Making Time to Write: Interview with Jody Hobbs Hesler
I don’t know about you, but hearing about other writers’ hectic lives helps me. It helps me realize I’m not alone in juggling my writing life with my other life responsibilities. Jody Hobbs Hesler is a fellow juggler and tells how she makes time to write (while juggling, of course).
Tell me about the many hats (jobs/responsibilities) you wear.
I’m a mom — which in itself is a lot of hats: Chauffeur; Morale Booster; Finder of Lost Items; Planner of Most Family Events; Reminder, Senior Cleaner Upper; Maker of Dinners; Shopper of Groceries; Coordinator of Appointments (doctor, vet, dentist, haircuts); Family CEO; My husband travels a good deal for work, so very often my family duties get compounded by his absence. On Sundays, for example, one daughter will have horse back riding lessons at the exact same time the other has a field hockey game twenty-five minutes away. So Juggler joins the list of hats I wear. Solo Juggler.
I’m also a volunteer. I belong to the board of a local fine arts non-profit, and I help coordinate volunteers for the middle school band and the spring high school musical, among other more random commitments I consistently agree to do.
I’m also a writer. I write articles for a local family magazine. Editors pay me for these, ask for more, and publish my work. This is a wonderful feeling, as writing fiction doesn’t always provide the same returns on my efforts. I’ve also climbed out of my comfort zone with non-fiction, which is good writing (and life) exercise. The assigned articles also force me to conform to someone else’s druthers and timelines and wind up exposing me to all sorts of interesting people who are passionate about what they do, which is always refreshing.
Writing fiction is a lot more time consuming. It’s what I’m most passionate about, though the world of publishing has not yet entirely reciprocated my enthusiasm.
What do you write?
Though I do write some non-fiction, I identify myself more as a fiction writer. I write short fiction and novels, mostly for an adult, literary audience, though I’m currently finishing a young adult novel. My writing deals with nuances of human relationships, people and their doubts, families and their fissures. Character and voice are my favorite elements of fiction, both when I read and when I write.
What keeps you from writing when you really need to be writing?
The dishes. The laundry. The sudden need to take my cat to a vet appointment. My compulsion to exercise daily. My dedication to making healthy, home-cooked meals for my family. My commitment to outside contact — to keep myself from becoming an accidental hermit. Snow days. Sick days.
The life of the at-home mom is one of constant interruption. I’ve learned to enjoy the interruptions (most of the time), to allow elasticity in my to-do lists (including ones relating to writing), without compromising my long-term commitment to my work. It’s a hard balance, but for me, being an at-home mom allows me the most consistent supply of large blocks of time for writing compared with any of my other options, while also letting me be the kind of mom I want to be.
Do you have a special place where you write? Or does it matter to you?
I have an office desk. I also have a computer set up in the kitchen. I also pack up my computer and set up “shop” at local cafes. I try to be the kind of person who can — and will — write anywhere. I’m getting better at that. The fewer precise limitations I give myself about exactly where or exactly when or exactly how long to write, the more often I walk away feeling I’ve had a productive day.
Where can we find you on the web?
