Priorities

I've returned from my long break, and I do so with a new laptop to use. I'm currently typing this entry on the laptop, but I have yet to get used to doing so, and I ask that you excuse the occasional error that will certainly be caused by my inexperience.

Now, I will explain why I was absent because it is directly related to my newest post. Since December 22 I have been busy doing Christmas stuff, spending time with family, and doing many things that didn't involve writing. Make no mistake. I edited my book, but not nearly so much as I would have usually. Why didn't I? Because for about a three week period I had different priorities, and that's the subject of tonight's post.

Every writer must prioritize. Every writer must decide just how important their writing is to them. A writer that cannot usually does not write. A writer that does not is like I was a couple of years ago. A writer who rarely writes. This is a sad thing to be, but any writer who doesn't prioritize can be like this.

I don't necessarily mean that writing must comes first. I mean that everyone must know what is more important and what is less important then writing. I'll use my own life as an example. I'm a man of faith. I'm married. I have a job. I have a family. I play video games. I eat. I write. These are just the main things. I must prioritize these things. I must decide what things are important in order to live a complete life. Usually, it's easy. I am blessed to usually have the ability to incorporate all of these things into my life. Often my days go eating, praying, writing, working, spending time with my wife, playing games. This isn't exact (I obviously eat more then once a day as well as other activities), but it's a simple example of my common day.

I set up this schedule for the benefit of my writing. I had to realize writing was important, and make it a priority. It's that simple. All writers must do the same, but it won't always be so easy as described above. Sometimes it is difficult to keep priorities where they should be. I mentioned the three week break I took because of family stuff. It's times like that when priorities must be known. When time is tight what will any of us choose to do? Write or read? Write or spend time with a loved one? Write or work? Write or pray? Write or eat? Sometimes there simply isn't time to do everything, and without priorities ones entire life can be sacrificed to things interfering with the schedule. Specifically, one can give up writing completely if one chooses to do something besides write too often.

A writer must find a balance. A writer must prioritize. A writer must be careful to ensure that writing doesn't consume their entire being. A writer must also be careful that just the opposite doesn't happen, and ensure that another aspect of their life, whether a job, a marriage, or a hobby, doesn't keep them from ever writing. A writer that isn't careful to make sure that doesn't happen becomes someone who one day looks back on the days that they once had a family before they let writing consume them, or looks back and remembers the ancient days when they used to write. A life without priorities can get horribly out of whack, and this is especially true for a writer.

Taylor