Today, I finished sorting the notes for my non-fiction project, which was my decision point. If I move forward with the non-fiction at this point, it becomes a lot more difficult to stop it and move entirely to fiction, since I would be leaving the book partially written.
But there is another option, something I did until I was partway through my last non-fiction book: alternate days. Last time I did this, I would spend one day on the fiction and one day on the non-fiction.
I stopped doing that because I needed to get the non-fiction done by a deadline (the scholarship application period for that year), and there is a possibility that if I switch over at this point, I will have to transition to one or the other fully once I reach a tipping point. But for now, working on both keeps me from giving up fully on my fiction while also forcing me to take it easier on both and taking the publication pressure off.
If I do this right, then the non-fiction is my publication effort – that’s what I have to be all professional and uptight about – and the fiction is my play, my reward. Fun for me.
That’s the mentality I want to take with this moving forward.