Wouldn’t it be nice to have an entire day to yourself to
work on your latest book? Imagine shuffling out of bed and remaining in your
comfy pajamas as you pour a steaming cup of coffee into your favorite mug.
Sounds good right? It gets even better as you sit down at your computer and
begin typing away, uninterrupted (not even a phone call). This is a dream come
true. Sadly for most of us, this scenario will never happen. We are all busy,
busy, busy.
So how do you find the time to write? I mean, you have to
work, cook, clean, actually communicate with family and friends and then,
decide whether to write or plop in bed.
Of course there has to be a way to
maximize your time. Here are a few suggestions, although the scenario out the
outset of this post seems more desirable.
The first thing you can do is schedule the time to write.
This is a literal scheduling, where you sit down and map out your week and try
to squeeze some valuable time to work on your craft. Maybe it means getting up
early, or staying up late. Can you squeeze time in on lunch? Maybe on the
weekend you can steal a few hours? Get creative and think outside the box.
Tune out from TV and movies. You have your own creating to
do. No need in staring at the tube when you could be carving out your story or
developing your awesome characters. Realize too that you may have to set down
the “word games” and phone calls. If you are disciplined and focused you can do
it. It’ll take some work and dedication but once you have your book in your
hands it’ll be worth it.
It is a hectic world that we’re living in. It can become
tough to juggle life as a person and life as an author. Here’s my final tip.
It’s a simple one too. Just don’t give up! We want to read what you’re working
on. You have a voice and it’s worth sharing.
Until next time….Happy writing!
RL Taylor is an award-winning fiction author with five novels released to date. His newest writing venture is a series of non-fiction books on style, etiquette and self-improvement for men and women who want to help the men in their life.
Click here for a free copy of The Gentlemen's Code which Esquire.com featured as recommended reading.
Fiction: http://www.rltayloronline.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rltheauthor
5 comments:
RL, it's so true that you actually have to make time to write. Everyone has such busy lives that creating a schedule to write is a must.
Starting with limiting or eliminating TV is a good place to start.
Time, that elusive component! But...I find when I have "lots" of time, I still procrastinate and waste a lot of it. Scheduling time to write is a good idea--making an appointment with yourself, and perhaps even rewarding yourself for keeping that appointment. I used to put stickers on my calendar every day that I kept that time to write. It seems so simple and yet it was a great motivator. I was disappointed if something came up and I wasn't able to put a sticker on my calendar that day!
You're so right RL - scheduling is everything. Otherwise writing is always the last thing on the list and it never gets done.
Scheduling is extremely important. Writers' retreats also help.
I know! It's so easy to put other things first, isn't it? But our writing should be first...well, barring the occasional armageddon, I suppose. :-)
Gail
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