by Gloria Giggs

Created on: May 09, 2010

Being a parent and being a writer have two things in common. They are both very demanding endeavors and, speaking purely from the standpoint of material benefits, they are not very rewarding.

Now, this may sound very pessimistic to most people but the fact remains that what this writer has stated above is the truth expressed in a very blunt manner. It therefore follows that as a writer or as a parent, you need to be ready to work very hard without expecting much material benefits for your efforts.

If you intend to be both a parent and a writer, you need to understand what is required of you so that you don’t give up half-way into the job. You can definitely be both a parent and a writer and make a success of both endeavors. All you have to do is use the following tips as a guide and you will get there.

Organize your time:

As a writer and as a parent, the most valuable commodity that you have is time. But this is also the one commodity that you are most likely to mismanage if you are not careful. Therefore, learn to organize your time properly and you will make a success of the double-heritage of being a writer and a parent.

Work hard:

Of course, this is very obvious. Nothing can ever be accomplished in life without hard work.  Therefore, you need to work hard at being a parent. You also need to work hard at being a writer. If you don’t work hard, you simply won’t make a success of your parenting duties nor will you get far in your writing career.

Plan:

As stated earlier, both writing and parenting need lots of time. It is easy to understand why being a parent is so time-consuming. Children need love and constant attention and these require a lot of time. By the same token, a writing career can be a very demanding child as well. You need time to plan your writing. You need time to the actual manual labor of writing. You also need time to edit and perfect your writing and you need time to cope with the business end of being a writer. Clearly, without adequate planning and implementation, you won’t be able to meet your obligations as a writer.

Be Patient:

Actually, it is hard to find a successful writer who does not have tons of this very vital virtue. As a writer, you just need to be patient. You cannot rush your editor and you cannot compel people to buy or read or read your work. The name of the game is patience and eventually, success will be yours.

Finally, it has to be said that it is actually a good thing that being a writer and being a parent have so much in common. If you were a parent before you became a writer, the former will work for you in your writing career. On the other hand, if you became a writer before you became a parent, you will also fall back on your virtues as a writer to make a better parent.

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