Writing, Busyness, and Chasing a Dream

First, I’d like to apologize (to all 5 of my readers) for not posting anything yesterday. I know it didn’t affect you in any way, shape or form that I didn’t, but you know, I promised myself I would write every weekday, and I have, for several weeks. But you’re about to find out why.

For a long time, I’ve dreamed about living a creative life, and spending my days working on writing novels and music. I say “dream” because I didn’t think it was something I could do while I was awake. But every day that I go to work and get micromanaged, or work on things I’m not passionate about, I get more and more frustrated.

You see, deep down, I know I can write books for a living. I don’t think so, I know so. But the problem is  that it takes time to write and edit books. And with working, being a dad/husband/scoutmaster/supervillain and everything else I have going on, writing a book just doesn’t seem like something I can fit into my schedule.

But I need to make this happen. I don’t need to “fit” in time to write: I need to make it my singular goal if I’m going to ever break free of working for a corporation. Can I actually write enough to quit my day job? Is it even possible?

Yes, it’s possible. But I don’t know how long it will take. And it won’t happen any sooner if I don’t start.

Therefore, I’ve decided to start writing again. Not just for fun, I’m in it for real. My first step is to write more… a lot more… and see if I can get noticed by a publisher. Not a big publisher, either. I want to get in with a small, like-minded publisher who can 1. market my books to people who’ll like them, and 2. not give me the run-around. I don’t care about being rich or famous. I just want to make enough money to live on, and I know I’m capable of making that kind of output.

It will require sacrifice on my part, however. I’m not going to have as much free time to surf social media and read news articles. I’m going to be busy either writing outlines, researching, or writing on the books. I’ve finally realized that I can’t become a writer without writing, and my self-challenge to write every day on my blog helped get me to that point.

The question is, is it okay to focus on writing when there’s no guarantee of success? To answer that, I have to decide whether pursuing a writing career is following God, or doing my own thing. If it’s following God, then it doesn’t matter if I’m successful or not- the important thing is to do what God tells you to do. If I’m following myself, success still has no meaning, as it’s just me being selfish.

But if… just maybe if… I write and God decides to use that, then He gets the glory. I will throw myself into it and see what happens. I may “fail”, but honestly, following my dream doesn’t feel like failing. The goal isn’t to make money. The goal is to free myself, and creativity is always a part of that.

I will probably post here less, simply because I’ll be busy researching and writing. Don’t worry, I’ll be writing, and hopefully, if God lets it happen, I’ll be able to post daily again, in between writing chapters every day!

One Reply to “Writing, Busyness, and Chasing a Dream”

  1. Hi Jeff, What you say sounds good and with the right frame of mind and allowing God to lead your writing It will happen. I’m going to give you a link to American Writers and Artist Inc. They are freelance writers and copywriters. I will warn you that it is like other internet companies they want to sell books on how too’s and the like. If you look at it though you will see that there are a lot of ways that you can write for profit and still pursue you dream of being a novelist. I am trying myself to become a Profesional reviewer and copywriter. At my age (60) I need to do the kind of work that will allow me to not have to do heavy outdoor work. I really enjoy reading a really good product review and I base the choice of my internet purchases on the reviews more than the sales copy. I also enjoy reading good short stories and occasionally a novel.

    So here is the link and good luck. http://www.awaionline.com/

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