In this crazy world called life, it's often hard to find time to sit down and write. Between work, families, extra-curricular activities, shopping, adulting, etc, when are we supposed to work on our books? Many people say they have stories in their head but no time to put them on paper. I can sympathize, really. I'm usually running around from 8am-8 or 9 pm depending on the day, which leaves only a couple hours to get things done.
So what do you do? How do you steal some time from your busy schedule so you can create your masterpiece?
Meeting: Set aside a half hour or hour on certain nights and treat it like you would a work meeting or an appointment. If friends, or work, try to schedule things at that time, calmly explain you have a meeting that you can't miss. The more you do it, the more comfortable you'll be at adapting to the new schedule. It could be once a week or several times a week. Either way, it gives you time when you know you can work.
Spurts or Sprints: I learned this little trick during NaNoWriMo. You set 10-15 minutes aside, turn off all distractions, and write whatever comes to your mind. Don't worry about editing or going back to research, just write. Friends of mine and I will hold sprints to see who can write the most in that time frame. It's a fun little challenge, and it forces you to get text on paper. Likewise, if you find yourself with 10 minutes to spare, use that time to type on your phone or computer, or write in a journal that you bring along. Even if you don't get a lot out, it may get your mind moving so you'll be ready to work on your book that night.
Record: How many hours do we spend in the car traveling from place to place? How many times have you been in the shower and gotten a great idea but couldn't write it down? Record yourself. I've been on road trips and clicked 'record' on my phone and rattled off scenes and story ideas. Even if they're not directly on paper at that moment, at least I got the idea out of my head and didn't lose it. There are also speech-to-text programs like Dragon Speech that will record you and type what you say. It takes some getting used to, but it works great if you're doing dishes or some other task and want to still get the words out.
Change Sleep Time: Now, I wouldn't recommend this if you have insomnia or sleep trouble, but, if you can safely wake up a half hour early or go to bed a half hour later, you can use that extra time to get work done. One of my friends gets all of her writing done between like 5 and 6 am when she's not being disturbed by anyone. Can you do that too?
Lunch Hour: If you get a lunch break at work, that might be a great time to work on writing. Right now, I'm munching on a sandwich and writing this blog entry because I was too tired to write it last night. I still get a break from work, but I'm also being productive with my own craft. But, if you fear you'll get burnt out, make sure you still take that break.
Competitions/Deadlines: Maybe you want to try to push yourself to write because there's an anthology deadline out there, or a writing contest. I might not write for three months because I know that in November, I'm going to spend 30 days writing for National Novel Writing Month. I pour out 50,000 words, taking more time for my craft that month than usual, because I know it's only going to last a month. If you set goals for yourself, it might encourage you to find time during a busy schedule.
Whatever you decide to do to get writing time in, remember a couple of things:
You don't have to write everyday.
Take care of yourself. If you're burning yourself out writing, you're not going to enjoy it as much.
Make sure you're still getting downtime for yourself.
Have fun.
Do you have ways that you fit in writing? Share them below!