Please welcome author Lindsey Leavitt who’s talking diapers, reality television and how to fit your writing in between. Lindsey’s debut novel PRINCESS FOR HIRE (Disney-Hyperion) was published in March, 2010 and her second novel SEAN GRISWOLD’S HEAD (Bloomsbury) will be published in March 2011.
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The Reading Room
The emphasis is on community.
Fun, great, loved it – thank you
“I like doing professional talks and mentioning poo.” Ahahaha! Brilliant. But also, very good advice. Thank you, Linsey, you’re awesome!
Great talk, Lindsey! As a mother of a three-year-old, I agree that naps times are glorious! That’s my scheduled two hours of writing a day.
Awesome! Definitely the most relevant post to me. I’m a stay-at-home mum to 3 kids (with a 4th due in December) and getting the balance right is tricky. Personally I’ve found the best way for me to fit in writing around the rest of my life is to get up at 5am to write. I’m not an early morning person but the rewards are so worth the effort. Thanks so much for sharing such an honest & helpful vlog, Lindsey. And I hear you on the diapers – I have 2yr old twins
That was great! It reminded me of a book I want to read by laura Vanderkam, called 168 Minutes: You Have More Time Than You think, which is about how much time you actually have at your disposal. I have 3 kids, so it’s definitely a juggling act–and I’m sure many can relate. When they were really little, I wrote only poetry (self explanatory).
Thanks for all your tips on balancing writing with the other demanding parts of life. I think the best tip is to just grab those moments whenever they are. I do squeeze in some of my social networking in my breaks at work and write some during my lunch hour. It helps.
Thanks Lindsey, I needed this! Nap time ROCKS (it is currently nap time, and I’m… uh… doing research here). I’ve about reached my limit on diapers, but the whole learning to use the toilet thing is even more time consuming. Wish I could fast-forward about a year…
As a mom, teacher, wife and dog mom, I LOVED this vlog it was probably the MOST useful vlog I’ve seen so far. this was wonderful. Poop. See you can’t escape potty talk at all.
I was going to blog about writing friends next week. Awesome stuff.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
Great tips, Lindsey (and friends)! Thanks!
Thanks, Lindsey! Very fun and great tips.
Most relevnt post for me too, I love the one about letting different things slide each week to mix things up, great stuff thanks!
This was great, Lindsey!! Your tips on how to balance your writing with the other parts of your life will certainly come in handy. I really connected with looking at your time and being flexable but not beating yourself up if… er… .I should say, when things fall apart : )
That was great, and you have fabulous friends. I’m a mom of three-year-old twins and things are always busy. I’m going to University this fall, so I’ll have a lot to juggle. Fortunately I’m studying English, so I’ll technically be learning as I write
Thanks so much for that, Lindsey, and good luck with your books.
Lindsey, you rock! (But I knew that, because when I met you at SCBWI the first thing you said to me was, “Want a red lace?”) Thank you so much. I love the idea about breaking up your week into little half hour blocks of time and looking at how you spend it. And all the advice at the end was a great touch. Thanks!
What a fun post! Thanks, Lindsey! I think the best message I took from this is that everyone has challenges with finding time to write…so it’s best to not stress over it…be flexible and make it work…and, most importantly, keep your sense of humor about it all.
Lots of twin moms here. (Me, too!) My boys are 10 now, and I also have a 14-year-old son. The good news is that it definitely gets easier as the kids get older. Just hang in there…
Thanks again for the great advice, Lindsey!
Oh. My. Gosh. That was so fun and engaging! What a delightful blog to wake up to. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us Lindsey. Hopefully it bought you a reprieve from changing at least one dirty diaper. And might I add…never underestimate the ability of young kids to take care of themselves. My five year old has learned quite a bit of independence by my being a writer. That and learning how to scale the kitchen snack cupboards….oops.
My friend, the late author Lee Bock said, “We write in the cracks of life.”
That was fun! Thank goodness I’m way past the diaper stage. Oh boy, do I remember those days though.
