Time is the number one excuse given for not writing. People love excuses. They never end. I have a job. I have a family. I have a life. Where could they possibly find time to write a book? Where indeed?
The problem is the same argument could be made about anything. How do you find time to play video games? Bake a cake? Go to a museum? Take a walk? Work out? Sleep? Eat? It all takes time. The difference is the things you end up spending time on are the things you choose to spend your time on. Sure, you have to work to live, but you don’t work all the time. You have time to watch Netflix or go out with your friends any of a million other things you fill your days, nights and weekends with.
If you want to write, you have to choose it. It’s that simple. You have to make writing a priority that comes before all else. Or most of the rest. I don’t advocate leaving your child on a curb waiting for you or boycotting laundry or doing anything that would be unhealthy to you or those around you. But there is always time to find, unless you are a medical resident pulling doubles and never sleeping. Then, please choose sleep. Your patients’ lives are counting on it.
My point is there are always excuses and diversions. They are everywhere and too easy to grab onto. The point is to ignore them. Whenever I run into a block in my writing, I get irrational urges to clean the fridge or bathroom, marathon a show I’ve never had an interest in before, organize my bookshelves, run random errands that don’t need running. There is no end of diversions I can find, but none of them put words on the page. The only way I can do that is to plop my butt into a seat and write. I have to ignore the bright and shiny book on my bedside table and write one of my own.
If not having enough time is one of your excuses, here are six tips for breaking through this obstacle:
Start Small
You don’t have to find huge chunks of time to make progress. Steal fifteen minutes to start. You can jot down descriptions or characterizations and dialogue in that amount of time. You can sketch out an idea for a scene or short story. Or you can plug away at a longer piece, sentence by sentence.
Learn to Say No
If you have marked time on your calendar to write, don’t be pulled by others who want to usurp that time. Say no. Protect what little time you have. It’s okay if things get a bit messy around the house. Your friends will understand if you turn them down. You can catch them next time or plan to work around other obligations. It’s up to you to protect your writing time. No one else can do it.
Make a Goal
Figure out what you want to accomplish in any given time. Do you want to write a specific number of pages per day? Spend a specific amount of time? What are your daily, weekly and monthly goals? Write them down. This will help you protect them from others.
Set a Routine
Once you’ve made your goal, stick to it. Make a schedule. If you mess up one day, make it up on the next day. But establish a routine. A lot of writing, like anything in life, is showing up and doing the work. This takes discipline a schedule can help maintain.
Be Realistic
You need to set aside time to write the novel and edit it, which takes time. You can’t expect to be speedy your first time out. But you can expect to make progress. Focus on the progress and not the end goal. If you keep going, you will get to a finished manuscript (fully edited) in the end. But be reasonable. Writing a book and then publishing that book takes time. A lot of time.
Stop Making Excuses
Everyone has the same amount of time in a day. Some people are able to work demanding careers and still publish bestsellers, like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who was a doctor by day and countless authors, like Rick Riordan and Kevin Hearne, who started out as teachers. There are many who balance work and writing. Some even add other things to the list, like producing a television show on top of everything else, like Kathy Reichs did. It’s possible to do it all. If you want it badly enough, you’ll find time to write. The only thing standing in your way is you.