WHAT'S HOLDING YOU BACK? Part 3: No Time To Write

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I’ve heard it said “if it means enough to you, you’ll MAKE time.” Believe me, if that could be done, I’d raise a garden full of extra hours! Realistically, however, there are only so many hours in a day. Quite often we don’t call the shots on all of them--sometimes not on any of them. So the intent of this post is NOT to inflict a guilt trip, but to get a conversation going on how we can dig up writing time in an already jam-packed schedule.
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That said, of the 15 Seekers, one-third work a full-time (and then some) day job. The other two thirds work part-time, have full- or part-time care of children or grandchildren, are involved in elder care for a family member, or are juggling 1,001 demands that life brings with it. There are commitments to fulfill in churches and communities and with family and friends.
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All of us grocery shop, cook meals, do laundry and house- and yard-work. Like all of you, we run errands and have endless appointments with doctors, car mechanics, hairdressers, plumbers and electricians, computer gurus and tax preparers. We do our best to schedule regular exercise. Find time to read. Rest. Sleep. Spend time with God.

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Being published didn’t make our “real life” commitments vanish. In fact, being published only adds to the time crunch—it’s difficult enough to schedule work on our stories, but now add to the mix revisions, copy edits, author alterations, art fact sheets, blog posts, website updates, promotion, networking, critiquing others’ work, judging contests--and writing proposals for our next book. And we’re doing all this while meeting our editor’s expectation to make contracted deadlines.

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Whew! Wore myself out just typing all that!
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So, how do we do it? One prayerful, determined day at a time.
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As unpublished writers we may have at one time fanaticized about leisurely, uninterrupted stretches to write. Wouldn’t most of us like to do something we love 8 solid hours a day, 5 days a week, just like a day job? But choosing not to write until we had long stretches of time to do it in meant we’d likely never be published or be able to maintain publication if and when it did happen.

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Writing is a choice. As with everything in life, it’s about choices. Doing one thing always means giving up another. We can’t do it all. If you decide you want to write, that’s a choice. And to bear fruit from that choice, a plan of action is required or it reverts to a mere wish.

Evaluate where you spend your time. This is an eye opener. For a week or two, jot down everything you do and the length of time you do it in. If you find yourself fibbing on the hours invested in an activity (TV? Internet?), that may tell you what you already know—there’s time available you’re not taking full advantage of.
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Evaluate your natural biorhythms. You’re most productive when you’re at your natural energy and alertness peak. I’m a morning person. But I have friends who do something I doubt I could do with much success—sitting down to write their hearts out at ten or eleven o’clock at night. Your “peak” time may fall into an inflexible block during your day, in which case you‘ll have to settle on writing during a less-than-ideal period.
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Experiment until you find what works best for you. Seeker Tina concentrates her writing on weekends. Cheryl diligently prepares in advance for a week-long marathon to complete a first draft. I make snail’s pace progress daily because marathons don’t work well for me and I have no time during a work day to write in snatches or to even think about my stories. .
- If possible, write at the same time each day. This tells your brain “now it’s time to write.” If I don’t set aside a time, no matter how miniscule the minutes allotted, the rest of the day’s demands will always crowd it out.
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- Set reasonable goals for your writing time and word count. Overinflating goals can lead to discouragement. Ideally I write 1000 words each morning, but sometimes must write 500 in the a.m. and 500 in the p.m. to meet my day’s goal.
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- Determine to limit or avoid email and internet until you’ve written X number of words or written for X length of time. Turn off the “you’ve got mail” alerts.

- Set a timer so you can immerse yourself in your story without constantly being pulled out of “the zone” to check the clock.
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- Adjust your “to do list” demands. By doing a few “morning” things in my low-tide evening hours (e.g., making lunches), I can “buy” 15 minutes more writing time in the a.m.
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- Get up 30 minutes earlier or stay up 30 minutes later.
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- Write in snatches. 15-30 minutes at a time here and there can add up to a significant amount of time and number of words.
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- Take a notebook with you wherever you go so you can jot down ideas, dialogue, or scene fragments. Thinking about your story every day keeps it percolating in your mind until you can sit down to write. I’m much more productive when I know where my story will be going during my next writing session.
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- Reward yourself for writing! While none of us will ever live a perfectly balanced life, it’s important to find leisure time during the week to go for a walk, read a book, work in the garden, play with the kids or the dog. You need that time to give your brain a rest, to generate new ideas.
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Take a few minutes to share with us some of the ways YOU carve out writing time. Share where you’re struggling--perhaps a Friend of Seekerville will share an idea that’s just what you’re looking for!
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If you’d like to be entered in a drawing for a copy of Kelly L. Stone’s “Time to Write,” please mention it in the comments section and leave your e-mail addy (remembering “at” and “dot”).
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Glynna Kaye’s Steeple Hill Love Inspired “Dreaming of Home” is a 2010 finalist in the “Carol Award” and “Maggie Award,” as well as a first place winner of the “Booksellers Best” and “Beacon” awards. “Second Chance Courtship” released in February 2011 and “At Home In His Heart” debuts August 2011!