Create in the Cracks
Parents that Write #31 Q&A with Lindsay Johnstone
Welcome to Parents That Write.
Parent writers, artists, and creators are more than just their ‘chaos’. We’re publishing books, dropping albums, optioning screenplays, and making magic every day.
HOW DO THEY DO IT? That's what we're here to find out. Each week, my guests tackle eight quick-fire questions, plus a few wildcards. But first, a peek into my own creative life:
No-Fluff Notes from my Writing Life
For the past 30 weeks, No-Fluff has been where I’ve documented the reality of writing, publishing, and staying awake to the creative life while parenting my big brood of kids and resisting the cultural scripts that won’t shut up.
One of those creations, my book NOISE: A Manifesto Modernising Motherhood, is almost sold out1. Last week I promised to mark the occasion. Here’s what I’ve come up with:
If you buy one of the remaining copies of NOISE direct from me this week, I’ll gift you a free copy of SPUNK: A Manifesto Modernising Fatherhood too.
NOISE is part memoir, part manifesto. It asks us to reckon with the inheritance of motherhood: to name what we’re upholding, what we’re dismantling, and what we’re rebuilding for the next generation. But that reckoning only goes so far if we do it alone.
SPUNK brings men into that conversation. Based on thousands of fathers’ testimonies worldwide, it’s unusual in one vital way: it doesn’t scold. It reveals what men are really thinking and feeling about fatherhood and invites them into something deeper, braver, and more deliberate.
This is a cultural double-act. Each book bundle includes signed copies of both, with a personal message from me. Because this is a flash little offer here’s a few t&c’s…
🌺 The NOISE + SPUNK BUNDLE includes:
- 1 signed copy of NOISE: A Manifesto Modernising Motherhood,
- 1 signed copy of SPUNK: A Manifesto Modernising Fatherhood
- A Personal note from me tucked inside.
📦 UK only
📬 Order by midnight 8th June (GMT) in time for UK Father’s Day!
📚 Only 24 bundles available → Order yours straight from my kitchen table to your front door.
→ Fill out this short form after you’ve paid (So I can personalise your books and post them to the right place)
Next week, I’m joined by adventurer and mischief-maker - come join us, but first let’s get to this week’s formidable and soul-spilling guest.
So...this week’s guest? . Award-winner. Motherhood truth-slinger. Her memoir Held in Mind slices into intergenerational grief with a scalpel, not a sponge. And her Substack What Now? is the kind of place where midlife panic meets literary brilliance and somehow makes you laugh-snort along the way.
Share a broad snapshot of your life. Who are you parent to and/or have caring responsibilities for?
I'm a married mother of two girls - 10 and 13. I'm a writer but also have a part time day job at Scotland's national literacy charity. I live in Glasgow, UK. I also have a caring responsibility for my mother who has multiple (physical as well as mental) health challenges owing to bipolar disorder.
Where can we find you?
Can you share favourite praise for your writing?
"You know when you read a really, really good bit of writing, and you have to return to it over and over to just feel that sense of satisfaction in a writer with a safe pair of hands, saying something vulnerable and important…that’s this, from Lindsay Johnstone" author Wendy Pratt about this recent Substack post.
"This is stunning. Memoir is such a fascinating genre, isn't it, and you write it brilliantly." from Clover Stroud on my audio memoir about motherhood and intergenerational trauma, Held in Mind, which is serialised in full for my Substack Membership
‘Beautifully honest writing at the intersection of mental health and creativity.’ Samantha Clark, The Life Boat
‘Lindsay's writing is generous, poignant and beautiful. I always look forward to reading her posts and she makes me a better writer by osmosis somehow! ✨’ Claire Venus (she/her) ✨ , Sparkle on Substack
'Johnstone's writing is present and vivid': The John Byrne Award, 2022
Why do you write?
I write for me and for others. For me, because it's both my meditation and the way I make sense of my/the world. It helps me interrogate my thoughts, feelings and reactions. It's my craft. I'm a communicator and see the work I publish for its value as a tool for connection with others.
What does the inside of your writing mind look like?
At times, incredibly focused and organised, then at others an absolute riot! A bit like my home?! I have multiple projects big and small on the go right now which sees me operating a bit like a stage manager, thrusting them under the limelight for periods of time as I attempt to coach them into shape. I'm a list-maker and a journal-keeper and these things help, but in honesty most of what I'm working on is in my head and then gets worked out on the page. I don't tend to end up with the piece I set off to write, but see that as part of my process in that it's a living thing on the page, and has a life of its own that I can only really shepherd into shape.
