Join me in this live two-hour class and discover the Five Things I’ve Learned about how to navigate the joys and demands that come with creating art while at the same time keeping the people you love both safe and happy.

Hi, I’m Rebecca Makkai! I have five books, with a sixth on one on the way. I teach writing and write book reviews and judge literary prizes, and I travel for book tours and festivals and retreats. And I have two teenagers who are turning out pretty well. 

When people ask how I balance parenting with a writing career, two answers come to mind. The first (especially if it’s asked by a condescending stranger) is “What a weird question — would you ask a man how he juggles being both a banker and a father??” and the second (especially if it’s asked by a fellow writer, one whose eyes are full of despair) is… well, it’s a two-hour long answer. 

Since I can’t give that two-hour answer again and again, I want to invite you to my upcoming two-hour class for writers (and other artists), Five Things I’ve Learned about Writing While Parenting.

How can you concentrate when your toddler is napping in the next room and might wake up at any moment? How can you outline your novel with Daniel Tiger blasting in the background? How can you make poetry when pregnancy hormones have decimated your vocabulary? How will you ever find time to write when you have this baby who hasn’t stopped screaming in weeks? Are you a bad father if you let your kids fend for themselves while you draft a story? What will your kids think of your books if they read them some day, and will they be mortified by the sex scenes? Will you marginalize your work by writing about parenthood? Is it ever okay to write about your kids?

The concerns are practical, emotional, and moral. Some of them hit mothers harder than other parents (thanks, society!) but at the same time, we rarely talk about that balance and struggle for fathers (thanks again, society!). With the understanding that every family is different — someone might live in a commune where 23 adults are around to offer support, and someone else might be a single parent with a special-needs child — we’ll break down all the difficulties and joys (I promise there are joys!) of creating art while keeping small people safe and happy. 

We’ll talk about finding support networks, budgeting and prioritizing writing time, overcoming parental guilt, the ethics of writing about family, and tapping into the gifts that parenthood might lend your creative life. This class is an absolutely judgment-free zone, and I aim to provide you with ideas and options, without making you feel bad for not writing more, or less, or differently, or letting your child play Roblox while you work.

I’m not saying I’ve done it perfectly, but I’ve done it, and I can’t wait to talk to you about why you shouldn’t have to put your creative life on hold just because someone needs you to find their snow pants. 

Please join us.

– Rebecca Makkai