I learned some costly lessons when it came to making an ill-fated dive back into ghostwriting. I left that crossroads and ambled down the same silly path that brought me there in the first place. I thought maybe I could tackle those work-for-hire books with a different attitude or approach. Turns out that I was seriously, comically wrong about that.
I wasted time with that rather than plotting out a proper return to my own work. Why? It was the prospect of money that did it in the end. I wanted to be a working writer but on not the best terms just so I could stay in the vicinity of writing. The pay wasn't great but it was a smidge better than I had been making.
The big problem was that I was trying to be in two places at once. I've been doing DoorDash to bring in more money but when I got behind it became more expedient to drive because I got money much faster than I would if I was sitting in a chair writing.
Not that there aren't two edges to this particular sword.
I couldn't do both successfully and there were costs to dashing that worsened some financial problems by creating vehicle maintenance costs, etc. Only recently have I tried to address this by returning to my roots in the commercial cleaning business. However, I'm just dipping a toe on those waters just now. I'm not sure whether to ramp up that source of income so I can get off the road, and with any luck, spend more time in the writing chair.
With it being the end of September and all, I've resolved to make a return to my own writing again and move in that direction so I can start publishing my work again.
Tomorrow, October 1st, is my official restart day. My goal is to write fiction consistently for here on out, meaning everyday.
Meanwhile, I will look for better ways to address the income issues that persist. Believe me, I would rather not be a real-life example of the 'starving artist' cliche.
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