When I was young, I dreamed of
becoming a published author. I imagined the accolades, the throngs of adoring
fans clamoring for me to autograph their copies of my best-selling novels. I
expected to exist in a beautifully appointed office with lots of windows to
admit natural light, where I would scribble out sagas and epics and otherwise
live the writerly life.
Dreaming of such things is easy
when you’re an imaginative preteen. Then, you learn.
Passion is a definitely a
requirement for any author, at any stage of the journey. But writing requires
more. It requires dedication. It requires time and energy. It requires you to
put your butt in the chair and words on the page.
It requires you to, sometimes,
choose between your craft and the other pieces of your life.
I wear many hats. On any given
day, you could call me a teacher, a mom, and a wife. And when I manage my time
the right way, or when my toddler naps longer than thirty minutes, or when I
don’t have a stack of papers to grade at night, I get to also put on my author
hat.
Every author would agree that
productivity is the result of excellent time management. Some authors do best
with marathon sessions at the keyboard. Before the birth of my daughter a year
and some change ago, I often had days when inspiration hit, and I would look at
the clock to discover five hours in the chair had passed and I’d forgotten to
eat lunch. Other authors like to use some version of a “sprint” session, where
you set a timer and write like mad until the timer goes off. After my daughter
was born, I started using sprint sessions to get something – anything – done on
my current WIP. Sometimes it was a chapter, other times just a couple pages. I
recall one instance when my little one was about three months old that I wrote
– no joke – a sentence before she woke up from an absurdly short nap.
Upon landing my contract with
Soul Mate Publishing for my “Sweet Somethings” series, of which my debut novel,
Better Than Chocolate, is the first installment, I made a deal with my husband.
He would take charge of the baby for the entire morning every Saturday morning,
up through the end of naptime. We would eat breakfast and lunch together as a
family, but beyond that, Saturday would be my time to write.
This agreement has proven
vital. I’m the sort of person who wants to put 100% into whatever I’m doing. I
want to be there 100% for my family, 100% for my students, and 100% for my
writing. I’m not that great at math, but even I can see that those numbers
don’t quite add up. You can’t be 100% for everything all the time. Many days, I
have to take off my author hat in order to effectively wear my Mommy hat or my
teacher hat. But if I didn’t take time, if I didn’t have that time, to put on
my author hat, I would be short changing myself and the dreams I held when I
was fourteen.
No author can operate in a
vacuum. Yes, writing is, by its very nature, a solitary craft. But without the
support of family and friends, it’s difficult to survive, let alone thrive, in
this busy world as an author. Especially if you have many other full-time hats
you need to wear.
J. Lynn's Newest Release
Click HERE for an Excerpt
More About J. Lynn:
J. Lynn Rowan started writing stories as a small child, usually starring her favorite cartoon characters. Most of her work through middle and high school was filled with typical teenage angst and melodrama, and usually mirrored the books she loved to read. But eventually she found her own author’s voice and decided to seriously pursue a writing career.
Historical fiction remains J. Lynn’s “first love”, but she has enjoyed the journey to becoming an author of romance and chick lit. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, the Central New York Romance Writers, and the Historical Novel Society. She is also a teacher who tries to instill a love of learning, reading, and writing in her students.
When she’s not writing, J. Lynn enjoys traveling, gardening poorly but enthusiastically, studying various topics in American history for her own expertise, and channeling Julia Child every time she steps into the kitchen.
A native of Oswego, NY, she now lives in Charlotte, NC, with her own Romantic Hero of a husband and the most adorable baby on the planet.
Connect with J. Lynn Rowan!
Email: jlynnrowanliterature@gmail.com
Website: http://jlynnrowanliterature.wordpress.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JLynnRowan
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JLynnRowanLit
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/jlynnrowan/
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UClfsVyA4LQYMA0Cq7T1rb6w
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14191767.J_Lynn_Rowan
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/J.-Lynn-Rowan/e/B012YC8PQ2/
Better Than Chocolate Buy Links: http://www.amazon.com//dp/B012X1IJD8
Welcome J. Lynn!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for hosting me!
DeleteMy pleasure!
DeleteHi J.Lynn, I'm also a fan of sprints. So much easier to sit for that hour or so and write rather than tiring myself out with marathon sessions. Best of luck with Better Than Chocolate. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I do miss the days when I could get lost in a marathon writing session, but I'm getting pretty good at sprints.
DeleteI love the title and cover. Not much in this world is better than chocolate, really. Except coffee and chocolate. I prefer long periods but right now short sprints are what fit in my life. Perhaps our style changes as we evolve as writers. Or just based on creativity and life challenges?
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to someday go back to being able to have marathon sessions.
DeleteIt's so hard to balance creativity with the demands of everyday life. It's one of the reasons I didn't start writing until my children were grown. I don't know how you do it. My first child never napped unless I held her down, and then it was me who fell asleep from exhaustion. Write on!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter was a notorious crap-napper until she was about a year old. If not for my family's support, I would have had to go on a major hiatus when she was born. Thankfully they've made it possible for me to keep plugging along.
DeleteI wanted to cry when my youngest stopped taking naps. You don't realize how valuable that time can be until it is gone. But with him being my last baby, I also mourned the loss of another "baby stage".
ReplyDeleteHappy sales J. Lynn!!