“Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. ~ Proverbs 31:29-30
Hello Everyone,
We all live busy lives. Whether we work in or outside the home, help at our church, have children still at home, or are raising our grandchildren, we are all busy. So how do you fit the decision to become a writer into your busy life?
This week’s topic was “Faith, Family, and Career; fitting it all in”.
There was a time in my life that as a Pastor’s wife I was just too busy. I was attending all the church functions, teaching two different Bible studies, acting as president of the Sunday School board, and homeschooling my son. All this while trying to maintain my status as domestic goddess and chef extraordinaire. Not to mention being a good wife to my husband.
First of all, I had to make the decision that I was going to commit to becoming a writer. I spent a lot of years only writing here and there and never really getting anywhere. I would pull my novel out during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writer’s Month in November), but put it away the rest of the year. There came a point in time when I made the decision. I want to be a writer with a finished and published book.
Then I had to decide that writing was going to take priority in my life. I informed my family and friends, so they could hold me accountable and support me in my decision. After that I needed to flex my “no” muscles. Some of the things I needed to say no to were things other people wanted me to do. Some of them were things I was doing that were eating up my time, like watching tv or playing games on Facebook. I have discovered that when you try to do too many things you can’t do any of them well. If you are going to prioritize your writing, you are going to have to say ‘no’ to someone or something in your life.
The next step is the nitty gritty, nuts and bolts of managing your time and putting writing into your schedule. I like to think of it as a job, an ‘It’s time to go to work’ kind of mentality. That doesn’t work for some others. Rhonda likes to do bullet journals and that works great for her. You need to find what works for you. It may take some experimenting, but the truth is, if writing is a priority you will find the time to do it.
Decide, make it a priority, schedule it in, and finally, find a support system. We here on the Christian Indie Writers Podcast would love to support you! Leave a comment below and let us know how you’re fitting writing into your busy life.
Join us next week for our third episode in the ‘Faith and Writing’ series “What to do when it all goes wrong”. Jamie, Jen, Rhonda and I will discuss what to do when life throws you curveballs, lemons, or simply drops a giant anvil on your head. How do we handle it and how does our faith factor in?
Until then, God Bless and see you next time.
