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Sometimes it’s hard to find time to write. Sometimes though, it’s not a matter of finding time to write, but restructuring how you spend the time you do have.
What are your distractions? For me, I like to read through articles on writing (the stuff I share all over Twitter), check my email for anything good, and scroll through Facebook and Twitter. Managing the amount of time I spend reading on the internet is my first step to getting more writing in. I need a solid two hours of writing to hit my goals. If I know I only have three hours before my day starts, I have to remind myself that I can read articles tomorrow. Plus, there’s always time to check out social media – watching tv, in the bathroom, while pretending to listen to someone’s conversation…. etc…)
Determine Your Time to Write. For me, the best time to write is in the mornings, because my family doesn’t get up as early as I do. That usually gets me a few hours of focus. Sometimes I’ll push to get up as early as 4:30, which usually turns into 5 or later, but I try. 🙂 Writing at night works too, but this is time I try to reserve for spending time with my family.
Steal Time to Write. I admit, this is my hardest thing to do. I would like to chunk out extra words throughout the day, but I rarely do. To be successful at this, you either have to find time to sneak away to your computer, or make use of other tools such as :
- Get a tablet with a keyboard. Quick to set up, use almost anywhere.
- Same for laptops, though I made the mistake of getting a large one, so I tend not to take it with me everywhere.
- Voice dictation into your phone (not fond of this, but it’s an option). I may one day look into getting a handheld voice recorder to use with Dragon Naturally Speaking, because I’ve heard a lot of people have success with it. And I often do a lot of driving by myself during the week.
- Use something like an Alphasmart. That’s a really old keyboard with memory that stores writing. No distractions at all. The only problem with mine is you have to type hard, and there’s a lot of spelling errors because of it. However, I wrote all of Spilling Blood Season 1 on it.
Yesterday was another rough day for writing, but I knew it would be. Got in 30 minutes and moved the story line along on Hungry Gods 3. Really, as long as I get in some writing, it’s a good day, right?
Today I’ve got some time to make a difference, so I plan on finishing the first draft of Spilling Blood episode 11.
Word Counts
1/9/16 Word Count: 1,012 (ave. 2,024 wph)
Hungry Gods 3 +1,012. 19,424/60,000
Spilling Blood 11 +0. 16,449/15,000
Apocalypse Witch 3 +0. 15,020/20,000
Pen Name Book +0. 4,679/20,000
January Word Count: 29,094
For Year: 29,094
2016 Completed Projects: Short Story.
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Are you a full time or part time writer? If you are tracking your daily word counts, you might have this answer already.
G.S. Wright 