How Many Hats Are To Many? |
| Posted: 10 Jan 2012 02:51 PM PST  Authors share that similarity with housewives except we don't get that high of a recommended salary. One thing is a fact though, authors need to be prepared to wear many hats and when you move over to become a published author you get the honor to put on more hats. I can see the logic of quitting your job and working solely on writing. Not for the sake of writing but for the time it takes to do everything that surrounds writing and your published work. I know we have looked at it before but times are changing and as times change the more responsibilities fall on the author. It's not a bad thing but it is time consuming. It starts with writing, then we move to submitting it and sending out query letters. Of course, this is after we research publishers and agents who will look at new authors. The fun really starts when we cross that finish line and find a publisher. Then we really get some hats. Overnight we become an author, editor (or is it editor's assistant), marketer, promote, and social network specialist. On top of that we have the blog we have always worked on and enjoy running and...what was that other thing....hang on....oh yea, we have the job hat, cook hat, car repairman hat and countless others that could be there. That is a lot of hats. The tough part of all this is, if you get rid of one hat, and it is the wrong hat, it could cause a domino effect with all the other hats. This is where priority and organization will come to the fore. They are both critical but how can you tell which hats you can get rid of and which you really need to keep? Again, you have to look at your life but there might be some helpful suggestions to be found once we take a closer look. After you organize and prioritize all of your jobs then step back and look at the big picture. Stop right here for a moment. Don't panic when you see a to-do list a mile long. Just relax and trust in the organization you've set up. Next, remember there are 24 hours in a day and you need 8 hours (okay, maybe 6) and 8 hours at work. That leaves you with 8 ours to work with. A lot can be done in 8 hours. Back on topic, it is extremely difficult to get rid of a hat once you have the hat but we must remember to pace ourselves and when the time comes (and it will) to swallow our pride and ask for help. I believe you cross a line when you have so many hats that you can't finish a project once you start it. That is a warning sign that you are spreading yourself to thin. If you make it to that point something has to give...either one of your hats or you. Which one is completely up to you but until we get to the point where our books are flying off the shelf and the royalty check covers everything there will always be two really big hats - work and writing. Then again, we have to go through the lean times and the crazy schedules to realize the opportunity to hand over more hats. How many hats do you have? 
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