So you want to write? To borrow a phrase from a popular shoe company, just do it. But make sure you look at your life and set realistic goals first.

Consider your family. I prayed so long and worked so long to have kids that I didn’t want to give up one minute with them until I absolutely had to. But my writing career had begun by the time my children arrived, so I learned how to write in those quiet hours of naptime and early evening when Daddy was usually home to play with them. Even after my children outgrew their naps, they knew that those few afternoon hours were mom’s work time, and they played quietly. I was always available if they needed me, but they also learned to respect the work I had to do.

I’ll be honest—I was a fledgling writer in those years, so I wasn’t attempting to write the great American novel. I was concentrating on magazine articles, catalog copy, and brochures–short assignments that did not require hours of uninterrupted time. The work suited my schedule, and my schedule suited the work.  I was learning, but I was also earning, and that’s important to a young family.

Working at writing and being a full-time mom, I even managed to home school my daughter through kindergarten and first grade. I also experimented with “once-a-month cooking,” which worked well until we all got absolutely SICK of the same recipes over and over. I did learn to organize my household chores and manage time efficiently.

If you have small children, heed this advice from someone who’s been in your shoes—those toddler and preschool days will pass like a heartbeat. Enjoy your children. Everything else—including the great American novel—will wait.

Now, years later, I’ve find that this part of life is repeating itself.  Our daughter and granddaughter are living with us for a while, and I’m having to learn how to balance housework, family time, and writing time all over again.  But when that little baby toddles into my office and asks for Nana, I don’t push her away.  Oh, no.  I know these opportunities will never come again.

My work habits may not appeal to some folks who are right-brained. I’m an organized person by nature—the spices in my kitchen are in alphabetical order (as, I believe, everyone’s should be.)  😉

But my work philosophy has always been “divide and conquer.” Beginning a project is always difficult at the first stage, but if you envision a 400-page book or a 1500-word article as a series of smaller parts and several drafts, the task suddenly becomes manageable.

You will need two particular tools: a calendar and a pencil with an eraser. Take your project and divide it into drafts (at least three, preferably four or five). Now count the number of days between today and your deadline (if you don’t have a deadline, give yourself one!). Let’s say you have forty five days. (Which is about the number of day I have to complete my work-in-progress!)

Divide the number of days by the number of drafts (45 divided by five equals nine), so you have nine days to spend on each draft. Now you might want to adjust things a bit—the first and second drafts will require a few more days, you’ll be sailing through the fifth draft. But plot your course on the calendar, remembering to leave at least one day free each week for health and sanity’s sake. Saturdays are literally my “sabbath.”  Pencil in some “spare” days to allow for headaches, family emergencies, and Murphy’s Law.  Life happens.

And there you have my work system—I actually go so far as to pencil on the calendar how many pages I must have completed each day, and I don’t quit until I’m finished—or at least until I’ve managed to move things around on the calendar so I can be done by my deadline.

Yes, this system is a bit obsessive/compulsive, but, after having written 117 books in 25 years, I know it works for me!

BTW, did you know that today, Sept. 19th, is National Talk like a Pirate Day?

So avast (whatever that means) me mateys!  Shiver me timbers and all that.  🙂

 

Angie

2 Comments

  1. Mocha with Linda

    Loved reading this peek into your writing and family life. I sure wish you were going to be at ACFW. . . .

    Reply
  2. Mary Kay

    Amen, Angie. Some seasons of life seem to linger, but baby/toddler days…no way. I remember thinking one day, as my middle-schooler son walked toward the school bus, how much I wished I’d known that last night a few years before, that he would sit on my lap as we read bedtime stories. I think I’d have agreed to “just one more…”

    Hug your sweet girl for me. She is such a spark plug of joy.

    Reply

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