Your Writing Life with Children by Elizabeth Jones
How do you make it work?There are some things you never forget. Losing your first job. Having babies. Trying to write with children hanging onto your legs.
Years ago, when I was amid diapers, bottles, and lack of sleep, I had a difficult time writing. My “career” had recently begun. I was an at-home Mom out of choice, and I wanted more than anything to write. I also, frankly, wanted to be a mom, and, after a few weeks of trying and failing to do both, I wanted to give up.
For you writers out there, you know this cannot be done. If writing is in your blood. If you wake and sleep it; when it’s all you think about doing when you dream of your perfect life, then you are a writer. One of my fondest dreams is to buy a beach house on the coast of Oregon and spend my time writing with NO disturbances.
This hasn’t happened – yet, though my children who were once small have grown, and are now having children of their own. No matter what they enjoy doing most, there just doesn’t seem to be the time to do that thing my adult children love.
And so, I send forth this humble list, a list, mind you, that I still have to remember though my life has grown up quite a bit.
1. Write through the noise. I mean it. Don’t use the excuse of noise to stop you from writing. Put on some headphones and listen to music if you have to. Type what you are hearing your children say, and use it for a scene in your next book, but WRITE!
2. Write when your children are asleep instead of watching T.V. I LOVE movies! I use them as the great escape of my life! And sometimes, that’s okay, but usually, I’m escaping from something I should be doing! Writing!
3. Write at the park! Summer is here. Gather your children up and take them to the playground. Sit on a bench nearby and write freehand, or bring your laptop. I have written so many things on paper and transferred them later to the computer, that I can’t even count them.
4. Don’t expect to write a novel in one week. Don’t expect it to be complete in a year. Expect that it will be completed when it’s finished. Do what you can in the moments you have. Waiting at the doctor’s office for your appointment. Speaking into your phone at the stoplight. [Have you ever received the best stuff while driving your car?] Waking up from a great dream. [Put a notepad and pen by the side of your bed].
5. Get your children interested in writing. Sit them down. Have them color or write as you do the same. Yes, you will have interruptions. You will hear, “Do you like this, Mommy?” “Look what I did!” Be okay with the breaks. Enjoy your children.
6. How can we write for children if we don’t understand them? Get to know your children better. Spend time on their level. Be a kid again. Your next book will thank you for it.