The Two Minds of B.E. Sanderson

I'm of two minds.  On the one side, I have the creative mind.  It writes books and does covers and pretty pictures.  On the other, the business mind.  It does all the other stuff - accounting, marketing, formatting, publishing, editing, etc.  And they can't seem to work at the same time.

Most days, I can keep them apart.  Business works in the morning.  Creative works in the evening.  

But when one of them is particularly focused on its job, the other one takes a vacation.  When I'm deep into the writing, I can't seem to get Business to do the stuff it needs to do.  When I'm deep into work chores, Creative doesn't want to work and laughs at me when I try.  

Like when I get a bunch of spreadsheets to do for the pay-job... I can't write that day.  Unfortunately, it doesn't work the other way because the pay-job stuff is time-sensitive.  It comes in and I do it, regardless of where I'm at with the writing.  Lucky for my writing, it doesn't happen too often.  I get the spreadsheets done in the morning and by evening, I'm ready to let Creative loose.

Right now, I've been wrapped up in post-publication stuff.  Business has taken over and Creative is at the beach napping under an umbrella.  I want to write.  I have ideas.  But I can't seem to get that part of my brain in gear.

Occasionally, the two minds have jobs that overlap.  Marketing, for instance.  It's a job for Business, but in order to get snazzy copy, Creative has to cooperate.  Trying to wake her up to write ad copy for FB posts first thing in the morning is like waking a hibernating squirrel.  Gah.  I should set those things up at night, but try and get Business awake enough then to remember to prod Creative... Gah.

Unfortunately, Creative is easily derailed.  Of course she is, she's creative.  She gets distracted by everything.  Like I said... squirrel.  If Creative had half the focus Business does, I'd be cranking books out all over the place.  But no.  Then again, if she was focused, she wouldn't be creative.  Or something.  I guess.

Not sure what the answer is.  Muddle along?  I do have 16 books out now, so it's not like it isn't working entirely.  Some days I just wish it would work more efficiently.  

What about you?  Do your creative and business sides work together?  

Note:  I am not insane.  Really, I'm not.

When Work and Creativity Collide (aka My Work Side is a Bully)

I have a problem.  The part of my brain that deals with work stuff - finances, marketing, spreadsheets, etc. - is a bully.  When it's on, it grabs hold of the part of my brain that deals with creative stuff, smacks it around, and shoves it into a locker. 

I hadn't really thought about it before, but I suppose, looking back at it now, it's been a problem for a while.  I try to separate the two by doing work stuff in the daytime and creative stuff at night, but it doesn't always keep the bully in check.  Sometimes if I spend a lot of time on the work stuff during the day, I'm too beat up to let my creativity side play at night.

Not sure how to fix this.  I mean, I probably need to put my creative side on a regimented exercise plan ala Jack Lalanne, so when the bully side gets uppity, the creative can hold its own. 

I don't want to shut down the work side completely.  It's the side that makes me money.  But if all I have is the work side, I don't produce more product to make money with.  I'd love it if I could find a balance somewhere, make the two sides play nice for a while.  They need each other, after all.

I suppose I should just shut up and get 'er done.  Pull the creative side out of the locker and push it to stand up for itself. 

How about you?  Does your work side bully your creative side?  Vice versa?