Different times of life can mean having different amounts of time and levels of energy available for things some folks might see as “unnecessary” or “extraneous” like writing.
To those folks, I cast the most sidelong of side-eyes, but to you, if you’re a writer in a busy period, you might have different buckets of responsibilities (and they sure feel like buckets!) that are clearly important: working so you can pay your bills; taking care of loved ones, like children, pets, and parents; maintaining romantic, familial, and social relationships; keeping a clean house and taking care of your physical and mental health. When you have so much going on, writing can come to feel like “just another thing” you have to do.
By the end of this article, though, it is my hope that you’ll rethink the idea of writing as unnecessary. Of course there are some times that we’re so brain-fried (I wrote about this for Writer’s Digest a few years back) as to be unable to string two words, much less two sentences, together—especially when you’re getting used to a “new normal,” like when you’ve taken on a new work schedule—but similarly, writing and creativity in general can be a good way to make sure you’re setting the boundary you need to go through a long-term period of stress or extra demands on your time. (In other words, if you can make thirty minutes a day or even a week to care for yourself by pursuing creative hobbies that are important to you, by making that boundary and filling your tank, you may find that you have more fuel in the tank to care for the others in your life.)
Here are ways to make the most of your writing time, whether you have a lot, a little, or a Goldilocks amount of time to give to it.
First, determine what amount of time you have to write.
This can look different for everyone, so begin by defining what “a lot” versus “a little” time to write looks like for you. Ideally, would you like to write every day or, like my friend Anna, are you more of a mood writer for whom a weekly session where you get absorbed for hours on end appeals?
Based on your own chosen metric, how is your current writing life adding up? Do you hit your mark most of the time, about 50 percent of the time, or rarely? Use those answers to review the sections below.
You have a LOT of writing time.
*sets down coffee mug, chuckling sardonically* You lucky dog.
Maybe you came by this surfeit of time because you’re on a writing residency, or maybe you cut back on a hobby that wasn’t “it” for you anymore. Regardless of the reason, congratulations on having an ample amount of writing time!
If this describes you, then you also know that, devastating as the truth can be, long periods of writing availability rarely last for long. You might be feeling pressure to make the most of the time you’ve earned, but don’t stress yourself out so much that you can’t enjoy yourself.
Unclear how you might use this time to your benefit as a writer? In addition to any productivity goals you might have, I would encourage you to try to deepen or improve upon your existing writing practice in some way. This isn’t just a maintenance phase you’ve entered; this is you trying to beat your best mile time or lift a weight you haven’t before now. With that in mind, you might read craft books, read deeply into one author’s bibliography, read a complex book from the canon and take notes on it. Explore complex ideas related to your novel’s themes; do thought experiments at the intersection of form and function/story and structure. You have the time not only to put fingers to keys but to make the words that they generate pack that much power into every syllable. Embrace it!
One big caveat: While a lot of time to write of course doesn’t mean you should force yourself to be creative every moment of every day, I would encourage you to also be a good steward of your time. That is, if you do have a lot of regular writing time because your schedule suddenly freed up, don’t let it fill up again with lots of little things that don’t matter, much less things you’ll regret saying yes to later.
If you’d like a socializing decision checklist I’ve used in the past, when I’m trying to decide whether to say yes to something, it’s available for download here:
You only have a little writing time.
If you find yourself pressed for writing time each week, first off, I hear you, I feel you, I am you. Now, I’ll hold your hand as I encourage you to do the hard part first and ask yourself the following question:
Am I too busy to write because of (a) something difficult and beyond my control or (b) because I’m busy in a way I can control?
If it’s because of something difficult or beyond your control, this is hard. Tons of writing advice assumes that busyness can be remedied by nothing more difficult than quitting social media cold turkey, waking up a smidge earlier than usual, or cutting down on your social engagements. But I’ve been where you are, most memorably during the first month and a half that I became my mother’s primary caregiver, and I know how much simplistic advice like that can suck to hear right now. Frankly, looking back on my energy levels at the time, I’m impressed you’re even thinking of writing. There were days that, without extrinsic motivation (like making money or taking Mom to an appointment), I couldn’t unroll myself from the blanket burrito I’d wrapped myself into.
All of this to say, please hold space for your needs and be kind to yourself. Kindness and self-compassion can look like an extra hour in bed or treating yourself to a cozy day in a quiet coffee shop, whether to write or just stare off into space, contemplating the abyss. (Ah, the abyss.) It can also look like being gentle and understanding that while you don’t have much time to write now, the period won’t last forever.
If you’re busy in a way you can control, that’s okay, too, and doesn’t deserve any more judgment than does busyness that your circumstances have put upon you. The bright side, though, is that you may have increased agency in finding your way out.
First, you might assess what is and isn’t important to you. Make a list of everything you regularly do each week. Which items are voluntary? How much time do they take up each week? Which of these voluntary items sparks joy for you, and which do not? If they don’t spark joy, make like Marie Kondo and chuck ‘em (if you can). Some voluntary items are easy to get rid of while others like, say, a seat on a board, might have terms attached to them. At the very least, doing this assessment exercise can prepare you to say no when you’re offered the (unwanted) opportunity to continue that role or responsibility.
A dear friend once gave me the advice to block off two evenings each week in which you have nothing planned. Sure, that could mean vegging on the couch, but before you see what’s on TV, you could do some writing. (And I see you, my fellow Type A people pleasers. Don’t look so snide about a night off; for us, the challenge might be finding two nights out of seven that we can take off!)
At the very worst, if you have the energy, the mindset, and are jonesing to write, but you just can’t find a regular writing time to isolate each week, I would encourage you to look for sips of time in your schedule. If you have at least thirty minutes, you can get a bit of writing done. Alternatively, if you get in the habit of taking your phone, laptop, or even a notebook with you, waiting in the grocery checkout line, a commuter airport lounge, or even a doctor’s office can become a place to get some words on the page.
(Psst. If you’re a writer with very little time to ply your craft, I’m working on an ebook that’s meant exactly for folks like you. Join the wait list now by clicking here; more details to come.)
You have a Goldilocks amount of writing time.
You’re not pressed for time, but you don’t have an overabundance of it. No, my friend; you’re in the sweet spot, where everything is juuuust right. So, why am I even talking to you?
You’re right. For the most part, you’re keeping it under control, and you should enjoy it while you have it. Keep it up! Having just as much time as you’d like to have each week to write is a great time to employ some SMART goals can keep you on track. For instance, you might want to write the first draft of your novel in the next two months, or you might plan to revise your memoir by the end of summer.
If you’d like to have even more time to write, apply to programs, residencies, and workshop, and use some of your existing time to network with other writers, build a foundation for your practice, and build your author platform.
Like the tenth card of the major arcana reminds us, life is a wheel of fortune. Sometimes you’re up, sometimes you’re down, and your writing life is no exception. When you have ample time, energy, inspiration, and momentum; when you’re in a honeymoon period with your novel in progress, enjoy it.
When one or many of these things is dragging you down, please don’t guilt-trip yourself. The idea that we all have the same twenty-four hours in the day is nonsense; rarely if ever does anyone have the same circumstances, finances, and time-based resources to allot to something like they’re writing life. Things won’t always be hard, even if it doesn’t seem that way now. As my dear friend Hurley Winkler once told me, Keep going, keep going, keep going.
It will all pay off when it’s your turn on top.