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Don’t Wait

It’s quite simple really, but I did two things. First, I no longer wait until I have a seat. I write on the train on the way home, and previously I would read or listen to podcasts while I waited for a seat. You can imagine that some days this comes earlier than others, so I did not really have control over when I made a start.

That attitude also gives me a new raft of excuses not to write, by the way. I can wait for a seat I like, rather than just any seat. If I’m over halfway through my journey, I can decide there’s really no point trying to write, as I won’t get enough done (always false of course – any progress is worth it). I can mix it up, too – “Oh, I’ve finally got the seat I wanted, but I’ll just get to the end of this chapter I’m reading. Well, look at that, now I’m too far into my journey! Drat!” That’s a 3 x procrastination multiplier right there!

No more! Now I only wait until there’s space on the filthy floor by the doors. I’m not proud – I can sit on the floor and write in the dirt!

Little Hits

And the other thing? That bloody game (and this is the last time I mention it, I promise) The Binding of Isaac (again, be aware, some people may be offended by this game)that caused me so much distraction before is now being put to good use. I admit, I’m probably better off deleting it off my hard drive altogether, but last week at least it worked as a little reward.

You want something that feels like a tiny perk – a little hit to finish off your day. That’s what that game can deliver, even if it’s only for five minutes, because every level genuinely feels like a fresh challenge. So I made the decision that I would be able to play it, but only if I’d reached a certain word count (a word count that brings me past my average over the course of a week by the way).

That motivates me to start sooner and get on the floor, and also puts a satisfying full-stop on my train journey. You might use something else. If you don’t mind reading in short bursts, you can do that for example. Chocolate might help some people.

It Still Takes Discipline

What the title says. It’s a cliché, but there aren’t any silver bullets for your writing werewolf. Just keep pumping ordinary bullets into it daily and eventually it’ll go down (or something. Some phrases aren’t meant to be taken to their natural conclusion, clearly). So far, so good.

But enough about me and my overpriced train journeys, what about your writing? Do you have any treats you give yourself at the end of a session? Or maybe you have a special way of making sure you just get on with it? You know where the comments section is!

I have often said that I need to carve out some more spaces to do my writing. But now that we have a baby to look after, these spaces present themselves even less. While he is awake, there is always something that needs doing – feeding, nappy, making more feeds… if he’s having a grizzly day it literally doesn’t stop. I try to do as much as I can for him at the weekends, as my wife takes care of him throughout the week. Still, it usually ends up that I take care of him Saturday, and we do it together Sunday.

Image by Dave Fayram on Flickr

The point is that, as much as I advocate routines and setting time aside, no time is sacred when you have a baby. It seems like the only time I could realistically set aside would be when mum and baby are both asleep. This, of course, was the original theory behind getting up early on a Saturday to write, now scuppered by that being precisely the time boy wants his first feed of the day.

There’s obviously a hideous and treacherous balancing act here. Do I risk throwing my sanity at the face of tiredness, only to have tiredness catch it in its mouth and chew it to mush? After all, it’s not just my writing and parenting I have to worry about – I also have a day job. Tiredness there can be difficult to work with, but planning helps. I write out a list of things I have to do that day before I do anything else. This comes from a master list (a spreadsheet) that I update whenever a new task comes along, so I don’t miss anything. Whatever extra I do at night, I’ll have to stop if it becomes detrimental to my day job.

While considering this idea, I did come up with something of a plan. For a start, my wife will have to take the boy for some time during the weekend to allow me to do some writing. As far as the night time sessions go, it’s not likely that I’ll be able to stand doing this every night. I will need to keep some nights for something approaching a recovery. That makes me want to pick nights in the middle of the week – so that I can cope with the horror of Mondays (just call me Garfield) and don’t pile tiredness on tiredness (too much) towards the end of the week, when I’m likely to be feeling tired anyway. So, that makes Tuesday and Wednesday sound good. Plan = stay up an extra hour after feeding to do some writing on Tuesday and Wednesday. Done.

The only way of seeing if this is possible is to give it a go. This weekend is a bank holiday here in the UK, so provides a great opportunity to ease my way into this tortuous routine (I should probably go into it with a better attitude). I should be slightly more recovered with an extra day at home. But aside from reckless experimentation, I’d like to know if any of our readers have adopted a similar routine. Do you write at weird times? Do you find you get more done at particular times of the day or night? I want to hear all your crazy schedules!

So, it’s a hot topic in the writing blogosphere. Do a check. The next time you read a writing blog, search on it for a post on finding time to write. It will be there (if the blog even has a search, which I found to be a curious rarity). It was one of the first entries that made it on to this fine blog as a matter of fact. And chances are that most if them will say pretty much the same thing.

So given the wealth of information, where should you go for the best advice? Well, I’ve subscribed to a lot of blogs, and I’ve done that very search on all of them, plus searched in Google for good measure, and I’ve made a list of five that are not only good, but hopefully offer something a little different as well. I know, I know, but there’s no need to thank me. It’ll only make my head swell.

Behold, five great blog posts on finding time to write!

In no particular order…

1. Chip on Your Shoulder – Time is on Our Side: Write to the Beat of Your Circadian Rhythms
   This post by Chip Scanlan actually doesn’t talk about circadian rhythms at all, oddly enough. But it does collect a few anecdotes about how published authors found time to write, and offers some sound advice to boot.
2. Writing World – Time and the Writer
   Here’s an idea, keep a diary of exactly where you spend your time, great if you’re really struggling.
3. Write to Done – How To Find Time To Write While Traveling
   A little different this. What about if you’re travelling about – on holiday for example?
4. essortment – Finding Time to Write
   For a more rigorous approach, read this article. Get a new hairstyle? Yes, really.
5. We The ’Bistro – Finding Time to Write
   Seven tips included in this one. This represents the typical advice you’ll find across the internet, but it’s good advice all the same. Although, I’m not so sure about the writing class, but whatever helps.

