I wrote in a journal for my first two children every day for the first year of their life. I am doing it for my son now, he’s 6 months old. I love the fact that the last thing I do each day is write and write about something that matters very deeply to me.
I don’t pretend to be C.S. Lewis in my ponderings, I just try to intermingle my sons daily activities, milestones, and offer advice and thoughts about life. It might not be brilliant, but I hope it shows how much I love my children and how much I want them to have a deep rich life. I love doing something I love and using it in a way to honor my family.
I can also see the benefits of writing every day.
I believe writing is a lot like learning a language. Take the Spanish I used to know for example. While I took classes in high school and college and even went to Mexico and Honduras, now, I can barely bumble through a conversation. Sure it might come back after a while but for the most part it’s gone my friend.
When I could speak Spanish I was learning and speaking it often. I was immersed in the language. Our creative muscles work a lot like that too.
If you can’t find the time to write for a good chunk of time each day, though I’d argue we could all find at least an hour, keep a note pad by your bedside and write each day before you go to bed. Write four sentences. Write a page. Do what you can but do daily so you train your mind and don’t lose those writing muscles. After all, if your goal is to be a writer and to write for a career it might be wise to see if you can both do it and stomach it.
Write 500 words today.
Cheers,
Bob
PART-TIME NOVEL 
I wish I would have thought of writing for my children when they were little! I guess I could start now, but it seems a little weird when they’re 10 and 8.
My wife and I write a letter each year on their birthday too. That might be a place to start. She is trying to keep funny things they say in a journal too but there way are too many to remember!
On Thu, Feb 13, 2014 at 12:03 PM, Part-Time Novel wrote:
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I love that idea of writing everyday, especially about your children. It’ll make a perfect present later on. Even now, my kids (ages 3 and 6) are thrilled to hear stories about when they were babies.
The main ideas we do write about are the funny things they say. (Often these are on pieces of scrap paper that we eventually gather into a document.) Even years later, these will continue to make us laugh.
These in turn give personality to the characters you later write about.
I like the thought of using some of it in fiction. It is great to look back and read earlier entries too.
Yes, write or you’ll get rusty! I love that you write a journal for your children. Mine are currently reading my novel and as they’re in the target range I’m quite nervous!
Yikes! That would be nerve wracking. Write or you’ll get rusty, sounds like a blog post title!
It is!!!
But what an accomplishment! I just sent my redraft to an agent. I sent it in and they turned it down asking for changes which I have done and sent back. I certainly understand what you mean!
On Thu, Feb 13, 2014 at 3:25 PM, Part-Time Novel wrote:
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Good luck – hopefully they’ll take it on second time round!
Solid advice, thanks, Bob. I feel lazy now. I never thought of writing about my children like that, though I have a musings journal and I mention them often. They are still very small and I use photos and video to chronicle their lives, which is something that happened naturally and is made easier by technology, but it is still not the same as writing, where you pour your soul out and record it, like a screenshot of your emotions at that precise point in time. Thanks again for an inspiring post.
Lol Sorry! I didn’t mean to make you feel lazy Dietrich! If it helps I began writing everyday for them out of stubbornness. I told the idea about writing everyday in a journal to my wife, she adored the devotion but wasn’t sure I’d have the time (because she is smarter than me and does not make ridiculous commitments like that) and I felt that I wanted to prove her wrong. Let’s just hope I’m as tenacious when my novels get rejected!
I’m confident you will be. In this game determination is important. Writing advice aside, what you are doing is very special and I commend you for it. Cheers!
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