A constant struggle: Finding time to write

Well, if you just write 500 words a day, and that's barely 3 paragraphs (maybe more), then you'll have written 3.5k a week. That's just 17 weeks to finish a novel of 60,000 words. That's just under five months, and considering GRRM spent YEARS between books, I think that pumping out a book a month is a good goal.

If you can't fit 500 words into a day, then you are a very busy person.

Now, I'm not going to lie and say it's easy. But, nothing worth it ever is.

...except for ice cream.

I don't sleep much. Honestly. Usually up until 3:00 in the morning. And during free time I force myself to sit at my computer and pump out words, regardless of how crappy they are. I find that setting short term goals work best. Like, per week, I make sure I do at least 10k words. I often get on a tear and break that.

JKRowley said:

And how to you avoid housework and other minutiae in the meantime?

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I got married.

RobJ said:

I got married.

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Also




( But - you're so going to burn in hell for that.)

To the OP, though - you don't find time to write. You just write. I'm not being smart, I just learned that if you wait until you have enough time, you might not start - because there's never enough time.

Writing doesn't need to be your first priority - sometimes it can't be. But it should be in there somewhere near the top Good luck! It's not easy. But it's terribly good fun

mccardey said:

( But - you're so going to burn in hell for that.)

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Only if my wife finds out, and she's too busy with the housework.

But seriously, I sympathise with the OP, finding time to write can be difficult and a lot of people ask the same question. At some point, you have to decide how important writing is to you and try to make the time. Circumstances can make that challenging, but you have to look at what elements are within your power to change and make those changes.

It's your job. You're a professional writer. When the hubby starts to complain about the dishes not being done, yank the beer can out of his hands, turn off the telly and boot him out into the kitchen to do the dishes.

Honestly.

Oh, and if you watch the telly, turn the damn thing off and write. You'd be amazed at how much time the dumb box sucks out of your life.

I'm sorry if I sound a bit flippant, but it really goes down to discipline. You need to set a time to write, and you need to get your surroundings to respect your time. Lock the door if need be. Even if you only set aside 30 minutes per day, do it. Make it a habit. At 5 o'clock, or 7 o'clock, or 9 o'clock pm you write and nothing comes in your way.

Writing = Super Insomnia for me! I used to work 2pm-11pm so I could only write from 12-3 in order to get some sleep before going back to work. It seems to have stuck. Now I can't get to sleep much before 4.

I think it comes down to having a set routine.

Note, I am terrible at this. I also some days have trouble...

Basically, you need to divide your day up into segments. i.e. Morning - housework, afternoon - research and make notes, evening - write (or whatever fits your needs). If you do a timetable of your day and lay aside a certain amount of time to each required activity and stick to it, it should become easier to manage.

This means sharing the timetable with the rest of the family too and making it clear that between, say, 6pm and 8pm, you are not to be disturbed because you are writing.

My wife is doing an OU course at the moment and this involves a lot of reading and essay writing so she puts aside time in the day for this as well as doing a full time job...

Depending on how old your children are, it is also never too early to consider some 'responsibility training' and getting them to do some housework tasks for themselves (though very young children obviously need supervision for this, this works best if they are 8 - 16). It helps you out and also teaches them good social responsibility.

I have been working on a system whereby I set a minumum number of words a day:

http://lurkingmusings.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/finding-the-time/

Basically, set a minimum level (I chose 200) and make sure you meet that minumum every day no matter what. Most days, when you have more time, you will exceed that (I usually do) but it also means that even on really hectic busy days you can achieve your goal and come away with a win. I beleive that this is better than setting a high min (like 2000 which I beleive Stephen King endorses) because most days a busy, non-full time writer will fail to meet that and feel like a failure as a result (note: confidence and feeling like you have 'won' are important here - they keep you motivated).

I also include in this 'days off' when I am not expected to write anything at all (which have to booked in advance...) and 'sick days'.

I don't have a set schedule - I do what needs doing when it needs to be done. I have a full-time day job and other life/family committments, and if any of those things require my full and immediate attention, they've got it ... but if I have to write (i.e. something has occurred to me and if I don't write it down now it will never come back to me in the same way again) then I write.

I don't avoid stuff, but some things can wait, and sometimes I might forego some other leisure activity in order to write. I've found if I don't write regularly it's easy for me to just stop for long periods of time, so I try to write every day, whether it's for ten minutes or two hours; Zoombie's five hundred words a day suggestion is pretty solid.

The best advice I can give is to prioritize. I'm not the type of person who can write when I'm only getting a few hours of sleep a night, so when I was working a full-time job and writing (now I'm a full-time writer), I had to prioritize daily. Most days, writing came second only to my day job. Exercising, hanging out with my boyfriend/friends, watching television, doing housework - all that fell below writing almost every day.

My advice for your family not helping you around the house: Just stop. They'll figure out how to do their own laundry when they run out of underwear. Honestly, I always prioritized writing over housework. I may have had a dirty house, but I also had plenty of time to write.

agree with mccardey. most people can't find time to write. they have to make the time to write.
for me, i simply can't write daily. just like the OP, it doesn't work with my life/schedule.

instead, when i am working on a rough draft, i take a month or two and make it my priority - putting off laundry, chores, emails and other to-do list items. during this time, i also have to say no to a lot of social stuff and skip a lot of TV shows and other time-killers. when the draft is done, i spend weeks or months getting caught up on the rest of my life.

that's just what works for me. trial and error will help you find your own groove. don't beat yourself up if you have to take breaks from writing to, y'know, live your life.

