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Re: Family interference
Posted: July 7th, 2012, 6:09 pm
by Amanda Elizabeth
I live 2,500 away from my family and my roommate knows that if my door is closed I'm busy unless its really important so I don't have many interruption issues. As for writing in general, my mom loves my book (one of the few who read the first draft) and my dad is very supportive. I pretty much only write in the middle of the night so I don't need to worry about phone calls, but turn my phone on silent anyway and put it in my nightstand drawer. I also shut down all social media distractions like my twitter client and e-mail notifications.
Re: Family interference
Posted: July 9th, 2012, 12:26 am
by wilderness
Cameron D James wrote:
So quite often I get this:
Partner: "Shouldn't you be writing?"
Me: "Um, I did like 1000 words earlier today."
Partner: "Then do another 1000."
Ha! That's different.
My husband is very supportive. We both have our own projects/interests/pursuits/whathaveyou and we usually agree when we're going to leave each other alone and work on them. I don't think this problem is limited to writing--it's a question of managing your own time and drawing boundaries with your family about your passions, whatever they may be. Just be honest and firm with them about the space you need and after a while they'll get used to it.
Re: Family interference
Posted: July 11th, 2012, 11:21 am
by LizV
Cameron - They nag because they care.
My housemate isn't a writer, but she's gotten rather enthusiastic about the drill-sergeant approach. We've had to have a talk about when that's appropriate and when it isn't, but it's good to have somebody to call me on it when I get lazy.
(I don't discuss writing with my family; they can find out about the novel when I have a professionally-published copy to put in their hands.)
Re: Family interference
Posted: July 11th, 2012, 12:07 pm
by Aimée
Amanda Elizabeth wrote:I live 2,500 away from my family and my roommate knows that if my door is closed I'm busy unless its really important so I don't have many interruption issues. As for writing in general, my mom loves my book (one of the few who read the first draft) and my dad is very supportive. I pretty much only write in the middle of the night so I don't need to worry about phone calls, but turn my phone on silent anyway and put it in my nightstand drawer. I also shut down all social media distractions like my twitter client and e-mail notifications.
I wish my life was like this.
Re: Family interference
Posted: July 15th, 2012, 7:24 pm
by MAP
Beethovenfan wrote:I have a husband and two kids. My husband is working on getting his PhD right now so he's usually not available to help me with our kids. I've learned to juggle my time. But they are a little older now. When they were young, it was hard to find time to write. But if I had to choose between writing and kids, I'll choose to have kids. I find writing very rewarding, but my kids are my life. They take a lot out of you, but they give back so much, and in ways that you never knew you needed. It's kinda difficult to explain, sorta like describing salt to a person who has never tasted it. Once you know what it's like, you go "Ah, yes. I know what you mean."
As for family interference... yes. All. The. Time! That's when you learn not to lose your cool too much, try to set a few boundaries, and hope they don't get crossed too often so you can get something done!
This is me almost exactly. Except my husband isn't getting his PhD. He just works a lot. He's really supportive, but with two young kids and house to keep semi-clean, I get little time to write. Almost no uninterupted time except late at night. But you learn to adapt. Make do with the time you have.
Re: Family interference
Posted: July 18th, 2012, 8:49 pm
by Claudie
MAP wrote:This is me almost exactly. Except my husband isn't getting his PhD. He just works a lot. He's really supportive, but with two young kids and house to keep semi-clean, I get little time to write. Almost no uninterupted time except late at night. But you learn to adapt. Make do with the time you have.
I think in a way we all learn to adapt to our super crazy lives. I'm lucky on the family side as I said earlier, but most of my interruptions come from school (except in summer, yay). In my case it means I have to sneak in half-hours whenever I can, but for some it'll mean going to bed far later or getting up early. I do think if we didn't learn to adapt (not always, all the time, but in general), we wouldn't really be writers.
Re: Family interference
Posted: July 19th, 2012, 2:20 pm
by AnimaDictio
My friends and family are all aware that I'm a writer. They really support the devotionals/sermons/religious advice stuff that I write.
But few of them are supportive of the fantasy novel I'm working on. When I have brought it up, there was little interest.
My wife is somewhat resigned to the fact that I write whenever I can. I've gotten used to writing while she talks to me and she's gotten used to me being half-present in the conversation.