Time?

[Dearelliot]

I write on my desktop PC in what I call my office/workshop/TV room. Tools, desk, files, TV crammed into a 12x12 room, with a couch...Where my wife Reni lies and watches Political TV show ad infinitum with the volume up. We have a larger living room with a nice TV where she could sit... but we're married a long long time and she is just where I want her to be even though I can't concentrate on my story..and that sacrifice is fine with me. She's much more important.

 

[XerXesXu]

I find it difficult to write, as opposed to edit, in stolen moments. I write when I have a silent half a day or so to myself, which is once every ten days or so. But, every day, I have some 'me time' when I run, usually mid-day, before lunch. It's hot and my muscles are supple. Once I hit my stride, I run on autopilot. I then have an hour or so compose my story in my head, mega parts and micro parts. When I have a half day to write, I have no problem dumping a large amount of 'first draft' onto paper, enough to give me something to edit in stolen moments for the next ten days.

 

[Comshaw]

Where do people find the time to write? I'm old, long retired, and can hardly walk, but with my wife and things to do, just everyday living, I'm lucky to get an hour a day in writing, and that with interruptions.
I can see if I were left on my own to write, I'd spend 4 or 5 hours easy, on writing. When I'm at my desk writing, an hour can go by in a few minutes, and often the water for my morning coffee has boiled away.

Comshaw

 

[alohadave]

If it's important to you, you prioritize your time, like anything else that demands your time and attention.

 

[VallesMarineris]

Comshaw

The lyrics in this song are burned into my brain:

And then one day you find
Ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun

How you spend your time is a choice. Yes, there are non-negotiables: sleep, childcare, hygiene, etc.-- but there's also TV, doomscrolling, socializing, etc.

You hold the starting gun in your hand.

 

[Dearelliot]

Yes, I hold "it," along with my wife, a leaky roof, brakes on my car needing repair, grass needs to be cut, ad infinitum...Probably the most difficult is "Getting settled in, mentally prepared, and no interruptions, a rhythm, the right mood, nice and smooooth.