S is for Sustainable

It's (almost) Earth Day! Yay for the earth and everything on it! I will be taking my kids to see this movie this weekend and you should too, because chimps are cute.



As much as I love chimps and recycling, now I want to talk about building a writing life that's sustainable. I don't believe that I'm going to be the next Suzanne Collins, even though every civilian (non-writer type) I talk to about writing asks me if I've written the next Hunger Games (Seriously? How am I supposed to answer that? Yes? No? Maybe? I have no clue?)

I believe that I'll keep going-writing and learning about the process. I'll keep meeting other writers and readers who love books as much as I do.

Creating a sustainable writing life has become my focus now. It means that there is no 'end point' where I can say I've accomplished it all. Every milestone (writing a book, writing another, querying, getting an agent, getting published, selling actual books into the hands of people who are not related to you) is an achievement - absolutely - but it's not the be all and end all.

I don't mean to pull out the desktop Zen Rock Garden or anything, but it really is about the journey. Writing is the ultimate long game.

What do you do to create a sustainable writing life?