“I wrote in the living room, with the radio and my family all talking at the same time.” – Ray Bradbury

I’m learning to write in the middle of family chaos and noise right now, and I’m ashamed to admit that I’m not doing it very well. I’m making progress on my story, but I’m grumpy a lot of the time and I don’t like being grumpy.

I grew up in a small house – 900 square feet, one small bathroom, and four of us sharing everything. The tiny piece of real estate that I called my bedroom was very precious to me, but interestingly enough, it wasn’t the place where I did my homework or writing assignments. Instead, like Ray Bradbury, I did it in the middle of everything. Talking and laughing, the television and the telephone, my brother and his friends – all of it was background noise that I learned to write around. I didn’t insulate myself from the world and I think my life was richer for it.

Somewhere along the way though I got spoiled. I moved out on my own and my little apartment was a very quiet place. Too quiet most of the time, but I learned to adjust. Then I married a man who traveled frequently for work and somehow I taught myself that I could write only when life was calm and I was by myself.

Now I have a child and my husband works from home part of the time. Things around here are never calm and I am very rarely all alone. The past several months have been a process of un-learning as I train myself to focus amid the craziness and messes that surround me. I’m choosing to be in the middle of it all, but it’s rough-going. One of the good lessons that I’ve learned is that time goes by so quickly and I know I don’t want to miss a thing. So that means learning to write while I’m living my life and helping the people around me live theirs.

I’m hoping that my novel in some ways is a reflection of that. No, not messy and scattered like the toys, costumes and books in my living room. But I do want my characters to be people readers relate to, people who are imperfectly plodding through life just like I am.

Okay, time to go. I’ve got to pick up my child from school, feed her a snack, help with homework, make dinner, do a load of laundry, and revise a chapter all before bedtime. And I promise I’m not going to be grumpy while doing any of it. Wish me luck!