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And let's not forget the dreams so many of us carve out time to pursue. Dreams take time, too, if one is serious about achieving them.
Whether or not you're a mom or female, the ability to multitask pays off in spades for the published author. While sustained focus is, paradoxically, crucial, "serial, compartmentalized focus" might be a more realistic way to think of it. At any given time, the working writer might be completing revisions on one book, researching another, and marketing a third (and possibly a fourth, as authors often have their agents shopping multiple proposals/manuscripts.) And let's not forget the marketing step-up necessary (including blog tours, book signings, and interviews) when a new release comes out.
Usually, it's around this time that the DHL truck pulls up with a batch of galleys needing to be proofed immediately, if not sooner. And let's not forget the necessity of reaching out to readers online (publishers love seeing their authors on Facebook, Twitter, and up-to-date websites) and the actual writing of the next book.
Do all of these demands usually take place at once? Not necessarily, but the working writer finds herself juggling many of them often, all while handling the same domestic, social, and other responsibilities everybody else has.
So for those who dream that the writing life is all about uninterrupted spans of time in ivory towers, that's a pretty fantasy. In reality, it's more like raising rambunctious triplets: more challenging, exhausting, and personally rewarding than you would ever imagine at the outset.
