I’ve been down on myself a lot lately because I haven’t had time to write.

Then I went to my monthly Toronto Romance Writers’ workshop, and listened to a wonderful panel of multi-published authors who talked about all the time they spend writing, their daily word-count goals, etc. And yes, everything you read and hear says that a writer must have daily goals. Sigh. I haven’t even had a chance to do anything with my writing in the last few months.

But then I read something yesterday that helped. It went something like this:
“If your writing isn’t a priority, then writing is your hobby. There is nothing wrong with that…but as a hobby, writing will tend to take a back seat to other more important aspects of your life. Your expectations must take that into account.”

And for me that is true. The ladies on the panel all wrote-full time. Even a number of people in my writing group don’t have fulltime jobs. My full time job keeps me busy from 7 – 4 each day, and then after that I’m usually running The Daughter to volleyball practice or tournaments. In between, I do the usual work around the house, do the payroll for my husband’s business, and yes, do my other hobbies. The latest, you can see here…

Does that mean that writing is not important to me? That I don’t want to continue to be published? No, not at all. I love writing. I’m thrilled to be published. And I want to write more and share my stories with all the wonderful readers out there. But I need to cut myself some slack.

I used to write in my head on my drives to work but now I work from home. I spend an hour or two each day following other writer’s blogs, staying involved with my writers’ groups, and taking courses. That is 7++ hours a week that previously might have been spent writing. I also seem to be reading a lot more lately, especially books by other authors of The Wild Rose Press.

So have I written anything lately? No. But I do feel I am still learning and growing as a writer.
Will I get back to my writing soon? I sure hope so. In fact, The Daughter goes away with her father for two weeks, maybe I need to schedule a day or two off the regular job just for me and my writing.

Regardless, I need stop getting down on myself and enjoy what I have accomplished. Silver Blade is available on Amazon now, with a general e-release date of July 24th. A lot of unpublished writers would love to be able to say that, and I should take joy from the fact that I can.