Anyone who has read this blog for a while knows that I’m a voracious reader of writing advice books.  (I like to think the results of all that reading show in my actual writing, but, well, who knows.  They’re still fun to read no matter what.)

So, anyway.  The other day I bought the NaNoWriMo Writing Tools Bundle from StoryBundle.  So far I’m twenty chapters into Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s The Freelancer’s Survival Guide and I’m quite pleased with it.

(It’s making me wonder whether I’m really serious about having a writing career since I’m only writing about two hours and 2,500 words a day most days, but it’s good.  And maybe it’ll be the kick in the ass I need to bump up those writing hours to something approaching what I’d work at an actual full-time job.)

(Digression here: How can I expect to make the same type of money I made at my full-time career that I’d been doing for fifteen years in a new profession when I’m only working about ten to fifteen hours a week on it?

Answer: I can’t.

So, as much as I hate working in an office environment and for other people, maybe I am the type of person that needs that kind of structure in my life.  Maybe I need to have to show up each day and have an overwhelming list of tasks that I can’t possibly finish that day or in the next five to stay motivated throughout a day?

Or not?  That’s what I’m wrestling with right now.  Can I create self-imposed deadlines that are as demanding as the deadlines I used to face in my full-time job to keep myself working eight to nine hours a day?

It doesn’t have to be eight hours of writing, but I need to be doing more writing than I am.  I can’t be pleased that I’ve written something like 120,000 words since August (after only writing 82,000 last year).  I have to be disappointed that I’m not writing 15,000 or more words a week.  (Preferably more.  Much more.)

If I can’t do that, then writing full-time isn’t the gig for me and I need to relegate it to a hobby and pursue some paying work in my old field.  Or a new one, but then it better be structured hours or I’ll have the same issue as I do right now.)

End Digression.  See?  That’s the type of thinking that book has inspired in me.  Because it discusses the challenges people face when they try to turn a hobby into a full-time occupation.

That’s not all.  I think I have a pretty firm handle on money issues.  (I damn well better given my prior career and the fact that my father was self-employed most of his life.)  But the book also has a great section on how to view your finances as someone running your own business.  Definitely worth some serious thought for anyone because it also talks about basic money management.

And that’s just one of the ten(?) books in the bundle.  So, I say you should buy it if you have any sort of interest in writing a novel or being a published author.  You don’t have to, but worth considering…

And me?  I am off to write words on a page to generate income to be able to keep working from home and taking my puppy to the dog park each day and spending quality time with my little family while they’re still here to spend time with.

(Not sure I mentioned it on here before, but my grandma fell a few months ago and that was almost the end for her.  It happened two days after I came back home.  Certainly made me realize I’d made the right decision walking away from cushy money to be near family.  Time, it’s finite and it only goes in one direction…And once those people are gone, well, that’s kinda it, isn’t it?  Too late to change your life once the ones you neglected are gone.  Sorry, second random digression, but that kind of thing has been on my mind lately what with her fall and the Death Sucks book I just pubbed.)

(Not really a plug for the book, btw, because it has a very limited audience…)