And if all else fails, you could always get someone else to write it for you!

Please let us know how you find the time to write – we need all the help we can get!

My train was supposed to arrive eight minutes ago, and is not expected to arrive for another thirty minutes. Welcome to the British train system! The company in charge by the way, is National Express, who are fine as long as nothing goes wrong, when they are terrible!

My hungry belly and annoyance aside though, this is a perfect opportunity to write another blog post. Let’s face it, time is at a premium for most of us, and we have to learn to take opportunities like this as they come.

It makes sense, then, that you should be prepared for those moments where you might unexpectedly find yourself at a loose end. For me, that means carrying around my iPod Touch. I have it with me anyway and the notes app is sufficient for the quick note or blog post (though if anyone has any suggestions of apps I should try, please comment, and
I’ll review my favourites). I have blogged before about how I use it.

But whatever you use it should be portable, and instantly accessible. Another advantage you might consider is the ability to move such writing to the place and medium in which you normally write. I am thinking in particular of being able to email notes to yourself or otherwise get them onto your computer (if that’s where you normally do your writing).

Anyhew, as luck would have it inamorata now on a train. Not my train, but a delayed one that should have left 50 minutes ago. So it’s all good, and I can go back to my laptop.

Happy time-filling!

I had begun to get used to my routine. What i try to do is write on the train on my way home, just as in the grand plan I had when I  started this blog. My other writing time would be early Saturday morning.

Although I managed to get up regularly every Saturday and sit in front of my computer, the writing part would often come slow or not at all. As I have mentioned before, I would often end up fiddling with the website, or checking my emails and Twitter. Although that was my greatest opportunity of the week for getting my writing done, it was actually my train writing that was becoming most productive. I suspect  it was because this was a more regular event anyway, and I was much more inclined to work on my writing when I was fully awake! But whatever the reason, I was finding it easier and easier to slip into a writing frame of mind every work day. I had got to the stage when 80% of the time I could simply find a seat (and not be too picky about it either), open my laptop, and just go at it. No pondering. No time wasting.

The Problem

Then something happened. I had a week off work. Great, you may think, that’s more opportunity for writing, you can get more done! Well, yes it is. But no I didn’t. My routine was centered around my journey home from work. Without that time to myself and the “mental hook” I’d programmed my brain to hang it’s writing hat on, I was doomed.

What’s worse, since I’ve been back at work I seem to have taken several steps back in terms of the effectiveness of my routine. Now I’m back to pondering, putting off, or just not doing. I have to start all over again!

Lessons

I’m sure there are lessons to be had here. Here are what I think are correct assumptions to be made:

1. Routines do work – I was getting better at writing in my allotted time.
2. Don’t break them unless you really have to. Taking a holiday from work should not have meant taking a holiday from writing!
3. It’s good to have a bit of variety in your routine as long as you’re disciplined. I’ll use an example to explain. Part of my writing routine is supposed to include writing on a Saturday morning. At home, for two hours, rather than on the train for one hour or less. If I stuck to that i would have got more writing done during my holiday (or when trains are cancelled and I have to write at home). But I have not been disciplined enough with that part of my routine, so that particular bit of brain programming was not available to me.

These are the rules as they appear to me, but some people will disagree with some if them. For example, a lot of people advocate having one place, and one place only, where they write. That’s too difficult for me though I’m afraid. I’m out if the house from 8 until 8 most days, so the train is appropriate (though hardly ideal), but not enough.

Still others might take that rule further and abolish a set routine altogether. The idea here is that if you learn to write whenever the opportunity arises rather than boxing yourself into a set routine, you are in a better position to keep on writing when the unexpected happens. I don’t really buy that either. I see the reasoning but I’m sure that would lead to no writing at all for Matt. Plus I think that habit can be a very powerful tool when used for good! And I need all the help I can get!

And right now I need your opinions! What do you think about keeping a writing routine? Is it a help or hindrance? Do you have one that works for you, and what is it? What’s the weirdest writing routine you’ve heard of?

I have a full-time job, and commute to work, which means that I am usually home around eight in the evening, and very brain-tired by that time (I couldn’t profess to being physically tired as I sit at a desk all day). I have a wife who likes to see as much of me as possible (and who could blame her?), so getting to close the door for a time and write can be problematic.

Last year we moved house, to a bigger place, so the next thing will be kids (as everyone keeps reminding me). So I have decided it is more important than ever to get into a routine now. Okay, there’s not much chance that I can carry that routine through when the inevitable happens, but at least I will have proved to my self that I have the discipline to do something.

So, here is the plan for getting in to regular writing:

1. Write on the train. I commute by train, and although I start work (as in my day job) on the train there, on the way back I tend to do my own thing. I’m using this for more light-weight writing, as I have about half an hour to forty five minutes to work. So this will be for notes, blog-writing, a bit of light internet research, and the collaboration I am doing with a couple of friends at the moment (as it is in smaller chunks).

2. Get up early at the weekend. I sleep in too much at the weekend anyway, then I get all groggy and want to spend the rest of the day sleeping too! So, I’ve decided to make something of that time I’d be wasting. On Saturdays I now get up early, leave my other half in bed, and sneak over to the office to do some writing.

So far so good. At least the routine has got this blog up and running, even if I don’t always stick to it. I also now have a plan for the year and a few notes to work with.

I’m sure that there are many of us in the same situation. If you have any stories or tips for finding the time to write, please share! Please!