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thoughts for aspiring writers

finding time to write
By Tamra Norton

I can think of 167 reasons why I’m too busy to sit down and write—and at least half of them are actually valid. Let’s face it…as parents, spouses, members of the church, neighbors, exercisers, Oprah viewers (this list could go on and on) we are very busy people. And as the mother of seven children—one in college, five home schooled, and one in diapers—I haven’t felt my load lighten much since I saw that first pink plus sign on a home pregnancy test nearly two decades ago.

Now, please don’t break out the tissue—I love being a “mom of many.” I wouldn’t trade a single one of those sticky-faced kisses, or adolescence induced melt-downs that I’ve shared with my yungins’ for an entire week at The Maui Writers Conference or my name emblazoned across the top of a New York Times bestseller. (Hold on a minute while I touch my nose to make sure it isn’t sprouting a branch—Oh, I’m kidding…I’m kidding!)

But as dedicated as I am to my boisterous bunch, we have all learned a fundamental lesson that applies to our particular family; If Mommy can’t—or doesn’t— make time to write, Mommy is not a very happy person.

It’s not that I walk around grumpy all the time if I’m not writing. I’m more prone to depression followed closely by a chocolate-induced coma. And this is precisely why I’ve made writing an important aspect of my daily life along with such basics as eating, bathing, reading, praying, teaching, mothering, e-mailing—Oh, I’d better not go there!

Herein lies my dilemma: How is it that I have this fundamental need to express myself through writing, and yet, some days I’ve avoid the Microsoft Word icon on my computer like I do an e-mail beginning with the statement: Fwd: THIS REALLY WORKS! followed by 68 e-mail addresses? (Oops…I wasn’t going to go there).

The fact is, achieving a consistent writing schedule takes discipline—which is something I lack a good deal of (refer back to the chocolate induced coma remark). And yet, I have written two published LDS novels in the past two years, and I’ve got two more in the works. So now the question is, how does this undisciplined mother of seven do it?

The answer: I had to find out what worked for me! This may sound simplistic, but it’s a crucial concept. I have a very successful writer friend that has published a half dozen or so LDS novels while employed full time as a city manager, and serving on his stake’s high council. How does he do it? He writes every morning from 5 to 7. Would this work for me? I truly doubt it. It’s all I can do to scramble eggs without tipping over during these daybreak hours.

My mornings are filled with getting three teenagers off to seminary, sending hubby off to work, fixing the younger ones breakfast and then getting them started on home school assignments. I’m in total “task-master” mode from 5:45 a.m. until about noon at which point I not-so-gracefully collapse into bed with my littlest one—I’m totally into the siesta concept and truly believe the Mexicans are divinely inspired. I’d even bet that in Heaven, naptime is the accepted norm!

So, when do I write?

I have learned through trial and error that my peek writing time—the time when I’m most creative and productive—is after my little ones have gone to bed. My teenagers are usually reading in their rooms until they drop off to sleep—a habit they’ve picked up from their mom and dad. And my dear husband is already sleeping since he has to wake up so early. The lights around the house are dim and the only noise I hear is the fan in my bedroom channeled through the baby monitor sitting near my desk—oh, and the occasional snoring of my dear one.

This is my magical hour! This is when my mind and fingers come alive. Thoughts and words seem to flow freely and abundantly as I delve into the worlds and minds of my protagonists. I become a teenage girl dealing with the struggles of adolescence, a college co-ed who has built up expectations about falling in love, or a nine year old trying to deal with childhood in new surroundings.

I am lost in other worlds.

I am home!

I resist the urge to check any e-mail until I’ve written at least a certain amount of words (you may not understand this concept unless you’re an e-mail addict like me). I actually use this as leverage…and it works! So this is my suggestion…find what works for you, and in the words of President Kimball—“DO IT!”

"I'm a Writer, Right?" by Tamra Norton

I finally did it! I’m not sure where I mustered up the courage, but I really did it! And, guess what? My nose didn’t grow longer, lightening didn’t strike me down, and best of all, nobody rolled their eyes, sympathetically patted me on the back, or—horror of horrors—laughed at me. Yes, this past February, while sitting across from Mr. H&R I looked deep into accounting eyes and declared my occupation as “Writer” on my 2002 income tax return. Now I’m official, right?

I’ve been working on and off at this writing gig for at least ten years (okay, more off than on—I tend to write in spurts). But I could probably line a birdcage for decades with rejection letters from uninterested editors, publishers and agents. So, why has it taken me this long to officially bestow upon myself the esteemed title of “Writer”?

Wasn’t I a writer back in college when I received an A of that first composition I turned in? Wasn’t I a writer ten years ago when I transformed my emotions into words and wrote a poem for my parents about a sister I feel so close to, but never actually knew in this earthly life because she passed away before I was even born? Wasn’t I a writer when I submitted countless articles and stories to magazines, all returned with that doggon “Thanks, but no thanks” letter? Wasn’t I a writer when I poured my soul and sweat into numerous Christmas letters, newsletters, poems, primary programs, stories, skits and newspaper columns? So why do I finally feel like a writer?

Well, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it felt fabulous to receive a W-2 from a publisher this past year. But, to be honest, most days, I really don’t feel much like a writer. Isn’t a writer someone who sits in a solitary atmosphere—perhaps in an attic transformed into a writers studio looking out onto a meadow swaying with wildflowers? Don’t writers spend their days at the park, sitting under the shade of a massive elm, scrawling on a legal pad while nature acts as their muse? Isn’t it time that we give up these romantic notions about the life of a writer, and join reality?

I wrote most of my last manuscript one handed, in my pajamas, with a newborn connected to me. After all, breastfeeding is the healthiest form of nutrition—and it was the only way to get work done while keeping my little “bundle of joy” happy. Also, my “writer’s studio” is my dining room transformed into a computer room that looks out onto my un-mowed back lawn. With very little imagination I can almost picture a meadow! And since I have seven children, ages 12 months to 17 years, my “muse” is often interrupted by piano practice, sibling squabbles, requests for food, the blaring music of Limp Bizkit or Saliva from my sixteen year olds CD player, and the perpetual plea of my four year old, “Mommy, will you wipe my bottom?” At least the kid’s concerned with proper hygiene—I must be doing something right.

I say that if we want to write, and we put any effort into this dream, then we are writers! It doesn’t take some magic component like a “writer’s studio” or an acceptance letter from an editor. Those are things that may come in the future, but let’s not have these future dreams seem so far reaching that we let them hinder our progress today—by the way, I consider one paragraph, progress!

I’d like to issue a challenge. Next time you fill out a form for a library card, driver’s license, or the IRS, make that bold move. When it comes time to fill out the “occupation” line, declare yourself a “Writer”. If you won’t, no one else will.