Great tips. I think we have to have those writer friends that really ‘get’ us too. Thanks for sharing, tons of worthwhile tips.
This is just what I needed to start my day. You really buoyed me up me (can you tell I’m the mother of boys?). They do grow out of diapers–yay!–but not out of potty humor, but I digress …
Great vlog. I love how entertaining you all are. I need to get to one of these in person conferences.
Holy Time Management, Batman, that was a great vlog! I definitely wrote down all the tips and I will apply them to real life. While doing something else at the same time. Double Duty!
True story: When I first got your book, Lindsey, I showed it and your picture to my husband and said (tongue-in-cheek-ingly), “Look how cute she is! AND she has a book published! It is just so not fair!”
I have to say, after watching your vlog: “Look how beautiful she is! AND she has a vlog at an amazing conference!” But I can’t add that it’s not fair (even jokingly), because I know it is well deserved. Great job. Thanks for sharing your wisdom with us. (But poopy diaper-wise you’re on your own!)
Great tips. My favorite? “Get a life.” Writing does consume, and it’s important to put it all in perspective. Thanks!
So much fun . .. and lots of practical advice too. I am totally going to make up a chart about how I spend my time (thank you for telling me it needed 48 slots because I’m not a math whiz) . . . it might be scary to really look at it, but I think it will help me realize where all my time goes (though I suspect I already know . . . stupid internet).
I love Lisa’s suggestion of letting one thing slide each week instead of failing at a bunch of things.
Thank you so much for this!!
I love this vlog post!
When I was working full-time, I honestly sat with my netbook and worked on my novel for the entire hour (sometimes more… oops!) and was always amazed at how much I could accomplish in such a short amount of time. Of course, now I am at home with my two kiddos and it is AMAZING, but it is also exhausting. Finding the balance between spilled milk, gymnastics, emails and my hubby is a serious challenge. It’s so nice to know that I am not the only one feeling this way! 
Great advice!! Thank you!
Get a Life. Let’s see where did I put it?
Love Lisa’s comment about changing it up so you’re only failing one thing at a time. Ha!
This was great.
Thanks so much Lindsay, (and friends.) You have some very interesting ideas that will really help in balancing writing with, well, everything else!
Oh, LL, can I just hug you? You are so dang adorable. GREAT VLOG!!! (And I’m not just saying that because I’m in it.)
I really enjoyed this an relate! There are times I feel absolutely crazy for trying to juggle writing while homeschooling 3 kids and a baby. But it really is all about balance and purpose! Thanks for your example and tips! Much appreciated!
Thank you, Lindsey! I appreciate all this fantastic advice!!!
Thanks, Lindsey and Writing Friends! Loved the tip about varying what you let slide each week, so you’re not failing at everything all the time.
I’m going to make that chart you suggested, though I’m sure it’ll reveal scary time sucks.
So incredibly super. Thanks Lindsey. I feel so much better about everything.
Thanks everyone! I can’t believe how many twins are represented here. Wow. That’s a lot of poop. I bow down.
Hubby just watched the video and suggested I “Be real” and take a picture of our bed, which currently has FIVE loads of clean-but-not folded laundry on top of it. Welcome to the world of revision deadline. I call it the laundry mountain. No, I call it art. If I call it art, it can stay.
Candy–tell your hubby that no author actually looks like their author picture (um, except for all of my beautiful author friends, natch). On the day you get a book deal, this secret book society (I can say no more) gives you this special makeup that conceals all the worry lines that writing produces.
Good advice. I’ll roll with it.
But I do have to watch my TV shows though seeing as I am also a fandom writer.
But what is great though in today’s technology is you can watch them whenever you want.
And I DO live by the beach. So I will take two walks. One for you. Ok.
Great advice. I totally enjoyed this. You crack me up. Thanks for sharing… I *may* watch too much tv… LOL
So totally Sandra Bullock! LOL! Great advice. Thanks!
[...] Lindsey Leavitt: Writing With a Real Life [...]
LOVED THIS! Right down to the laughing at the end!