I need inspiration from new moms/dads++

i think you're doing it right by stealing a few moments here and there when you can but really a 6 month old pretty much is a 24/7 job, sugarhit.

outside of that, it will get easier.
slowly.

but you will be able to claim some of your writing time back.


best wishes.

I didn't write till my son was 18 months...

To be fair I had stopped writing before the pregnancy, and it took me a while to get back to it.

Several things helped me. First I am ADD, distractions are awful. For me, my productivity went up a ton with an alphasmart and an MP3 player. I prioritized time a few evenings or weekend that was mine. My husband had to stay with the kiddo, and I got out of the house. A lot of my best writing has happened at McDonalds, because it is close to my house and open late.

The second thing for me, was joining a writing group to give me goals.

Last, I needed to accept that a lot of my time wasn't going to be my own, and I needed to be happy with a thousand words here and there. It will get better (although it occasionally gets worse before it gets better, the first six month of age three was a nightmare.)

My son is four now, and doing preschool for 2 hours, 4 days a week. But number 2 (and our last) is on the way, so come this spring I'll be back in the land of sleep deprivation and diapers again. I'm scrambling to get my novel finished before our new arrival!

My daughter is two and I'm still struggling with where to prioritize my writing in the never ending list of things that need to be done. Finally got the outline and chapter 1 written on the occasional evenings she spends with Grandma and Grandpa.

Mine is 7 now, but I feel ya!

You know, when they are wee tiny lil' things, they're pretty easy. They sleep a lot. When mine was awake, I'd often wear her in a sling. I could still reach around (and look around) and type on my laptop. The motion often put her to sleep.

When she got to the age where she was more mobile, things were more hectic. I learned how to write in shorter bursts. Those sentences all add up.

I was a moment-stealer. I learned to be disciplined - when I had ten minutes to write, I wrote, whether I felt like it or not. No "waiting for the muse", as it were. But some days I was fall-down tired, and just couldn't do it. I learned not to beat myself up for skipping a day here and there, either.

Don't kill yourself over your word count. Things get easier, they really do. Write what you can, when you can, and enjoy the kiddo in the meantime. The words will still be there when you are ready for them.

The first three months with both of mine were pretty easy, relatively speaking. Eat, sleep, poop, cry, lather, rinse, repeat (them); cry, sleep, eat, cry, write, shower occasionally (me). I did my Masters degree around the birth of my second; turned my rough draft of my thesis in the week before his due date, did my revisions over his head during his marathon nursing sessions, defended when he was three months and then gave up life for the next six.

Once they woke up out of the fourth trimester potato stage, things got a lot more interesting. In that "may you live in interesting times" kind of way.

(I was still extremely lucky in that we have one-year mat leave where I live, and my first was in day care while I was home with the second. I know a huge number of people don't have that luxury. Privilege firmly acknowledged.)

So writing during naptimes, a few sentences here and there once they were down for the night. A lot of writing during lunchtimes at work, and writing on my phone during bus rides when I had kid-free bus rides. I wrote almost an entire novel-length fic on those bus rides, syncing Docs-on-the-go to dropbox and picking up lines here and there when I had a chance to breathe. It was my escape.

Now that they're in school and preschool, and have predictable bedtimes, life is much easier to plan. I write after they go to bed, and my work schedule is erratic so that I often end up with days off while they're at school and partner is at work. Once the basic chores are done? I take advantage even when I don't feel like it.

My last couple of weeks have been like pulling teeth to get words on the page, but there's a lot more motivation to 'git 'er done' now when I know they're going to be home all day every day on Christmas break, starting in a few days!

The one thing impossible to write while the kids are awake? Sex scenes. Even when they're in a different area of the house, I just can't. Those get saved for days off and evenings.