I have been trying for a while, but this weekend it really
became apparent that I need to step away even more from obligations that no
longer serve me. In doing this, I have decided not to continue to grow FortWorth Writer’s Boot Camp. I’ll still keep the critique groups that I already
have going, as long as they are well attended. I’ll keep the coaching and
tutoring clients that I currently have. Anything that anyone else is doing with
the Boot Camp will continue. My involvement will slow.
Why have I decided this? Well, it’s simple: I’ve been
spending so much of my brainpower trying to figure out ways to make the
business work that I just didn’t take the time to think that maybe it just
shouldn’t work. I started Fort Worth Writer’s Boot Camp as an income producer
after I quit my previous librarian position. I wanted to have time to write and
make a bit of money to pay the bills. Two months after opening shop, I accepted
a position in another library where I was actually expected to be a librarian
and not a professional test proctor. I have struggled to make the Boot Camp
successful ever since. For me, it just isn’t working anymore. Other people have
come up with great ideas of things I could do to grow the business, but really
it all comes down to me spending more time working on something that I really
do not have the passion for at the moment. Adding publishing to the mix has not
helped with me having time to write. Instead, it has taken up my creative
energy so that when I sit down to do my own writing, I can think of nothing but
what needs to be done on the book I am prepping for publication at the moment.
Unfortunately, something had to give. I can no longer work
at developing other writers and their talents. I need to work on my own. I also
hope that, by taking this break from the Boot Camp, I will be able to
legitimize my work with it. Afterall, how can I inspire others to write if I am
not doing it myself?
I know that someday I’ll be able to resurrect the Boot Camp
into everything it has the potential to be. The website will still be live,
where I hope to blog about writing and share information about what is going on
with Sleeping Panther Press. As I continue to trim back and make room for my
own creativity, I encourage everyone to continue to follow their writing
dreams, making them come true.