Finding Time to Write
Many writers will tell you that the best advice is “sit down and write”.
I tend to agree with this; my own writing has improved significantly over the years because I’ve stuck with it for so long. However, that advice is like saying “practice makes perfect” or “you’ll learn eventually”. It goes without saying.
First, you’ve got to find the time. This is where a lot of people have difficulty. I can’t offer you a perfect solution, because such a thing doesn’t exist. What I can do is offer you what’s worked for me.
Carve out a time for yourself. For me, this is first thing in the morning. I wake up, then write for an hour. Do this every day, and you’ll eventually improve.
It sounds simple, but it’s anything but. It took me a long time to get used to doing that, and I still struggle with it. It takes a lot of discipline to get right.
Why do it in the morning? Because I can’t rely on any other time, and doing this every day is critical. At least for me, habits are important. The more I do it, the more I get used to doing it, and I eventually stop trying to get out of doing it. Writing early in the morning means that I have time to write every day, uninterrupted, because no one else is awake yet. If I try writing after everything’s settled down, I’m too exhausted to write.
Another issue some people have is that the ideas don’t come to them when they want them to. There’s a reason for this: you haven’t started yet. When I sit down to start writing, chances are, I’ve got nothing in my head. But as I start writing, that part of my brain wakes up. Don’t worry about what you’re writing, only that you are writing. It can be completely unrelated to what you want to write, so long as you keep writing. Eventually, your mind will get used to it, and the ideas will start flowing.
You may notice that once you sit down to write, anything else is a better alternative. Remember that email you were supposed to write? Or maybe something else more interesting is going on somewhere on the Internet. I recommend shutting out distractions. I don’t allow myself to read emails or open up a web browser, even if I need to research something. If I reach a point where I’d need to look up something, I make a note about it in the text, and I keep going. It’s more important to keep writing.
Don’t let me fool you into thinking this always works. When I have to travel for work (not an uncommon occurrence), my schedule gets thrown off, and I start skipping this. Keep track of how often you’ve skipped your writing time, otherwise you’ll skip it all week and not realize it.
Remember, this is for your writing. It’s worth the effort.
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