I was commenting to my most advanced Dream Team students that there are several types of assistance that contemporary writers tend to need. I thought I’d share those ideas with you. Here they are:

A good editor (or several of them).

A good proofreader (or a readership that enjoys hunting down typos).

A graphic designer who gets you and can help you communicate what you offer.

An awesome agent, who is just an agent, and not twenty other things.

An e-book layout designer, who can bounce your quality content back to you in all available formats.

Tech/computer help/education, if you require it.

A bookkeeper and/or tax-prep help.

A flexible, supportive spouse or partner (whom you support back).

Children who create and engage in their own worlds/ideas. (You want them to grow up creative like you, right?).

Childcare providers (for children too young to create/engage in their own worlds).

Housecleaning/landscaping help if you can manage it. So you can do more of the fun stuff.

Publicist, Publicity coach or Publicity consultant/trainer (suggested by Porter Anderson)

I’m sure there are more I’m overlooking…more ideas?

I have a “date” tonight with my husband and I cannot wait. I’m so grateful that I lined up a sitter weeks ago so that we could both be reminded how important it is to make time for the two of us to hang out and have some fun.

Busy as we both are, me with my book, classes, etc. and he with his teaching, play production, yearbook deadlines, etc.), it’s crucial that we get out of go-go-go mode and relax regularly.

In fact, I am prioritizing fun all weekend this weekend. My focus will be on birthdays, vacations, and spiritual enrichment. But I don’t worry when we are too busy to focus on fun, because I know that as surely as spring comes around every year, something fun is always just around the corner waiting for someone to pay attention.

Maybe that’s the reason why I’m more excited about spring than ever, because I have learned how to let go of things that don’t enrich my life, so I can say a hearty “yes” to the things that do.

This weekend, I’ll say “yes” to fun. How about you?

If you are part of a creative couple and you both have creative ambitions and kids and extended families and pets and civic responsibilities, how are you going to make it all work? I mean, we don’t exactly live in a country that provides enough resources for everyone to express their deepest creative longings. If you are going to have a creative career, you’re going to have to build it and support it yourself.

So what makes creative partnerships work?

I’ve always wanted to write about creative couples. I’m an author/teacher/speaker and my husband is a teacher/director/producer and sometimes I wonder how normal our weekly workload is. For example, right now he’s mounting a production of “Guys & Dolls,” which means he’s working ten-eleven hours a day (and we haven’t even hit what we call “hell” week yet, which means he works day and night for about ten days).

I also work a lot of hours each week. It’s a little harder to add mine up because I often grab more time in the wee hours of the morning or on the weekend to add onto my usual 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. office hours. I typically get up early and work for an hour or two before my daughter gets up and then add a couple of hours on after she gets home while she decompresses or does her homework. All in all, I’d say I work about the same number of hours my husband does when he’s mounting a musical.

Keep in mind that I’m not merely writing. If I were only writing, I could work about half as much time but only after cutting out teaching, speaking, traveling, coaching, blogging, volunteer work, and social networking. And there’s no way I’d do that because I enjoy all of the other things I do. (Although when working on a book, I necessarily cut back a bit.)

Fortunately for us, we both enjoy our work. My husband puts up the best non-professional musicals I’ve ever seen with the help of some other really amazing professionals and an army of volunteers who work with the kids. And I’ve been fortunate to have steady, modest success in the things that I do.

So what makes it work? I think I’d have to say that mutual support is key to a happy partnership. I was the one who encouraged Jason to go back to school for theater. Some people think pursuing a career in the arts is impractical, but for people who are meant to work in the arts pursuing an advanced degree in the arts can be the most practical thing a person can possibly do. By adding a teaching degree on to a masters in Theater, my husband has balanced his creative talents with a reliable job.

And by combining writing with the other things that I do, I’m not sitting at home, idle, while my husband is having cue-to-cue rehearsal, tapping my foot and looking at the clock. I’m occupied with my own work. And there is no one I would rather share my latest successes or frustrations with than my husband, when he gets home after a long day at work.

How supportive are you of your partner’s creativity or creative career ambitions?

I’d love it if you’d comment here or write a post in your blog and link back. Thanks for sharing.

~Photo by Phil Gyford