As a writer it’s easy to become chained to my computer by deadlines and desires to finish my current novel. Busyness can overcome the common sense knowledge that a body needs to move around, get exercise and eat proper nutition. And yet eating healthy is a form of dieting. It’s about making healthy choices.
Writing is much like eating. It’s easy to get sidetracked and work on things that are fun when other items that pay for writing might seem a little more tedious. These fun projects are more like fun snack foods and if I’m not careful they can chew up my time.
Both writing and eating healthy take discipline. Goals need to be set to keep me on track. If I don’t set goals, life can easily take charge and I not only find myself with extra poundage but with an overwhelming amount of work to get done. One feeds the other as stress of unaccomplished projects lends to thinking I don’t have time to eat healthy and give way to eating quick easy to prepare processed foods or even worse skip meals and eat things like cookies and pretzels while I work.
So instead of only eating or writing what I want–I strive for balance. Setting goals helps to keep things in perspective as I progress through my list. Snacks are fun, but they do not constitute a meal. Writing things for fun stimulates the creative process, but they don’t always pay the bills. Finding the right balance allows for both.
I wish I allowed myself more time for fun projects. I agree with what you are saying but there is often a fine line between when it’s time to move on and steer your career in a different direction and wasting time on fun projects. I am sort of teetering on that line at the moment.
Comment by kohuether — June 28, 2007 @ 9:45 am
Fun projects are sometimes necessary to keep us creative and fresh. Goals are not set in stone–they only point in a direction. When it’s time for the direction to change the goals will reflect this too.
Comment by birdiesquill — June 28, 2007 @ 11:04 am