Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Working and Writing
Probably my greatest challenge as a writer is balancing and organizing my life in such a way that I have time to actually write! That's because I have a full-time job. I know a handful of writers who are stay-at-home moms and I envy them that extra time they have. Now, I'm not going to start a debate on how hard it is to be a SAHM. Trust me. I know. I've got the kids full-time on weekends and I often can't wait for Monday. However, SAHM's do have the ability to fill up the sippy cups, grab the blankies, and pop a movie into the DVR then slip away quietly to their laptops and hammer away at their MS. That's obviously not an option for career women (although picturing my boss with a pacifier in his mouth is pretty funny). So my question for you is this. If you have a full-time job, when do you have time to write? Do you write only on weekends? Do you make the fam eat cereal for dinner and lock yourself away with your laptop? Do you stay up until the wee hours of the night or get up at the crack of dawn to get some writing in before work? I'd love to hear what works for you!
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However, SAHM's do have the ability to fill up the sippy cups, grab the blankies, and pop a movie into the DVR then slip away quietly to their laptops and hammer away at their MS.
ReplyDeleteReally? Are you seriously joking?
I'm a SAHM and I've never been able to do that. Ever. My daughter never just sits there and watches a movie, nor do I have endless amounts of time to just write, even if she is occupied because there is always a "MOM!" bound to happen at any moment. I do, however, write in 10-minute increments when I can find the time between cleaning and the other 5 billion non-writing things I have to do every day. Then I stay up after my daughter is in bed and write until 1 or 2 in the morning. Then she wakes me up at 7 and it starts over again. I never feel like I have enough sleep.
Here's a fun post that gives you an idea of a typical day for me. :)
ReplyDeletehttp://theinnocentflower.blogspot.com/2009/09/unfinished.html
Ha! Thanks for bringing the other side in Michelle. I really didn't want this to turn into a battle of the moms, but I guess it's bound to happen when I make a comment like that, huh? :) So you're up until 2 in the morning? I just can't imagine being up that late (I get up at 5:30 for work), but if you love something that much, you have to make sacrifices.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to go check out your typical day right now. ;)
I'm not up until 2 in the morning every night, no, but usually once a week, and it's not often that I got to bed before 11:30. It depends on what I have due or coming up.
ReplyDeleteAnd no worries. I had the same delusion that SAHM had lots of time before I had my daughter. I came into reality really quick. It's different when it's your own child.
ReplyDeleteJust read your blog. Very cute how you blended the two "stories" like that. I can completely get the whole kids in the face thing. I've got 3 little boys. Ack! My weekends consist of doing laundry, cleaning, and grocery shopping. I wish I had a cleaning person. Don't we all? :)
ReplyDeleteRight now I'm writing for myself so it's a bit harder to stay motivated, but I can imagine if I had a deadline I'd definitely be up as late as it took to finish (I'm a people pleaser.)
Great sparring with you! :) I know one topic to stay far, far away from going forward! LOL
Oh! Dumb me. I was under the impression you didn't have kids, I'm sorry. I wasn't reading that very closely.
ReplyDeleteSo you DO understand, totally. I guess I always looked at mom's who worked as having it easy. They could just hand their kids off to someone during the day and get a break from them. I know that's so not true. :)
I honestly think it's hard to be a mom no matter what you're doing. It's just freaking hard, and then we pile writing on top of that? We're nuts! :)
No matter how much time I have in a day, I always fill it with stuff that seems important at the time. I'm always busy, and it never seems like I have enough time to calmly and quietly write. I don't remember the last time I did that. Maybe when my daughter goes to school all day it might be easier. I hope. :)
As far as finding time to write with your full-time job, I wish you the best of luck! I do know it's possible. I know several writers who work and have families at home when they get back from work, and they still find time to write and publish and network and market. Crazy stuff. I treat my daughter like a full-time job, pretty much, and I must admit my time is much more flexible than a job at a desk in an office, and I also don't have a boss breathing down my neck - unless you count my four-year-old running circles around me. She's pretty intense. :)
ReplyDeleteNope, you're right. It is a break to hand off the kids. ;) Hopefully, you'll get a taste of this when your daughter goes to school. The problem with working is more about finding time to clean and do laundry. Because you're at work all day then exhausted by the time you're done making dinner and helping with homework, cleaning is the last thing on your mind. That's why weekends totally stink. It's all about playing catch-up. Boo! Don't worry though, I'm slowly training my slaves *cough* sons to clean. Tee hee.
ReplyDeleteYeah, there's your answer! They must all pull their weight, lol. I worked full-time at a company for the first 4 years of my marriage. I thought it was hard then to come home and have to do all the house crap. I can't even imagine having to deal with THREE kids, too. Oh my goodness. My hat is definitely off to you!
ReplyDeleteI used to work full time. Not only out of the house but away from the state. You know about that already. My job slowly went from full time to part time then non existent. I always thought I'd have all this time once I was home full time to write. Ha! Not hardly. I wrote more when I worked part time than I do now. I had more time to plot and think about my characters with the peace and quiet too. Don't ask me how. I do work a little with my own business. But that's just around 12-15 hours a week. The rest of it is home stuff. The distractions are never ending. Just last night I settled in to comment on blogs. The dog interrupted me twice to go out in a 1 hour time period. The teenagers were forever coming in the room to ask me a question. I don't even know what I said on one comment to another blogger and it took me three tries before I was able to proof read my own post for today. I made a rule at the last family meeting: If you come into the room and I'm typing, please give me a minute to find a stopping point and I will then give you my attention. Please don't just barge in and start talking or asking me questions. My kids are 16 and 17. Its not like they need to go potty. So, they've respected the rule. The problem: any idea how hard it is to finish a sentence when you're being stared at or hovered over. Now, they just come in and stand over me. Ugh! I love them to pieces though and I know that one day I will miss these distractions, but I'm so tempted to go write at Starbucks in the afternoon. You have no idea. Oh, and I don't get to bed until around 1 or so every morning. Gotta have quiet time sometime.
ReplyDeleteTC: Wow. So even when my daughter gets older, not much is going to change. Yikes! :)
ReplyDeleteFunny about the teenagers, T.C. Guess we won't free up writing time until we're empty nesters!
ReplyDeleteHa, good luck. The nest will empty but then your mother will call all the time to check on the kids who have flown the coop. The dog will still have to pee and stare at birds in the backyard. It will never end. But I guess if it weren't for all the distractions, we wouldn't be able to add to our ever growing list of description would we?
ReplyDeleteAnd that, TC, is an awesome point! My current list of descriptions is 90% cliches. LOL Remember the "eyes as big as saucers" reference? *groan*
ReplyDelete