“I wrote a book while raising twin newborns. Here’s how I survived the first year”
Author Mercedes Mercier shares what it’s really like writing a book while raising twin newborns.
It’s no secret that having twin newborns is hard. It’s also no secret that writing a book is hard. But doing both at the same time? I honestly don’t know how I survived it.
Looking back on that first year (my girls are now 18 months old), I’m still bewildered at how I managed to juggle feeding schedules, nap schedules, nappy changes (times two) and everything else that goes into keeping two newborns alive, at the same time as re-writing half of my newest novel, The Couples Retreat.
In all honesty, being thrust into first-time motherhood with two babies to look after was a smoother transition that I was expecting. At first, my girls slept pretty much non-stop – we had to set three-hourly alarms to wake them to feed overnight – and my husband was fortunate enough to have ten weeks off work. Those first few months were a blur of delicious newborn bubble cosiness and relaxation. I could open my laptop and work on my manuscript at almost any point throughout the day.
Then everything changed
But when my husband went back to work and the girls’ wake windows increased, it became a completely different story. I found I had to consciously carve out time throughout the day to write, which usually ended up being in the girls’ second and third naps of the day (their first nap was reserved for cleaning bottles, washing tens of sleep suits covered in vomit and general house tidying after the morning’s chao). These precious snatches of alone time – often no more than half an hour, especially during the dreaded four-month sleep regression – were spent feverishly typing while trying to suppress my raging guilt that I should be hanging out the washing, preparing dinner, or even ‘sleeping while the babies sleep’ instead.
The “rewrite half the book” moment
It was around this time that I got my first edits back from my publisher. And they were big. The Couple’s Retreat is told from two alternating points of view – a rookie police officer, and a newly wealthy activewear company owner on a luxurious holiday with her husband’s ‘old money’ uni friends – and I needed to re-write one whole point of view. AKA half the book. It felt like an impossible task to achieve while sleep deprived and caring for my daughters alone for eleven hours a day when my husband was at work.
Every spare second = writing time
But for those three months before my deadline, I dedicated every spare second to writing: during every nap, when my husband got home from work, and as soon as the girls went down for the night, often writing until midnight, only to be woken two, three or more times during the night. My husband took the girls on hour-long walks on the weekends so I could have long blocks of time to work.
My mind was often in another place: plotting a deadly secret between old friends while rocking two babies to sleep at the same time… Picturing the ruggedly beautiful beaches of Kangaroo Island, where The Couples Retreat is set, while changing two dirty nappies one after the other…
I did it! I wrote a book while juggling twin newborns
And slowly, hour by hour, day by day, I got it done. There were tears, frustration and many, many moments of sheer overwhelm. But every time I fearfully thought ‘what if I can’t do this?’, I reminded myself how lucky I am to be doing two things I love more than anything else: raising my daughters and writing books.
And finally, I submitted my edited manuscript to my publisher. It was a week late, but I did it.
I’ve often been called a ‘supermum’ for raising twins (which I always brush off because I firmly believe all mums are supermums), but I have to say that looking back on everything I juggled in my first year of twin motherhood does make me feel super proud.
Mercedes Mercier is the author of The Couples Retreat, published by Penguin Books, RRP $34.99. Out now and available to purchase here.
