Not enough hours in the day

My rule of thumb is to pretty much only write when I want to write. If you can't summon the motivation to sit down and put finger to key, then don't. You're not going to have your writer card revoked if you let other things take over for a while.

Talking about writing is usually one of the problems. It's one more very common way of procrastinating. There are no tips, tricks, or secrets. There is only self-discipline. Writing gets done by sitting down and writing. Doing so is a choice, and everything else is procrastination and excuses.

Choose hours. When those hours roll around, sit your butt down and write. Do nothing except write. Do the same thing the next day, and the day after that.

You don't have writer's bock, you just aren't sitting down and writing. You're the only one who can change this.

Yes! indeed...
I have an obsession with several television shows; all of which are on a different night of the week. Each lasts an hour and takes up time for writing and other activities, as well as distracts the mind from creative thoughts.
My solution to this is have one or two days a week where you do absolutely nothing except write, brainstorm, and creative thinking.
If you have blockage on those days, do something to stimulate your mind-- read a book of the genre you're writing in, or go people watch at a mall or park, or even take a walk -- ask yourself questions about the people you observe and make up stories about them.
You can create a schedule where you do homework two or three nights a week to keep up with classes. one day a week you could watch your shows for a few hours, and another day you could engage yourself in a social life, or something to that effect. Also don't let this get in the way of work or school. If you have some work to do, do it instead of writing.

This process will shape your mind to thinking about certain things on specific days.

You have the same number of hours in a day as the rest of us. If you really want to write, you will make time for it.

dontpanic said:

I have the strangest form of writer's block where I find I am so busy throughout the day, I can't find time together to get a decent amount of writing done. When I do have the time and try to write, my mind is in so many other places I can't stay focused.

I'm currently in my third year of my degree, on a year abroad, so both my workload and extra-curricular activities have increased. I find that once I've ticked off everything in my day and have time for myself, I tend towards passive activities like reading or watching a film rather than pro-actively writing.

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Hey, it's cool. Keep tiny notepads with you at all times, and keep passively recording what you see in this 'abroad' and write down your thoughts and interactions. Passive accumulation can be very rewarding.

Then, when you're back, and settle into a new routine, you'll see which islands of time are for writing--and this is when the abroad notebooks will spring into action--providing setting and details which you'll simply have to organize into a plot.

This isn't writer's block, it's procrastination. The best way to get back into writing is to write.

Prioritize. Stop procrastinating. Isolate self when writing.

I think pretty much everyone who has any kind of life away from the computer experiences this, whether it's school, work, kids, or other stuff. I'm often not able to sit down and write until 9 or 10 at night.

My strategy is simply to sit down and write some each day. I don't shoot for a word count or time length. It's the everyday habit that keeps me productive, not so much having numeric goals for the day. And I do a lot of thinking the rest of the time. Since I have limited time at the computer, I write scenes in my head when I'm driving, taking a shower, etc.

Try getting up at 4:30 every morning and write a few hours before work/school. At that hour, your mind won't be reliving what you've been doing all day.

The world is full of people who will tell you "just quit whining and do it". In certain moments of life this is valid advice, in others--not.

There are times when if you force yourself to write--relations with the spouse will suffer, work will suffer, health will suffer, quality of writing will suffer.

People (surprisingly often they will have exactly zero measurable writing and publishing credentials), will foam at the mouth that you should be ready to throw everything to the wind for the sake of following your passions, because apparently we all live in a Barbara Cartland novel.

If your life is currently so demanding you only passively recharge batteries when not forced to do immediately relevant stuff--then recharge batteries.

In fact, if you're in your early twenties, which is likely--go out more. Meet new people. Check out new places. Sample local drinks. Sample local desserts. Sample local genitals. Sample local recreational weeds. Have your first bad trip. Swear off drinking, smoking, and genitals. Gradually rediscover genitals. Write down everything which is worthy of being described. Accumulate notebooks with descriptions. Jot down characteristics and behaviors. Collect life-experience. More life experience--richer prose.

And then, when you're back in your home country, and the grind sets in--you'll insist on waking up at 5 in the morning to be able to write.

Think NETHERLANDS. You know how they took land away from the sea. That's what I did when I had a hectic schedule, balancing family, day job and the crazy amount of sports my kids participated in. I reclaimed land. I made it a habit to wake up at 4:30am and write every single day for an hour. That alone is enough time to write a novel in a year. But let's face it...there's more free time lingering around in our daily lives as well. If you look hard, you will find it. Forgo the TV. Carry a pad and pen with you at all times. There are a myriad of ways you can connect with your WIP. Think outside the box and get it done.

