Dawn Colclasure's Blog

Author and poet Dawn Colclasure

Saturday, February 24, 2007

One hour to write

As a writing parent, I've written extensively of how I've managed to squeeze in time to write. Whether it's waiting until my child is asleep, getting up earlier in the morning or writing while she plays at her friend's, there have been little windows of time I have managed to put to writing use.

Lately, it seems I have been able to find some other ways to get at least one hour of free time to write. And that's a good thing! An hour of time to write is heaven for me.

I have found these methods to work best in securing that one hour of writing time:

1. Going to the library on weekends. I have often had my child with me on the weekends, compared to when she'd spend the weekends with her dad, so we go to the local library. The library offers free parking on weekends (a bonus!) and there's a BIG area devoted to children where they can play, read and listen to stories. (A bigger bonus!) Of course, I can park myself at a nearby table to blissfully write my time away.

2. PlayLand. PlayLand is a part of a local, nearby department store where parents can leave their children for an hour while they shop, eat, whatever. I have used PlayLand many times to write for an hour while my child played with other children, colored, did crafts and had stories read to her. She LOVES it!

3. Movies. Fellow writing parent Shaunna Privratsky said in her interview that she often relied on videos to keep her children entertained while she worked. I have found this to be a great way to get the writing time, as well. In our defense, we're not parking our kids in front of the TV all day, filling their brains with eye candy. I use this trick to get one hour of writing time -- and not two, three, four, etc. All good parents must limit their child's time in front of the TV. And at least the programs they watch are kid-friendly and educational.

These are just a few ways I've been able to get at least an hour of free time to write. But in order for that hour of free writing time to be put to good use, it MUST be devoted to writing. And not reading books, chatting online or kicking back with an iPod, or something.

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