Finding Time to Write

A discussion recently came up in an online writers’ group I take part in about how we each carve out time to write. There were many suggestions. Some people got up an hour early, some stayed up an hour late, some used ‘stolen moments’ of time commuting, some used voice-recognition to increase their efficiency, some found doing a run or other cardio meant a tired body made focus easier. I think the solution is probably deeply personal and unique to a writer’s individual circumstances. So while I have tried all of these at some point in the past, I have found that for me none have been sustainable (and I could not get used to voice dictation at all – it made me concentrate too much on the words and punctuation and not enough on the ideas and the story).

Instead, I don’t actually make time for writing. What I do make time for, however, is writing-related things. So I am a member of a reading group of writers, and we get together once a month and discuss one of the Hugo or Nebula short story nominees we’ve all read in preparation. We talk about techniques that were used. I also attend a monthly writers salon which is just writers discussing craft etc. I try to be involved in an online forum, and a discord channel that is writing-based. I listen to a couple of writing podcasts, though that I do irregularly. And I make sure I have time to read genre short stories. The key is I only do the bits I find fun.

And what I have found is that while it’s true that all takes time, as none of it is a ‘chore’, I find it easy to commit to. For me, the result of that “writing adjacent” activity is I get inspired! I get excited about a story idea or can’t wait to try out a new writing craft trick someone has talked about, or I see/read something where they do something and I think it’s neat and I want to put my own spin on it, or try the technique. 

And so then it’s less of a struggle when I do come to write. I have my idea or what I’m going to do, and I want to get down and write it, so I’m more efficient, more motivated and I use scraps of time to write that if I weren’t already psyched to write would probably have been used for less productive activities ( e.g. vegging in front of the TV).

I find this works better for me than committing to writing or staring at a blank page, or determinedly trying to come up with a story idea, or locking myself in a room till I have produced 1000 words, 5 pages, or whatever goal one finds do-able. 

Hopefully this approach is helpful to someone else out there. If you have other suggestions always let me know via the contact form or the comments section below!