Dear O'Abby: I don't have time to write. Am I a writer?

Dear O'Abby,

I have always written.  Since I was a kid, and old enough to know how to hold a pencil and make it work.  But since finishing college, starting work and the demands of a young family, I just can't seem to find the time to write.  And it's driving me crazy.  I have so many story ideas squirreling around my head, but the most I can do is scribble them down in my notebook and hope they still sound good when - if - I ever have time to sit down in front of my computer and write.

Can I call myself a writer if I don't write anymore?

Yours,

Time-Challenged.

Dear Time-Challenged,

You are not alone.  I think most writers are in much the same boat.  I know I am!

I think the biggest thing to take on board is to be realistic.  Maybe before you had kids and a job you could knock out 3000 words a day without thinking too much about it.  Maybe you were even one of those people who could write an entire novel in a weekend.

Forget that.

If your time is limited, you need to make the most of what you do have.  Work out when you are at your most creative and see if you can carve out a few minutes at that time of day.  Or if that time doesn't suit, you may need to just force yourself to write at some other time.  Personally, I'm a night-owl naturally, but for many years I worked nights so I wasn't able to write at night.  I trained myself to get up at 5:30am so I could get an hour and a half of writing time in before my kids got up at 7.

And I still do that, even though I don't work nearly as many nights now.  It works for me because my day job is so crazy, I often don't have the energy or creative drive to write in the evening.  If I do, great.  I can do more.  But if I don't, I know I've had that time in the morning.
 
Maybe you're in a different situation and writing at night, after the kids go to bed, will work better for you.  Or you may be able to steal an hour or so while they're napping in the afternoon.

The point is to write.  I know writers who write on their phones while their kids are in swimming lessons.  Or who scribble in a notebook during their lunch breaks or on their commute.

You don't need a clear two hour block to write.  If you can steal a quarter hour here and a half hour there and use them productively, you will be able to write those stories.  It may take longer than before, but at least you can still call yourself a writer.

Good luck!

O'Abby.

Put First Things First

I'm back with another habit from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People that I hope will help you become a more effective writer!

Put First Things First means that you must decide which things are most important to you, and make time for them. 

I have always been the type of person who tries to find time in my schedule to write. "I'll write after I wash the dishes. After the kids are in bed. Once I've written my next Operation Awesome post." And this works. You can finish a short story, poem, or novel on found time.

But if you want to prioritize writing time in your life, it's not enough to just hope you'll find some time in your busy schedule to write. You must make time to write. "Writing time is from 9pm to 10pm. I'll wake up an hour earlier than normal and use that time to write. Kids' nap time is writing time, not chore time." You get the picture.

Sometimes this mean taking time from other activities to make writing time, which can be a struggle at first. But I've found that the more frequently I block out writing time, the more I get done at other times in the day so that I can write without distraction later. This is one reason that I love participating in NaNoWriMo and CampNaNo. In order to make my word goal, I have to make time for writing every night, and I usually don't feel guilty about the things I'm giving up to do so.

What do you do to make time for writing?

Back to Writing!

Summer is officially over at my house and the kids will be back in school by the end of the week. I’m facing the moment I’ve been looking forward to all summer... Writing Time!!!

But man! My daily habits have completely changed (maybe for the better) while being off the grid. So... since I have a relatively clean slate to set up new writing habits, I’m working on a list of what my daily priorities should be.

1. Make a schedule! 
-One hour of exercise, three days a week with the hubs. Neither of us seem willing to put out the effort on our own, but we’re hoping to keep each other motivated. :-) You never know! It just might work! No more, “I don’t have time, I’m writing!”

-Dinner plans. No more, “I can’t think about dinner right now, I’m writing!” (which ultimately leads to $5 pizzas or frozen/boxed things with 8 minutes to spare before swim team practice.)

-I will NOT attempt to do any writing before the kids go to school. I generally wake up hours before anyone else does, but it ultimately leads to, “Oh my gosh! The kids are still in bed and we have 4 minutes to make lunches, eat breakfast, get dressed and out the door!”
But I might try jotting down a few scene/chapter notes that I want to tackle for the day... especially if I need to write three chapters a week to meet my intended deadline. (Thank goodness I have a (mostly) detailed outline to keep me focused!)

-Make laundry/cleaning a daily ritual—not a monthly “Ugh! I can’t work in these conditions!”

-Be extra cautious about balancing time between MY projects vs covers and editing for others. As much as I love working on other people's projects, I really do have a deadline.

2. Write the Schedule!
-Change that... PRINT the schedule as a daily check-off chart and live by the list each day until it becomes habit.

3. Stick to the Schedule!
-I seem to go through this I-need-better-habits phase every September and New Year. So...crossing my fingers and toes that I can be dedicated to more than just making time to write. :-)

I’m extremely grateful to have such a huge amount of flexibility in my day-to-day life. I know many writers who would LOVE to have as much time as I do. I just need to use the time more wisely to better balance obsessive writing and a healthier frame of mind. I’m 98% certain everyone in my house would benefit. :-)

Time is a funny thing

I'm chopping through my extended absence, returning back onto the OA blog like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. Minus the axe.

"Here's Lindsay!"

Time is a funny thing. There's never enough of it. And, as always, time is the first thing that races ahead when you've got a million things to do. You get trapped in an endless cycle of knowing you have ALL the things to do, but then you get pulled under. You drudge through the daily chores, but the things that you love can get pushed aside. And days/weeks/months have rushed past without you realising it. And while you've gotten some things done, others have slowed down (like reading and writing and blogging).

So how do you manage your creative life when other life bites you on the bum and steals you away?

Writing:
Life is busy, but a notepad or a phone is wonderful for writing ideas, notes, scenes, blog post etc. And the fact that I can email myself the notes and copy/paste to a Word document makes the nerd in me smile.

Sometimes it's hard to get a solid block of writing time. Snatching twenty minutes to write is just as productive as sitting for an hour. Sometimes, when time is tight, I word war by myself to see how much I can get done in that time. Even if I've got an hour, I'll set my phone timer to break up the time.

Reading:
Snatching ten minutes reading time is the norm sometimes. I do love holding an actual book, but this is where a Kindle or iBooks really comes into play. I have a book (or 1,000) on me all the times.

Scheduling:
We often live our lives by our calendars and diaries. Or a to do list. I sat down at the weekend, looked at my diary and worked out blocks of time where I can write, blog, Tweet etc. Having it written down is an extra push to make it happen.

So that's me.

What about you? How do you make time to keep writing in your life when time gets tight?