Finding Time to Write
Finding time to write can be a challenge as we juggle family and
life around our desire to write. If writing is your priority like
it is mine, here are some suggestions that have worked for me.
 GET
UP EARLIER or STAY UP LATER
I find the 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. time period before the rest of the
world wakes is a peak time for creativity. No email, no surfing
the web. I simply spend the time writing and/or revising. I’ve
increased my productivity dramatically.
Not a morning person? I challenge you to try setting your alarm
an hour earlier and testing my strategy. Bet you find it works.
Not convinced? What if you stayed up an hour or two after everyone
else has gone to bed? I'd never be able to do it…getting
up so early I’m wiped by eleven p.m.
TAKE
PRINTED OUT PAGES EVERYWHERE
I print out the pages I write every morning and take them with
me everywhere I go during the day. When I'm waiting at a long
stop light, sitting in traffic, waiting at a doctor’s office
or hair salon, I edit those pages and add ideas for the rest of
the chapter or scene.
Over the course of the day, I can usually skeleton out another
three or four pages. After dinner, I input those changes and
additions, tightening and refining as I do.
The next morning, I start by revising the previous day's work,
then write new material. And go through the process again.
SET
GOALS
I set a completion date for a manuscript as though I had a book
contract and calculate how many pages per day I need to complete
to accomplish my goal. I keep a calendar beside my computer to
track my page count for the day. Granted, the only editor breathing
down my neck is me, but having those little squares to fill in
gives me a real sense of accomplishment.
P.S. I also log the hours I work. Comes in very handy at tax
time.
TURN
OFF THE INTERNET CONNECTION
I use the Internet and email as an incentive, rather than procrastination
tools. I don’t even connect to the web or open my
email until I've reached my page count.
If I discover I need some tidbit from research, I insert large
X’s and fill it in later.
GET
AN ALPHASMART or PORTABLE WORD PROCESSOR
These machines are great because they're bare bones. No e-mail,
no fancy gadgets, just type and uploaded to the computer later.
Not as bulky as my laptop and those AA batteries last forever.
My AlphaSmart goes everywhere I do--in the car, on the plane
or train, to the workshops, to the doctor's office. Mine’s
even traveled all over the U.S., Canada and Europe. At night it’s
beside the bed where I can grab it when inspiration strikes. My
husband’s adjusted to hearing the click of the keys and
doesn’t even wake up anymore.
The best part about using my AlphaSmart is that I can't really
edit because of the way the screen is configured to show only
four lines of text. Makes me write without looking back at what
I’ve written, which removes my internal editor.
If you can’t afford another electronic tool, no problem.
Use a notebook. I mean this literally. I have notebooks in the
car, my purse, the living room, the bedroom, even the bathroom.
When I have an idea, I can jot it down immediately. You never
know when a story idea is going to happen.
Give some of these suggestions a try if you’re having a
hard time finding enough hours in the day for your writing. Before
you know it, you'll have that manuscript finished!
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