I’m working on a talk that will center around fitting writing into all the pockets of our time, in-between kids and elder care and dayjobs and basketball practice and laundry and sick and so on and so on. Sometimes it’s a wonder any of us get a book finished at all!
I leave myself voice mail messages, write on Post-it notes at work and have been known to write on the back of my hand while waiting at a stop light.
So what are some of your tips for finding time to write?
Finding Time
I think the most important thing is something every day. (Well, I often do give myself weekends off.) If I’m on a roll, writing every day, even if only 15 minutes, keeps me on that roll. If I’m NOT on a roll, no way I’m going to get there if I don’t sit down at the computer!
The other thing that doesn’t QUITE fit into your schedule question, but I find really helpful for just seeing progress is to visualize a chunk of work (a chapter or a scene or just two pages) and tell myself no bedtime until its done. Often, that helps me squeeze in that time during the day & make it a whole lot more productive. If not, though, there I am at night, with my piece of chocolate bar beside me, basically supergluing myself to the computer until the task is done. Again, knowing I don’t get to stop until its done makes that time a lot more focused for me than when I haven’t set myself a specific goal.
Susan, is this the talk you’re going to give at CWC next month? If my husband’s not doing a bike century that day, I’m going to try & show up! Sounds like a great subject.
Susan, not your hands! I want to send you post-its to keep in your car!
LOL. Not so much anymore but when the kids were little I could barely keep ahold of a pen, let alone a pad. (We didn’t have Post-its back then.)
I once heard somewhere a good tip….
Carry your work in progress on a clip board with you as you go about your day at home…while you fold clothes, dishes, etc. Then you can work on it in the spare moments. I’ve done that before and it’s worked for me.
Good luck!
What a great tip – of course there’s the assumption that you’ve made a commitment to a project which sometimes is a problem with me. 🙂
I have a note pad with me at all times! The brain never stops working and will send me ideas at the oddest times.
I try to have a notebook with me but as I get older, this splitting of my time is more difficult. Okay, mostly splitting from the day job to the writing.
When I sub, I either take my laptop so I can read for revisions, or I outline new ideas on a pad of paper. Some days, I find as much as two hours total during a teachign day, some times as little has half an hour. But every little bit helps.
Bit by bit it adds up, doesn’t it?