You’d think being a full-time writer means the writing part is the easy bit. You would be wrong. Right now the to-do list looks like this:
- Fulfill a 660%-funded Kickstarter
- Edit other writers’ books
- Run a publishing company
- Market existing titles
- Keep upcoming releases on track
And somewhere in there is a quiet little line that says: Write the next book.
That line is always the easiest to slide. Because it doesn’t yell, it doesn’t send invoices, and it doesn’t have shipping deadlines. It just waits. Patiently. While everything else feels urgent.
The hard part isn’t knowing how to write. It’s protecting the time to do it when twenty other things feel more important.
- Some days the word count is great.
- Some days it’s a grind.
- Some days you sit there thinking, “I run a publishing company. Surely I can give myself an extension?”
But books don’t get written in the margins of life. They get written because we carve out space and defend it like a small, stubborn kingdom. So if you’re behind schedule? Welcome to the club.
The trick isn’t perfection. It’s returning to the page again tomorrow. Even when the house is metaphorically on fire. 🔥
Because the story doesn’t care how busy you are. It just waits for you to show up.
–Mark