by Megan Hart

Created on: November 08, 2009

Making Time To Write

Writers think about their stories a lot. They plot while cooking dinner, folding laundry, in the shower. They take notes on the backs of envelopes while waiting to pick up kids from soccer practice, or scribble dialogue on napkins at dinner when their date gets up to use the bathroom. Writers think about writing almost all the time - so why is it so hard to actually get the words on the paper? Everyone has twenty-four hours in a day. Why is it so difficult to allot a few of them to writing?

"Real" jobs. Families. Housecleaning. Commutes. Eating, showering...sleeping. So much to do in one day, and before you know it, the minutes are gone and you haven't written a word. The story is still bubbling. You know exactly how it's supposed to go, yet you haven't done anything but think about it.

GET ORGANIZED

Instead of wasting five or ten minutes every time you sit down to write figuring out where your favorite pen is, or where you saved your document, keep your writing materials organized. When you're finished for the moment, put them exactly where you'll need them for the next time. Don't spend time arranging your desk - get the words on the page (or into the computer.) If you don't have a dedicated work space, consider an accordion file or portable bin in which to place all your materials so that whenever you need them, they're ready.

BE PREPARED

Carry a notepad and pen in a bag or keep it in your glove box. While it's dangerous to write and drive, you can still use those moments of stopped traffic or waiting in the school parking lot to jot down a few sentences. Let the words flow, don't try to edit. Get down what you can, when you can. Alternately, if you have a smart phone with recording capabilities or even a portable recorder, you can speak dialogue aloud or make notes of subjects and plot bits you want to remember.

YOU HAVE THE TIME - USE IT

Instead of looking at that fifteen minutes of down time before your favorite television show comes on as "not enough," write a paragraph or two. Write a few during commercials, too. Maybe even record your favorite shows and watch them all in one night instead of over the course of a week, and use those hours or half-hours during the other nights to work on your writing. Get up half an hour earlier. Do what it takes to use the time you have.

It's easy to push off writing because you don't have time to finish something. The reality is, unless you're writing flash fiction or super short articles, you will never finish something in one sitting. Novels don't get written in one hour, one day, or even one week. Novels get written one word at a time.

Find the time to write just one word, and you'll soon find the time to write a hundred.

Learn more about this author, Megan Hart.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.