When you decided to pursue writing, did the discipline fit neatly into your life? (With Paul Regnier!)

Hi all. Shannon here. I'm sad to report that today is our last day with author, Paul Regnier. If you're on social media, please look him up and tell him THANK YOU for all his time and wisdom this week. 

Here are a few places online where you can track him down. We're so grateful, Paul!

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website

And just for giggles, here's that ridiculous promo video Paul, Jill and I did for this past year's Mount Hermon conference. Paul is clearly the star here.


And now, for this week's final panel question.

Paul: (Several moments of hearty laughter) I don't think the pursuit of writing fits "neatly" into anyone's life unless they're rich and have all the time in the world to do whatever they want. A dedicated pursuit of writing is a time consuming process. The majority of my professional writing career has been squished and crammed into the scant hours between a full time job, family and friends. Time is always a limited and valuable commodity for writers.

I believe the last statistic I read was that 95% of writers make less than $5000 a year on their book sales. I don't say that to bum out any aspiring writers out there. If anything, it's a call to focus on the foundational motivations for pursuing writing. Namely, because you love it, you feel called to do it, and don't want to stop no matter what.

The secondary motivation would be the career goals to make it profitable enough to support a full-time writing lifestyle. This isn't easy and it takes time. In practical terms, this means you'll probably need to have a day job while you write. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Plenty of good story ideas can spring from every day work life. And the more you write, the better you get, and the more books you release the higher the odds that they will add up to something substantial. Not just monetarily but impact-wise.

If you feel called to write, your stories might just have the positive impact in someone's life that changes the course of their life for the better. And that's something that no amount of money can equal.

Jill: It sure didn’t! I had three little ones at home at the time. My son, age three; my daughter, age one; and my friend’s newborn, whom I was babysitting at the time. Life was pretty hectic, and the only time I could write was if Luke was at preschool and the girls were napping at the same time. So maybe only an hour during the day, and a little more at night. It was really hard! And I was new to writing, so I wasn’t very fast. Eventually, I stopped watching my friend’s baby, and my daughter got old enough for preschool too. Then I was able to write for longer periods.

Steph: I’ve been pursuing writing since childhood, so really I built my life around being able to write. It was a major adjustment when we started our family and I had to figure out how to be mom and writer simultaneously, but with the help of grandparents we’ve made it work.

Shan: Nope. I had a three month old and a four year old when I decided to sit down and write my first novel. I did it late at night and early in the morning and during nap times. We were heading a youth ministry and, at one point, I also had to head back to work because we needed more income. I simply made do with the time I had. It might take forever to write a novel this way, but the time is going to pass anyway, right? Why not fill it with a hobby you love and that could one day turn into a career that brings you creative satisfaction? It's always going to be hard. And you're never going to have enough time. But that hasn't stopped the rest of us. It shouldn't stop you.

What do you say? Does writing fit into your life neatly? Or do you have to fight to make space for it?