How do you find time to write?

[ronde]

The way to make time for writing is the same way you make time for anything else. You schedule it to fit in your other daily activities. That doesn't mean you sit and stare at your keyboard if you can't think of anything. It just means you set aside some period of time to write so when you do have an idea, you also have the time to write it down. It also doesn't have to be a long time. It's surprising how much you can write in half an hour.

I've always been a nightowl and can get by on about seven hours of sleep a night. I usually begin writing about ten because the house is quiet and I can concentrate. Usually I write until about midnight, but there have been a few times I got into things and wrote until 2 AM.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

I had to start using pages from Apple so I can work on my stories while at work on my iPhone at work with this cool full size folding keyboard. Also can’t write around my fiancé. This is my secret life she can’t know about.

How do you make time?

I work on my phone and occasionally the laptop, going between the two.

Lunchtimes at work are where I write non-erotic bits or edit, when I’m at home working I can then write the sex parts.

The occasional spares 10-15 minutes of doing bugger all which happens in life, I tend to use those to add a quick 100 words, which doesn’t seem like much but if I get 5 a week that’s 500 words done.

Also in bed and walking the dog I’ll run through plot points in my head to make sure I’m happy with the flow of the story too.

 

[Red_Owl]

During lunch breaks and occasionally on a day off. The lunch break writing is best in the beginning. I've learned that finalizing a story is best when i'm well rested on a free day.

 

[PandemicReader8]

I like to write at night when the house is quiet, so can I think without any distractions.

There a lot of energy around the 5:00 AM writers club a couple of years ago, folks who got up early to write while the mind was fresh and - allegedly - still in some supposed hyper creative state linked to sleep. But you have to write when it works for you.

 

[nice90sguy]

I had to start using pages from Apple so I can work on my stories while at work on my iPhone at work with this cool full size folding keyboard. Also can’t write around my fiancé. This is my secret life she can’t know about.

How do you make time?

Wow that takes me back to when I started. I used to sit in the local square and and write on an iPAQ PDA in my lunchbreaks and on the bus to work. It was (and still is) a secret life for me. Working from home has made it easier.

 

[Dearelliot]

I love early mornings for writing, but it's so much harder to write with my cat in my lap.

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

I write alot during the bits of downtime here and there through out the day. I write on my phone on my 20 min commute to work alot and this produces alot of substance. It's not ideal, but I've managed to break my habit of doomscrolling doing it. Now, whenever I whip out my phone my automatic response is to click on the Word app rather than Instagram or Twitter. You'd be surprised with how much you can write in the same amount of time it takes you to scroll to the bottom of Instagram

 

[KeithD]

Carving out writing time is second only to carving out reading time in my priorities.

 

[alohadave]

I write alot during the bits of downtime here and there through out the day. I write on my phone on my 20 min commute to work alot and this produces alot of substance. It's not ideal, but I've managed to break my habit of doomscrolling doing it. Now, whenever I whip out my phone my automatic response is to click on the Word app rather than Instagram or Twitter. You'd be surprised with how much you can write in the same amount of time it takes you to scroll to the bottom of Instagram

I deleted Twitter off my phone. I found I was only going there to argue with people who I disagreed with, just to have a fight.

 

[SeraphNocturne]

My mornings are my most productive writing time, but I'll literally squeeze in time between anything I do... at break on work, out walking in the woods, grocery shopping. Never a bad time to pen a few lines, especially if the inspiration is strong.

 

[Duleigh]

I had to start using pages from Apple so I can work on my stories while at work on my iPhone at work with this cool full size folding keyboard. Also can’t write around my fiancé. This is my secret life she can’t know about.

How do you make time?

I'm disabled, all I have is time. I wish I had time to read however because I don't read other people's stories while I'm writing, I don't want to be tempted into borrowing someone else's idea or plot device thinking "I can do that better!" I did that once, and it's the lowest rated story I have. I feel that I owe my readers better than that.