Tick, Tock, Time's Up!

 by Charlotte Bennardo

They say you can't have it all; wealth, fame, health, achievements, and happiness. We see someone who appears to have all of these, but do they really? From outward appearances, we wish we could be them. 

But we can't. We have to be us, play the 'cards' of life that we're dealt. Sometimes we can overcome obstacles, other times we can't. And sometimes we have to sacrifice. 

Photo by Andrey Grushnikov, Pexels

I would think for most writers, the greatest sacrifice we make is time. We give up writing time for jobs, family, chores, and other time-suckers of things that must be done. And, we sacrifice time with family, friends, household and other chores for writing time. Currently, I'm sacrificing both ways- time with family and friends, household, AND writing- to finish my Master's degree. I could be writing books--but I'm writing papers. I could be attending writing workshops, but I'm reading textbooks. I could be subbing novels to editors, but I'm learning corporate marketing (part of the curriculum because of the professional writer certification attached to my degree). Balancing how much time we have, because time is a finite resource, is the tricky tightwire that writers must walk. 

I graduate at the end of June and now that life is returning to normal as events and places open back up, not that getting my degree was a waste of time (lifetime goal achieved), but I feel like I'm behind time, I need to be more efficient and work harder to catch up in my publishing career because I haven't subbed out, written, or revised any books (well, except for my thesis novel) since I started my degree in 2021. 

Photo by energepic.com, Pexels

As my children move on with their lives, it may seem as though I have more time; but our lifespan is only so long. I

have so many stories to tell. Will there be enough time to tell them all? We always question if we could have spent our

time more wisely. Since we can't recapture time, the only thing to do is try not to sacrifice the amount we have on

things that aren't important.

So now that I've finished my post, I'm going back to writing and revising- coursework. My novel writing will have to

wait until it's the right time.

Charlotte writes MG, YA, NA, and adult novels in sci fi, fantasy, contemporary, and paranormal genres. She is the author of the award-winning middle grade Evolution Revolution trilogy, Simple Machines, Simple Plans, and Simple Lessons. She co-authored the YA novels Blonde OPS, Sirenz, and Sirenz Back in Fashion. She has two short stories in the Beware the Little White Rabbit (Alice through the Wormhole) and Scare Me to Sleep (Faces in the Wood) anthologies. Currently she is working on several novels for both children and adults, and her MFA. She lives in NJ with her family and her floofy cat. When they trimmed the backyard tree, the crazy squirrel couple had to move out.