Finding Time to Write When You Work Full-Time

In addition to the demands of her full-time job, my friend Julie just published a book -- her second, in fact. It's called Torch and chronicles the continuing adventures of firefighter Bette Maguire, who we met in Julie's terrific first novel, Soot and Sweat on Flesh. I have a signed copy of the first one. Julie is passionate about firefighting -- as well as writing. I'm thrilled for her, but I have to say I'm a little bit jealous.

I started writing for myself when I was 8 years old. My first "book" was about a cave explorer and his adventures, but I got bored with it quickly and never finished. While I've written countless articles and many short stories and I used to freelance quite a bit, writing a full-blown book just seems to elude me.

But I made another attempt in November during National Novel Writing Month, where aspiring novelists attempt to churn out 50,000 words in a month ("get ready to write a lot of crap," the Web site says). Here's what I wrote about my childhood home:

The house I grew up in was built in the great year of 1864, when the Civil War was raging throughout the country and President Abraham Lincoln was in the White House as our president. My parents looked at a fixer-upper with three bedrooms and one bathroom that was occupied by a very old widow who couldn't take care of the place anymore and thus decided to sell it to whomever could buy it and take the proper care of it that she wasn't able to do anymore. My parents saw a lot of potential in this home, even though it needed a lot of repairs and fixes for them to make it livable for them and their family. They could see through the disrepair and neglect to see for themselves that this could be a home for them and their family.

Crapalicious, huh?

I got to 12,500 words around midmonth and just ran out of steam. I do have a full-time job and a personal life, after all.

I guess, as Julie demonstrates, it's just a matter of priorities. Most of us can't quit our jobs to write full-time, living off our spouses, as a guy I once knew did. I do feel if you have a novel in you, you'll find time to write despite life's inevitable distractions and obstacles. At the same time, writing can be harder work than any full-time job. Maybe I'll get both done in 2006.

Read Norma's take on the writing life here.

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