Time to write

Honestly, when I was working outside the home I never had time to write. I was doing Social Services casework and had absolutely *no* downtime at work. I even worked during lunch. Every now and then I'd muster up some energy and get some work done after dinner, but it wasn't quality.

Now I have a toddler home with me full-time which I'm sure a lot of people can back me up when I say it's probably one of the least conducive environments to writing there is. A lot of the time I end up typing gibberish because I type what the kid is saying and don't catch it until I start to edit. I write anyway, though. It helps if I take notes during the day when I have ideas, and crank out pages when the little one is asleep or otherwise contained.

I try to exploit those bubbles of productivity when they occur because they're unpredictable. I can crank out a few thousand words in a day and then go a week without touching a story. That works out well because I get some distance from the story and when I return to it I catch a lot of things I need to fix.

Early in the morning from 6-8AM or in the evening between 7PM-10PM. I am a full time student and manager so I have to adjust around the schedule. But I try to do at least 2-3 hours of uninterrupted writing per day.

I never managed it very well either. Nine hours at work minimum (eight plus lunch), plus an hour or so commuting, plus eight (or more) hours sleep, plus an hour in the morning and an hour at night makes twenty hours, and you haven't even cooked dinner, done the laundry, or gone grocery shopping. And then there's the daily workout, which pretty much kills the rest of the day if it happens. Weekends didn't help much either, because I usually spent Saturday morning catching up on chores like major shopping, and by Saturday night I wasn't capable of much serious thought.

I tried the getting up early option, but it didn't help much. I was just too fuzzy-headed to write much.

I get in an hour during my lunch break at work, and once I get home I take a shower and then sit down to finish my word-count goal for the day. My goal is a minimum of 2000 words per day, but I usually end up going to around 4000 or 5000. It helps that I type very fast.

Typically my lunch break involves thinking up the chapter/scene I'm about to write (with help from my sketchy outline) and then putting down around 500 - 1000 words. After lunch, I keep musing on the scene or chapter so that it's all organized in my head and ready to go once I'm home and no longer smelling like mole-rat pee and angry millipedes. The mental planning I do during the day combined with my ninja typing speed makes it easy to crank out up to 5000 words (if needed) in under two hours. Often it takes only an hour to finish the chapter. Using this method, I've gotten through a little over 60,000 words in five weeks.

And, of course, I also write on the weekends. I get more time then, and I usually do two chapters each weekend day.

I'm married, so it can be hard to juggle time with my husband and writing. Fortunately, he's really sweet and supportive and wants me to be successful with my writing, so he gives me the time I need to get it done. And of course when I'm done with writing time, I pay attention to him. It also helps that he's a bit of a writer, too. He writes articles and reviews for gaming magazines.

In reading other folks' posts, I think the reason why I've been successful in writing my novel while working full-time is because I've made writing an unavoidable part of my day. I have a routine, and I stick to it. I've made sacrifices so that I can write effectively. I used to walk every day, as much as six miles, and I typically only go on weekends now (although with more daylight, I've squeezed in some late-evening walks.) My waistline has grown a tad because of this, but I'd rather finish this book than fit into my skinny jeans. For now. (ha ha.) I miss my walks -- they were great stress-relievers -- but I'm excited about the progress I'm making on the book.

I also don't have any kids, which helps a lot. It would be hard to write with a toddler. My nephew is 17 months old, and running all over the place and throwing tantrums. I love the little guy, but I would go nuts if I had to take care of him full-time. O__O Much respect for parents, especially parents of toddlers.

My commute is very short -- I live about five miles from the zoo -- but I used to write when I worked at a job that had a very long commute. I took along a little digital recorder so I could vocally record notes or passages I'd composed in my head, so that even during times when I didn't have a keyboard in front of me I could still work on my short stories (which was what I wrote at the time.)

I hope that helps you with some ideas! I think setting a clear schedule when you have "Writing Time!" helps a lot.

i'm so glad someone asked this!! it's very interesting to read the responses.

