First Day of Freedom...

And what am I doing?

Taking my dear old Mum to the local Hub for soup and a roll.

Now, this is lovely I hear you say. However, there is danger lurking. Well, not in the Hub itself, generally the more mature people that visit the Hub aren’t in any way dangerous, but, danger in that I am setting a precedence - and on my very first day of self-employment!

As a “writer” who is now working from home, I wonder how this will work. I suspect I will be considered to be “doing nothing” therefore free for people to pop in and out when they take the fancy. My Mum in particular I refer to here. Bless her, it’s been a tough year for her health wise, and Dad died in May – the stuffing has been knocked out of her, and she craves company.

See my point now, in that danger is merely around the corner? If I am not careful, my writing will not be seen as a job, and I will be expected to run errands, go for coffee, go out to town – all those little things that eat up your time. Don’t get me wrong, doing these things is obviously important, just not all the time. And whilst I’m being taken away from writing, how am I ever going to be taken seriously as a writer?

My plan is to set out, over my soup and roll with Mum, exactly what I intend my working hours to be. Also I need to get across, nicely but firmly, that whilst I am “working” I do not need any interruptions, unless it’s an emergency (again this will have to be clearly defined – as pressing the wrong button on the TV and losing the picture is NOT an emergency, whatever spin you put on it).

I was toying with the idea of creating a timetable of my planned writing time for each week and handing it out to family and friends so they know exactly when I am working. What do you think? 

Has anyone got any other hints and tips of how to set boundaries and protect those precious writing hours? Your input would be invaluable!

Richard.Stephenson.Author: Ten Successful Tips For Independent Authors

Some great advice for IA's on Richard Stephenson's site, just what I need at the moment! :) Take a look:

Richard.Stephenson.Author: Ten Successful Tips For Independent Authors: With as much humility as I can muster, I think it is safe to say that I have written a successful novel.  Collapse is closing in on 10K pai...

Things I learnt today:

1)      Even when faced with disappointment I can see the positive side – Ok, so my story isn’t going to be included in the next Short Story Group’s collection. I cannot say I wasn’t gutted when I read the email stating this, but…it only lasted a few minutes. I didn’t sulk for hours, so that’s a positive in itself - right? Then, I thought – that’s fine, I’ll put together my own collection and use it in that. I was pleased to then receive a further email confirming this thought –'You should put a collection together and publish it' it read. Ah-ha! I will do just that. Thanks Vanessa J

2)      Blogging is harder than I thought – yes, simply put, I am in awe of regular bloggers! I have spent so much time trawling the internet trying to figure out a) how to start it, b) what it should include, and c) stalking everyone else’s to ‘research’ what other writers are doing – so much so I am probably in breach of some kind of restraining order by now.

3)      This is how everyone probably feels when they start out – self-explanatory.

4)      There is so much advice available- there is seemingly an endless supply of information about how to blog well, there are books galore about it, so rather than waste any more time trying to trail through it, I am just going to go blindly (well not entirely) on – and learn as I go.

5)      I am going to have to ‘be interesting’ – This is obvious I guess, otherwise no-one will bother reading my blog anyway. So, tomorrow’s aim is to think about how on earth I’m going to pull that one off……

See you  tomorrow for more lessons learnt (if I can stay awake long enough to blog – haha)

A New Start - A New Career

It is with trepidation, excitement and, yes, happiness - that I am embarking on a different path. I have deliberated, swung one way then the other, been up, then sharply down - but have come through the process knowing in my heart that it is the right thing to do. I am a few days away from the last day. The last day of secure employment, the last day of wages, the last day of this chapter in my life.

And so begins the next. It has been a difficult year, mentally challenging; a year of loss, sadness, depression, anxiety and much uncertainty. But life is like that. I will take it all as part of the bigger picture, the grand design; the writing in the stars- that means I have reached the time in my life where I will do something I love. Something for me, but yet still I hope it will bring something to others too. I will be a full-time writer. I know, I know - "Don't give up your day job", I hear you cry. Yes, that is the usual advice. But I have never really been good at taking advice. I have a long list of disasters that have befallen me when I have failed to take heed of words of wisdom from those who felt more qualified than I. However, failure lies in not trying, not in giving it a go but it not quite working out. So thank you to my lovely friends, family and colleagues who have given words of warning in the attempts of preventing me making a fool of myself, or drowning in a sea of debt, I accept my decision is not necessarily practical, or going to give me financial security - but it will give me this:

Peace of mind 

And hopefully a lot more besides... 

So, join me if you will, on this new journey. I don't know how it will end, I just want to enjoy the ride.