On July 30th 2013, my son was born. I cannot believe how amazing my wife was through the process (Once again! Seriously, you amaze me). Now my son is home, healthy, and destroying sleeping patterns but that is to be expected. Newborns do that to their parents.
As you might expect, having a child changes a lot of things. It also causes parents to reflect on the direction of their life, finances, and the future of their family. I began to think things like; where do I want to live in five years? Am I satisfied with my career? Am I satisfied with how I parent, treat my wife, and write? I hope I can never say I have done enough and continue to dig deeper.
As this is a blog about writing, I wish to speak to that today. When my first daughter was born nearly four years ago I was blindsided by the joy of parenting. I barely wrote for recreation, but I did keep a journal for her every day for the first year of her life. I did not get back to writing for about ten months. For my second daughter I wrote in a journal as well, and got back to it after about six months. Now, for the third child, I want to make a change. I want to keep at it. No interruptions.
The reason for this declaration is not because my son is less important. It is not because I wish to put my own dreams in front of my children and my wife. The reason is that change will always come in life. Roadblocks, new joys, and redirections will come in various forms. That is something I cannot change. What I can strive for is to continue to write despite what life may bring.
How about you?
What excuse do you have in your pocket to pull out and show your novel or writing friends?
What is stopping you today? Got that in your mind? Good. Now, how can you get around it? How can you create space and time to do what you love? Let me know in the comments section below.
Write 500 words today.
Cheers,
Bob
PART-TIME NOVEL 
He is adorable and this is a beautiful piece. My wife gave birth to our third child on 10 July so this post was very close to home. Strange the similar thoughts and emotions, or maybe it’s not so strange. Maybe this is just a natural extension of being a daddy and a writer. It’s about searching for harmony in your house and harmony does not necessarily equal balance–not when you have kids it doesn’t. But the future is a very real real thing to contemplate and these days my thoughts are constantly on it.
I like the site’s new paint job, btw. Looking cool.
Dietrich, thank you. I see the title of a post in your comment – Daddy Writer. Maybe even the theme for a blog to keep me going between novel submissions…
Anyway, I am glad to hear from someone else who 1, has three kids and 2, is a writer as well. Are you getting any sleep? Is it possible? How do you find time to write?
I decided to freshen up the theme for the blog. Part Time Novel will be two at the end of the month. Strange, time moves so quickly.
Hahahaha @ daddy writer. Sure, I love being a dad. My kids are my world and I want to provide for them and protect them and be there when they need me. This is me now and whatever I do, whether I’m writing or practicing law, it is linked to them and their future.
Having said this, it is noisy in the house. Real noisy. I try to write when I can and fortunately I’m still able to get a couple of hours a day and sometimes I steal a couple of hours at night after everyone is in bed, but finances are tight and I’m busy looking for work which will cut my writing time by 90%. But I won’t stop writing. It only means the quality of of the writing will have to increase because it has no other choice. Well, that’s the plan anyway. lol
A year ago my son was born and I went through the same thought process. It was then that I kicked my dreams into high gear and a year later I’ve accomplished my career’s version of a writer getting published. I can honestly look back and say my son was the cause of that.
Bryan, cool to hear. What did you publish? I searched your blog and did not see any links. If you have one let me know. I’d love to check it out.
I didn’t publish anything yet, but I figure the equivalent to a writer being published would be a hobbyist game developer becoming a full time game developer. A sort of I-feel-real moment. Now I’ll at least have my name on something that is published.
Ah, gotcha. Yes indeed I am tracking now. It is amazing the feeling of having charge of another life. I just keep realizing how selfish I can be and do my best to change that. Are you living in Grand Rapids?
I am in Grand Rapids right now. I’ll be moving to Texas for my new job though. We have about a month left here in Grand Rapids.
Wow. Amazing adventure. Best of luck with the move!