Ancillary Actions

[Peg Herring]

I'd never used the word "ancillary" in my life until my first publishing days. Now I know and sometimes dread the word. Every job has aspects to it that outsiders don't know about or assume are done by someone else. Writers have a ton of ancillary tasks that not only aren't as much fun as writing, they actually take away from writing time.

First, of course is promotion, but there are a thousand things that come up. In my head I keep saying, "Maybe next week I can get back to my WIP." But there are talks to give and handouts to make and toner cartridges to replace and bookmarks to design and, and, and. None of these things is particularly difficult, but time slips away. I started at 7:00 am (as usual) this morning, and when I looked at the clock and realized it was 11:00, I had finished one task: some booklets for a writers' workshop on Saturday.

The bad part? I'd forgotten to blog.

[Jon Loomis]

It is stressful. I burn through a lot of adrenalin over the course of a semester.

[Peg Herring]

I did some classroom teaching last week, and it reminded me of why I left. The kids were great, but preparing to "dazzle" them daily is just too much!

[Jon Loomis]

Between me and my writing, I mean. Not enough coffee yet...

[Jon Loomis]

I don't do any of that stuff. The only thing that gets between and my writing is my 70-hour-a-week teaching job. Oh, and I am giving a talk to the Alumni Association today--for free!