Don’t Make the Time — TAKE It

I started writing a novel about 12 years ago. It was an assignment for a second correspondence course I was taking through the Institute of Children’s Literature. I had three young daughters, a new teaching job, and dwindling confidence in my writing future. So, I took a break, from the course and from writing the novel.

But I never really closed the book on that story. It remained on my mind over the last decade, and I always wanted to finish it. I knew I would never fully commit to writing anything else until that story was complete.

Over the years, I worked on my manuscript a little bit here and there. I took part in a National Novel Writing Month “Camp” to help give me the push I needed to keep going. I read my story aloud to my students with the hope that they would motivate me to continue working and remind me that it was worth writing. They did. But I still couldn’t seem to get beyond a certain point. I was just tweaking the words and spinning my wheels, unable to go forward.

Then the stay-at-home order took effect. There were less goings on and less going places, so despite the busyness of remote teaching, I had more time to write and a renewed desire to be creative.

It wasn’t so much the having more time or even making time. It was about taking it. I saw the quarantime as an opportunity to truly prioritize the things that I wanted to accomplish. And to ensure that when life got back to normal, I would look back on this time and feel that I’d made the most of it.

So, I reenrolled in the course, determined to finish what I’d started. And literally, I picked up where I left off. I revised the writing I’d done so far and sent in my assignment — the first four chapters of my middle grade novel. Instead of just stealing moments here and there, I started taking advantage of the time that I had, with nowhere to go, and allowed myself to make writing a priority.

During my hiatus from the course, I still wanted to pursue my writing dreams, but I had let the doubts seep in. I didn’t believe I had enough creative and interesting ideas to truly sustain the life of a writer. But I’d always heard that the more one writes, the better the ideas flow. And now I know that is entirely true. Allowing myself more time to write has sparked an idea generator within me I’d forgotten existed.

What is as powerful as time, though, is timing. If I had finished my novel back then, it would not have been what it is now and what it will be when it is finished. The bones of it are the same, but the meat, the story, its characters, even the length of it, are not what they once were nor would have been. (When I first started writing it, my character, who was trying to track someone down, used a phone book!) The path I’ve taken to get to this point, where I am in my life right now, what I’ve experienced with my students and my own daughters, what I’ve read, and what I’ve learned as a writer — all of it changes the story. And the timing makes it better.

I’ve dreamed of being a writer all my life. Now, finally, I take the time to make it happen. And there is no better time.