What to do with My Precious Writing Time

​I haven’t done a blog post yet this year. I’ve thought of a couple ideas. I even wrote a short one a couple weeks back about my current reading habits, but then I thought it was pointless and didn’t post it. And that’s kind of the thing with me right now, I’m second guessing my ideas. I’m second guessing everything that I write and if anyone would be at all interested in reading it, whether it’s a blog post, a tweet, a Facebook update, or a novel.
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Also, as a person who has always had to carve out time to write, I’m selective with how I use it. What would be the best use of these precious minutes? A blog post seems like the absolute worst use of my time as I don’t think I have many followers here and they take a lot of time to put together. Should I instead post more personal tweets and hope for interaction? Should I share more anecdotes about my daily life on my timeline? Should I go out and take more fun pictures or new selfies to share on Instagram?
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Above all, which of my story ideas is the best one and is going to propel my career forward? Which one will stall it?

Like everyone, I want the likes and follows. I want the notifications to come in that people are enjoying my content. As a woman in her early fifties who is not famous should expect, I rarely get over 20 likes for any Instagram post. I'm lucky if I get two for a tweet, and I get more likes and comments about pictures of my daughter than myself on Facebook. When I post about my writing or share a new review? Crickets.
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In 2020 I finished my first women’s fiction novel, and it centers around a woman who is 50. It’s my favorite thing I’ve written yet. I’m currently querying agents, and this is time consuming and frustrating. The waiting is literally driving me crazy because this is such a change of direction for me as a writer, and I want to know if it’s the right path for me. Should I write more of the same? My heart says yes. The story ideas that keep coming to me are in this same genre. And yet, I don’t see posts from agents suggesting that they are looking for this kind of material. Is this a futile effort?

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​The second half of 2020 was spent writing and recording Songwriter Night: A Musical Romance. This is a sweet romantic comedy novella that was made into a full cast audiobook with original songs. There is also a book version of it. I adore the way this project came out. It’s so cute and fun. I really expected that it would hit – especially with the theater community here in Nashville. The reality is: If it were a live show, we wouldn’t have even half the house for one performance filled. It hasn’t caught on – yet. I just lowered the price of the ebook to 99c. Hopefully that’ll make a difference, but I honestly want people to listen to the audiobook (which is only $5.25 btw). I don’t know how to market it.

So far, I’ve started writing three different books this year. One is adapting a screenplay I wrote back in 1999 into a novel. I got three chapters in before I got busy doing publicity for Songwriter Night. Thinking SN was going to catch on, I started writing a sequel to it called Songwriter Showcase. I got stuck mid-fourth chapter when I thought maybe this was a waste of time. Why write a sequel to a book no one is buying? So, last weekend I dove into a whole new idea. A romance novel for the GenX crowd, more in line with the novel I wrote last year. If that gets picked up, I’ll have a second one in the works. Seems logical.
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It’s not writer’s block that I feel. I have ideas, and I want to write all of them. I’m more at a loss of which thing to write and what direction to take my writing career.

​All of my self-publishing efforts have been novellas. The point of them was to have something extra and inexpensive to offer my readers in addition to the traditionally published YA novels. Should I take indie publishing more seriously and really invest the dollars and go full in? OR should I continue to be patient and keep pursuing this dream of being published with a major press and stop bothering with the indie content?

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I posted this image on my Instagram earlier this month while I was making a half-hearted attempt at following the #authorlifemonth prompts. A friendly person commented, “Which story brings you the most joy and pleasure? White that one…it will be the best because your readers will be able to feel the story because your feelings are in it.” Very sweet advice, and not without merit. I like all my story ideas, though, and I will care about them as I write them. I also understand and appreciate the “Write what you love” and “write for yourself” anthems, but clearly my ideas aren’t super mainstream or what is selling best. So, do I keep doing this as a glorified hobby?
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If you follow me at all, you know that I’m also an actress. (Yes, it’s community theater, so I also do that for no money. There is definitely a theme in my life of doing my art for the pure joy of it.) After a year and a half of no theater, I just got cast in a show. I start rehearsals in a week, and I’m slated to finally do Mamma Mia (which was cancelled last year) right after that. My writing time is going to get even more precious.
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Sometimes I use up my writing time just scrolling social media, reading what other authors are doing. Or I make promo pictures for my existing projects (which is fun) and pretend I feel justified about using my writing time for marketing. My motivation for creating new words has been low and my mood even lower.
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Then two things happened. After moaning about all this at work the other day, my  assistant reminded me that in the eyes of others I am successful because I have in fact written multiple books and had them published - some with a publisher and some independently. No small feat.

​I wrote a whole musical last year in collaboration with an amazing composer named Caleb Dinger and had it recorded by wonderful actors who gave their time and talent to the project. I work all day and then go do shows at night and on the weekends.

​These are cool things to people who haven’t done them. She made me remember perspective. I’m not monetarily successful and may not have a huge following, but I am blessed to have a creative life.

The second thing that picked me up was a new 5-star review of Songwriter Night that popped up on Amazon yesterday. It was from author Teri Polen who has reviewed most of my books on her blog Books and Such. At the end of the review she wrote, “I’d love to see what happens to these characters in the future and hope the author considers expanding on the story.”

​It was all I needed. Just that small bit of encouragement. I finished chapter four of the sequel yesterday and am about to start in on chapter five today. I have a cover concept already planned. There will be a sequel to the book version of Songwriter Night, and I actually have two more concepts for these characters after that. We’ll see what happens.

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Maybe I’ll juggle back and forth between the three ideas I have. I’ve never done that before. Maybe I’ll just finish one at a time. Maybe I'll get a whole new idea and run with it instead. We’ll see how life changes as I wait for responses from agents and work to find more readers for my published books. All that said, it might be a minute before I post on my blog again. Thanks for stopping by to catch up with me. I’d love to hear from you. Please leave a comment or a question.