Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Stepping Away

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.