The Hit List - Writing a book while working full time

2018 was going to be a quieter year. That’s what I promised myself. Instead, it ended up being one of the hardest working years ever. Considering I’ve been at my game almost three decades, that’s saying a lot.

The reason why it was so intensely busy is because I signed on to write two books in a year. I thought it wouldn’t be too hard. After all, I was co-writing one of the books with my friend Shaheen Miro. And I had some content that I could use for the other book.

In other words, I was cocksure.

I quickly learned that writing two books while working full time is not an easy feat. It means 12-hour days with no weekends off. No power walks, leisurely lunch dates, lounging about in pj’s or evenings out on the town whooping it up. My nose was firmly on the grindstone.

On occasion, I would read about someone who had the privilege of taking off for months at a time to write their books. These were people with well-to-do partners or parents or some other patron worrying about the bills. Oh, how I would have loved that! But that’s not the world I live in.

And that’s the truth for many of us, whether we’re writing a book or running a full-time business – we have little choice in the matter. We have to grind away and find the time to do so. When you don’t have a fully funded bank account or another source of income, you have to make do. You have to work your ass off.

This may require sheer willpower, discipline, and trimming back on fun – or expenses. Maybe a combo of all of the above. It’s a commitment and if you want to get shit done, you have to really commit. A half-assed effort won’t do.

Even with this level of kicking ass, there can still be setbacks. Like the time Word ate my 60,000-word manuscript. If you want to know what it feels like to be devastated and freaked out, that’s one way to get there. But again: no time to cry – had to suck it up like a big girl and put it back together. My days got even longer around that time.

This is the reality for many of us. Writing a book is rarely glamorous. Neither is running your own business. Doing them both at the same time when you don’t have the luxury of a patron or big stash of cash to play with? Difficult AF.

But when you’re committed to your craft, your work, your words, you don’t care. You just get in there, day by day, hour by hour, bit by bit, and get the job done. Then you rest.

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