How to Find the Time to Write Your Novel

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Have you had this wonderful idea for a novel just sitting somewhere in your head and you've been itching to get it on paper but there's just one problem?

 You don't have the time to write it.

Between work, commuting, eating, taking care of children or pets, and the thousands of other little things on your to-do list, finding the time to sit down and write a novel isn't always the easiest thing to do. So you push it off and you push it off and eventually, you lose the spark and hope of ever finishing it. 

Well, no matter how busy you are I'm sure somewhere you can find a few minutes a day to get down a paragraph or two. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will your book be written in one. It's just not possible.

If you're struggling to find the time try and implement a few of these strategies to add some writing time to your day or maximize the time that you do have available.

Now don't hate me for this one, but sometimes it is the easiest solution…

Put down the phone or turn off the TV

I know… I know It's too easy to be that simple, but have you stopped to think about just home much time we spend on our phones to unwind from our hectic days? 

It happens more often than you think. You'll go to check a Facebook notification or tell yourself you're only going to scroll through Tiktok for ten minutes and somehow it's as if you fell into a time-sucking vortex it's been three hours of uninterrupted scrolling.

Now imagine if that had been three hours of uninterrupted writing, wouldn't that have been amazing?

Schedule some distraction-free writing time. 

Now if you don't have extra free time just hanging around that you fill with social media try this idea.

You tell yourself you're going to sit down on a Saturday morning and not move from the chair until you've written at least one page. 

The laundry can wait, so can the dishes and any other chores. They're not going to get up and walk away because it took you a little longer to start them. 

Sometimes we just need to see it written on a sticky note that I WILL WRITE ON SATURDAY! You'll have all week to think about what exactly it is that you're going to write and you'll have possibly written a few notes down so that by the time you sit down you should be able to fly into your work and soar through that page with no problem.

Once you're in the writer's flow you may not stop until you have two whole pages written before you decide you really can put off laundry for a few hours. 

Travel Time 

Do you commute to work or to school? Well, then you have some writing time.

Instead of checking emails or catching up on social media before your shift try to use that time to put on your writer's brain.

Using a notebook or even your smartphone and you can use this time to write out (or narrate using a voice to text program if you're driving) some notes or even a paragraph or two at a time when you normally might just be watching the world from the bus window or scrolling through your social media. 

Lunch Hour  

Whether at work or school you need to eat at some point. You don't owe your work your lunch hour (especially if you're not paid for it.) Just like the above, you can use this time to jot out some words or think about your characters, maybe you can even take inspiration from the things you observe as you sit and eat. (Don't skip eating to write, a hungry writer's brain doesn't work as well.) 

Bed Time  

This may not be true for you, but for me, I tell myself every night that I"m going to put my phone down early and read a book before bed as a better way to unwind from my day. Sometimes it's a struggle and the call of the internet is just too strong, but on the days I can manage it, I feel as if I was able to slip into sleep just a bit easier.

We all have our bedtime routines, brush our teeth, wash our faces, lay out tomorrow's clothes, and so on. 

Try adding writing to your nighttime routine. 

As you lay in bed journal out a few notes about your story, or try to write by hand a few bits that you can add when you get back to writing either on your phone or on the computer. 

While we want to get in some writing we don't want the allure of the phone's other uses or the bright screen to keep us too much awake. A simple notebook and a bedside light are all you need.

 Between Chores

After our long workdays or workweeks, our weekends or days off are usually filled with everything we neglected to do during the week, laundry, cleaning the bathroom, emptying the litter box, vacuuming the house, maybe getting in that workout we've been putting off.

Sometimes the amount of chores is just endless.

Well, have you ever heard of writing sprints?

Writing sprints are burst of writing that happens at a set time on the clock. 

A clock such as… the timer on the dishwasher, the washing machine, or even the oven as you cook dinner. 

Who says you can't do your chores and write too? 

Use these times to challenge yourself, prop your computer on the nearest surface or set a timer on your phone and set off to write as much as you can before the timer goes off. 

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However, you manage to find time to write, make it work for you. 

Nobody is going to come along and put the time to write into your lap. You have to demand it, schedule it, or sneak it in whenever you can.

Determination and perseverance will be your best friend.

Just write and make every second count.

With love, 

B.K