Life on this Scary Planet: How to Write When Life Gets in the Way

I don't know about you, but sometimes life gets in my way and I have a difficult time writing.

The worst stint happened years ago when I was raising my three daughters, working two jobs, and trying to make things happen living far away from my extended family.

I didn't write for 10 years.

If you think that's surprising, you need to understand my come-from during that time. I had many excuses; many emotional struggles that I felt prevented me from writing.

What I know now is that that time was important. It may have been hard, but it was important. Now, some years later, I get a glimpse of the difficulties, but (like having a baby and forgetting the pain, though no entirely, until the next baby is born) it's not the same.

I feel as if I've lost the completeness of that time I would have now been able to use in my own writing, if I'd kept a journal during that time and recorded what I experienced.

Sure, life is sometimes scary on this planet, but life can really only get in the way of writing about it if you let it.

Don't let it.

Spend some time each day writing even if it hurts. Write even if you don't feel like it. Write instead of watching television. Write.

Just write.