The Struggle

THE STRUGGLE

Hi.
I'm Robert E Kreig and I make stuff up.
Lately, I've been struggling with getting my ideas written down. This isn't to say I'm not writing or that I have writer's block. I'm preoccupied with other things at the moment.
Like most independent writers, I have a day job that occupies a great deal of time. I'd love nothing more than to become a full-time writer but bills and other expenses need paying.
I find the struggle between work life and time for creative writing a bit of a hard juggle. My day job, teaching, demands time outside of regular work hours. I spend a great deal of that on a computer, tapping away at the keyboard and staring at the screen. When I'm done, I don't always want to look at the screen or tap on keys anymore. This produces a conundrum as writing requires more screen time.
Hence, the struggle.
Another project I've taken on is to start my own publishing company. This coincides with reproducing my past titles onto another platform.
Let me explain.
My books were all available as ebooks up until recently. I requested their removal from the company's catalog I paid for distribution. This wasn't because I'm displeased with the company. In fact, their services are excellent. What I wanted to do was release the books into print format as well as ebook formats. I could do this with the company but it required deeper pockets than I currently have.
So, I moved over to Ingram Spark. I then created a publishing company, registered its name and logo so I can stick a little badge on the spine of my books. I'm happy with this decision, for now.
But, my new ideas are sitting on one of my mind-shelves, mostly in Scrivener, while I prepare my past works for the transition. I'm finding this perplexing. New ideas keep coming. Plot points keep advancing. Characters keep developing. I place these onto the proverbial mind-shelves, or scribble them into my notes, but that is as far as they go.
I made a commitment to the transition. I intend to transfer my titles over and it will take time. I'm revisiting each book, running them through ProWritingAid and tidying them up before posting them onto Ingram Spark. It takes time and is proving to be a slow process. Especially with a high-demanding day job.
For my readers; hang in there. We'll get there, eventually.
For other writers; I know many of you struggle with the same thing. Work, family and other commitments often tie us up. My advice, and this is to myself as much as any other writer, write when you can.
In my previous article, I wrote about the writing tools I use. I've mentioned two in this piece but would like to also include one that I'm using to write this article. It's called Hemingway Editor.
Hemingway Editor is like ProWritingAid where it offers advice on readability. Hemingway Editor obviously offers advice for grammar. But, it uses colour to highlight issues with passive voice, phraseology, sentences and word count amongst other things. It even offers an estimated reading time.
Hemingway Editor is available online and as a desktop app. I think it's worth taking a look at.
Well, these books aren't going to upload or edit themselves.
Until next time, keep writing, keep reading.

​All the best,
Robert.