Monday, March 27, 2017

Writing in a Vacuum

I still remember the moment it first dawned on me that all I really wanted was to string words together for a living. Suddenly everything made sense. Why my English teacher loved me, but my history teacher didn’t… why the library was the closest thing to heaven on earth for me… why song lyrics made me cry. Words. It was all about words.

Armed with this revelation, I expected life to rearrange itself so that I could do what I’d been created to do – write. To my horror, the dishes didn’t wash themselves, laundry continued to pile up and my family kept eyeing me hopefully at mealtimes. Then there was the small matter of earning enough to do my bit to support our growing brood.

I’ll admit I threw some spectacular tantrums. Why me? was a common theme. I knew many stay-at-home moms who didn’t have a thimble-full of the vision and passion that I had, yet they had time on their hands – the one thing I didn’t seem to have enough of.

So I did life. I raised my babies, with all the wiping and washing that comes with them. I went to work and reconciled accounts, laughed and cried with colleagues. I danced and dug in the garden. I ironed through mountains of laundry that would crush small countries if piled in a heap. I wrote in stolen pockets of time, cherished moments of word-weaving made all the more precious for their rarity.

Years down the line I can see a truth that I couldn’t before – my writing is richer because my life has been full. 


Nothing thrives in a vacuum, but word-seeds germinated in the rich soil of life experience grow tall and strong, effortlessly bearing the message intending for the reader’s heart.

So if you are facing the frustration of not being able to write full-time, take heart! The real life you live will seep into your words packing them with oomph and gusto to transport your reader. As you embrace your life you will see your writing come to life!


Where are you at? Fitting in bits of writing in between, or able to spend as much time as you want? How do you manage when real life gets a bit too busy?

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters. She is neck-deep in a three book contract for a YA series, Spirit Walker, with Pelican / Watershed.

Finding Mia is available from AmazonPelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Amazon & Smashwords.


Find her on FacebookTwitter and her sporadic blog Doodles.

8 comments:

  1. I also love words. You are so right-we need life experience to bring our writing to life and give it depth.Lovely blog.

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    1. Thank you for taking time to read and comment Ruth! Experience is such a valuable thing.

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  2. Di, you do have a way with words. You make it seem so effortless too, as if they just roll out of your fingers. (Okay, I did say it SEEMS effortless!) Thanks for the way you can spin blog posts out of the most amazingly simple threads. I love it.

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    1. Shirl! I appreciate you so much. I'm tucking your words into my heart, mind and soul for those days when the words are hanging back like sulky teenagers. ❤

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  3. Dianne, great post! I don't know many writers who claim to have spare time. It's not easy trying to juggle everything. Like you, I find the inspiration for my writing comes from living life and real life experiences. :)

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    1. It's true, Narelle. It's like a full life overflows onto the page. I love hitting situations and thinking AHA! This I just what my scene needs! 😁

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  4. Great post! I started writing when my oldest was a baby. I too needed to make money, so I opened up a home day care. Writing came in snippets, early in the morning, whenever the kids were napping, late at night. . .The funny thing is that now that I have deadlines and have to write full time, there is still never quite enough time. The kids are now teens, there's home schooling, dishes and laundry, ministry. . .There still isn't enough time, but all I can do is try to keep my priorities straight and keep finding those snippets of time. :-)

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    1. So true Lisa. I think the myth of 'arriving' as a writer and 'living the writers dream'is just that - a myth. It seems the more I have going on, the more efficient I am. Backwards, but there you have it.

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