When I think about women’s lives, I think of all the phases
that many of us go through on this journey on the planet. Beyond the normal “growing up, teenager,
adult” phases, life gets a lot more complicated for some of us. Myself included.
There have been phases of my life where being a “writer” has
fit right in a joyful way. As a young mother, I wrote in between sessions of
nursing babies. I wrote early in the
morning, late at night, sometimes on weekends.
I grabbed spare moments whenever I could. Those spare moments added up and the result
became several of my first novels. The
issue during this phase was time management.
And fatigue. The stories were running
rampant in my head. The challenge was to
sit down in the chair long enough to have them flow through my fingertips and
onto the page.
During some of the stints when I worked full time as well as
coped with mommy-hood, even my well practiced time management skills took a
dive. There were long bouts when the
pages did NOT pile up, but to tell the truth, I was too busy to worry about it.
But I am a writer, and the motivation to write came back as
soon as I came up for air. Fast forward
a few years, a few more books.
But then there were emotional storms. Caring for a dad who was failing caused a lot
of upheaval in the feelings department, alongside the stress of finding the
time to do what I needed to do in an already busy life. Then, more family and
personal issues. Too much upheaval to
write.
The truth was, I NEEDED to write. I couldn’t put it aside
the same way I had before. But in the
stress and pain of emotion, I could not find the inspiration to write the
happily ever after sweet romance that is my stock and trade.
But I had to write.
It was a survival thing. So I wrote articles instead. I wrote several
short plays. I wrote two middle grade
children’s novels. I discovered it was a
lot of fun to write a lot of different things.
The day came when the sun came out once more, and I was
inspired to write my romances again.
That sure feels great. Though my
writing remains much more diverse, and I like it that way. I like to write all those different things
today.
What have I learned?
That life’s phases can challenge us, and inspire us, and make us better
people. And sometimes make us better writers. And a writer needs to write, no
matter what.
Writer or reader.. How have those challenging life phases
affected your path and helped you to grow?
Christine Bush is the
award winning author of many books and novellas of sweet romance and light
mystery. She also writes Middle Grade Fiction and short plays. When she isn’t
writing, she can be found working with clients as a Marriage and Family Therapist
in private practice, or teaching Psychology at a local college. She lives with her family and two crazy cats
in northeastern Pennsylvania, and loves to hear from readers and aspiring
writers.
Her book “Cindy’s Prince” can be found at Amazon
I don't think I could have coped with writing and having small children. I only started writing when my kids were teens. I loved creating stories when I was a child but forgot about it for many years when I was working. It came back to me later but I wouldn't be without it now. I'm sure I'll write until I drop dead!
ReplyDeleteI wrote with small children and we were the hangout house for neighborhood boys. My daughter had a desk next to mine. I had a college "nanny" - meaning she came in to help watch the kids - and Mr. Curtis was good about helping by taking them to the playland at McDonalds "occasionally". However, when I had to take care of my dad, he only wanted me. That was very difficult.
ReplyDeleteI wrote my first book while holding my youngest son on my lap. He was about a year old at the time. That was in the days of typewriters and every once in a while, seeing all those keys got to be too much for him and his little hand would come up and add several new letters to words. I became an expert at holding his two little hands in one of mine while using my other hand to wield the White-Out.
ReplyDeleteWow, I feel like we are writing on the two signs of the coin.
ReplyDeleteI have three young girls and finding time to write is difficult. Finding energy is even harder. But it keeps me sane.
ReplyDelete