By Carrie L. Weston, @carrieallbooks
Do you want to make time in your life for regular writing practice, but you have an active family? For many aspiring writers, finding the time in an already hectic schedule can make it feel like you need to put your dreams of writing a novel on hold until the children are out of the house.
There are many strategies where you can make time in your schedule for writing a novel, even with young children and other responsibilities. As a mom of five kids, ranging in ages from infant to teenager, I understand the issues of trying to make time in a busy schedule for writing.
An aspiring writer with a family full of kids needs to remain flexible with how they write and where they write. The writing environment of the busy family writer may not look like the peaceful Instagram post vision of a writing environment with a candle, cup of tea and plentiful sticky notes.
Writing spaces may look more like seating at sports practice (where this post was begun), the front seat of the car with kids in the back who have fallen asleep while running errands, or up late at night while baby nurses–where I wrote a good portion of my MFA thesis on my phone using Google Docs.
Develop a writing habit that works for you. Many articles will write about using the early morning hours before the kids wake as the best time to write. This can work, but for many parents who are already sleep deprived, waking before absolutely necessary will not work.
A better time may be while kids play in the morning, or during nap time, if kids are that age. Or, it may be that what works best for you shifts each day as you go. However, making time to prioritize writing in spite of the pressures of home and career is vital.
My husband will often take the children to the grocery store on Saturday mornings to pick up coffee and breakfast as a means of supporting my writing. This brings up another important factor in finding time to write when you have a busy family–it needs to be a family commitment.
Writers can feel like they are imposing by asking for time to write, but the whole family will reap the benefits of the time spent writing. This might be monetary, but aside from any earnings potential, the increased mental health, emotional well-being, and self-confidence in the mom or dad writing can be experienced by the whole family.
Children can see their parents work hard to reach the goal of finishing their novel and learn about how to achieve their own goals–writing or otherwise.
In spite of the concern that family could make the writer’s motivation to keep writing, the goal of writing a novel can actually work more with a busy family. The aspiring writer knows that the whole family is making a sacrifice of time and resources for them to write.
Prior to my first time in graduate school I made the decision that if I was going to attempt it that I would honor my family’s sacrifice by doing my best work throughout the process. The same applies many years and four children later as they willingly give the time and space for me to write.
One final important factor to consider when making time to write as a parent in a busy family–you can’t do everything. There will need to be some give and take in household chores, meals made, or other areas.
Think through–what areas could be made more efficient? This might mean planning meals in advance or asking for more help from your children, but in the end, the family that you give so much for can give back to you and support your dreams.
Carrie Weston is a writer and professor living and working in the Twin Cities. Carrie is the managing editor of Shore to Shore Literary Magazine. Her writing has been featured in places like Spark Flash Fiction and her novel,The Christmas Shoppe will be published by Sunrise Publishing in 2024. In addition to writing, Carrie teaches writing at multiple Minnesota universities, as well as instructing in local community education. She has a M.A. in Strategic Communication Management and an MFA in Creative Writing. Carrie is originally from Michigan, and her family enjoys exploring the Great Lakes region and writing stories of communities and people in the area. Connect with Carrie at carrielweston.com