Balance

  Q: The balance between life and work can be difficult to manage as a writer, because we all "work at home". How do you succeed, and fail?

Being fairly prolific (my 33rd book comes out Feb 27th) I am asked quite often how I manage to write so much in what time I have lefter working a day job, raising two kids and all the extra curricular I try to take part in.

There’s no simple answer other than to manage the time you do have well. I’m a night writer. It was easier when my kids were younger and they went to bed earlier, but after my wife and two daughters are in bed and the house is quiet is when I get to work. I know by the end of the day I may only have 60-90 minutes of time, or more to the point of brain power, left in me to get some words down that day. I need to go into that slim window knowing what I’m going to write and to be able to utilize that time efficiently. 

I’m an outliner, which helps. I like to finish a thought or a scene during a writing session so I’m not spending any time picking up on yesterday’s momentum. I write in silence. All small things I do to use that time well.

The harder part is shutting off the rest of my day and switching over into the world of the book and nothing else. We all know stresses of life can easily creep in to the creative side of our brain and make a real mess. The end of 2023 didn’t see much output from me since I’ve been stressed over being out of work. As a freelance employee it is something I deal with regularly, but the current slowdown in the TV industry has meant I’ve been out of work longer than I have at any point in the past 25 years of my career. Hard to concentrate on a made-up world when my real life presents real problems.

Also, last year my wife battled breast cancer. She is doing well now and is in remission with a good prognosis, but it also drained any mental energy and inspiration for writing for several months. Life will always creep in.

No matter what the roadblocks in the way, though, writing is always a welcome distraction and a way to think about anything and everything but the stresses of normal life. It’s why we read and why we write.

The balance between being present and attentive to your “real” life and to the imaginary world you are creating can be tricky. At its best, writing can be a way to return that balance, even in the most trying of times, when it serves are a respite and a form of therapy to work out issues weighing on our minds. 

And then some nights there’s a great movie I want to see or dinner with friends. Those nights I can’t let myself feel guilty if I miss my word count. It is balance, after all. If your book takes over your life then you’ve only swung the pendulum too far the other direction.