How I Spent My First Day as a Fulltime Writer

Well, I guess it’s real. As of today, I am writing fulltime. So how did it go? Glad you asked. Because it gives me something to blog about other than the weird rash on the back of my elbow.

Aren’t you relieved?

So here in no particular order are a few random thoughts from the beginning of being a full time writer.

First, for those of you interested in the LDStorymakers Writers Conference, things are moving along quickly. The incredible, and talented, Scott Wright is just about done with the online registration form. We expect to have it up and running by early next week at the latest. This year’s conference is going to be bigger and better than ever, with special classes on children’s book writing, screen writing, article writing, and all the other usual good stuff.

Second, I do not understand why people collect rejection letters. I guess it is proof that you are getting your work sent out. But looking at my rejections only bums me out. Even when I know I have a five book deal and lots of good things in the works, seeing old rejection letters raises all the old doubts again. I started by just cleaning my desk, and ended up having to take a walk to remind myself that I am a published writer. I’d much rather focus on good reviews and positive feedback than old rejection letters.

I think it takes a few days to get adjusted to the fact that I am writing full time. I keep starting to think about work things I need to do, only to go, “Oh, yeah. That’s not my problem anymore.”

Which brings me to how much writing is a mental thing. You have to feel good about yourself to do your best. You need to feel that what you are writing is the best work being written. When you feel good about your writing, you write well. When you start doubting yourself, everything you write seems like garbage.

Also, so much of writing is about getting into a rhythm. I know there are people who can write in fifteen minutes here and twenty there. But for me, I need to get into the right mindset. If I am going to use my free time wisely, I need to treat writing as the fulltime career it is. I started this morning by getting up and seven for a quick run before breakfast and settling in to hit the keyboard. Find whatever works for you, but if you are going to treat writing as a profession, you need to be professional yourself.

The day’s results? 3200 words. Not as much as I would have liked, but I spent a good portion of the day getting my new laptop working right. I’ll keep you updated on how things go from here.

Storm Clouds

Yesterday, I was having a conversation with a friend about silver linings. With the economy the way it is, book sales—along with almost all other sales—taking a beating, and lots of gloom and doom on the news, it’s easy to get depressed and start thinking that this is a crazy time to publish a book, or write a new manuscript, or look for a job, or whatever it is that you know you should be doing, but feel too down to even try. We both agreed that in retrospect, some of our best opportunities came as the silver lining on otherwise dark stormy clouds.

I guess the timing of the conversation was pretty appropriate, because today, about an hour after I came into work, my boss entered my office and closed the door. We chatted for a few minutes about how he wasn’t feeling too great, and stress of the economy, etc. Finally, he kind of sat back in his chair, and said, “I didn’t come here to talk about me.”

Ahhhh. Suddenly the dime dropped. This was that conversation. I have to admit, I was not expecting this at all. We’d just had layoffs, and the management assured us they were the only layoffs planned. Apparently this was not planned. (Hey, I know how that goes. In fact a couple of our best kids were . . .) Anyway, back to my point. He was coming in to tell me that I was being let go the end of this week.

I guess he was surprised that I wasn’t angry, or didn’t burst into tears or something, because after I told him I understood, he said, “Wow. You’re taking this a lot better than I am.” In fact I’m pretty sure he thought someone had given me advance notice. They hadn’t. And I admit, it took me a while to digest the information. But the thing is, what’s the point in getting upset? They have their business to run. I have my business to run. Hopefully the two are in sync. But sometimes they aren’t. And when they aren’t, one of us has to make a change. That’s what they were doing.

After letting my sales team know about the change, I took the rest of the afternoon off to get my thoughts together. I called my wife, and said, “Well, Honey, the good news is, I have a lot more time to write.” She picked up on that pretty quick.

Once we talked things out, we realized this might be one of those blessings in disguise. The good news is that over the last couple of months we’ve paid off both of our cars and all of our credit cards. Only a week ago, we finished refinancing our house. And we’ve got a little money in the bank, which hasn’t always been the case. And I get my first royalty on Farworld in January. So we aren’t going to starve any time soon.

But even more than that. I’ve really felt for the last few months like I needed to spend more time on my writing, and marketing my books. Yes the economy is tough, but as I wrote about a few weeks back, people are still buying books. They are being more picky, but they are still buying. I just need to make sure that it is my books they are buying. I also have several projects I need to finish up. Farworld Book Two of course. But also a regional mystery series I write, that I am far overdue on. I also have a couple of other projects I’m really excited about. One about a boy who gets turned into a zombie and another about a boy who is afraid of everything, who discovers he is a facilitator—a person who talks monsters out of their fears.

When I first got home, my stomach was still a little in knots. But the more my wonderful wife and I talked, the more we realized that we may have been pushed out the door a little sooner than we planned, but this is what we’ve both wanted to do. At least for the next few months, I will be a fulltime writer. I will be able to focus on nothing but writing and marketing. I can do what I love, and get paid for it. Will it last? I probably won’t know that until sometime around late January. At that point, if I have to go back to work for a while longer I will. But rather than stress, I plan on enjoying the next couple of months. If things work out, I am a fulltime writer as of this Saturday. But even if they don’t, I am still a fulltime writer as of this Saturday. I may just have to take a little break from being a full time writer, later in the year.

So here are just a few of the things I plan on enjoying during that time. Eight plus hours of writing, without feeling like I am neglecting my family, my job, or my yard. (Thank goodness for snow.) Speaking of snow; watching the snow fall without worrying about how bad it will be to drive to work in it. And for that matter driving an hour and back to work every day. Responding to e-mails and postings from my friends and readers the same day. Finishing writing two books and getting well into a third by Christmas. Being here when my boys come home from school. Enjoying my daughter’s plans for getting married in the spring. And finally, doing what I want to do. Not what someone else wants me to do.

I guess when my boss asked me why I didn’t look more upset when he told me I was being fired, I should have answered. “Monday, you’ll be driving to a job. Monday, I’ll be doing one of the things I love most in the world. Thanks!”

Thanks goodness for dark clouds, and the silver linings that come with them.