I am also struggling with finding time to write. 10 hours of work each day, housework/yardwork/chores on the weekends, plus a puppy and a boyfriend to attend to... all make it very difficult to simply FIND THE TIME.

i wonder if this is why some novels take so long (years) to write - not because the authors are toiling over the work and striving for perfection, but because they can't find more than an hour a week to write! (at least, i know that's why MINE is taking so long to finish. haha!)

thanks for the thread!

I work full time as well. My children are old enough to fend for themselves for the most part, and seem to prefer it. My husband works nights. I write at night after work, until I drop if I'm feeling inspired. I write on weekends, starting Friday night til Sunday night. I avoid housework, I don't prepare fancy meals. I'll go hungry myself if no one else is around. I make notes and study technique at lunch at work.

I've been "waiting to write" for most of my adult life. I just decided a couple of year ago that it was the most important thing for me to do right now, I didn't have a lifetime ahead of me any longer. So, screw the dishes. The kids can cook and take out the trash. My husband is a grown up and doesn't need my constant attendance. He needs to deal with the fact that he's married to a writer.

I have other "writing" projects I work on as well, editing and anthology and magazine work. I hate to say it, but I simply had to put writing first. It was about time for me.

I salute you parents and teachers who have to struggle to find time to write. I feel terrible guilt when I don't write... (no kids, not a teacher, virtually no life, but I do have a full time job that leaves me a little wrung out.) You inspire me to grasp time by the tail and use it.

Sorry I was so lazy this weekend.

I'm about to be published, but I wrote that novel while working and nothing has really changed since selling my novel, so...

I write best in the mornings, so I get up early and write for a few hours before work. Then I write until lunch on the weekends. Being paid for it has definitely made it more of a priority, but I've only added a few extra hours per day.

If you want to get writing done, you have to set time aside for it. If it's always something you do when you have time, you'll never have time. Life is just like that. If your goal is just to write and enjoy it, then this isn't a problem. But if the end goal is publication and thus a career, you have to approach it like a starting a small business. Make time, even if it's just an hour, and write during that time.

Even if all you do is 500 words a day, you can have a 90K word draft is six months. Or if daily is a problem, set aside a few days or evenings when you can carve out a few hours and aim for weekly goals. Find a goal and time frame that's comfortable to you and make it part of your routine.

Because if you do sell your book, you will have deadlines and commitments and things that will demand your full attention. Publishing is a job. It takes work. And most writers can't afford to live off their writing, so they need to keep their day jobs. If you're constantly scrambling to find time, that will be a lot of stress to deal with.

I'd suggest starting small. Find a half hour a day and write. Get in the habit, and get your family in the habit of leaving you alone at that time. Then add time (if you need or want to) until you have a schedule that works for you.

I write on my (wayyyyy too long) commute on the train and the bus. It gives me plenty of time. When I'm away from work I usually try to steal 30 minutes here and there (that's about as long as I can go without my significant other getting annoyed with me for ignoring her!). Sometimes I take a notebook and write in the bath. That's usually a good place to be left in solitude.

Have you read this column before? http://www.locusmag.com/Features/2009/01/cory-doctorow-writing-in-age-of.html It's a good one. The best bit:

When I'm working on a story or novel, I set a modest daily goal — usually a page or two — and then I meet it every day, doing nothing else while I'm working on it. It's not plausible or desirable to try to get the world to go away for hours at a time, but it's entirely possible to make it all shut up for 20 minutes. Writing a page every day gets me more than a novel per year — do the math — and there's always 20 minutes to be found in a day, no matter what else is going on. Twenty minutes is a short enough interval that it can be claimed from a sleep or meal-break (though this shouldn't become a habit). The secret is to do it every day, weekends included, to keep the momentum going, and to allow your thoughts to wander to your next day's page between sessions.

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If you aren't familiar with the author, he has a wife, a baby, a job, one of the most popular blogs EVAR, AND five published novels.

I'm lucky in that I have no social life

Seriously, I make time. I work full time, have a partner and a wedding coming up but I still make the time to write. There are 24 hours in everyone's day and I know plenty of people who say they have no free time but still manage to watch Big Brother or any other crap like that.

