“I know I could write a book, if I could only find the time.”
There’s a perception that books ought to be written in leisurely, hours-long sessions that take place in the perfect (private, of course) writing space with all the right candles, ideal ambient music, and bespoke décor that’s guaranteed to keep the inspiration flowing.
If that’s were case, then the majority of would-be authors would be precluded from club membership by jobs, kids, needy pets, need spouses — you name it. Fortunately, more often than not, that romanticized notion of what writing a book “ought to” look like is just a fantasy.
A few authors can spend the majority of their days writing; more reserve an hour or two at a time at regular intervals. And many find themselves writing the majority of their work — especially those early drafts — in whatever time they can carve out for themselves throughout the course of the day. These authors do their writing in bursts, and those bursts can be productive just about anytime they can fit into the day.
20 minutes between meetings here and there
15 minutes while dinner’s in the oven most evenings
30 minutes on lunch break every day
You know the old adage that a task will expand to fit the time allotted? I think that’s true for many authors, too. If you give yourself a luxurious five hours to write, you may be productive for some, or even most of that time, but you’ll certainly spend plenty of it staring out the window, scrolling Instagram, looking for snacks, or otherwise procrastinating. But when you give yourself just twenty or thirty (or even ten) minutes, I’ll be willing to be that the little bit of pressure from the short time limit will help you crank out words faster than you’d expect. And those bursts will add up. With just the three ideas in the list above, you could easily reach four to five hours of writing a week — even if, at a glance, your calendar looks too full to work in any significant writing time.
While writing in bursts clearly helps solve the problem of not enough time, I think it can be a powerful way to overcome that specific kind of writer’s block that comes from lack of energy — whether the mere idea of writing for hours at a time makes you tired or, on the rare occasion you do have a chunk of time for yourself, the biggest activity you can muster is firing up Netflix. (Been there, friend.) It’s much easier to psych yourself up to write for just a few minutes, and more often than not, I’ll bet you’ll find those little chunks of time act like appetizers, inspiring and priming you for a longer session (like a DIY writing retreat, perhaps).
Writing time doesn’t have to be perfectly curated — you can get words down anywhere, any time. So, if you’re struggling to find big chunks of time or energy to write, know two things:
You’re not alone.
You can still make progress.
Take a look at your calendar, and pick out a few awkward chunks of time that you can dedicate to writing today. See how much you can get down in those quick sessions. You’ll be surprised at how quickly it adds up! Soon, I bet you’ll be opening that Word document or reaching for your notebook by default during your down time, more often than not.
Comment below or drop me a note to let me know how it goes!