Agreed with the people who said to treat it like any other job. The people around you will initially have a hard time understanding (you're sitting right next to me, you're not at work!) But lock yourself away and set hours.

If you were clocking in for a company while working online or working at an actual office, you wouldn't call your boss to say you need to do laundry.

You're not a stay at home mom, in the traditional sense. You're an author with a family.

as above. i remember one writer saying he told people he was 'in meditation/ prayer' between 8-10 each evening. and it worked!

I write every day with the exception of Thursdays because that is trash/housecleaning day. I would skip housecleaning day, but I'm sure that ending up on Hoarders probably won't help the writing process. There are small things that need to be done daily like letting the ferrets out and playing with the dog, but I ignore everything else.

And I honestly mean that I ignore everything else. I don't pick up new hobbies and the small amount of old hobbies that I have come in second to writing. I try to treat my writing like a job and I can play around with other hobbies once I've finished my writing.

It also helps if you don't have friends. Seriously.

I write at night when my kids are asleep. The house is quiet,everything is done and I am a night person by nature. I just seem to write better in the wee hours.

As for housework,my mother lives with me and is a neat freak. My house sparkles because she puts my children to work,lol.

I write every day. 1500-2500 words per book and nothing interferes with that unless the kids are sick or I am sick. I treat my writing time just like I treat my workouts. They MUST and will be done.

Inform family that they will be eating off your endeavors and you will NOT be cutting into your writing time to wash clothes. Get to work,children and husband because Mama's writing does more than make readers happy. It pays bills plus you enjoy it. There is no room for further discussion after you tell them the above.

piano_island said:

And I honestly mean that I ignore everything else. I don't pick up new hobbies and the small amount of old hobbies that I have come in second to writing. I try to treat my writing like a job and I can play around with other hobbies once I've finished my writing.

It also helps if you don't have friends. Seriously.

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This is me.

I have a full-time day job, but my hours are pretty random. Half the week will be 4am-1pm, the other half will be 2pm-11pm. Wherever I'm needed. Oh, the wonders of restaurant management.

When I'm not at work? I'm writing. Days off? Writing. Either writing, or revising, or getting sucked into AW and book blogs and Goodreads (which I like to call "research"). Or reading. I'm trying to read more.

But yeah. I rarely, rarely hang out with friends. It helps to have best friends who either a) live hours away, or b) work as a daycare supervisor/piano teacher/professional model (she's busy a lot of the time, lol).

I've made writing my Saturday Morning Project (working on it from the time I wake up until noon). The ideas percolate through my head the rest of the week. Being a junior in high school/varsity swimmer, I set myself a student workday from 9 to 5. I don't work on school anytime outside of those hours save for 1-5 PM on Sundays. And I use that time to brainstorm a little (on the bus, in the car, waiting), to eat, to relax, and to review ideas and concepts.

I've found that by Saturday, I know exactly where I want to go and what I want to write. No time wasted (unless the internet's connected).

Becca C. said:

This is me.

But yeah. I rarely, rarely hang out with friends. It helps to have best friends who either a) live hours away, or b) work as a daycare supervisor/piano teacher/professional model (she's busy a lot of the time, lol).

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I moved to a different state and it really helps with the free time! I always end up hanging out with people, getting jealous of their success in their chosen field, and then wonder why I'm not at home writing. Most people don't understand that aspiring writers have two jobs, technically. If we don't work at it, we're not going to succeed.

Honestly, do get a lock if you can. I'm trying to potty train my new LI to respect that when I go into my office to write, he should only interrupt me if the house is on fire. A locked door reinforces the point.

Many people have a hard time understanding that writing require focus and concentration.

piano_island said:

I moved to a different state and it really helps with the free time! I always end up hanging out with people, getting jealous of their success in their chosen field, and then wonder why I'm not at home writing. Most people don't understand that aspiring writers have two jobs, technically. If we don't work at it, we're not going to succeed.

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*starts planning a move to a foreign country where no one can bother me*

Becca C. said:

*starts planning a move to a foreign country where no one can bother me*

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Ha! It only works for a little while. Then you meet people and they try to force you into social obligations. Very shortly they will learn that you are basically an honorary hermit.

JKRowley said:

The internet is another problem. I am easily distracted with "research."

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There are programs out there that will block the internet for you without having to unplug cables or turn off routers.

If you use a Mac, Freedom is good. But if you want finer control over what's blocked, or don't want the loophole of rebooting to get the 'net back, I recommend Self Control. You can whitelist or blacklist the sites you want (or the whole internet) and set a timer for anywhere from 15 minutes to 24 hours. Not even rebooting will give you internet access back. It really helps keep me writing and dorking around here and Tumblr.

As far as Windows go ... I dunno. Someone help me out here.

I write whenever I have free time. I have a full-time 9-5, but when it's slow, I'm writing. Fortunately, I have no kids (except for pets), and hubby loves to read, so we spend a lot of time at coffee shops reading and writing. When we travel, I print out a copy of whatever I'm working on and edit on paper.


Hubby and I clean a little at a time during the week so there isn't as much to do. (I know kids make more messes than two people, but it's surprising how many toys, etc the cats and dog drag around!). Sometimes the laundry and dishes pile up but you do what you've got to do to write.

If you're home all day, I second what the other have said. Get an office space and treat it like any other job. Lock yourself in there and don't worry about housework, etc until the evening when you would be "home."

Oh, and get something that blocks the internet. Like Freedom, or I think Scrivener will also.