Darragh Ó Bradáin

I’ve noticed that I haven’t updated this blog in over a month, and this is owing to the fact that I’ve been writing less. I returned to my full-time primary teaching job on 1st September 2026, after 14 months away from that work. Being a teacher means being prepared, so in reality my return to work preceded this by a week.

When I was on parental leave, once I settled into the new routine, I was able to carve out an hour a day (on a good day) for writing. Recently, this has not been possible. The majority of the time I’ll spend writing will take place at the weekend. That’s not to say that I have no time during the week, but I only have so much to give, and the priority is to my family first, and then to my job. If I can find a calm 30 minutes on a weekday, I’ll absolutely take it, but these opportunities are few and far between.

I’m not entirely sure if I’m on track to meet my personal goal of finishing a novel by the end of 2026. Lessons in Absence is just over a third of the way there, and I think this is where my focus will be for the foreseeable future. I don’t think I can jump between two novels successfully, while my free time is so limited. This was the first novel I started, so it’ll be the first one I finish. Witness to the Forgotten will have its day(s), just maybe not until 2027.

I would also like to write more poetry. I’ll be sticking to the medium of Irish, as I think it fits my style. I can say more with less when I speak or write in Irish.

The October midterm is 6 weeks away, so it’s an opportunity to write around 5,000 words. In the meantime, I’ll plough ahead with my few hundred words of the novel, or the hundred (or fewer) words of a poem, whenever the opportunity presents itself.

I’d love to hear from others – how do you juggle full time work with an aspiring writer goal?