Indie Life - Staying Focused

Indie life is a monthly blog hop sponsored by the Indelibles to help indie authors find and offer support about living the indie life.

Sometimes, it's really hard to stay focused.

It's not that I don't love the writing - I do. Love it hard. But the hyperconnectivity of the internet means that there's always something extremely cool going on in the writer-world. Hugh Howey is launching his groundbreaking paperback/hardback release of Wool in bookstores across the US (go to your local B&N and tell them you want it!). Author-friend Lisa Gail Green has a cover reveal for her first indie book. I'm getting ready to launch a new future-noir serial, and people (other than me and my mom) are excited about it. And then there's the taxes, and the cat eating my internet cable, and... it's mostly all good, but sometimes it's hard to find time and mental space to get the words on the page.

Then... I have a breakthrough. Some time spent brainstorming produces a new plot twist that I simply adore and can't wait to write. Then my fingers fly across the keyboard and the words come gushing out. And I think, Self, why can't you do this all the time? And I reply (yes, I'm talking to myself in my head), Because you'd miss out on stuff like this:

That's my trailer that indie rockstar Hugh Howey is plugging! Mind=blown.

So I relax, cut myself some slack, and think, Self, relax. Write the story as it comes. Take time to visit your friends. Don't spend your whole day on FB. Unless Hugh Howey plugs your trailer, then it's okay. 

It helps. And when the story is flowing, I enjoy it for what it is: the best job in the world.

What do you do to stay focused?

Susan Kaye Quinn is the author of the bestselling Mindjack Series, which includes three novels, three novellas, and a trailer. She's currently writing a steampunk fantasy romance, just for kicks, but she keeps getting distracted by a Debt Collector named Lirium, who insists that she write a future-noir serial about him. She's finally given in and will be launching the first episode next week. Unless she spends all her time playing on Facebook. Which could happen if she doesn't stay focused.

Indie Life

Because being Indie doesn't have to mean going it alone.