The best time of day will be different for each writer. But if you are trying to rely on the best time in order to produce the best of your work, you will wait forever. This is a big excuse: waiting for the perfect or best time to be productive.
Unfortunately, the best time of day for a writer to be productive is usually that small window of time where he or she can't even write. If the writer can turn any moment of inspiration into a writing session, those are the times a writer can be the most productive.
Here are 3 Writing Tips to make any time of the day the best time to be productive. These tips serve to take those unexpected moments in time and capture them - and it takes only a few minutes.
Tip #1 - Morning Ideas: 20 in 5
Tip #2 - Stop, Jot and Write
Tip #3 - Make those prompts work
As a writer, the best practice would be to learn the habit of making every moment of inspiration work for you! These small windows of opportunity normally come and go, and the inspirational thoughts are lost more often than written down.
A writer should take note: what makes a good writer great? Well, they take these creative 'mind-nudges' and they stop the car, excuse themselves out of a meeting, or wake up and start typing on a laptop Unfortunately, writers do not take the time to do this: it is not that important - because if it was, every opportunity that knocks is an opportunity to turn those white pages black.
Your goal: Go from a non productive writer to a productive one!
Tip #1 - Morning Ideas: 20 in 5
Each and every morning take five minutes to jot down 20 writing prompts. They could be as simple as, 'a cat jumps from a fence' to something more dramatic like, 'a mom tells her kids she's dying'. Jot these down as fast as you can in 5 minutes.
Think about this: every morning you will have 20 writing prompts. One day of writing prompts is not productive. But several weeks, months or a year and you made your mornings productive without even trying. That's 7,300 prompts in one year if you create a habit to do it every morning. You will find that 2 minutes of your morning is all you need to 'be productive' - that's 2 minutes to spare!
Do this every day. Yes, every single day. Are you serious about being a writer? Do you want to be productive, then stop making excuses that you don't have 'time' when 5 minutes of your life is dedicated to being productive. Instead of setting your alarm for 7AM, set it for 6:55AM and start writing.
Tip #2 - Stop, Jot and Write
The morning drive, the lunch meeting, those incredible thoughts in the middle of the night - pull over, excuse yourself, wake up! Are you a good writer? Well, prepare to be great! The question is: is it important to you? If it is, then stop your car and write down those ideas that come to your head while driving to work; or excuse yourself at lunch and just jot something down on a napkin, your lunch partner will respect your commitment; wake up and write down the dream you just had - it could lead to a story that you were looking for for years!
Stop what you are doing, jot down your thoughts - and do what you do as a writer - write!
Tip #3 - Make those prompts work
Sometimes the best time of the day for a writer is set aside, but then writer's block or story block sets in and even if it is the best time of the day, it turns out to be the most unproductive time of the day. Take your 20 writing prompts from your morning (or previous mornings) and write from them. The best advice to get rid of writer's block is to: 'just write'. Write about anything and your prompts help you accomplish this.
Make them work - even if it is only a few minutes.
Using the prompts and including them in your story or script allows your mind to see a scene in a different way. You have already done the preparation, and now you don't have to try to think of something new for your scene. This way your mind is not so focused on what you have to write, but what you are going to write around.
In the above example, include the cat jumping from a fence in the middle of the talk a mom has with her kids to tell them she's dying. Let this lead into the next prompt and create a scene or continue free-form writing with it. If you are stuck on a scene in your script, add that little action as a part of the character's life. Make your characters react and live around it.
Each tip brings you to the next, which brings you right into the next day.
By starting your day with 20 ideas in 5, it makes the morning time of the day productive. Stopping, jotting and writing, makes any time of the day or night productive. And using your writing prompts during any writing session guarantees that time spent will be productive.
Success is writing something versus staring at a blank page. If you have writer's block nothing gets accomplished. If you use these tips, even on those days where there is nothing to say, you will say something. That is writing at any time of the day. That is being productive. That is success. That makes any time of the day the best time to be a productive writer!
Write well.