So let me rephrase: I AM writing my first novel.
The thing is, I am finding it EXTREMELY difficult to make (notice I didn't say find) the time to write. I have two, very energetic little boys who require my attention nearly all day long. My youngest naps in the afternoon, but my oldest does not. They will both be in preschool three days a week starting in early September, and I am VERY grateful for that. However, until that time, I'm trying to fit the writing in here and there, and I'm floundering.
So I'm asking you dear readers who have (or at one point had) small children while you were doing the writing thing: When do/did you write? During the day? Late at night? In spurts? Chunks of time?
This is a universal struggle! Finding time to write is incredibly hard. I have five children and so squeeze writing into the early morning and late evening after they're in bed. My husband and I have arranged a system that allows me a little more time when he's home. And I actually enjoy and need that break from my children--even if it's only for a couple of hours twice a week that he takes the kids to the park or library. Or I lock myself in our bedroom with my lap top! Hope you can figure out a system that works for you!
ReplyDeleteNanowrimo is what works for me. Go to nanowrimo.org if you're not familiar with it. Writing a really awful draft in a month, and then, slowly cleaning it up is the only way I can seem to actually finish. It starts in November. I haven't decided if I'll do it this year or not. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI didn't start writing until last year when my kids were all in school. This summer was tough with them home even though they are older. Instead of chasing them around the house, I spent my days driving them around town. Also they seem much louder now than they used to. I finally resorted to going into the garage to write. Thankfully, they start back to school on Thursday. Finally, there will be quiet! In other words, all of that rambling for me to tell you I have no clue what the answer is! Thanks for joining my blog, and I look so forward to getting to know you! Good luck finishing your novel. You will do it. I promise!
ReplyDeleteStory time at the library, I would just start writing in an email to myself and then send when my time was up (I didn't have a laptop at the time, so I had to use the libraries computer).
ReplyDeleteAlso, when the kids were younger I wouldn't let them watch TV all the time. Then when I really needed the extra time to write I would pull out a show that they liked and pop it in the VCR (that would buy me a good 20 minutes).
Last year, I decided that a night at a hotel would do wonders. I saved up for that and picked a night that my husband had wasn't on call and not working late and away I went. That was wonderful. Obviously not something you could do all the time, but it renewed my think tank.
The park, I take the kids to the park and let them run while I write. I have a laptop, but still prefer pen and paper in places like the park, because if I need to hop up and tend to the kids I don't have to worry about the laptop disappearing on me.
Lately, I've been trying to enforce my "thinking" zone. I put up my "Shhhh....quiet, Thinking" sign and sometimes it works.
Good luck and wow, you are lucky that school starts in a week. I have to wait until September 8th.