In the Mood for Pancakes

By Gail Richards - Jun 23 , 2008

Some days I wake up and I am in the mood for blueberry pancakes. Most days, this doesn’t happen, and even on the days it does, I’m not necessarily able to satisfy the urge.

On those days when the stars collide and I am able to manifest a stack of blueberry pancakes along with time enough to enjoy them, it’s wonderful. It’s very energizing, and I don’t mean in the “Eat a hearty breakfast” kind of way. I mean it in the “Thanks, I needed that” kind of way.

I wonder, though (to get entirely too philosophical about pancakes and breakfast in general), is the situation that every now and then I crave blueberry pancakes—or is it that there comes a point in time when I can’t stand the thought of facing yet another bowl of bran flakes?

It’s not the draw of the pancakes—it’s the break from drudgery that creates the urge for me.

What if, in the morning, I had a bowl of chicken noodle soup instead? What if I had breakfast food for dinner? (Yes, ‘brinner,’ for you Scrubs fans in the audience.)

So what does all this have to do with you and your book?

Everything!

Consider the amount of time you spend focused on building your manuscript. Day after day after day after day. Research, write, repeat. Research, write, repeat. There’s your big big bowl of bran flakes right there. Not entirely unenjoyable or unproductive, but bran flakes are boring, nonetheless.

What if every now and then you threw in some scrambled eggs or a pastry? What if you switched your focus for a work session or two to publishing tasks or marketing research? Those areas need your attention, as well.

Publishing is not a linear process. You can have eggs one day and bran flakes the next without upsetting the order of the universe too much. You can move forward without stagnation and frustration simply by changing things up a bit.

While the publishing process isn’t linear, it isn’t exactly random, either. Many elements from writing dovetail with marketing; still others dovetail with publishing items. For example, audience research is a great partner for writing what will meet the needs of your target reader; building your author platform can be done continually through the process; page design can be determined while your manuscript is in editing.

The great news: many of the tasks you face can be done concurrently and interchangeably. When you aren’t in the mood to do one thing, simply do another.

Forward steps are forward steps, and that’s really all that matters.