You wrote your first book, and it’s on Kindle, Smashwords, Nook and wherever else ebooks are sold. You’re proud of it, your family members pretend that they’re proud of you, and your wife wishes that you would stop chasing unattainable dreams. Whatever the case, you have joined the ranks of becoming a novelist by agonizing over your work for however long it took you to write your book. Good job—now write the next one!
Easier said than done when you have children, work, and other obligations that eat away at your writing time. Some of you log on twitter and commiserate with all your writer friends about not having time to write your next work of art because of the aforementioned obligations in your life. Others say “I can’t wait to be able to make enough income to be a full-time writer, then I could quit my job because I would love nothing more than to have all day to type stories on my computer and submit those best-sellers. James Patterson has nothing on me. Hocking? Locke? JK Rowling, eat your heart out!”
Guess what? You’ll never have enough time to write. Watch yourself there, don’t choke on your jelly bean!
Go back and reread the bold print.
Make peace with the face that you will never have enough time to write, then you won’t have this excuse to use as a crutch anymore. There will never be enough of a time balance for you to write your masterpieces, due to the fast paced society that we live in. Kids, homework, job, wife, soccer practice and mistress are all demanding an unfair chunk of your time, that’s life. With that said, you have to make time to write if being a novelist is something that you want to do. No one cares about an author who only has one book published. Think about your favorite authors –they have several books published—because they made time to write while encumbered with the same obstacles you face, if not more. Now its your turn to make time to write.
The key to making time to write is to squeeze it into the small pockets of idle time that you have available. Do you have a 30 minute lunch break? Eat a snack for the first 15 minutes and work on your story for the next 15 minutes. Do you have downtime at your job? Some of us work in occupations where we face long periods of boredom, sandwiched in between intense work projects. If you have down periods, or slow periods then work on your story for that period. Just be mindful that your employer pays your mortgage and that you do need to show your managers respect. When you’re at your job, your first priority is fulfilling the expectations of your management team first and foremost.
Do you have a favorite television show? Skip it. Granted, some of you like Survivor and believe that it provides great entertainment value. Who cares? Besides, when was the last time your favorite television show provided you with a tangible benefit that was instrumental in improving your life? What about in improving your writing? Television is for people who are trying to balance writing with working.
Another thing that tickles me is the notion that you must block out writing time and create this perfect environment where you get to sit in a quiet room and write without distractions and interruptions in order for you to create your best work. While this might be ideal, it’s unrealistic. You have children, you live in an apartment, you live with your mama, and you share the same room with your wife.
There are a number of uncontrollable distractions that occur throughout the day. You must learn how to tune them out in order to pursue your dream. In reality, you won’t be able to control what goes on in your environment. Your son will not stop being acting like a child just because you’re writing. So you raise your child and write your book. If something happens that requires your attention, stop writing and resolve the issue at hand. If your mistress calls you every day, return her calls every three days. Writing should be your main priority that comes second only to your family and your job.
Pursue small pockets of time throughout the day and make the best of them whether they’re your lunch breaks, your downtime, your weekends or that half hour before you go to bed.
Glenn Gamble is the author of A Thousand Chances, Bon Appetit, Escape, On the Run, and James. All of his books are available on Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook and Smashwords.
He also encourages you to go to his website http://www.GlennGamble.com.
Elizabeth – Thanks for hosting Glenn.
Glenn – Oh, how write you are! ;-) Especially for writers who have “day jobs,” the only way to get writing accomplished is to make the most of even ten- or fifteen-minute dollops of time. If we wait to write “until we have time,” we’ll never get that next book done.
I gave up 90% of television long ago. If I want to watch it, I record it. And when I watch, it’s with only half a brain so I can take care of other routine stuff. If you’re serious about writing, you’ll find time to write. Debbie Macomber said there are two extra hours in every day to write. Just find them. Even if it means getting up 2 hours early.
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
Thanks so much for posting today, Glenn. And you make such a good point about moving on to the next book and squeezing it into small bits of time.
Glenn – it’s as if you’ve been following me around and observing my writing patterns! This is exactly how I fit writing into my day – I particularly like the 15 minutes in the lunch-break.
I don’t often get the chance to write actually in work time as we are so busy, but of course nobody can tell I’m mulling over ideas about what to write in my next chunk of time!
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who can apparently switch writing on and off – I thought it might be a sign I wasn’t involved in the story enough.
Good reminder to take advantage of any time to write. Thanks for the post, Glenn. I keep telling myself that a page a day equals a rough draft of a book by the end of a year. Small steps.
Great advice. I agree, so many butterflies to distract me, so little time to chase them all. I write when I can. Sometimes that means ten minutes at the computer, sometimes I get a whole two hours.
It’s life. Mine’s busy. No biggie. Got over the guilt trip long ago.
Great advice.
Yeah, television. I often find myself working on my netbook while my wife watches tv. I honestly have no interest in most of what’s on these days, so I’ve made myself good at tuning it out.
If you really want to write, you’ll find time to do it.
When I write on my lunch break (which, granted, is not often because my scattered brain forgets paper and pencil) I’m always amazed by how much I get done.
I do need to carve out more time to write. Thanks for the tips!
I have updated my blog, Global Mysteries.
I believe writing is also thinking. That is, composing scenes in your mind while you walk, do the dishes, shower, dust etc. You don’t have to be sitting down at your computer to “write.”
Nancy Curteman author
Murder in a Teacup
I get 50 minutes of break time at work a day. Five days a week, that turns into 4 hours and 10 minutes, plenty of time to crank out some serious long-hand writing. The stories will keep coming for so long as I draw breath! Like you said, it’s all about the time management.
Thanks Glenn and great post! This is really pertinent for me since I just took a second job.
I find I work best when I block time for writing, say like an hour and a half. Also, I found a meetup group that specifically meets to write together quietly. It seemed odd at first, but I found it really helpful.
I’m stalking you Sheila ;-)
Paul, I feel the same way about TV unless its a spectator sport, and even then its not the most important thing for me to catch.
Terry, I thought I was weird for doing the same thing. I usually have the TV on while typing on my laptop and about an hour later I’m wondering why I bothered to turn it on because it was nothing more than background noise for me.
Maryann, you’re absolutely right.
I believe writing is also thinking. That is, composing scenes in your mind while you walk, do the dishes, shower, dust etc. You don’t have to be sitting down at your computer to “write.”
Nancy, I’m stealing this quote.