Writing through the chaos: finding time, energy, and a little bit of magic…

When I started writing my debut novel, I had no idea just how hard it would be to actually write it.

I’m a mum to a very spirited (and very adorable) three-year-old, and I also work as a project manager. By the end of the day, the last thing I wanted to do was sit down and write. My body craved sleep, and my brain just wanted to melt into the couch with a good show and a bag of snacks. Writing felt like another task on an already impossible list.

But something shifted.

I realised that if I kept deprioritizing this story-this dream, it would never get written. It would remain just that: a dream. And that didn’t sit right with me. I’ve wanted to write books for as long as I can remember. The idea for Caged Freedom came to me in a dream (literally), and I knew it wasn’t going to become anything until I gave it the time and space it deserved.

So I made a decision. I carved out one hour a day, just for writing. No matter how tired I was, no matter how tempting it was to scroll through Instagram or collapse into bed, I committed to showing up for that one hour. I then added the full day on Saturdays to accelerate my progress, thanks to my partner taking on the parenting role for the day.

Putting my phone down was honestly the hardest part. Social media has a sneaky way of eating up the little slivers of time we think we don’t have. But once I broke that habit, I started to find a rhythm. I’d make a cup of tea, started my walking pad, opened my laptop, and disappeared into the world I was building - one sentence, one scene at a time.

It wasn’t always pretty. Some days I wrote a paragraph. Other days, I surprised myself and wrote pages. But every word added up.

That’s the magic of consistency. It’s not about writing for hours on end or waiting for the perfect moment (spoiler: it doesn’t exist). It’s about showing up, even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard.

And now? That story is no longer a dream - it’s a book.

So if you’re out there, juggling life and work and the beautiful chaos of motherhood, but still holding onto a creative dream… know that it’s possible. Even an hour a day can change everything.

You just have to start.