The unheard words of new writers...

More writing tips, this time about finding TIME to write...

How Can I Find More Time To Write?

I'm sure it's no surprise to hear that a lot of the mail I receive concerns creative writing. More surprising is that a lot of the mail I receive is also concerned with TIME. In their emails people write things like, ‘I simply love to write, when I get the time…’ or ‘I'm hoping to finish my poem [story, novel], as soon as I have the time…’ or even sign off by saying, ‘sorry, got to go now, I’ve run out of time.’

I guess it's a sign of the times that time itself has become a major preoccupation. And, where once labour saving devices would grant us all free-time, now we see that they simply pose another demand on our time.

Hence this article, which pleads: spend time reading this; save yourself some time; and use that saved time to WRITE. Now let me just repeat that again…No, only joking. So, here are three techniques for saving time and doing more writing.

Time You Never Knew You Had...
Do you really know where all your time goes? Some in travel, some eating, some on work (domestic or paid), some in conversation, some idle, a lot in sleep.

You might want to think about the question for a few minutes and then abandon the thought completely. Being able to account for your every move isn’t likely to be helpful or productive. Instead. We may wish to make sure we do the things we want to do, in the time we give ourselves to do them.

Here goes! Whether it’s morning, afternoon or evening when you’re reading this, grab a sheet of paper and write:

"Today I will spend 15 minutes writing."

The important bits in what I hope you’ve just written down are:

Today - which sets a practical timeframe
I will write - which states your clear intention
15 minutes - which sets a reasonable limit (15 is just an example)

The goal you have just set yourself is perfectly achievable. It only requires 15 minutes of your day. And now, all you have to do is make it happen.

Of course, you may fail. Latterly coming across the piece of paper on which you’d written the faithful words. ‘Today I will spend 15 minutes writing.’ And thinking, yeah, but where am I going to find the time to write?

Finding time to write
You can find your 15, 30, 60 or more minutes anywhere and everywhere during a single day. They may be between waking, washing, breakfasting and dressing; before you start the car, on the bus or train or underground (subway). They may be before work begins or during a rest break; during or after lunch, before the TV, an email, internet or phone call commences or last thing at night.

You can find those minutes. Find them - before you find time to do the things you must do or inside of the time you spend not doing. Think a second. Where could you have found them yesterday! And you’ll find them today. Oh, and by-the-way, pick up that piece of paper on which you wrote, ‘Today I will spend 15 minutes writing.’ And carry it with you. You may need something to write on.

And now, perhaps another day has come and gone. I was going to write, you think cheerfully and then you feel deflated, but when the time came - you think to yourself - I wasn’t in a good position to put anything down on paper. You think, how can I make best use of the time I find to write?

Using the time you have
Fantastic. You’re finally admitting that you could find the time to write. Now we can tackle how you can use that time too write.

Format or formality has a lot to do with what stops us from doing. The start-up of a new activity represents effort:

  You need to find what you were working on. Open it up.
  Find where you’d gotten to. Decide how you’ll carry on,
  and finally, you will be ready to begin writing.

In order to use the writing minutes you’ve found you need to get rid of any barriers and simply get down to writing. When the moment comes to write, you need to be able to locate what you need quickly. OK you think, my 15 minutes starts here. You take a piece of paper (you may have a note book), you take a pen, you write.

The key things being:
Paper - always carry a blank sheet
Pen - have one or two to hand (I prefer a pencil)
Mindset - write now, and figure out where what you write fits later

In reality, if you do write everyday (even if only for 15 minutes) you’ll probably remember the thread your following. If you were to use a notebook, you may have a sequence that’s easy to follow. But, if not, so what. To find time to write and to write is better than to spend time wondering how you’ll find time to write. Right! Write.

And, before I leave you to your new found pledge to write, rememer, let us know how you got on - your endeavour may well encourage others to find time to write.

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