The biggest emotional challenge of being a writer is trying to balance my passion for the craft, the time commitment required to bring an idea to fruition, and the demands of full-time work and parenting.
I am a full-time teacher with three young children. I am also a “sandwiched” generation with caregiving responsibilities that now extend to my elderly mother. These roles, while important and fulfilling, can also leave me exhausted at the end of each day, which impacts my ability to write with clarity and passion.
To Balance Writing with Life, Ask for Help!
In order to balance these roles, I have accepted help from others when it’s offered.
For example, when my father was sick and I had to drive him to various oncology appointments, I accepted childcare and pre-made meals from friends and family members to make things easier. Learning to accept help when it is offered is an important way to take some of the pressure off your own shoulders.
Despite my best efforts, it was still overwhelming at times, so I turned to hiking, yoga, weight lifting, walking, and oil painting to help me sleep, relax, and stay creative.
Writers Can Offset Neck and Back Pain with Nightly Walks
The biggest physical challenge of being a writer is back, neck, and shoulder pain, as well as eye strain. If left untreated, it can lead to migraines.
In order to reduce the impact of so much sitting and staring at a keyboard, I try to go for a walk every night after supper. In addition, I also do exercises every night and lift weights. Some of the exercises/stretches that I do each night include jumping jacks, pushups, squats, arm circles, and neck rotations. I find these help realign my joints and spine.
I am a twin mom and, after giving birth, my body required realignment. Stretching and yoga allowed me to walk again and eliminated joint pain, especially in my hips and lower back. Ten years later, I have not forgotten these stretches and they are an important part of my daily routine.
I also wear a back brace when I do anything more physically taxing, such as gardening and snow shoveling. Back braces are inexpensive and can be purchased at most pharmacies, Walmart, or Amazon etc.
One of the main characters in my novel, The Future Bride, is a black belt in karate and performs katas to stay mentally and physically healthy. I include several scenes relating to this. My daughter is the person I used as inspiration for this character. She often demonstrates these exercises so that I (and her sisters) can perform the moves at home.
Genealogical Research Inspired Some of My Stories
The one thing that helps me to stay creative no matter what is staying connected to family.
I have always been close with my immediate and extended family. We enjoy family gatherings several times throughout the year. When I wrote The Future Bride, I conducted research into my family tree, going so far as having my DNA tested. The results led to the creation of my time-travel series.
I find genealogy fascinating. Filling in the information on my family tree took a year and I learned so many interesting facts about my ancestors. I focused on the Scottish line in my time-travel series, but I also traced ancestors in England and Ireland as far back as the 1200s.
A few years ago, I actually traveled to Ireland to explore this side of my family tree as well. My favorite place was Inis Mor, which I ended up using as the setting for my novel, Lady Ellen.
Writing is My Most Powerful Grounding Strategy
Even during difficult times, I keep writing because it is my most powerful grounding strategy.
Writing has helped me survive abuse, grief, stress, and trauma. It is therapeutic and cathartic. I have been a writer as long as I can remember and it brings me joy to create worlds and characters to explore themes that transcend time and place.
Book Marketing Tactic That Works for Me: Networking Each Day
The one marketing tactic I’ve found that has worked for me so far is connecting with the online writing community and devoting a certain amount of time to networking each day.
I find this community inspiring, motivating, and a useful resource for professional services, such as graphic design for book promotions.
Building relationships is the key to a successful and happy life.
Devote One Hour to Your Craft Every Night
I find time to fit my writing into my busy life by devoting one hour to the craft every single night.
I started this a few years ago as a way to become more productive. I found that before this, I spent more time watching TV and, before I’d know it, the time would be gone and I had nothing to show for it. By committing a certain amount of time, no matter how small, it has a cumulative effect.
I am able to write and publish approximately two novels per year by doing this. One hour does not feel onerous and it has a positive impact on my mental health. Even when I travel, such as going to a cottage each year with my family, which is off the grid and has no internet connection, I still make time to write.
Advice for a Young Writer: Be True to Your Own Voice
My advice for young people who wish to become writers is very simple and something that I tell my students when I teach my writing class every fall: “if you write, you’re already a writer.”
I find that one of the greatest obstacles to writing is a lack of confidence, or “imposter syndrome”. This can lead to anxiety, lack of motivation, and constantly comparing oneself to other authors, rather than focusing on your own unique voice and talents.
My secondary advice to new writers is to establish an online presence in the writing community. I’m personally very fond of the writing community on Twitter. This will help provide mentorship, an audience for Beta reading, and answers to common questions.
Be true to your own voice. Tell the stories that you need to tell. They will haunt you if you do not.
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J.G. MacLeod is a Canadian author of historical romance, romantic comedy, and contemporary fiction. J.G. has been an avid reader and a writer her whole life. She graduated with degrees in English and history, with a focus on Great Britain. She also earned a degree in education and has taught for twenty years. She has published six novels.
In her free time, J.G. escapes through hiking, butterfly preservation, and yoga. She has three young daughters and lives in southwestern Ontario.
You can follow her on Twitter & Youtube, For information on upcoming releases, visit J.G.’s author website at jgmacleod.com.
The Future Bride: Brigid MacDonald is no damsel in distress! She’s a black-belt in karate who’s been transported into a castle in 15th-century Scotland where she’s being dressed for a wedding she didn’t consent to!
Of course she steals a horse and flees, but these groomsmen are relentless!
The Future Bride combines time travel, historical fiction, and romance in an unforgettable tale of adventure written to make you laugh, and love. Brigid may know how to fight, but how will she survive the corsets and homemade gin? Purchase your copy today to find out!
Available on Amazon.
A Moment in Time: He’s an ex-con; she’s his teacher. Will their secret pasts destroy them, or be the key to their redemption?
Lily Macarthur teaches psychology at an adult ed. school by day, and runs from her past every chance she gets. When she attends course registration the last week of summer break, she never imagines she’ll meet a student with a past as mysterious as her own.
Chad Anderson is instantly attracted to Lily, but he’s been in prison for so long he knows better than to expect such an intelligent woman to fall for a guy like him. He takes a risk and signs up for her class, hoping to get to know her better, and to start over.
A chance encounter one fall night throws the unlikely pair together for survival, friendship, and perhaps something more. But forces beyond their control threaten to destroy more than just their reputations. In a world full of bystanders, will someone take a stand against evil?
Everything can change in A Moment in Time. Available on Amazon.