https://www.writerswrite.com/journal/dec00/mothers-who-write-amy-bloom-12002
Extract:
“What inspired you to write?
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I don’t really know, and don’t care if I ever find out. Originally, I wrote mysteries, but then a short story just came to me so I wrote it out and ended up publishing it in an obscure Canadian feminist journal. Later, it was selected to be in The Best American Short Stories. My second and third stories were in Story and The New Yorker, so I was successful in continuing to publish. I had the needed equipment: a typewriter. I didn’t have an MFA (Master of Fine Arts), but if you look over the last 400 years, most of the good writers didn’t, either.
How old were your children when you started to write?
They were 8 and 10, and my oldest son was grown. When I started, I wrote late at night, after they were in bed. I could do that and get away with it because I’m not much of a housekeeper and I didn’t need much sleep. I liked my kids and didn’t care much about my house, so it worked.
From a practical standpoint, how has being a mother affected your writing?
Initially, there was nothing convenient about writing for me, and there were points when writing even interfered. I’d be in the middle of a sentence and someone needed to go to mall for new shoes, so the sentence would be lost, but I felt my primary, most important job was to raise my kids. I did the writing if I had the time, and if I didn’t, I would come back to it. My attitude was: “Sooner or later, I will get this page right.”
| “I wouldn’t be the person I am if I weren’t a mother. I would be very different without children. I would still write, but not in the same way.” |
If I had to do it again, though, I’d try not to work full time. In the beginning, I had a lot of energy and a belief in writing, so I could do it, but I’ve never had unlimited time to just write. There were always limits and deadlines, but it’s what pays the bills. “
How my heart sings 