By Anara Bella On Jun 18 2010, 12:48 pm

Yesterday, as I sat down to write this blog post, it suddenly hit me that this would be the first bit of writing I’d done in literally weeks. It’s not for lack of something to work on. I have twenty-five pages written on my current WIP, the ideas are bubbling in my head, and the characters are scrabbling for my attention, wanting me to hurry up and finish writing their story.

So you might wonder what the problem is. Have I been slacking off? Have I been on vacation? Have I been procrastinating? Nope. Not even close. I’ve been working hard everyday. In fact, I’ve been working a lot later into the evening than I usually do, often right up until bedtime. So what have I been so busy doing?

We’ve already established that I’m not writing although I’ve had several rounds of edits to get through for my next book, Brazen or Bust, courtesy of my awesome editor Heidi. But besides edits, what I’ve been so busy doing is the myriad of other pesky tasks that take up a lot of an author’s non-writing time.

Veering off the writing course all started a couple of months ago when I got a new computer. Now, getting a new computer is great but—and there’s a big but, and I’m not talking about the one I’m sitting on, although that’s pretty big too—it takes me forever to get the thing set up exactly the way I want it.

You might think I’m being picky (which I am LOL) but the truth is that I spend so much time sitting in front of this computer that I’m not happy until it’s set up just so. Which means hours of fiddling with settings and installing programs that I use all the time and checking out replacements for programs that no longer work on the version of Windows I’ve upgraded to.

This time, for instance, I had to get a new version of Photoshop, which meant that after I’d installed it I had to relearn how to use it. Hand in hand with that, I quickly discovered that Windows 7 no longer has Windows Movie Maker included. Instead they’ve substituted a much inferior version—Windows Live Movie Maker—which doesn’t suit my needs for making my book trailers at all. So, I had to research video editing software and find another program that would hopefully do the same thing. After which I had to buy it, install it and figure out how to use it. All of this ate up a lot of my time.

After I’d done all that, I had a bunch of behind-the-scenes maintenance-type upgrades to do on my website. And once that was done, I started on the cosmetic updating that was needed on the visible part of my website. I’m actually still working on those. LOL

In between all of that, the fabulous cover for Brazen or Bust was finalized and I began the frenzy of activity that included resizing it so I could put it up everywhere along with the blurb and excerpt, making banners for the same reason and putting the book trailer together. Btw, I’m happy to say that I’m actually quite pleased with how the book trailer turned out, despite the new software and learning-curve this time around. Here it is, in case anyone’s interested in checking it out.

 Brazen or Bust Book Trailer

Anyway, as I was thinking about all of this I had to laugh. For a writer, I sure am doing a lot of unwriterly-type activities. And I’m certain most authors who read this are nodding in full agreement because they’re doing the same thing. Out of necessity we’ve all had to become a Jack of all trades since being published.

If someone had told me eight years ago I’d be doing all these different things, I don’t think I would have believed them. Back then my dream was to be published, thinking that meant I’d spend most of my days writing and plotting. Little did I know that what it really meant was that I’d have to learn to be proficient at a surprising number of things that require a wide variety of different skill sets I didn’t previously possess. And you know what, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Because much to my surprise I’ve found I actually enjoy doing most of these other tasks. There’s a lot of satisfaction in getting my website to look the way I want it, making banners is fun and I love making book trailers. No doubt because they’re all basically artistic endeavors that engage my creative side just as much as writing does. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that I enjoy doing them so much that they can totally take up my time and draw my attention away from writing.

Hmm, maybe that’s what the real problem is, the real reason I haven’t been writing. I’ve been having too much fun playing around with this other stuff. What do you think? =)

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Anara Bella
Romance that’s sexy with a touch of sass
www.AnaraBella.com
For a fun and sexy free read check out Stupid Cupid

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