It’s the middle of summer, your kids are home with you ALL DAY long. They’re probably unintentionally diverting your attention from your writing.
It’s a beautiful, sunny day and they are insisting that you turn off your computer and come outside to play with them or take them to the pool or the park. The temptation and/or frequent requests from your beloved little ones is enough to distract you – long enough that you lose your train of thought…
Or perhaps it’s a dreary, rainy day and your kids are stuck inside the house, tired of watching cartoons, bored to tears, bouncing off the walls and begging you for “something to do…” (despite the fact that they have a room full of toys and games that they could play by themselves…) You can only respond to their repeated requests for your assistance a handful of times before you inevitably fail to be able to focus on your writing effectively…
If either one of these scenarios sounds familiar, you may find yourself eventually facing the dreaded “Writer’s Block.”
Instead of allowing your children to contribute to your battle with being able to write a functional sentence, much less think clearly enough to construct an effective paragraph, consider how your kids can actually help you beat writer’s block.
Children generally have excessive energy and an array of brilliant ideas dancing around in their young minds. You can use their natural curiosity and pure brainpower to get your own creativity going.
Try some of the following techniques to let your youngsters alleviate the anxiety you’re feeling when you cannot seem to write anything worthwhile.
- Talk to your kids. Ask them questions. Try “What if…” questions that tap into their fantasy/dreamworld. Listen carefully to their answers, which may just give you new ideas to write about and/or a new way of looking at your writing.
- Give into their requests for you to go outside and play with them. Let yourself go be a kid again. Forget about your writing for the afternoon and really focus on your children and what they want to do with you. This can be refreshing to say the least, and it may also be just the break you need to be able to redirect your thoughts to your writing later in the day.
- On a rainy day instead of letting the cartoons bellow from your television all day, turn the tube off and play games with your kids. Board games like Junior Scrabble, Monopoly and even Sorry! can be entertaining and educational for BOTH of you. The diversion alone may help to solve your immediate inability to write.
- Take time to eavesdrop on your children and their conversations with each other and/or their friends. Find out what they’re talking about among themselves. You can not only learn more about your kids and the world as they see it, but you may also hear about something that sparks new ideas for your writing. Children are like sponges, they absorb almost everything that’s going on around them. We, as adults, sometimes fail to realize this and in turn lose out on learning what really goes on their little minds.
- Be honest with your toddlers and/or teenagers about your writing dilemma. Explain what you’re feeling in a way that they can understand. Ask them for help. You may just be surprised at what valuable advice they give you.
It can be easy to complain about your kids and blame your writer’s block on them. But I think it may be better to try to interact with them in a way that benefits both of you.
Remember summer only lasts for three months. Less than a month from now, you will no longer have the luxury of this extra time with your children.
Make the most of their vacation from school – for their sake and your own. Our children are priceless.
They grow up very quickly. We cannot pause time.
We can take a pause from our writing. It will always be there.
Our kids will not be kids forever.
Resource Box – Danielle Hollister (2004) is the Publisher of BellaOnline Quotations Zine – A free newsletter for quote lovers featuring more than 10,000 quotations in dozens of categories like – love, friendship, children, inspiration, success, wisdom, family, life, and many more. Read it online at –
