(I saw that pic going around Facebook and thought it was so funny! And so true . . .)
As you all know I have eight children and I've learned a few things along the way about being a writer and a mom.
1. Sometimes my best story ideas come while I'm playing Barbies or cowboys with my little kids. So take the time to play with them. Then you can act out the plot with the Barbie and cowboy and the kids think it's a fun new game.
2. Don't talk about plot lines (especially terrorist plots) when you and your children are out in public. Well-meaning people can overhear and think bad things about you as a mother.
3. Encourage writing in your own children. When I'm sitting on the couch, scribbling in my writer's notebook, my children will often come over with their own paper and pen and make up a story. I love that and try to encourage it because no matter what imagination and communication skills are essential in this world.
4. Let your children see your successes and disappointments. I share my excitement over new books, good reviews, and royalty checks, but I also share my disappointments over rejections and such because I think it's important for them to see that not everything comes easy. If it's worth it, it's work.
5. We play people-watching games like making up backstories for people who pass by us. Sometimes I end up laughing so hard I have tears running down my face. It sparks my imagination as well as theirs.
6. Make up stories for them. Some of my favorite memories are of lying in a tent or a cabin between rooms and making up stories where my kids are the stars. Someday I want to write all of those down, so they can have them for their children, too. It's a worthwhile use of my storytelling, I think.
7. Don't ever make them feel like they are second to your writing. That's why I write in snatches, or in a notebook in the car, or when they're in bed. My family always comes first.
8. On the flip side of that, make sure the children know that sometimes Mom needs time at the computer. I have my Barney time or Caillou time and they know that while they're watching their show, Mommy is typing.
9. Sometimes kids (especially junior high or high school kids) have great ideas for villain and hero names, depending on how their day went at school. Of course, if I do use a name of someone at their school I always switch things up a bit so no one would recognize themselves if they read the book.
10. Share your research at the dinner table. At least the interesting parts. When I was writing Ribbon of Darkness, I talked/watched documentaries about cargo ships for a while and my kids know a lot of useless trivia about them. We've talked about oil leases (from Time Will Tell) the origins of Ring Around the Rosy (from All Fall Down), and we've also participated in collecting food and hygiene items for our troops because the military unit helping me with my research mentioned they missed having Skittles in the field. Some of these things have really bonded us together as a family and other topics have become fodder for family jokes.
11. I've learned how to type one-handed for those times when I'm nursing a baby at my desk or holding a child in my lap. A very useful skill for a mom/writer.
12. Keep in mind that your child's teachers are some of your biggest fans so always dress up for parent/teacher conferences so you don't have them say, "You don't look anything like the picture in the back of your book." (Which just barely happened to me. *sigh*)
Have you learned anything by being a parent and a writer?
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