Find THE Time To Write

by Joelle Steele

When I used to teach writing classes, many students complained that they had no time to write, often because they have a day job or kids and spouse, etc. I can certainly understand. Here is how I have dealt with the time constraints of daily life in relation to my writing.

The first thing I learned was that organization is the key to finding time to write. We all waste an enormous amount of time every day. I had to re-think how I spent all my time when I wasn't at work. This is when I started using a daily planner calendar. Every week I wrote down the things I had to do and the places I needed to be to do them. I also wrote down how long those things were likely to take.

After awhile, I realized that I could be doing many things at the same time. Early in my life I had to go to the laundromat. This was the first place that I began to use "free" time. I could sit in front of the machines and watch my clothes tumble around, or I could bring a spiral-bound notebook and write. I chose the latter. I wrote my first published novel and had clean clothes.

Fast forward a few years and I was running three businesses, was in a relationship, and was burning the candle at both ends. I was traveling a lot for business, and that meant a lot of free time while I was in the sky and on the road. I wrote articles and books in spiral-bound notebooks (this was all in the days before laptops) while I was on planes and trains, and in hotel rooms.

But when I wasn’t traveling, I had to find time to write at home. I did this by putting aside one-half hour per day, usually right after dinner, but sometimes first thing in the morning. It’s really amazing how much you can get done in that short period of time. Write for a half-hour a day and at the end of the year you’ve almost got a book. I also wrote in my notebooks while I was parked in my car or sitting in an office waiting for someone or to see someone.

Nowadays, finding spare time to writing is almost a breeze. There are aps that allow you to dictate and have it print out as text which you can then email to yourself and import into your writing software. A writer friend of mine dictated her memoirs while relocating and driving cross-country to her new home. She said she just laid her tablet on the seat next to her, turned on the dictation ap, and talked. I have another friend who wrote her first two books on her laptop while riding BART to and from work (in the San Francisco Bay Area).

You’re a writer? Then use that creativity to reorganize your life to accommodate your writing. You can do it!