What Does That Mean, A Mother Who Writes?

Photo courtesy of Suzy Hazelwood

When I started this blog, it was to build a platform so I could write a parenting book.
The platform wasn't a bad idea, but I learned relatively quickly that writing about parenting was not my platform. I loved to write about other things: food and wine, books, nature, twisted fairy tales, and anything that challenged me.

But what about now? I left this blog for years, and returned to the traditional workforce.
For 5 years, I've been focusing on business administration in higher education. I haven't written anything creative.

So what happened to the "mother who writes" part of the blog? Or part of me?

I considered changing the name, and then the sub-heading, but that would be like throwing away the years I spent building the blog, the followers, and simply writing. In essence, the very platform I had been building.

I considered instead, changing my perspective. Of course I still write. Every day. And what I realized is that I am still a mother who writes, I'm just telling a story to a different audience.

Work projects that involve writing (and they almost all do) have beginnings, middles and ends. They tell stories of problems and challenges and then the possible solutions to those problems. They involve multiple characters with various strengths and flaws. They start as drafts, get edited, revised, shared, edited again, and finally presented to an audience. Most important, the reader needs to feel connected to what you're presenting regardless of the subject.

Can I change this blog over to focus on a different kind of writing? Is that even necessary? Can I write both? Still keep the fun stuff and also write up a business continuity plan in response to a health crisis that completely changes the way we work and still gets the job done? The answer is yes. And this is all part of me, the mother who writes.

I haven't given up on writing the fun stuff- there is still a 60,000 word manuscript waiting to have the second half edited. There is also a written draft of a plan to shift an in-person recruiting experience into a virtual one. Regardless of the piece being read, this mom is writing and I've answered my own question about what it means to be a mother who writes.