If you are writing, you know that it is hard. If you have a job plus you write? It’s even harder. Now the crown jewel of hard? Kids! It could be a baby, toddler, technically any age that depends on you, that the house doesn’t burn down to the ground. Technically this is the main reason it has been immensely difficult to write for you guys each day, week, etc. I love writing. It is my passion. I’m a father first. At the moment my girls are on vacation and camps were all booked up. Since Hurricane Maria here in Puerto Rico, it has become a “new” normal that things are not that good how they used to be. So working and writing and being a father, husband and others… it is tough. I can’t imagine single parents dueling and juggling life and writing at the same time. Is it impossible? No, it is not.
So what can you do?
- Schedule, schedule, and schedule. Have your writing times as sacred as some people have their Sunday Football. Do not get distracted. Just write.
- Write when you feel good. You will feel mentally exhausted some days. Look for ways to relax your mind. What puts you in the mood? Music? Chocolate? Wine? A funny movie? Now, remember #1 and stick to your schedule.
- Set up obtainable goals. 500 words? A thousand? Ten minutes? A page? One thing many writers do is that they give themselves a very hard time. But if little by little you can get close to your goal of finishing? That’s what it would matter at the end.
- Attack your workload as a task list. Research. Writing. Editing. Rewriting. All those tasks you need to achieve in order to publish. You will later on go back and see what was an overwhelming list to a mountain you just climbed.
- Set your priorities straight. You have a passion. To write. Now, remember that if you do have a family, maybe that is the reason why you are writing. Maybe not. Like anything hard in life, new business, new job. There are sacrifices that will be made. Just don’t sacrifice your family, you’ll probably regret it later.
At this moment I’m taking care of my oldest daughter and taking turns with my wife while summer is over. Once she gets back to school it would be easier. On my weekdays off, besides housework, I can get a few hours of writing. Setting up meetings with concept artists, photographers, and so on with all the people that are getting me one step closer to publishing.
I do know what it is to get a full load of work. What you need to do is to not stress out. Being a parent is tough enough. Anxiety, stress will creep out on you. You need to pace yourself. “Slow and steady wins the race.” So write. Do it at your own time, but do it. Do not stop. Write a sentence, 10, 500 words. Just do it till you finish.