A co-worker of mine recently asked how I find the time to write given that I have a full-time job in government affairs, teach writing two nights a week at the community college in my area (and as a result must grade papers on other nights) and, most imporantly, I am a father and husband. The question was—what do I sacrifice?
As I thought about it, I came to the realization that other than a few hours of sleep, I don’t think I sacrifice anything to be a writer.
My priority, of course, is my family. I try to write at hours that do not affect my time with them, meaning early in the morning before they wake up, during my lunch hours or after they have gone to sleep. The same holds true for both weekdays and weekends. Being there for my family means everything to me. I know I’m guilty of sometimes allowing my mind to wander to a story I am writing or thinking about writing when I am with them, but I try not to let that happen. I enjoy my time with my family, whether we are going to dinner, to a movie, playing soccer or even playing a video game. I would never sacrifice those moments.
The full-time job is my bread and butter. I take it very seriously and try to do my best at it each day. Though teaching has always been my second career, I care about my students and spend hours grading papers to make sure they have all the input from me necessary to improve their own writing and grammar skills.
So how much time do I devote to writing? I try to write about ten good pages a week. That may not seem like a lot, but filling ten blank pages on a computer screen takes a lot of effort (at least for me). Some days I write more, some less—and some weeks I get more than ten pages done. Some weeks I fall short of ten pages. I don’t view any of the time I spend writing as a sacrifice because it is so much fun to invent worlds and tell stories that begin as some strange idea in the back of my mind. Sure, I may lose sleep, and that might be a sacrifice (and some might say not a very healthy sacrifice), but for me and so many other writers creating those worlds is a necessary part of life.
For some reason, I am compelled to write.
In the end, writing—with all its ups and downs—will never be a sacrifice. At the same time, I will never sacrifice any other part of my life to be a writer. Like everything else, it’s a matter of striking a balance and being true to yourself in all aspects of your life. Anyone who has ever devoted time to a hobby or a passion, whatever it might be, knows what I’m talking about. To all those writers out there, especially those who can only squeak out just a bit of time each day to write, keep it up. Even a few minutes a day of writing matter. To all those who want to write but think they can’t find the time, you’d be amazed what you can do—without sacrificing any other part of your life.
Well, again, you will lose sleep. I’d write more, but I think I’ll go take a nap.