Why Every Writer Needs a Good Cavalry

Planning things out to get your writing done? Awesome! *fist bump* But a solid cavalry of supportive people can help ensure that plan actually manifests.

Watch/Subscribe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LWPr8Xv8So

I’ve been writing now for almost two decades. I’ve had a lot of things get in the way, including physical limits and a lack of surety about what I wanted to communicate. But by far — by FAR — the biggest thing in my way always has been difficulty delegating. It’s not that I don’t know how to do it. Anyone who knows me I can manage like a mofo. It’s that I haven’t had a lot of people to take over the little, everyday things. Having someone to make dinner twice a week, for example, is four more hours of writing for me.

I’ve gotten better about asking for help, although sometimes there’s no way I can delegate certain things. But I’ve been able to experience the breathing room a cavalry provides. Even 10 minutes here and there can make a big difference — that’s enough time at the end of the day to think out what you have to do the next day and organize what you need to start fresh. The stress relief matters. You write better when you’re not anxious and distracted by other things left yet to do.

Although this video focuses on getting the basic planning around your writing done, it applies to bigger writing support, too. Maybe you’ve got someone you could trust to look for book placement opportunities or figure out the nuts and bolts of a platform you’re considering publishing on. You might be surprised at how much people want to support you in those ways with just a little bit of reciprocation instead of money, so ask.

Image credit:
Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

[Trascript summary]

Well, hi, everybody. Thanks for joining me today. I’m Wanda Thibodeaux, and I am the sole proprietor of takingdictation.com. And today’s message is about calling in the cavalry. And what I mean by that is the friends, family colleagues that can support your writing as you’re trying to get things going.

So, this can look different depending on your situation. So, for example, if you have a partner and you have kids, your spouse is part of your cavalry. Or maybe you just have a good friend who is always showing up at your book events.

Now, the reason they are important is because of planning. Now, we all know as writers how important planning is, because if you don’t plan, these little windows of opportunity that you have to write tend to go away. But that gets even worse if you don’t have a cavalry to call in when you need it.

So, here’s an example. Again, partner, spouse. You have a kid, and you say, “Okay. I’m going to plan. I’m going to write early in the morning. I’m going to join the 5am Club. I’m going to write from 5 am to 7.” Well, what happens if your small child suddenly gets up in the morning and interrupts your writing session? Are you going to just let that session drop? Or maybe could you call in the cavalry go to your partner and say, “Hey, you know, could you could you watch our kid for a second?” And maybe have that agreement ahead of time that, if that happens, you have a game plan so that you don’t lose that work time.

But again, this is about communication. It’s about saying, “What do I need to succeed?” and finding the people that can provide that for you. There has to be that balance there that you need them to do it but then they also want to, and you can reciprocate something back to them later on. But find those people, because I promise you getting your plan to actually work is going to be so much easier if you know who can help you.