I began writing when I had a newborn (ten days old), a todder (two) and a preschooler. If I couldn’t write through interruptions, I couldn’t write at all most days. People protest all the time that they can’t write with continual interruptions, and I never had much of a response beyond “just do it!” I knew […]
Month: May 2015
Forget About Age
“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?” –Satchel Paige Two writers in the past month mentioned that they were probably too old to start writing. One had waited till her last child had graduated. Another had waited until he retired. I’d like to debunk that “I’m too old” myth. […]
Writing During Summer Travels
Summer is just around the corner. And for many writers, that means traveling to see family and taking vacations while trying to meet deadlines. Consistent writing may be a necessity during the summer. Can writing and traveling co-exist? Yes, quite happily, but only if you think and plan ahead. Paved with Good Intentions We may […]
Writing after Major Losses
After I’d been publishing for a number of years, I had an eight-year period where major personal and professional losses piled on each other. During this time, I had four surgeries in thirteen months and took on extra work to pay medical bills. Our teenage adopted child was having severe emotional problems, I went through […]
Writing Through Relationship Struggles
Do these scenarios sound at all familiar? (They all happened to writers I know.) You’re writing your first picture book, but your husband is jealous of your time at the typewriter and won’t speak to you at supper. (I know this sounds childish, but it happens fairly often.) Or your wife reads your book and […]
Writing Through the Storms
Writing well requires an enormous amount of concentration and energy, plus a decent dose of self-confidence and courage. It’s not like making widgets on an assembly line, where your mind can wander while your hands stay busy producing. For that reason, even “normal” amounts of stress can freeze your writing fingers. (“Normal” meaning those stresses […]
A Writer's Flexibility
Persistence: the first quality a writer must have to make it in this business. What ranks a close second? It’s being able to give up control and go with life’s flow. That quality is flexibility. Persistent Flexibility I’ve been writing seriously for 35 years, and there are many things I’ve loved about writing. I’ve been […]
Mixing Writing & Adult Children
Keeping with our Mother’s Day theme of combining writing with raising children (Hats Off to Mom Writers, Combine Babies and Bylines,Combining Writing and School-Age Kids, Writing During the Teen Years), let’s talk about writing when you have college kids and grown children (plus grandchildren). Again, your writing skills need flexibility! (with granddaughter, Abby, at a book sale) Déjà […]