10/05/2011

Hello and welcome! I hope everyone's week has been serving them well so far. Mine has been educational and eventful, I will say that. Customer Service Appreciation Week is so much! If anyone else reading gets to experience it, I hope it's as fun for you as it is for me.

As for writing, I have been wracking my mind trying to figure out exactly what today's topic is going to be, and honestly it was rather hard. The conclusion I've come to is: balance. It's something that is incredibly important, and I have found I need to manage better. When it comes to writing, it's important to, just like any other job, that you have time to work and time to play. Doing this can mean the difference between progress and frustrations.

I've said it before that having a designated time to write has helped me incredibly much. It makes it so there is a specific time of the day where you are writing, and doing nothing else. I particularly like this because it means that after I get home from work, I get to sit down, relax, and do what I enjoy rather than dwelling on whether or not work was difficult that day or not. Now this scenario works out for me because I have a full-time day job as well as being a writer. Not to say that I don't have times where I'm specifically not writing, that's important as well, those are the times where I hang out with my friends, or go to a game night, or just play Magic or a video game. Seriously having times to unwind is important.

I understand that not everyone has the same experience that I do, some use their writing as a full-time job, and it's part of that job to write like the wind, edit, market, edit, market, write, and try not to go completely crazy. It's those situations where having the time where they're not writing is even more important. There are times when I'm not writing when I do feel guilty about it, I'm actually in one of those times right now, but life has a way of making it so it's difficult to get anything done, and next week I'll be able to get back on my normal schedule, so I keep that in mind.

Also try to keep in mind that taking a break is find. I've said it before that it lets the ideas marinate and fully develop before you throw them down on paper or whatever writing medium you may use. Just because you're a writer doesn't mean you have to do that 100% of the day, everyday, all the time forever. Having an opportunity to think about something else will save you from going absolutely crazy, which should be a win-win for everyone in my opinion.

I hope this has helped some people, remember writing should be something you enjoy, not something you feel obligated to do. Have fun with it, because if you don't, it's going to come out in your writing, and your readers will know. Thanks everyone. I'll try to have something up on Friday for everyone to look for. See you then!