Hello everyone,

I've been on here before, but thought I'd give it another shot. I've got some ideas on children's fiction books that I'd like to write, but combined with a full-time job and a four-month-old son it's very difficult to find the time to put my ideas down on paper or on my laptop.

Just wondered how other writers on here got started. I've got a book called The Weekend Novelist which is very inspirational but I just don't have the time to use it!

I'm also a full-time journalist so writing a book instead of news reports feels quite daunting, even though my stories have to be told!

Welcome to the site

well, i'm no help at all, i didn't start writing until my youngest started school!

But one writer on here, like you, has a very young child, works full-time as a journalist, and has just had their first novel published - so it can be done.

Joining a group makes one more disciplined i feel, about pushing forward with your work.

Good luck with it, anyway.

Hello and welcome back to the site!

I have a three-year-old and a five-year-old as well as three part-time jobs and it is difficult to find time to write, especially if I want that concentrated, luxury, uninterrupted time. (Who am I kidding? I never get that!) But one of the reasons I started to write seriously was to have time to myself, doing something for me. Casey's right, joining a group here helps. When I started writing my novel I set myself the task of writing a chapter a week, which seemed impossible but I managed it somehow. And then I joined in with NaNoWriMo (a yearly challenge to write a novel in a month) and that taught me that I could actually get to the end of a first draft. It also helped me get over the daunted feelings!

Good luck, and happy writing!

Luisa