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This tweet about author Ursula K. Le Guin’s writing routine came across my path this weekend:
Ursula K. Le Guin’s writing routine is the ideal writing routine. pic.twitter.com/D0sXigDvWe
— Michael J Seidlinger (@mjseidlinger) January 18, 2019
Honestly it sounds dreamy…and nothing like my writing routine. So I thought I’d share mine:
- All night long: Nurse the baby
- 6am: First big kid wakes up, if the baby is already awake I’ll get up and nurse her on the couch while supervising the big kids as they wake up. If the baby is still asleep, Daniel gets up and lets me nap with the baby.
- 7:30am: Breakfast and Mass readings
- 8am: Send kids back to their rooms to get dressed and tidy up.
- 9am: Start homeschool day–I do a short workout/stretch and then shower.
- 10am: Feed baby then write @ library while she naps.
- 12pm: Head home (Daniel makes lunch)
- 1pm: Clean up (dishes and laundry)
- 2pm: Kids get screen time and I podcast or answer emails.
- 3pm: Get ready to take kids to martial arts, read in car while baby naps.
- 6pm: Dinner followed by family prayer and bedtime read alouds.
- 7:30pm: Send kids to bed. Feel exhausted and become one with the couch while snuggling the baby to sleep. Too tired to get any real writing done.
As you can see, it doesn’t look like an ideal writing routine. Because it’s not. But it’s a real writing routine for a real person.
I’m not sharing it to complain that it doesn’t look like Le Guin’s ideal routine. I love our daily routine, I love my life, and wouldn’t change this season of motherhood for the world! I’m sharing my writing routine with you because I don’t want creatives to think that they can’t accomplish anything unless they have the ideal–especially if what’s considered “ideal” is a schedule that includes no obligation to take care of other people.
The writing life is worthwhile. But being a writer doesn’t have to mean a schedule like Le Guin’s. The writing life can be jotting down ideas in the stolen moments between getting babies down for naps and prepping dinner and that’s okay, too. It doesn’t have to be all art and nothing else OR all motherhood and nothing else. The creative life is woven beautifully into the rest of my life and the little people that I gave life to.
I used to feel jealous of creatives who had fewer kids, easier kids, kids who slept later, kids who played more independently, or space in the budget for childcare. Despite being completely in love with my family, I spent far too many hours imagining all the writing I could get done if only I had someone else’s life. And you know what? That was toxic and so ungrateful. I was given MY LIFE. I was given MY KIDS. My creative life is going to look like MY creative life and no one else’s. I can embrace that with a heart full of gratitude now.
By making creatives think that there’s only one way for them to pursue their talents, we discourage people (especially mothers) from sharing those talents with the rest of us.
Don’t be paralyzed by comparison with other writers’ routines. My writing routine might not look like someone else’s. But it’s my ideal writing routine. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
« Become one with the couch. » yes, so do I. I call it my magnet turning on. ?
haha!
Yes! That’s my writing window too (maybe 2-3 days a week) + brianstorming and jotting notes throughout the rest of the week! And you know what?? I am WAY more creative/productive in those few hours than I ever was before kids/when I had tons more time on my hands. I think the chaos of family life breeds creativity on a whole new level ?
Yes! And it makes you an incredible time manager when you actually DO get to write/create.
Yes! And also, Le Guin had a long and fruitful writing career. I can only imagine that this was her routine after her kids were out of the house
Also, I finally got your book from the library. It is very encouraging. Thank you!
Yes, totally! And thank you!
I really enjoyed this post! I’m a musician and, while I’m not a mom or a wife, I need to remember my routine won’t always be the “ideal” routine!
Thanks for reading, Madeleine!
Does Daniel do the homeschooling? I’m not a writer but one thing I have struggled with in terms of scheduling is that it changes so often, new babies, new commitments, one kid now off to public school, etc. I’m not good about admitting things will need to change….frequently, lol.
We tag team it! I think I got hung up for MANY YEARS in trying to get to that perfect schedule that was going to work forever, but as you said, it just can’t work like that. Always changing! <3
Your post is so timely for me. There is very scarce “free time” in my foreseeable future but I so want to get back to writing. I now have some ideas for finding my own groove while caring for the beloved little ones in my life. Thank you!
Brava! This is SO IMPORTANT.
I’ve lived through a variety of “ideal” routines, depending on where I was at in life. Consistency to a schedule isn’t as important as consistency to priorities. And putting God first, even when it’s hard to give Him that time in my full schedule, has always equalled better work, if not more work.
I’m so glad you make time for writing, because we’re so blessed by your words. Thanks, Haley!
I believe she write her first book in the summer with all her kids home. Her schedule probably looked different then.
So good. Most of my writing takes place with the baby sleeping on me in a carrier…and I don’t think I could even put it in a schedule slot for either time of day or length of time. I’ve been discouraged by the kids being sick all. winter. long. as well as neither one sleeping well. Thanks for the encouragement to not give up.
And the part about Hilde nursing all night long…here, too, sister. Here, too. All night, every night.
Great read! Thank you
Agreed, this is the dreamy writing schedule of a woman whose children are all grown. I’m sure Le Guin’s was very different when her three kids were small. I take so much inspiration from reading about unorthodox writing schedules: Trollope writing from 5:30 am every morning before work as a civil servant (and maintaining that schedule even while traveling), Margaret Oliphant squeezing in writing at the family table in the midst of her many children, Jane Austen and the little slips of paper she famously would conceal when a visitor came to call.
Right now my schedule is from about 9:30-11 during the baby’s first nap. Summers when all my kids are home I grab early morning hours and big blocks on the weekend. If I’m working full time out of the house soon I’ll have to switch to evening hours. My schedule seems to change yearly but the writing still gets done!
I love that you shared this. I confess having suffered more than a little curiosity about what your schedule looks like, now I know!
But seriously, it’s so important that we encourage each other to use our gifts in the context of the unique life that we’ve been given. I put off writing for YEARS, waiting until I’d have a day that looked like Le Guin’s. I’m starting to doubt that I will ever have one single day that looks like that – and it’s fine. I don’t need that. I need something rather different, which is to squeeze my work into the nooks and crannies of an ever-changing schedule of raising 9, with a nurse-all-night baby (solidarity), 5 in school out of the house, 1 in homeschool, a 3 year old who’s kind of everywhere, all the time, and one looking to get her own place this year. <3
If you haven't already read Jennifer Fulwiler's One Beautiful Dream, you must. You'd love it.
This is such a great post and so helpful for moms!! I so agree – squeezing in minutes here and there is basically how it works many (or most) days! Thanks so much for sharing your day Haley!