Writing and Children

I had an interesting conversation with a self published author. I met him outside of Wal-Mart. He was trying to figure out how to get his book sold through the Wal-Mart chain. Sadly it wasn't his ambitions that caught my attention, it was the comment he had made.

He made the comment, "Writing is better for men because they are not weighed down with children. Women just don't have the time to write if they are not single and childless."

I felt the need to update him. First I will point out there are single men as well as married ones who write while taking care of their children. Women have for centuries written while taking care of their families. I put the number of how many children they had after each name.

Jackie Collins (3), Anne Rice (2), Judy Blume (3), J.K Rowling (3), Danielle Steel (9), Stephen and Tabitha King (3). I could keep listing more, these are just a few who not only raised their children but were successful writers in their own right.

Raising children certainly makes life challenging at times especially if you happen to have a child that is very opinionated, curious and hyper except it can be done and many have proven it.

From my own personal experience I know I can't just say I'm going to write for a few hours, my kids have their own thoughts what I'll be doing with my time. I squeeze in writing when I can. My husband and I switch off giving each other personal time to write. Both my husband and I write, we have 3 children, 16, 13 and 16 months. We also own and run two companies we started together. There are many others who have had it more difficult or easier then we personally have.

I could list so many however my main point to make. If you love writing and want to be an author then work hard at it. Getting your not just your dream but what you love to do is not always easy and sometimes you have to be patient.  Find out what you want, what needs to be done to accomplish it and do your best to go after it. Not everyone is going to be on the top 10 list however if you are loving what you are doing, then its worth it. Even if I had never published my books, I loved writing and would still write. Being published owning my company with the best partner I could have ever asked for is simply a perk for me. I also get to take my kids with me, another bonus.

Sadly he told me I had no idea what I was talking about and went into the store. I know how to get books into Wal-Mart but if he felt I didn't know what I was talking about, then it wouldn't matter if I shared my knowledge of what I knew and I was just fine by that ;^)