Multi-tasking: writing, crowdfunding, & meetings (Oh MY!)

Promotional Image for: The Steel Road (now on Kickstarter)
Art by: Zachary Viola

Like many of you, I have a day job that pays the bills.  Then when I'm off work I play with my daughter, take care of our home, and basically do the responsible adult gig.  I happen to like my job and the people I work with, so all in all things are pretty good.

Writing, however, is a joy to me.  I like doing it and when I'm not actually writing I'm actually thinking about writing or things related to my writing and publishing.  I'm not obsessed (honest).  So it is likely no surprise to those of you who read this blog, that I've been working on several different projects simultaneously.  Currently I'm running a KickStarter campaign, formatting text and cleaning up art for The Steel Road (the subject of said KickStarter), working on draft for Tarot Adventures, Book Three: Death comes to Glenfallow and the draft of Whispers of Persephone, coordinating with artists on an anthology project, working on game design elements for my RPG project, and planning crowdfunding for the above projects and the re-launch of 47 Furious Tails.  There is a lot of work going on around me right now and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

Now, how do I find time?

My day starts are 0600 (most days) when my baleful alarm chirps and wheezes at me to inform me that its time to get out of bed.  I hate that alarm.

I then get up, preheat my oven, jump through the shower, mix up and set to bake (some thing) for breakfast.  After pushing the muffins, or cinnamon rolls or whatever into the oven, I go engage in the task of waking and dressing children.  By the time that is done its time to pull the whatever out of the oven and feed myself and the children.  It's an easy and quick routine.

Then its off to drop off youngest at daycare, and then onto work.

Work is where I do the things that pay those pesky bills. At work I don't write, except during my breaks and if I'm off property.  There are legal reasons why.  I work until the afternoon hours, then retrieve my child and we go home so I can make dinner.  We then play until bath time, whereupon we engage in the ancient form of combat known as "bathing a small child".  This is followed by drying, dressing, and then putting the small human to bed.

Big deep breath, then on to writing.

I write, and I write, and a small portion of it is good enough to share with other humans. I write posts for this blog, promotional material for my crowdfunding activities, and somewhere in and among that I have video conferences with artists.  My day usually ends somewhere between Midnight and 0200.  Last night it ended at 0230, and I woke up at 0600.

My point is, I have my pace.  I've found what I can do to make time to write and not have my time with my family compromised.  It works for me, but this schedule is demanding and not for everyone.  In truth, this afternoon I'm pretty tired and haven't had coffee yet (its now 1430), so sometimes its hard on me too.

Throughout the day, I have to multi-task.  Getting a few things done in small span of time is a critically important thing to master.  By completing even small tasks while working on larger jobs, you chip away at your work load and speed completion of the project.  Give it a try, you'll find it's true.

Crowdfunding:  Wow, as I've mentioned with each of my previous crowdfunding campaigns, they take up a LOT of your time.  Responding to your backers' questions and comments, working to compete the project, these are all things that must be handled to support your crowdfunding.  These are also habits to get into so you can connect with your audience.  It's important that you spend time on your backers, or else they may become former backers.  Think about that.

Meetings:  Nothing says you can't complete tasks while in a meeting.  Do it!  If you've been needing to speak to Rosa about a graphic design she did, then knock that out during the meeting or schedule a time for it following the meeting.  Optimize you time to enhance your production, you'll find you get much more done than you ever thought you could.  If you have people working for or with you, delegate tasks within the capacity of your team to complete things in a timely manner.



The KickStarter for The Steel Road is well underway and already funded and has some exciting stretch goals awaiting.  I hope you'll check it out, support the project, and share the campaign page with others.

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Thank you for joining me today on my adventure into writing, game design and self-publishing.  I hope this blog continues to prove useful to you as you engage in your own projects.

I hope to see you next time.

W.S. "Sam" Quinton