Outtakes 229

Balancing Act

by Cait Collins

I’m having an issue with balancing my writing tasks. I start working on the edits for one novel, and realize I’m behind on writing new chapters for the current work. I can’t decide if my memoir is complete as is or does it need one more chapter. And what about that idea for another work? Sometime I feel as if I’m creatively tapped out. So how do I balance career, my creative side, and my editor side?

Maybe I can clone myself into three or four personas and get the work done. Only I’m not sure I’d get much more done. You see clones might have personalities that war with the other clones. Perhaps the editor clone wants to become the romantic suspense writer. And then the romantic suspense writer wants to write memoirs. And then the memoir writer clone wants to quit writing completely.

Time for plan B. Set up a schedule. Write on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Work edits on Tuesday and Thursday. Saturday and Sunday are reserved for cleaning house, worship, and family. The solution isn’t perfect and will probably need adjustments along the way, but it’s a start toward reducing the stress I often feel when trying to juggle too many tasks.