Surviving and Writing:an author's guide to balanceBy Sara Fitzgerald This article first appeared in the Feb 2006 issue of Heart of the West, the newsletter of the Utah RWA. Permission to forward granted, with proper credit given. When I was finishing my Bachelor's degree in social work and applying for the Master Program at the University of Utah, I had no idea that my writing career would begin or how much time and work would go into making my writing aspirations come true. I thought, sure I can handle school and make my writing dreams come true all at the same time. At the time, I didn't realize that I would be taking sixteen credits and be working at a practicum placement 20 plus hours a week. Plus, I still had to make my real time romance with my husband stay on track. Not to mention family and friends. And I had no knowledge of how time-consuming marketing and editing my book would be. To save my sanity, I have had to cut back some things this past year. I had to learn to say no and give up some really important things to me. I gave up my weekly critique group. I stopped exchanging pages with most of my critique partners. I am not teaching my creative writing classes until I am finished with school. And I am not attending RWA Conference this year due to summer courses. But one thing I will never cut is my writing. To me as I'm sure to many of you--I have to write. If I don't write I feel this enormous amount of pressure building and building and this incredible swell of unhappiness when I am not allowed even a few hours to write. In reality my writing has been scaled back quite a bit, but I still manage to get some done. The key to me is to write because I truly want to and love the story. The past few months, I have stayed excited to write because I am writing something new and interesting to me--a teenage vampire book. It is something I have never attempted and it has this amazing power to suck me into the story so that for a few wonderful hours I forget all about grades and papers due. I escape the academic world into a vivid creative world filled with witches and magic and dangers of the undead. I love to write romance and feel it benefits my social work career. In social work I have seen some pretty horrendous situations and the kind of things humans do to each other is truly frightening. Writing about love and happiness allows me to escape the world of chaos and pain that I face in social work. It helps me see the beauty in life and to appreciate my own husband. I know as a social worker I will make a difference, but I also know that romance writers make a huge difference too. We teach people to believe in love and in happy endings. We teach people the importance of family and friends. We teach women that they are valuable and do have a right to pursue their dreams. Some of us even teach our readers that there is a God who loves us and wants only what is best for us. One key factor to keep my writing dreams going is going on writing retreats which have been very beneficial to me. I leave the homework and hubby at home and take my computer. On my writing retreats, I have time to relax and write. Most of the time, I am surrounded by dear friends who share my passion for writing. We talk and laugh. We brainstorm ideas and we critique each others' writing. Most importantly we believe in each other. Sometimes we dream out loud and joke about what a challenge our huge book signing tours will be or how hard it will be to answer all of our fan mail. Having writing friends has been a great support to me! And belonging to URWA has been vital to my writing career and success. We have the greatest members in RWA. Everyone is so supportive and willing to share their knowledge. I think having a wonderful editor makes a world of difference. My editor was always available and was a huge support to me. She kept telling me over and over what a wonderful writer I was and that it was a pleasure working with me. I also think that you can't neglect your family and loved ones. I have a weekly date with my husband. We also try to eat lunch together. And we call each other at least ten times a day. I am also lucky that my husband is a musician and will play his guitar for hours and hours while I am busy with homework or writing. So our marriage really does work, although I must admit it is quite unique. We are still in love, and yes, all of my heroes have a significant part of him. The best advice I can give, besides drinking lots of colas which I do, is to try to find a balance in your life. And never kill the part of you that loves to write by not allowing time to write, having harsh critique partners, and taking rejection to heart and taking it as proof that you never will be a 'real; writer. Believe in your dreams and work to make them come true. And as cliche as it sounds, write the book of your heart. ** Sara Fitzgerald, www.sarafitzgerald.com. Mine for Keeps on sale now at Champagnebooks.com
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