help, I have too many projects

i will not niche down / i will not burn out

I swore up and down that this summer was going to be my summer of writing like crazy. My goal was to add 25k words to my rough draft.

Instead, I find myself doing the following:

• Posting new prints on my Etsy Shop

• Editing a YouTube video (literally why?)

• Writing Substacks (hi)

• Looking at how to publish books on Amazon (I learned a lot!!!)

• Designing book covers for an old novel (this was not on my Bingo Card!!)

• Looking into local Farmer’s Markets for where I can sell my art

• Obsessively checking my analytics on Instagram (this is not healthy)

And here’s the thing: it’s not the end of the world.

The fact that I have extra time to work on so many different cool sides to my Artistic Empire is amazing. I celebrate my hard work, my incredible range, my drive to create cool shit.

But I do not want to neglect my writing.

When being creative is a form of procrastinating

I remember in college, whenever I had a big essay due, I realized that I really needed to clean my room, and do laundry, and answer emails, and change my sheets… but really, it was all a form of procrastination. Productive Procrastination.

I am noticing that sometimes I do this with creativity.

Me: it’s time to write!

Also Me: I think it’s actually time to start a sewing project!

Sometimes I’ll trick myself into not writing by convincing myself that I can just do other creative work instead. But if you’re working on a creative project as big as a novel, it takes a lot of focused, intense work over a long period of time.

When posting on social media is a form of procrastinating

Me: It’s time to write!

Also Me: Don’t you mean, it’s time to make an Instagram Reel?

This is a big struggle for me. I’ve started trying to implement the rule: Writing First, then making “Content.” Making things for social media should never take the place of making Art.

And yet… there’s a voice inside my head that says, what’s the point of writing a book if you don’t have a big enough following to market and sell that book? I don’t like that voice. I’m just keeping it real that this is what goes through my mind. I think that the answer is, what’s the point of growing a social media audience if it means I neglect my art?

I refuse to niche down / But I refuse to spread myself too thin

There’s the outdated advice that to succeed as a creative, especially online, you have to “niche down.” (btw, the word '“niche” is so hard for my poor dyslexic brain to spell.) But I refuse to niche down.

I am a writer who also sells visual art.

I am on Instagram and Substack and YouTube. (With varying levels of consistency. Substack: once a week. YouTube: once a year.)

And yet.

I also refuse to spread myself too thin.

I demand to be someone who finishes projects. Writing books is *the thing* that I get the most joy out of in my creative life. I refuse to spread myself too thin, making writing fall to the wayside.

When making too many things is exhausting

And then, of course, there’s burnout. When you’ve pulled an Icarus and flown too high. I’ve had a few days this summer when I’ve created too close to the sun and come crashing down.

I need rest. I need balance. I need to spend more time playing Stardew Valley and less time refreshing my Substack feed.

“C’mon, Darling, Let’s Keep Moving.”

When my husband and I go shopping together, sometimes I hold hands with him and ask him to “keep me on target.” That means that whenever my ADHD brain goes, “oooh, shiny” - then he gives me a gentle tug and says “C’mon, darling, let’s keep moving.” It’s adorable and very helpful, because otherwise I’d stop at every single aisle.

This is what it feels like to work with my creative brain.

My creative brain wants to stop at every idea I have. Make a YouTube video! Make an instagram reel! Start a new podcast about women in the Bible! Do a watercolor series of all the state flowers!

And then my rational brain - the Mothering Voice, if you will - says, “C’mon, darling, let’s keep moving.”

She says: we are here today to write. We are here to sit down and write 500 words. You do not have to do everything. You can make an instagram reel once you finish writing. C’mon, c’mon, let’s get back to writing.

Okay, I’m signing off here to go back to writing my novel.

Don’t ask if writing this Substack post was a form of Productive Procrastination. (You already know the answer.)

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Hey, thanks for reading this whole post!!! OMG you must be a huge fan!!

IF you were half asleep while reading this, let me just gently let you know that I am a few other places on the internet, such as Instagram and Etsy.

Wanna watch the YouTube video I spent 25 hours editing? It’s a Cozy Writing & Art Vlog. It is *guaranteed* to be inspirational co-working vibes.

Annnyway, go make some cool things this week!

kk byeeee! <3