I did not make any progress on my story today during my designated writing time. Instead, I was focused on another project, related to my non-fiction blog that, for the time being, funds the entire bootstrapping of my author career.
I run a blog about a specific scholarship program and am one of the few people in the world – possibly the only one outside of the program itself – that has been studying this scholarship and providing guidance on it for the past 5+ years. During that time, I have written dozens of blog articles and two books about applying for the scholarship. Both of those books trundle along, selling a handful of copies per month, which helps keep my expenses paid, like my website hosting, mailing list, etc.
On top of the passive side, I also offer an application review service, and that is what I spent my time on today. Those reviews help fund my investments in my writing career, like purchasing Dragon earlier this week, as well as the How to Write a Bestseller course that I mentioned and the writing advice books that I devour to up my game.
Sometimes, that means that the coaching has to take priority over the fiction when I’m on a contract, and that was today. I’m still going to see if I can get in some dictation time later today, if I can preserve the mental energy, so that it isn’t a complete loss fiction-wise, but we’ll see. My day job can be mentally draining.