The best way to write a novel is quickly or so experts advise—just write it all out, for as long as it takes, without stopping to
criticize yourself. It's sound advice, but with young children hungry for attention, and a myriad of other commitments, like a day job,
various other writing jobs, children's school events, and household duties, finding long stretches of concentrated writing time just
isn't feasible.
So how do you tackle a long-term project like writing a novel when everything else seems so much more urgent? It helps if you are just a
wee bit insane, utterly desperate to get that novel finished (a lifetime dream), and/or ridiculously tenacious.
Your friends and family will probably tell you to wait until the kids are older, but if you are ready to write now, you should write now.
There will never be a better time, and time seems to be a shrinking commodity for parents, regardless of our children's ages.
Following are some practical tips to help writing parents achieve their dreams of writing the next big novel:
- Chunk It
It's a standard time management technique and critical for parents. Turn your long-term, non-urgent big project into short-term, small,
achievable and more urgent tasks. In other words, break your novel-writing process into little pieces.
The first task is to write out the plan. The second task is to write a quick outline. The third task is to write your novel one chapter
at a time. Don't look ahead or think about the big picture once you've got the plan in place—that can be too daunting. Each chapter is
only the equivalent of a short story, which is much less scary.
- Write It Into Your Weekly To Do List
Children aren't generally amenable to an inflexible "to do" list because they have high attention days. But if you create a flexible
weekly plan, which includes all of the things you need to accomplish, including your small writing chunk, you will be able to give it the
same attention as everything else on your “to do” list.
- Learn To Multi-Task
If you're a parent, you're already doing this, so it's just a matter of extending the tasks to include your writing. Open up your notepad
or computer first thing in the morning and keep going back to it, writing a sentence here or a sentence there—as time allows.
Don't wait for a large portion of quiet time or an ideal space. Those times don't go hand-in-hand with parenthood. Instead, learn to work
wherever you can, under any conditions available. Write furtively and regularly; with whatever time you can snatch. Even if you only
write one sentence, your mind will carry the work forward, making the next sentence easier.
- Let Everything Inspire You
Writers notice everything. Everything is material, and your gorgeous children can be your greatest inspiration.
While playing with your children notice the setting, the way the wind moves the leaves on the trees, the way your children smile, the way
the sun shines on your children’s hair, the way they interact with one another, and then notice your own emotions towards your children.
Write those details into your work. Writing isn't like other types of work, where you need time off. It's a vocation that allows you to
"work" while you play.
- Think Positively
Imagine the novel finished. Plan to finish it within a year and smile at that prospect. It may seem insane, but just like the tortoise of
Aesop's Fable, your slow crawl forward will ultimately end with a finished novel—a novel written much deeper as a result of that
spiritual wonder that comes with parenthood.
Oh, and don't worry too much about quality; that will come with the revision. Just write it all out: get the story, structure, and
characters in place and you can clean it all up later. Of course, once you're finished with the first draft the long slow process of
revising your work takes place.
But remember, the same principles apply: you have to chunk it, plan it, multi-task it, and write it. You need to keep at it in small, but
regular increments. You need to allow yourself to be inspired (rather than irritated) by your children and their time constraints, and
you need to maintain an affirmative perspective.
You really don't need an ideal workspace. Heck, I work in the corner of the living room on an old converted hutch where I can supervise
the kids at play while working. And you don’t need lengthy periods of quiet time. You can write that novel right now, amidst the clamor
of your young children.
About The Author:
Magdalena Ball runs The Compulsive Reader website. She is
also the author of, The Art of Assessment: How to Review Anything
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