If I could figure out some concrete system, given work, school, family etc., I'd let you know.

I'm not a morning person AT ALL, so that's just not going to work for me. I can't "wake up early" because I literally convince myself in my dreams of ways of hitting snooze on the alarm, thus never being fully conscious to have a say in the matter.

I. Love. Sleep.

As for writing late at night, well that seems to be the option for me. Desperate Housewives on in the background (the wife's choice) and the dog barking or biting or eating things, but I've got my laptop in hand, ready to go to war.

I wish I had a system I could share, but I don't. Right now, I settle for stealing whatever bits of time I can, even if it's only 5 minutes. It's haphazard, but I still manage to finish projects this way. All you can do is work with what resources you have in terms of time, energy, other obligations and goals, etc. I don't think the juggle ever really goes away, no matter what you schedule is.

I cut out watching TV and use that time to write. I also have a tentative agreement with my husband that in the evening I can write for a while. (This is, of course, once dinner's been made and dishes washed and baby is in bed for the night.)

I have an easier time staying up late so I usually do better staying up a little later rather than getting up a little earlier.

On kind of a side note. I find I can make the most of my writing time when I know what I'm going to write when I sit down to do it. I used to wing it and then I'd spend at least half the time trying to remember what I'd already written and where I was going next. Now, any time I write I make a mental note when I stop about what I'm going to be working on next. (I.e. the next chapter will be Bob at the bowling alley. I need to remember that he sees Sally for the first time.) Then I think about that scene(s) as I do other non-brain stuff (like washing the dishes) until I sit down to write it.

Family is important. My husband and I have had some disagreements over whether the time I spend writing is worth it. The thing is, even though he still thinks it may be a waste of time, he does recognize that it's important to me and he tries to let me make time for writing. Discussing this with your family may be your best bet.

I work four jobs, which usually puts me in the 50-60 hour work week range. More if it's grading time since I'm an alternative high school teacher. And I'm finishing grad school.

I write whenever I can. My current minimum limit is 500 words. (I used to never have a limit, but I kind of realized how much LOVE me some goals. Anyway.) I sit down to write in that time between when I get home and when Hubby gets home. I've been known to write while waiting for the pasta to cook, or other dinner situations. I also write after Hubby goes to bed. He's in bed by 11ish since he gets up at dark o'clock (5am). I don't have to get up until 8 most days, so I stay up. Even that extra hour between and midnight is often enough to write 500 words-- usually more unless I'm having a plotting problem.

I used to cop out of writing more-- not enough time, didn't feel like it, etc. But then, I started doing a little bit a day. I started with that 250 words a day thread... and found that was rather easy. Then I upped it to 500 words for my minimum. Just a little bit. But it adds up.

Writing IS my relaxation, so that helps.

Though I admit, that through my schooling as an undergrad, I didn't hardly write at all then. I was working 40+ hrs (only 2 jobs then) and taking a full course load. Sometimes, there isn't enough time. Sometimes we just don't see that it's there.

sleepsheep said:

It's less about my family giving me time to write and more about me wanting to spend my free time with my family. I miss my kids and my husband during the day, and I'm not quite ready to give up those evening hours. When everyone is asleep, I usually do school work. Mornings are hectic, as many of you with kids can sympathize, I am sure. Sure, there's some leisure time, when I watch a movie or read fiction for pleasure, but that's important for my overall sanity, and I'm not willing to give that up either.

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I'm in that boat too. I work full-time and have a husband and two kids (9 & 11). I have a long bus commute during which I read, because reading is equally important to me. Needless to say, my writing is going very slowly. Finding the time to write, and then research agents/publishers and query, is tough. I sometimes give up family time or relaxing TV time, but the reality is that I just don't have a lot writing time. I can't give up sleep because I don't function well in my jobs (work and raising kids) with too little sleep.

If you work and have a family and are pursuing education, you might want to think about putting writing on the back burner for now. Write a little when you're inspired, but don't stress about word counts. There'll be time when you've completed your course, your kids are a bit older, work is less demanding, and so on.

seun said:

I'm lucky in that I have no social life

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Ditto.

seun said:

Seriously, I make time. I work full time, have a partner and a wedding coming up but I still make the time to write. There are 24 hours in everyone's day and I know plenty of people who say they have no free time but still manage to watch Big Brother or any other crap like that.

