Thursday, September 18, 2008

What to Do When You're Swamped

It seems that it is always feast or famine in the writing world. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I was suddenly swamped with writing jobs. I'm not complaining; quite to the contrary, I am thrilled, and I'm slowly working my way through my assignments. I haven't calculated earnings yet--been too busy between kids, homeschooling, and gearing up for college classes--but I really hope I can make up for the first half of this month and get my college expenses paid for.

So here are a few ways I deal with having a lot of work.

1. I thank God. So many people tell me they have tried to write for a living and failed. Work is a blessing.

2. I back off from other activities. We eat quicker, easier meals and back off from housework. The kids do more independent schoolwork and anything requiring intensive parental involvement is scheduled for another day.

3. I sleep less and watch television less. I don't get a lot of either, but they are both easy to cut out for a while.

4. If necessary, extra work may be farmed out to friends. I haven't done this, but I've been on the receiving end of extra work from other writers. Make sure your friend can write well.

Busy periods are usually followed by slow periods because I temporarily stop applying for new work. This gives me time to catch up on laundry, do chemistry experiments, and fill my freezer with ready-to-warm meals for the next time I'm swamped with work.

Happy writing!

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