Writing as a Parent

So I'm often asked whether Pen Parentis is for people who write about parenting.  Our mission is quite the opposite: we want to encourage writers to continue on the creative track they were on before they had kids.   That said, parents need to build college funds - or just pay rent! - and in a world where it is increasingly difficult to get paid for your typed strings of excellent thoughts, writing about parenting is definitely still a lucrative market.

So here are a few articles I've collected to guide you if you do decide to (or can't possibly help) writing about the experience of having kids:

Pros & Cons (from WoW)

List of Markets (from FreelanceWriting)

How to Begin (from AbsoluteWrite)

More Markets (from WritersWeekly)

You don't have to play the guilt game (from Babble)

It's overwhelming to be a parent and the idea of monetizing what you are stuck thinking about all the time anyway is a compelling idea. But when have you ever been thrilled to turn a joyous hobby into a paid endeavor? It can strip all the fun out of the fun.

Remember - writing "for money" about your experiences as a parent is going to be just as much work as writing your novel--so you're still not paying attention to your kids while you're doing it -- and what's worse, it's no escape from the 24/7 of parenting, like writing fiction can be.

But if you must, you must. Let me leave you with a word of advice.

If you choose this route, ensure you leave room to nurture your creative non-parent self. Cash the paycheck and spend it on a babysitter so you can go to your local library and write a few pages of your very own. Or if you haven't got any juice left, then by all means: read a book.