Writing. What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it?

In 2010, I said everything. In 2015, I said fear. In 2016, I said that it’s sitting down and doing it.

This year? It’s oddly work. In an effort to recalibrate my life, I started 2017 with an intent to quit that job. By March, i did. Then I had an intention to find another one that matched my goals and interests. By July, I found one. This initiative though distracted my writing as much I attempted not to let it distract. When I had started Ice Cream Travel Guide, it was with the intention that the freelancing was intended to be temporary so that I could write. What I learned during the process was that I shouldn’t ever quit to just write. Working gave me inspiration, the income, and the need for structure.

So I did it.

But then suddenly with more responsibility and seniority comes the fact that I don’t have energy at the end of the day to write. There’s this tricky balance—to have a high-powered job and to write effectively. Which do I choose? Which is my passion? And yet, at the same time, what will drive me continually?

I have though dumped money in certain things—the novel revision bootcamp, finishing the last of the sessions with the developmental editor, found my way to Spun Yarn, established a weekly checkin with a fellow student from the bootcamp. But to that end, I am only finishing the novel. My passion lies with the short stories I believe.

But what I need to congratulate myself on is actually sticking to the monthly checkins for submitting at least one thing every month. What can I say: I did it.