One of the hardest things I've had to deal with as a writer/mother/teacher/runner, is balance. Writing has often taken a back seat to my many other responsibilities, and I'm okay with that, but the one thing I've never wanted to do, was to let go of my passion for the written word entirely. That has taken patience. I have to be patient with myself, which can be difficult, because, like most writers, I want my ideas to come to life. I want the little voices in my head to bleed out onto the page and watch as they come to life and take on their very own little personalities through their stories. I also want to take writing in a more serious vein, at least for one idea, and that also takes time and research.
It takes me a while, sometimes a long while, to get a book finished, or bring an idea to fruition. There are long hiatuses where I don't have a chance, or more accurately, I don't make the time, to sit down and write at all, but in the meantime, the ideas that I've either started or simply had, don't go anywhere. They, too, wait patiently, for my next foray at the keyboard.
I am finding that scheduling goes a long way in helping with this. I am by no means perfect, and it often takes me a long time to put into practice, the things that I tell myself, that I already know. However, my determination often gives me the push I need to come back to the writing table with fresh ideas or a new take on ideas I've begun exploring. Once the ideas again begin to flow, I can feel myself getting "into the zone" where the story begins to write itself. I can stay there for quite some time and come out with several typed pages and tell myself that I should be making more time for this, and the way to do that, is to schedule it into my busy days and weeks.
Putting this into practice, I committed myself to actually using one of the many planners I buy in January and planning out days and times that I have available to write. I may not make each one of them and some I may apply to promoting or working on my author social media sites, but if I make even half of them, that's more writing than I would have gotten to with a general "I need to make this a habit" statement. I will take that kind of progress gladly!