Things Your English Teacher Won't Tell You

Why busy Writers Should Invest In A Low=Cost Time Machine

I’ve been thinking about building a time machine, something that would let me jump back and forth on the clock to give me a little extra time to write each day. Unfortunately, since I don’t have any spare plutonium or other means to produce 2.21 gigawatts of energy for the jump, not to mention I don’t own a DeLorean, that plan is on the shelf for a while. Maybe next year. Or last year. Hard to say when you’re time jumping.

Okay, enough with the Back to the Future references. Let’s get to it.

If there is one thing every writer could use, from Best-Sellers to weekend scribblers, it if more time to write. Writing isn’t nessisarily hard work, not in a W/fd sense, it is time consuming. By its very nature the act of putting words on paper or screen takes time, and it doesn’t matter what genre, style or method you use, all of us would love to have a few more hours of precious time, especially when our writing comes into conflict with the rest of our life. Deadline or not, we all have outside responsibilities that eat up most of our days and nights. Family, studies, work, all of this, sadly, takes priority over our need to create. Even just hanging out and relaxing is going to seem like a major block of time lost when we are in the middle of a story or novel. We might all be writers, but we also all have real lives to lead, too. Just the way it is.

So, how does one find the time to be a writer?Well, like everything else in this crazy pursuit, the answer varies from one writer to the next. Some people, especially those who thrive on schedules and organisation, set aside a certain block of time for their writing each day and treat it like any other job. Others take a more liesurely approach and steal a few minutes here or there throughout the day to work. Myself, I do both.

(As I type this, I am waiting on a heifer to calve – yes, I really am a cowboy and it’s calving season – so I have a few minutes to work up a blog post before I head back out to the barn to check on her progress. Cross your fingers, it’s her first baby!)

Some people have no problem writing with distractions going on around them, while others need silence, or at least an environment where the outside world doesn’t intrude too badly as they work. I’ve always been a night owl, so it was a no brainer that I would start waking up in the middle of the night, usually between 2:00 and 3:00 in the AM to work then go back to bed. On the other hand, you might be someone who is at their sharpest first thing in the morning. If that’s the case, set your alarm an hour earlier and get in the habit of waking up to write.

But, you ask, do I really have to do it every day? Well, kind of, yeah. We all take sick days now and then, but writing is like anything else you do, in that you need to do it on a regular basis if you want to see results. If you’re a runner or gym rat you know just what I mean. There are a lot of days you don’t want to get out of a nice warm bed and lace up, but if you want to run a race you have to put in the miles. Wriing is no different. The more you write the better you will become and – more importantly – the better your chances of finishing your projects and hopefully seeing them published are.

No matter what time of day or night you find works best for you, you want to maximize it. In other words, how and where you write are just as important as when. Almost everyone today uses a PC, laptop or tablet to work on, so make sure your preferred machine is up and ready to go when you start your session, batteries charged or cables plugged in for power. Have your beverage of choice in your favorite mug or glass, check your email or texts just because you will be distracted if you don’t, then get to work!

Then there is the question of how you block out the rest of the world as you write. Most people like to have music playing in the background, though some requiredead silence instead. Myself, I prefer talk-radio playing, though I really don’t pay attetnion to it. It is there simply to keep the outside out, nothing more. You could listen to Tibetan Throat Singing or Uilean Bagpipes or the sound of a Maytag dryer going round and round just as long as it helps you get to your creative place. Also, decide how long you are going to work each session. Some writers set a minimum amount of time they have to work each day, while others will go by word or page count. Whatever works for you is fine, just as long as you are pushing yourself to get actual scenes finished or edited. The point is to make sure your time is your own and that you are taking every advantage to keep pushing forward. And remember, just because a method worksown for Writer X that doesn’t mean it will work for you. Play around with your schedule until you do find that happy medium between life and writing.

Oh, and by the way, while I was writing this, the heifer had her calf, and both mother and daughter are doing fine!