Writing ADD

Writing ADD

Paul K. Metheney & the writing of the hardcover edition of Posse Whipped
Paul K. Metheney & the writing of the hardcover edition of Posse Whipped

The pain is real. Okay, maybe not pain, but definitely the frustration. I try to do too many things at once and end up doing none of them well. For example, I am currently querying to find a literary agent for my writing (a bigger task than you might think), I am promoting my book, Posse Whipped, on social media, and I am writing the sequel to Posse Whipped (well, trying anyway).

So, obviously in all my free time, I thought it would be a good idea to produce an audio book of my book, Concepts for Texas Hold’em. Then there’s those little things we call life: paying bills and prepping for taxes, making RV camping reservations (we live full-time in an RV), cleaning up and working around the RV, going to the gym, maintaining two motorcycles, managing numerous web & blog sites, and playing an occasional game of poker. Did I mention a wife I am supposed to pay attention to and see to her needs? “So, wise one, how do we accomplish all these things” you may ask. (You can ask, but you may not get a good answer!)

Prioritize!

I wish there was a way to successfully do all these things at once, but I haven’t found it. I am going to do my writer’s version of New Years Resolutions:

One Writing-Related task at a time – The older I get, the closer Mr. Death seems to be walking up my block and he seems to be bringing cookies to welcome me to the neighborhood. I want to get as much writing done as possible before he rings the bell, mostly to leave behind a legacy (or at least a marketing problem for my heirs), so I want to get it all done. ALL at once. EHHNNN! (and the buzzer sounds: “Wrong answer, Mr. Metheney!”) There’s just too much to do and as I have found out, if you try to do it all at the same time, you will do all of it poorly. One painstaking step at a time. For those of you who think writing is just about putting words on paper, let me educate you with the Cliff Notes version.

WRITING 101

  1. Writing a solid draft of GOOD story (a plot and conflict that interest your reader, engaging characters, utilizing a unique voice from the tens of millions of other wannabe writers out there, consistent tenses, minimal passive voice, no misspellings, etc.)
  2. Edit, rewrite, analyze for grammar, mistakes, etc.
  3. Send to editor so she can tear it apart
  4. Rewrite
  5. Send to editor so she can tear it apart
  6. Fix according to her suggestions
  7. Format the book into proper publishing format
  8. Get a great cover design
  9. Publish on various platforms, over and over again until you get it up there correctly
  10. Write engaging posts on various social media platforms to attract followers (and hopefully some buyers)
  11. Research from thousands of literary agents to find ones that match your writing and market
  12. Query said agents…and wait
  13. Cash your $7.48 check from Amazon for selling two books.
  14. Repeat entire process for book two.

It ain’t all about ‘just putting words on paper’. You’ll note that the actual ‘writing’ was just the first of all these tasks.

MY WRITING TASK LIST PRIORITIZED

  1. Concepts for Texas Hold'emProducing an Audio Book for Concepts for Texas Hold’em – I am putting this first on the list because I am about 3/4 of the way through it and it shouldn’t take long to finish, if I focus. Once published and live, it could be another source of revenue. (Ha! Okay, you caught me. The reason I started it is so I, personally, could listen to it on the bike while riding to my next poker game. Review. Reinforce. Remember. Seems to be working. I listened to it yesterday on my way to Oxford Downs and enough of it sank into my subconscious that I did very well at the tables.) But, if it sells well, maybe it will finance one session of poker that I could win and make even more money. Positive thoughts!
  2. Re-Edit & Re-Publish the epub for Posse Whipped – I have already re-edited the manuscript for the paperback and hardbound versions of Posse Whipped
    (found a few typos and punctuation issues that my ‘OCD’ couldn’t abide) and have re-published the 2nd Edition, but now I have to convert the whole book into HTML again to re-publish it as an eBook. Slow and painful. But I want any readers who purchase it to get the best possible product.
  3. Query Literary Agents – I have already done some of the research on these agents (using websites Reedsy.com and QueryTracker.net). Now I just need to keep submitting to the ones that match my genre and book until one (or more) reply positively. The general rule is: it will take 8 weeks for a response, so if I send a bunch of these now, I have 8 weeks for the rest of my Writing To-Do list. Once I get the rest of my list done, I will circle back to this and continually submit queries.
  4. Write – I know this sounds moronic, but having completed several books and a half dozen anthologies, things get in the way of actually creating new work.  All the marketing, research, social media, editing, revisions, cover designs, and queries are getting in the way of me being creative. Besides the sequel to Posse Whipped, I have at least three more ideas for novels that are burning a hole in the back of my brain until I get them published. So I need to write them out one project at a time.
  5. Social Media – I have this low on my list as it has produced very little in the way of revenue, eats up buckets of time, and is taking a lot of focus from other things just to be engaging and “non-salesy” in my posts. I know publishers want you to have a big following on social media, but in order to find time to actually write, I have to de-prioritize this time-sucking, non-revenue generating, area that crawls with naysayers and negative energy (not always, but I avoid it like the plague during political seasons).
  6. Marketing – I have had to put this at the bottom of my list because hopefully I will find a good agent that will handle a great deal of this for me. Besides not being able to afford online ads (or offline ads for that matter – oh, I can afford them, but I am just not seeing the ROI at this point), book signings, conference panels, press releases, etc. are taking away time from…you know…actual writing.

And that’s just the Writing Priority List.

Life in General

  • Get Healthy – this means going to the gym more regularly and eating better (less carbs and junk) in order to live long enough to get all this stuff done. There’s also the little concept of living longer with my loving wife. (At this point, I would settle for living long enough to get this damned sequel finished.) I know that I have been saying this for years, but you know…Mr. Death.
  • Take care of my wife – I know this should be first, but you know what they say about “if the aircraft loses pressure and the oxygen drops from the ceiling.” (What they don’t say is “choose the child with greatest earning potential and mask them up next!”)
  • Write – well, actually all the writing tasks above
  • Take care of Life’s little tasks – pay the bills, housekeeping, reservations, motorcycle maintenance, etc. When you’re gone, no one ever puts on a tombstone “Made campground reservations in a timely manner.”
Paul K. Metheney is the author of the novel Posse Whipped, Concepts for Texas Hold'em, That Boy Ain't Write in the Head collection of his best short stories, the coauthor of Two Minds, No Waiting, and various short stories for the Left Hand Publishers anthologies. He has also designed numerous book covers over the last decade. He has worked in the online marketing and web design industry for the last 30 years and travels the country living full-time in an RV with his loving wife and neurotic dog.