike. Then, you ride the wave, forsaking all else until it ebbs back out to sea. Not very predictable but full of passion and productivity for a time.

None of this to say that the writing life is a drag. It’s one of the most amazing things you can do with your mind. Create! What a gift!

But as I have been flailing the past few weeks, struggling to get my groove back (if indeed I’d ever had one) I realized there is no one size fits all. So instead of feeding you some bollocks about how you can be efficient and stress free like me (HA!) I thought I’d opt for a discussion.

Lets chat Alley Cats and Friends! What works for you? What tactics do you employ to help you stay afloat that actually work? What time management techniques have failed you miserably? What is your best advice for being a spouse, a parent, a friend, a co-worker, a crit partner, a minister, a constant student, AND a hopeless dreamer---AKA a writer? J

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Amy Leigh Simpson writes Romantic Suspense that is heavy on the romance, unapologetically honest, laced with sass and humor, and full of the unfathomable Grace of God. She is the completely sleep deprived mama to two little tow-headed mischief makers and wife to her very own swoon-worthy hero. Represented by the oh-so-wise and dashing Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary Inc.