Writers Who Happen to be Mothers, Who Happen to be Wives.

Writers--

To those of you actively writing; to those of you whose inside voices do not turn off; to those of you with a book stuck just this side of your fingertips, a story inside trying to find its way out, leaking into dreams and a few waking hours...

...this question is for you.

Do you treat your talent like a job?  Do you consider yourself a "work from home" parent?  If so, do you arrange for childcare while you write?

My novel is not a matter of "if," but a matter of "when."  It's there.  Actually, there are more than one.  They are there.  Lurking.  Building.  Planning.  Scheming.

But I don't have the time.  I literally cannot peel an extra hour out of my day to write.  I don't watch television.  I can blog because I can pick up and leave off wherever I feel.  I cannot do that when I write.  I can't stop and go.  I can't keep one ear open for what the kids are up to.  Stopping (when it's not my idea) rips my guts out.

Ask my husband.  He's seen the frustration when he's come into the kitchen in the morning to ask me a question before he leaves for work.

Or maybe it was at night; I can't remember.

Because everything else disappears.

I'm considering a few mornings of childcare:  not for me, mind you, but for the tyke.  I'm wondering if I'm alone here.  If I'm taking myself too seriously.

When it's all said and done, however, and the first novel is finally on paper, it will have been worth it, right?

I'd love to treat writing like a job.  I'd love to be able to block off four or five hours a day to simply WRITE.  You have no idea what I could accomplish:  I know this.

So how do you do it?  What's your secret?  Do you write like it's your job?  Childcare?  Phone off the hook?  Wires snipped in the doorbell?

Do you hang a sign that says, "Out for lunch, be back" whatever time, and then set the hands on the little paper clock?

Or do you wing it?

OR ... (just going out on a limb, here) .. are you like me, keeping your novel inside, longing for the chance to write?  The dream always just out of reach because you're so busy with, well, life?

Comments?  Questions?  I'd love to hear them.