Good luck!

I'm going to go against the conventional wisdom. Normally that says "just nail yourself to the chair and write, MAKE time for it, and write even if you don't feel like it". I've found that to be horribly counterproductive in my life. Every time I start to get into the mentality of "I've GOT to write", when I sit down to actually do it, I resent it because it's something I'm making myself do instead of something I'm wanting to do. I need to find ways to get myself in the mood to want to write, and everything else sort of falls into place. At that point, I start prioritizing writing above other things naturally, rather than forcing myself to turn off the TV, put down the book, kick out the Significant Other, or any other number of a million other distractions.

It's hard. I work two jobs (three if you count writing, which everyone should). Everyone has their things that fill their time, and those things are usually quite valid. Be it work, family or... yes... even watching television. I've got a crazy stressful job, and I NEED to unwind. No one gets to tell me to suck it up and give up my comforts. Which is why forcing myself into that chair leads to mediocre writing if I'd rather be doing something else. I've spent a lot of the last year working on stoking the flames for my love of writing again, so that it becomes one of my unwinding tools. Writing, editing, outlining, jotting notes... I'm getting better. I'm not there by a longshot, though.

Do what works for you, but if you need more time to study/work/unwind than write, that's completely cool and telling you to hang it all and get in the chair and write despite your heart not being in it is counter productive.

I don't really have any great advice, but I think the "just sit down and write advice" can be problematic. Not everyone works the same way. I'd rather do something productive than sit there and stare at a computer screen for an hour, writing nothing.

If I'm not writing, I do some editing, or reading, or picking up tips on AW. Forcing yourself to write when your schedule is so hectic sounds like a good way to overwork yourself and burn out on writing.

Sometimes you can't find the time to write between all the things you actually have to do.

Brutal Mustang said:

Try getting up at 4:30 every morning and write a few hours before work/school. At that hour, your mind won't be reliving what you've been doing all day.

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This worked well for me while I was student teaching. (Although I slept in until 5am. I know, I'm lazy. )

rwm4768 said:

I don't really have any great advice, but I think the "just sit down and write advice" can be problematic. Not everyone works the same way. I'd rather do something productive than sit there and stare at a computer screen for an hour, writing nothing.

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This. A lot of the time, when my mind is wandering really badly when I try to write, it's a pretty strong sign that something else is wrong. Possible problems being: A) I'm exhausted, B) I'm stressed about something unrelated, or C) I've hit a wall in the story and have no idea how to fix it.

Sometimes the solution is just to write (because sometimes the wall isn't as scary as I think it is), but other times the problem is to take a rest or go get some exercise and try again later. Sometimes I just have to sit down and write a fluffy fanfic just to remind myself that writing is supposed to be fun.

I think everyone has their own way of dealing with things and you just have to keep trying different solutions until you find something that works.

Weeeeelllll, to be fairly honest with you here, I don't think the force yourself to write method is always the best way to go. I'm balancing school, an internship, a chronic illness that makes me really tired and studying because I can't fail any subjects or I'll lose the internship.

Still, I still manage to have plenty of free time. Thing is not always I'll be able to write during my free hours because I just need to rest. People need to rest. It's alright.

What works for me is trying to make writing a task like any other. Instead of writing just after all the "real" tasks are done, I try to write when I feel like it, without, of course, letting go of all the other stuff. I think of writing as a job and when it's time for me to rest, it's time for me to rest.

Everyone has a different way of coping with things, so good luck finding your way

Well I wouldn't call that writer's block so much as a lack of desire to write, which is fine as long as you come back to it eventually. If you want to read instead of write, read. It's not only helping you wind down, it's helping your writing as well. What I like to do sometimes, especially when I don't want to stare at a screen and revise chapters or begin anew, is to just write freely to get my mind to settle down. I focus on ideas I particularly like and am excited to write when it comes to it in the story, and I just write a little bit. Sometimes forcing yourself is the worst thing to do, other times it's the best thing. You're the only one that will know which is which.

While I'm in the camp of 'if you want to write, you'll make the time', it really sounds to me like you have other, more important to you, priorities going on in your life.

And that's okay!

Enjoy the life you have for the moment. You're abroad. You're in the third year of your degree. You have things going on. Enjoy them now while you have them. Pick at writing when it moves you. Soon enough, a few years maybe, you'll have a routine where if you want to make writing more of a priority, you'll make the time.

Stop beating yourself up for wanting other things than to be writing in all your spare moments.