Adjunct, or Move On?

I'm a first-year adjunct teacher, and, needless to say, I'm feeling torn about how to move forward in my career. I love teaching, but the pay-to-work ratio is draining me. I teach creative writing and introductory writing courses focused on research papers. Last semester, I had to design entirely new courses from scratch while also learning how to teach with little guidance. What really wore me down, though, was the time and energy thoughtful grading requires.

I graduated with my MFA a year ago and was excited to start teaching, but after just one semester, I’ve barely had any time to write or read for myself. Long-term, I’d love to teach full-time, but you can’t secure a full-time position in creative writing without a published book. That reality makes all the effort I’m putting into teaching feel futile.

To make ends meet where I live, I also work a full-time job on top of teaching two classes. Altogether, I’m clocking about 55–60 hours a week, given all the work outside of class.

Here’s where I need help deciding:

I was recently offered an upper-level workshop course (Workshop 2 in Nonfiction) at a reputable institution. While it’s a great opportunity, I’m dreading the work involved—designing the course, grading, and teaching—because it’s been so hard to maintain my writing during the teaching season. One potential upside is that I’d only be teaching this one course instead of two, which could free up some time for writing and unwinding.

However, nonfiction isn’t my chosen genre—I have an MFA in poetry—so I’d need to put in extra time outside of class to feel confident teaching it. If I take the course, I’ll have a combined workload of about 50–55 hours a week (15–20 hours for teaching and 34 hours for my office job). A lot of my creative energy will go toward teaching.

If I don’t take the course, I’ve been offered editorial work with a NYC press. It’s mainly administrative (filing for awards, etc.) for 15 hours a week. I’d keep my office job (34 hours) and have more time and energy to focus on finishing my own book.

I’ve also been offered a section of creative writing to teach this summer, which I plan to keep. I’m close with the head hiring person, so I'm hoping declining the spring course wouldn’t hurt my future opportunities.

So, what do you think is best for me? Should I push through the pressure and take the workshop, or should I focus on the long-term goal of finishing my book before returning to teaching full-time?