How is your ability to write affected by being a parent and your ability to parent affected by your writing?
I started to take my writing seriously and call myself a writer when my younger daughter started school in 2020. Before that, I wrote but would never have used that term. I saw it (still do to an extent) as just one of the creative expressions I had in the world but when I had less time I would say that my focus was more on community building (I ran a women's group in Glasgow) and my music (I've been in bands all my life and am currently in one with other mother-creatives who are also artists @wallsunsun on IG and here's a piece I wrote about creatives who mother when our album launched last summer).
I think that we've evolved as a family to greater accommodate my writing now it's classed as my work. I write every day during term time and that's fine as the kids are at school. I'm often editing my Sunday Substack post on Saturdays and the kids are old enough and mostly off with pals or suiting themselves.I do also take time away. I went on a retreat (an online one as part of the two-year programme I'm on with Arvon, England's national writing centre) and am lucky to have a supportive spouse who accepts that this is vital for me. The girls get it, too. I do need to tell myself sometimes to put the laptop away and focus solely on family time, and know that I can see writing as an escape when there are tricky things going on for us.
Because I write a lot about motherhood/being mothered the kids feature in my work a great deal - or certainly my experience of them/being a trauma-impacted mother to an ND kid. They accept this and see what I'm working on from time to time.
How often do you write with your child around or not, and what kind of writing do you get done when your child is nearby?
I think I said above that I tend to chip away on Saturdays, but the deep work can only happen when I'm alone and it's quiet and no one is going to disturb me! I tend to do more admin/workaday tasks when I know I can't get peace, which is fine too. It's all in the balance.
What is your best writing habit?
Little and often! Using Notes on my phone to capture ideas, carrying a notebook, too. I started doing this seriously about seven years ago on a retreat and understood its power.
What are the three most important characteristics of being a writer who is a parent?
➡️ The ability to drop and then resume focus
➡️ Demonstrating (not just saying) that the work is important but if they need me, I'm there
➡️ Striking a balance between revelation and privacy in the work to protect them and their stories
What or who is your secret writing weapon?
Time! There really is no secret. Just acting on that moment of whatever you call it (inspiration, motivation...) as and when it strikes which might just mean making a quick voicenote to self or sitting down to add another 200 words to a book chapter.
It's like raising kids! Be present. The tiniest of steps add up to something impressive if you just keep going.
What or who has been the most significant creative influence in your life?
I'm going to say the yoga retreat I went on back in May 2018 when my younger daughter was 3. It was a gift from my spouse who recognised I was on the verge of a breakdown and needed time for myself in a way I'd never been able to take before nor would have justified for myself. It was the catalyst for change and personal development that I hadn't known I needed. It was the first time that I thought about my writing seriously and felt that it was something I should pursue with intention. Since then, my life has utterly transformed.
What are your coping tactics for being (constantly) interrupted in your thought process?
Choosing my tasks wisely! Or getting a door between me and the family if I'm toiling with something that needs immediate attention and can't wait until I have time alone to fix.
What’s your best writing time?
Mornings! I'm rubbish at night unless I don't have a choice in the matter!
You’re a writer: name 3 of your procrastination techniques.
1. Social media scrolling
2. Creating content on social media
3. Exercise!
What unfinished writing projects do you have lying about?
Two thirds of a novel and at the moment, the non fiction book I'm working on isn't quite done but it will be...
What music do you listen to while writing?
I use Endel, which is a music and soundscape focus timer with so many options to help with concentration. I can't write to music with lyrics because I find it so incredibly distracting
Closing out this Column with:
"I’ve got to become free myself if I’m to be free in my painting.” -- Tove Jansson
PARENTS WHO THINK (AND CREATE) TO THE COMMENTS 👇🏻
This week, we’re asking bigger questions about legacy, creativity, and what gets passed down, intentionally or not.
What’s something you were handed (a belief, a behaviour, a blueprint) that you’re actively rewriting as a parent?
Tell me below: these are the breadcrumbs we all need!
Sending you love + creative juice,
Danusia x
which means a 2nd edition is on the cards!!
 | A guest post by
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Thanks so much for sharing my interview with @Lindsay Johnstone. Her work is brilliance in action, right?! 🫶🏼