Do you ever feel like you’re swimming against the tide in your creative life?As authors, we have a vast array of ways to spend our time. Time is our only non-renewable resource. Given how precious it is, are you truly making the most of yours? Without a properly calibrated creative compass, it’s easy to spend time on urgent, rather than important, activities. One way to regain control and peace of mind as an author is the SWOT framework.

Source: Take Charge of Your Creative Life: The SWOT Analysis | Jane Friedman

 

As writers, we’re often not very realistic about our time. NYT bestselling authors who keep churning out multiple books a year while scheduling readings/signings, speech, conventions, and other appearances probably have to be realistic because they have schedules to keep and their writing contracts often have deadlines.

But, will SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) help? It annoys my sense of comfortable chaos and living off of intuition to even consider it. But, I present it here as something that might well help others.

—Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of magical realism, fantasy, and paranormal stories and novels, including “Florida Folk Magic Stories.”