When You Feel Behind...

  

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

It’s a common feeling but rarely discussed--feeling like you are behind and can’t get caught up. I often have this concern and in this article I want to give you some ideas and action steps for your writing. 

I encourage you to recognize that each of us have overwhelming days when there is more to be done like:

• More email to answer. 
• More editors to pitch. 
• More places to speak and podcasts to pitch. 
• More books to read and write reviews. 
• More articles to write for magazines.
• More conferences to attend.
• More new connections to make and explore.
• More follow-up calls and emails to send.
• More social media posts. 

You get the idea: everyone feels like there is more to be done.

I encourage you to realize everyone (including me) feels like this from time to time. Each of us have the same amount of time in a day and limitations on what we can do. Every day we are making choices how we spend our time. Here’s some ideas for actions each of us can take.

Take a hard look at what you are doing. 

Can you ask someone for help or hire someone to help you? Can you say “no thank you” to an opportunity? Recently a long-term writing friend asked me to endorse or blurb her forthcoming book. She offered to write it for me and gave a short deadline for when she needed it. Also she followed up reminding me of her deadline. I didn’t want someone else to write my endorsement and I passed on the opportunity. I recognize the choice and each of us make them every day.

Write shorter emails.

I want to be a good communicator and answer my emails from authors and others. My actions in this area are a simple way to stand out from other editors who ghost writers and do not respond. I can’t answer all of my emails so some of them do not get response. Also I can write shorter emails and responses. These actions can help me to answer more emails.

Repurpose Your Writing. 

Each month I have a series of deadlines for guest blog posts and articles. I understand the value of these articles because others read them and follow my links and advice. One option to complete these deadlines is to repurpose or use writing that I’ve done in other places. For example, I’ve written several how-to-write books. I can take a portion of this writing and repurpose it into a guest blog post with only a little revision. If you have written a nonfiction book or a devotional or a Christian living book which contains your stories, you can take these stories and submit them to magazines. When you get them published, they will likely reach more readers than your books and could lead readers to know (and hopefully buy) your books. You can be wise about how you repurpose and use your writing but you have to be thinking about these aspects.

Take a break during the day.

It’s easy for me to sit long hours at my keyboard and work on different aspects of my writing life. Also throughout my day, I need to take care of myself as a writer in this process. Maybe I need to drink more water or walk around the block and get outside. When I take these breaks, I am taking care of physical self but also often return to my keyboard with an increased enthusiasm for my work.

Revise your writing goals.

This week a writer asked me how long it would take to write her book. It's a common question that I hear and answer in an unexpected way. I do not give a word count or page count for the author because each of us are different. I may write a complete book in a few weeks where another author will take all year to write that same amount of material. Each of us have to carve out the writing time, select a word count goal that works for us then do it over and over. If you aren’t meeting your writing goals, then you need to revise them. It's that straightforward.

To wrap up this article about feeling behind, I want to recall the fable of the race between the rabbit and the turtle. Who won that race? The rabbit raced ahead and took a nap but the turtle keep moving forward, passed the sleeping rabbit and won the race.

I encourage you to take the long view of your writing. It is not a sprint but a marathon. Keep chipping away and moving ahead with the work and eventually you will succeed. The only way to stop the progress is to quit.

What actions do you take when you feel like you are falling behind? Let me know in the comments. I look forward to reading them.

Tweetable:

As a writer, do you feel like you are behind? This prolific writer and editor also feels behind. In this article, he gives a series of insights: https://bit.ly/477aerc #writinglife #pubtip  (ClickToTweet)

From my years in publishing, I find many authors have unrealistic expectations about publishing. It doesn’t matter what type of book they are writing—fiction, nonfiction, a children’s book or a coffee table book. Each type of book contains its own challenges and complexity. No matter how you publish, many aspects of the publishing process are outside of anything an author can control. I wrote  10 PUBLISHING MYTHS to give authors practical help. You can get decades of insights in 10 PUBLISHING MYTHS for only $10, free shipping and over $200 of bonuses. 

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