Such a wonderful post Heidi - I know this post applies to writing but I feel like this advice can apply to so many other things too, it's one giant permission slip to be kinder to ourselves ❤️. I so relate to the 'wanting to write but not having time to write' then feeling bad about that. But like you say, motherhood and our children's needs are ever evolving so sometimes it's easier than other times to find that time, well and inspiration. X
I've been a writer for as long as I can remember. I've actually tried to remember when I began to write recently, but can't, it's just always been a part of me. I studied journalism at university and wrote as part of my career for years, alongside keeping personal blogs. I had my first son in 2019 and felt like I'd run out of words. When they came back, I couldn't find a comfortable way of expressing them - I suddenly felt like everything I produced was too earnest, I'd lost my 'voice' and I didn't know what my boundaries were in terms of what I was happy to share about my life with a child and what I wasn't happy to share. After my second son was born, I found the inspiration to write again, but still struggled with those boundaries - during that time I did loads of training in things like infant sleep and baby massage, and started running my own classes. Strangely enough, it was though that that I found a passion other than writing, and therefore found my comfort zone - now I write about motherhood and babies generally, with more of an informational tone than I'd ever have done before, and am able to share about my own life within that zone without becoming a 'mummy blogger' (nothing against mummy bloggers, I just have anxiety about over sharing about my kids!)
It's been a real journey for me, and I feel like the long, accidental breaks really helped me to get to a place of 'i need to write to be myself, and it's ok if not everyone wants to read it.'
I will say though, after the birth of my third (five months ago) my brain turned to mush and the actual act of writing became very difficult. I just couldn't form sentences anymore and kept forgetting the meaning of words. Previously I could sit down for a few hours, write an entire piece, edit it, be happy and finished, and move on. Now it takes me weeks to reach that point, and I'm still not convinced I've done a good enough job. It's always evolving, isn't it? Motherhood, and writing.
I found that after my first I kept working on young adult novels but after my second I got so burned out trying to write and parent and be in the middle of a pandemic. I actually ending up shifting my writing much more into poetry, though I still have some ideas for novels. Also, after an extra-exhausting year last year, I decided that for most of December and January I wasn’t going to push myself to write, but to rest and refill the well instead. And I actually found myself jotting down ideas anyway but there was no pressure.
Such a wonderful post Heidi - I know this post applies to writing but I feel like this advice can apply to so many other things too, it's one giant permission slip to be kinder to ourselves ❤️. I so relate to the 'wanting to write but not having time to write' then feeling bad about that. But like you say, motherhood and our children's needs are ever evolving so sometimes it's easier than other times to find that time, well and inspiration. X
I loved every word of this.
I've been a writer for as long as I can remember. I've actually tried to remember when I began to write recently, but can't, it's just always been a part of me. I studied journalism at university and wrote as part of my career for years, alongside keeping personal blogs. I had my first son in 2019 and felt like I'd run out of words. When they came back, I couldn't find a comfortable way of expressing them - I suddenly felt like everything I produced was too earnest, I'd lost my 'voice' and I didn't know what my boundaries were in terms of what I was happy to share about my life with a child and what I wasn't happy to share. After my second son was born, I found the inspiration to write again, but still struggled with those boundaries - during that time I did loads of training in things like infant sleep and baby massage, and started running my own classes. Strangely enough, it was though that that I found a passion other than writing, and therefore found my comfort zone - now I write about motherhood and babies generally, with more of an informational tone than I'd ever have done before, and am able to share about my own life within that zone without becoming a 'mummy blogger' (nothing against mummy bloggers, I just have anxiety about over sharing about my kids!)
It's been a real journey for me, and I feel like the long, accidental breaks really helped me to get to a place of 'i need to write to be myself, and it's ok if not everyone wants to read it.'
I will say though, after the birth of my third (five months ago) my brain turned to mush and the actual act of writing became very difficult. I just couldn't form sentences anymore and kept forgetting the meaning of words. Previously I could sit down for a few hours, write an entire piece, edit it, be happy and finished, and move on. Now it takes me weeks to reach that point, and I'm still not convinced I've done a good enough job. It's always evolving, isn't it? Motherhood, and writing.
This is so lovely - it's a little bit of grace...
I found that after my first I kept working on young adult novels but after my second I got so burned out trying to write and parent and be in the middle of a pandemic. I actually ending up shifting my writing much more into poetry, though I still have some ideas for novels. Also, after an extra-exhausting year last year, I decided that for most of December and January I wasn’t going to push myself to write, but to rest and refill the well instead. And I actually found myself jotting down ideas anyway but there was no pressure.
Loved this so much, was so nice to see everyone's responses
This is so good. So encouraging. I love hearing from other writers in the trenches.
I found this so encouraging! Thank you for the permission to take a break, whether it’s accidentally or on purpose.