Coordinating all the elements of writing work is not without challenges.
First and foremost, I’m a storyteller.
Whether it’s a blog, podcast, fiction, or recounting a tale from my frequently awesome life experiences, I love to tell the stories.
For a time, finding and crossing the bridge between my works – fiction, nonfiction, business – occupied much of my focus. Then I got it in hand and moved past it. Until I needed to reorganize and re-coordinate – and approach it again.
Writing for me is always about storytelling. And that’s what I love most about being a writer.
If I journaled for myself and never cared about sharing my fiction, this would be done. Write whenever. Write whatever. Just write.
But I have taken my penchant for storytelling in writing and planned and performed steps to make more of it. It’s an ongoing process – and adds organizing and coordinating to writing.
Your mileage may vary, as might your approach to whatever creative endeavors you undertake. But one story I like to share is my process because the more I share, the more I can help you and others with their creative processes.
And why reinvent the wheel if it’s unnecessary?
Organizing is easy for some
For most of my writing career, I’ve been a pantser.
I’d sit at my keyboard and whatever came to mind found its way to the page. My Source Chronicles, Vapor Rogues, and Void Incursion series all began that way.
I still write my blogs more or less as a pantser. Except the title gives me the keyword phrase for SEO purposes to draw more eyes to the articles I create. And I tend to keep them below 1200 words total.
But when it comes to fiction, now, I’m planning. Hence, my Forgotten Fodder series was organized and pre-planned in advance, as is the Savagespace series I’m currently working on.
I used to fear that organizing of this sort would steal my joy. If I wasn’t writing by the seat of my pants, was I being true to my creative process? The answer has been a resounding yes.
Still, organizing my work sometimes gets away from me.
It’s my goal to write 1500 words of fiction every weekday. While I’ve set things in place for better organizing my day, it doesn’t always work how I’d like it to. Part of that is due to my job having sporadic need of my time – and part is due to my sometimes letting distractions get the best of my time.
The first step in addressing this has been recognizing and acknowledging it. That done, now it’s an ongoing process to be more organized overall.
I’ve been working on being more accountable to myself. To that end, I have a whiteboard where I set and check off my daily goals.
Now what I need with that is a reward for achieving them and an accountability partner to see to that. Just part of the organizing process to be added to coordinating.
Writing is the easy part – for me
Years ago, working at my friends’ retail store as a manager, she’d often have me take on writing for the local Chamber of Commerce.
While she could have done it herself – she’s an excellent writer – one reason she turned to me was that what would take her 2 hours to produce, I’d have done in 20 minutes. And not without the desired quality.
In time, this led me to a position on the Chamber’s executive board, culminating in my serving as the last president of that Chamber of Commerce. But that’s another story.
Writing, for me, is like breathing. Words flow from my mind to my fingers to the screen, and soon I have a complete work of one stripe or another.
And I know that while this comes easily for me – it’s not a given for others.
We all have our skills, talents, and abilities. I can cook – my wife, however, can do more with less than I can even conceive of. Likewise, I think I’m a decent amateur photographer. But I have multiple friends – both amateur and professional photographers – that I don’t hold a candle to.
Still, improving my craft is an ongoing process. Also, due to some nerve issues, I’m constantly struggling with typos and wrong keystrokes. I often wonder if I should do more with dictation – but part of writing, for me, is the tactile sensation of tapping away at the keys.
How you do your art might be the same, and come easily to you, too. And it might not.
Coordinating is where it gets muddy
When I took writing from a hobby to a career path, coordinating became far more necessary and important.
Coordinating, however, can be challenging on multiple levels.
Part of this comes from finding/making the time to get all my writing projects done. Between writing fiction, nonfiction, and my job – coordinating can be complicated.
How is organizing different from coordinating? Organizing is pre-planning and getting my ducks all in a row. Coordinating, on the other hand, is making it all happen.
This gets even more challenging when it comes to coordinating the non-writing bits with the writing. Publishing and marketing books, for example. Recording/editing my podcasts and audiobooks, then releasing them falls under coordinating. And promoting myself and my various works is also a matter of coordinating.
Coordinating is a whole process in and of itself, and because it can involve many layers and multiple steps, for me it’s the most challenging application of my art.
Because that’s what I’m exploring here. Active, applied art not simply for fun – but honestly for profit, too.
An alternate way to look at coordinating
One reason I’m writing about this and sharing it with you is that I’m seeking an alternative way of looking at coordinating in the grand scheme of my creative endeavors.
That’s part of why I’m grouping it with organizing and writing. By looking at this as requiring a three-pronged approach, I can better work to maintain a necessary holistic focus.
The biggest challenge I have right now is setting up an accountability partner (other than my wife) and a reward system for success (that can’t be food or money, really). Recognizing this is the beginning. With that, from there, a new, alternate way can be forged to achieve my goals.
No matter what I do for coordinating – organizing and writing are ongoing. And I have no intention of stopping that anytime soon. And articles such as this remind me of my intent and the necessary actions to take as a creator. Thanks for coming along on this quest.
How are you inspired to be your own creator – whatever form that takes?
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