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Now which genius said that first?

Srsly. If you want to write, you make time. No-one is more or less busy than anyone else. It's about priorities. If writing isn't a priority for you, then fair enough. But don't expect to get a book finished as quickly as someone who puts it higher up the list. You use the time you have but always remember - you choose how you spend your time. No-one makes you do this or that or the next thing.

scarletpeaches said:

No-one is more or less busy than anyone else. It's about priorities. If writing isn't a priority for you, then fair enough. But don't expect to get a book finished as quickly as someone who puts it higher up the list. You use the time you have but always remember - you choose how you spend your time. No-one makes you do this or that or the next thing.

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I have an acquaintance who lives in my neighbourhood. Like mine, her two kids are at school all day. She has no job outside the home, she has no hobbies except for watching TV, her housekeeping habits are sketchy. She does have a medium-sized dog. I suppose you could say she chooses not to be busy and she chooses to make TV watching a priority.

I don't necessarily choose to go to an office for 8 hours a day, five days a week, but I have this job so I sort of have to. I chose to have children, therefore I suppose I have to pick them up after work and drive them home and usually they require feeding so food preparation is a necessity, not a choice. During the school months, they tend to have homework. If I don't stand over them and make them do it, I guess I'd be choosing to let them fail. Likewise taking a shower, brushing their teeth, and so on. My choices come after 9 pm, when they kids are in bed, which means I could relax and watch TV for an hour or I could write for an hour or I could workout on my elliptical trainer. At least two or three days a week, I use this hour to write. If I don't go to bed by 10 pm, I can't function because my days begin at 5:30 am so I can get to work before 8 so I can leave to pick the kids up before 4 so I can get a seat on the bus.

I don't have a choice about how busy I am, but I do have a choice about what I do with that single, golden hour in my day that is mine.

My problem is this. I always find time to write through the day... but cleaning, going to go exercise.. etc. Not so much. I just have to tell myself to shut up and stop trying to find time. And just find it.

I find the more spare time I have, the more my faffing-about-on-the-intartubes expands to fill it.

Maybe blocking out time on paper or a calendar. If it's written down in black and white you might see how much time you're wasting/using/could use/take too long for this, that or the next thing.

I work as a programmer full-time and am a master's student. I exercise 3-5 times a week, kendo and general gym stuff. (Kendo consumes my time from 8pm+ twice a week, and the gym takes 1-2 hours.)

How I find time to write:

I write during any downtime at work. (This is a variable that often shifts between zero downtime to loads of it, depending on where we are in the release cycle.)

During lectures, I draw a line through my page. Two-thirds for notes, one-third for working on novel (yes I can novel and pay attention to lecture, but only during math/science/engineering lectures -- must be some left/right brain thing).

I trade back and forth between homework and noveling on a 20-min cycle.

In the interest of full disclosure: I don't have TV. I don't play near as many games as I used to. I have a 10-minute commute to work. No children, unmarried, live in a (often messy) condo.

Sure, there's some leisure time, when I watch a movie or read fiction for pleasure, but that's important for my overall sanity, and I'm not willing to give that up either.

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See, I find that writing keeps me sane. During the day I watch my neighbor's son and my own son. The neighbor's kid is just over two but still preverbal. My own is not quite a year. It's a handful.

In the evenings I write because all the frustration I feel over not having an adult conversation for ten hours a day can come out on the page. Reading would not have the same effect.

If you want to spend time with your family then you should. But, quite frankly, it sounds like you're going to find yourself in an either/or situation. Either you write or you spend time with your family. There is nothing wrong with either of those choices but if you aren't willing to compromise time with your kids and husband then you'll have to give up on writing every day. (Or you'll have to cut something else.) You might just have to pick a night each week and say "this is my writing time." (Writing every day is usually more productive in the long run, but if you have to set aside weekly/biweekly times instead you might find that more useful in your situation.)