Keeping Focus

Writing a book is not a quick process. Depending on one's writing prowess and the other commitments in one's life, it may be a six-month effort or a whole decade.

Other aspects of the author's journey are also time-consuming. Editing takes time. Promoting takes time.

Everyone has different timelines for when they want each step to be finished. When I tell audiences that the writing and editing portions of my books took about 18 months each time, some are awed that I did it quickly, while others are surprised that it took that long. Both reactions are understandable. There are many authors who would find that amount of time out of the ordinary, but in either direction.

But no matter what the end date is that an author has in mind, no matter the workload between today and the finale, a writer need focus.

I'm not a write-every-day author, and I rarely recommend it to other writers. But I am a write-six-days-a-week author. I believe in consistent work towards a goal. Replace "write" with "edit" or "promote" depending on where in the process I am, but the point is the same. If I want the story written, if I want it published correctly, if I want it placed in front of eyes to read it, then the burden is on me to stay focused.

Sometimes, that means putting other things aside. I've blogged before about not letting being a writer ruin the more important areas of your life. If you leave church or your spouse because of writing, that is a lack of priorities, not focus. But sometimes lesser things do need to be put aside. You don't have to give up your hobbies of video games or birdwatching, but they will often have to be set aside while your work is in progress.

Focus can even mean putting one writing assignment aside for the sake of a more important one. Yes, some authors have several works in progress at one time, but if only one of those has a deadline on it, then their time has to shift more heavily to that story. A lack of focus could cost them a contract. But even for those (like me) who are self-published and the deadlines are our own, focus is still needed.

This happened here on my blog this month. Two of the last three weeks, I was unable to get a post up. The reason was I had five author signings and was arranging for more later in the summer. I had to focus more on making sure The Pride of Central and The Jewelry of Grace were getting the hands of actual readers.

That does not mean the blog is not important to me. But in June 2021, those events had to be treated as more important. My focus had to stay on them for a whole month to accomplish what I wanted to.

At one of those author signings, one that included a Q&A with an audience, I was...well, not asked, but actually told by an audience member, "I assume your third book is already finished."

My third book isn't even started. I have some notes typed into my phone, but nothing outlined and certainly no actually sentences written. Come August or September, that process will begin. In time, my focus can shift from the promotion of my first two novels to the creation of a third. By then, the third book will be the most important thing.

But, for today, meeting the people who want to read the books I already wrote is where my focus must be.

Next week: The story no one reads