Yesterday I was with a group of family members, and someone asked me the question: How did you find time to write a whole book?
Here’s my answer. Finding time to do ANYTHING is a MYTH. If there’s something you want to do, you have to MAKE time especially when it comes to writing.
There’s always something in life that will happen daily that will keep you from fulfilling your dream. There are hundreds of tasks that SEEM more important than that goal you have of writing a book. The truth is, your desire to become a published author is just as important as those other things if you want to make it a reality. How do I do that you might ask?
If the kids wake up every morning at 6 AM, guess what? You may have to set your alarm for 5:15 AM so you can get in at least 30 minutes of writing before they get up. (The other 15 minutes is to get that cup of coffee you will need to get started writing that early in the morning.)
If you love to socialize like me, you might have to make a point to wake up early on Saturday mornings (Gasp! no sleeping in?), so you can get that writing done. That way you can hit up those weekly happy hour appointments with your friends guilt-free (we’re not in the habit of missing happy hours over here.)
If you spend 2 hours a day watching Netflix shows, I hate to tell you this, but you may have to take one of those hours and dedicate it to writing if you’re truly serious about this thing.
As I wrote in a previous blog post, it took me a really, really, really long time to write and publish my first novel. Did I mention it took a really long time? Here’s why. I kept trying to FIND the time. Once I MADE time, the novel happened. Here’s what I do now:
- Wake up early on off days from my day job
- Pack up my computer
- Go to Starbucks
- Set a timer on my phone of at least 1 hour (that’s the minimum I allow for myself, but I often do more.)
- Set a session goal/target of at least 1000 words (sometimes I write more, sometimes it’s less)
- Play background music in my headphones like instrumental jazz or hip-hop instrumentals
- Write, write, write! I write something even if sounds stupid, or it rambles on, or the characters aren’t behaving like I want them to. The goal is words on the page, and I don’t edit. Editing comes only after that entire first draft is completed.
Some of you may say, “I have to wait for inspiration to hit.” Don’t get me started on that; we’ll talk about that another time.
Now I’m working on book number two I feel that I have found my stride, and this works for me.
Lolah
Are you writing a book? What’s your process?
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