Finding Time to Write When You Have No Time by Elizabeth Alsobrooks

These days, most people have jobs, even if they’re writers (or perhaps especially if they’re writers), except of course for those Stephen King and Nora Roberts types among us. That means we have to “find time” to write.  We have to juggle our schedules and once we have the time to write, perhaps we are too tired, or uninspired to write anyway. So what’s the solution? For many of us, it’s habit and preparation.

Everyone wastes at least 30 minutes in a single day, watching TV, or doing something unnecessary. Make that 30 minutes work for you. Find time to write at a time and in a place that’s right for you. If you’re a morning person, get up ½ hour earlier, before anyone else, and write then. If you’re a night owl, use ½ hour in the evening to write. The point here is to write when your brain is “up for it,” and to get into the habit of doing it every single day, getting yourself into the habit of writing.

Easier said than done? Maybe, but it sure isn’t hard for us to quickly establish bad habits. Why not make a little more effort to create a good one?

That brings us to the where of writing. You need a ‘space’ for your creative endeavors. It doesn’t need to be a fancy, single-purpose office, but it should be cleared of clutter ‘space’ where you can feel comfortable and be relatively uninterrupted—which probably means your significant other or children should know this is time for you to work and you will be with them shortly. Unless they are on fire or the house is about to blow up, they should learn to leave you alone.

Speaking of being alone, be sure you are. Turn off your phone and the TV. It’s fine to have some mood music, if it helps you get your creative juices flowing, but anything that interferes with your writing has to go.

If you need a little prep to rev up your muse, choose some special music tracks that help you get into the mood of whatever genre you’re working on. Get your coffee, tea, water, or other beverage, a snack if it helps you think (and celery is every bit as fun to munch as licorice when you’re not really thinking about what’s going into your mouth), so you won’t have to stop once you get flowing.

Once you’ve begun to establish a habit of writing every day, challenge yourself. If you’re a goal setter, give yourself a word count to strive toward (perhaps not as daunting as NANO), but don’t beat yourself up if you don’t always reach it. It’s just that more exciting when you do. Keep it reasonable so you can reach it, too.

Yeah, you’ve done it, you’ve become a writer. Just be careful not to become your own worst critic! Allow yourself to brainstorm, to free write, to let your ideas flow. You will find some beautiful flowers among the weeds.

I hope this helps! Write on!