Time

A writer's time is one of the most delicate and precious things in our lives, and yet somehow it seems as though it's the easiest thing to have taken for granted.

I've read published writers' blogs which detail what must, to them, be a really perplexing problem. They're successful, some of them so much so that they hardly have time to write due to all their other writing-related responsibilities--press, online interviews, chats, book tours and signings, travel to and from the above, and the ever-present edits. Some have more than one series on the table at any given time, and they're expected to do both.

I don't have any of those responsibilities yet, but I have others, and mine are such that sometimes I truly wonder whether if I ever get to the level of published-author-in-demand, I'll be able to meet all the writing-related responsibilities due to my current level of non-writing-related responsibilities. I'll make it, somehow. I'll have to, therefore I will. There's not really a choice in the matter. But at the moment, I admit the prospect of juggling all those balls is a little daunting. And to think I once thought just getting a publishable manuscript into the hands of an agent was the most challenging hurdle to face.

I'll cope. I'll find a way to do it all. But just once, I wish we could value my writing as the important career it is, and find a way for me to give it the attention it deserves, every day. Actually having it bring in some income will help, but even before that happens, I have to find a way to have my cake and eat it, too. If I could draw a salary for all the things I'm currently responsible for, my price would be simply this: time. Time to write, time to create, and maybe even a little time to just be.