"Productive people," writes Kenneth Atchity ("A Writer's Time"),
"have a love affair with time, with all of love's ups and downs. They
get more from time than others, seem to know how to use time better
than others, seem to know how to use time much better than
nonproductive people--so much so that they can waste immense quantities
of time and still be enormously creative and productive."
My productive use of time often seems random. There are productive days and nonproductive days.
It's so easy in this business to rationalize: "A few hours on Twitter and Facebook will increase Internet presence and lead to higher book sales." Or, how about this: "I'm
so excited about the possibility of getting a response this week from
an agent or editor, I'm spinning my wheels to try to do any work."
Among
other things, Atchity says we'll organize our time better if we set
short-term and long-range goals for our career--or, in some cases, our
second career. Where are we trying to go? What do we want our life and
work to look like seven years from now?
Work, he reminds us, is our
focus, not the submission process. No doubt, if Atchity had written
this book in 2006 instead of in 1986, he might added that work (we're
talking about the writing!) also preempts social networking.
"Discipline,"
he writes, "is the key to all that follows, the bedrock of productive
writing. Talent is not a rare commodity. Discipline is."
It's
easy to get derailed when rejection slips arrive--or worse yet, when
our manuscripts and queries receive no response at all. Sometimes, I
wonder if writing creates manic-depressive behavior. The highs of
finishing a great story or blog post are often followed by news that
another writer was selected for this year's XYZ award or that another
writer's blog has 500% more hits than our blog.
Almost as
important as discipline, I think, is passion. The discipline comes
easier if there's an over-arching goal, the kind of goal you'd be happy
to share with an agent who asks, "so, once this book is published what
are you doing to do then?" The correct answer is not, "I'm going to
Disney World."
Passion is like fuel. It keeps us going on the
low, depressing days while keeping us organized and on target on the
wonderful peak days when everything's working. Passion's not just for
love and sex anymore. It's the fire of our own creating when it comes
down words and time.
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Note to north Georgia readers: I'm happy to announce that both
The Sun Singer and
Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire are now available at the
Bookstand of North East Georgia in Commerce (next to the Outback Steak House).