Finding the time to write

Thoughts on the "Just write" advice

A few weeks ago, there was a lot of chatter online about how the heck one finds the time to write when busy with all the normal life stuff.

Many folks chimed in with “Just write,” and some people found that wildly unhelpful. Meanwhile, plenty of other writers were chorusing, “No, but really! That is the answer. Just write—whenever and however you can!”

A lot has been said on this topic already, but I realized it’s not something I’ve spoken about often here on my Substack, so I’m going to add my two cents.

I’ll start by saying that writing. is. hard. Reaching the end of a draft takes tons of perseverance, grit, and yes, work ethic. (I’m reminded of the line from A League of Their Own: If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it.)

The reason most people’s advice is “Just write!” or some variety of that, is because we often don’t know the what the average day looks like for the writer who posed the “How the heck do I finish this book?” question.

Do they have a job (or several)? Are they married? Single? Do they have kids? Pets? Are they caring for a parent or other family member? Are they dealing with health issues themselves? What other daily responsibilities are they tackling? What’s their financial situation? And so on and so forth.

When I first started seriously writing novels, I was 24ish, working a full-time job (with a 2hr commute!), married, but no kids. I wrote in the evenings and on the weekends. As soon as I got home, I was writing. As soon as Saturday morning dawned, I was hauling my butt to a cafe and drafting until dinner.

Now I have kids, still work part-time, and have to cram the writing in to early mornings, late evenings, and/or the few hours after the kids get on the bus and before my day job starts. My first child was born in 2014, just 18 months after my debut novel hit shelves. For almost my entire author career, I’ve also been a parent. And for as long as I’ve been writing professionally, I’ve held either a full-time job, a part-time job, or have bounced between freelance work.

Ultimately, how I got the writing done both pre- and post-children was to put my butt in the chair and write. I’m not as fast as I used to be before motherhood, but the books still get written.

If you keep coming back to your story, if you keep putting down words, you will reach the end. I promise. As long as you chip away at it, some way or another, it will eventually get finished.

The amount of time it takes to reach The End will vary for all of us because we all have different responsibilities. Sometimes you have to make peace with the fact that you will simply be slower than others. I sure am! But I can still finish a novel by steadily and surely getting words down. In fact, I’ve finished nine that went on to be published, and plenty of others that have not made it to shelves.

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Suffering v. sacrifice

There is an unspoken understanding that artists must suffer for their craft. I personally hate this, as I think it’s damaging. We shouldn’t have to suffer nonstop to be creative. I don’t think that’s healthy or beneficial. But writing (like many passions) does require sacrifice—especially if you have a deadline you’re working toward.

I sympathize with any writer staring down an inflexible deadline. (I’ve been there many times myself.) And even if we don’t have a contract or book deal deadline to deal with, we often give ourselves our own deadlines. E.g.: I will finish this draft by the new year!

Each writer must grapple with the sacrifices they are personally willing to make to meet a deadline or reach a goal. Can you skip nightly TV time in exchange for an extra hour of writing time? Can you give up an hour of sleep in order to write early (or late) each day? Can you miss dinner and coffee dates with friends? How about working on weekends? Vacations? What about a family event or birthday? A kid’s soccer game?

Everyone has a different line. There are things on that list above that I absolutely would NOT sacrifice. There’s others I’m comfortable doing. For example, I sacrifice TV time and sleep often—but within reason. I’m not writing until 4am every night and only getting two hours of sleep. But sometimes I stay up a little later or, more often, get up early so I can write for an hour before the kids wake. These small sacrifices can earn you back tons of writing time if you keep them up.

But please, BE HEALTHY. I am not advocating that you put your health at risk to finish a book. Sacrifices are not all or nothing. You don’t have to give up all your vacation days for writing, but maybe you can sacrifice one to power through the end of your daft. Maybe you can’t function without your sleep. Fine! Perhaps you only write early one day per week instead of seven. Or better yet, you never wake up early to write, and instead write on your lunch breaks or over weekends. The choice belongs to each writer.

I have accepted that I am simply going to be slower than some of my peers when it comes to my writing pace. And that’s fine! Because maybe they can sacrifice more than me without experiencing negative health impacts. Or maybe they don’t have the two kids I have. Or or or.

A writing schedule/routine is deeply, deeply personal. What works for me won’t work for everyone else, and while I feel slow compared to one peer, another peer is likely looking at me, wishing they were as fast as I am. (This is where I remind you to keep your eyes on your own paper. Comparison can drive any writer batty.)

At the end of the day, the hard truth is that only way to finish your book is to sit down and write it. Like many things in the writing world, it is that easy, and that hard.

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Additional suggestions

Of course, even when we know we just have to write to reach the end, it can still be a daunting and overwhelming task. Here are some suggestions to pair with that “just write” advice:

If you need to find more time:

• Wake up one hour earlier / Stay up one hour later to write

• Give up TV time

• Write on your lunch break / in the school pick up line / at sports practice / etc

• Write on your commute

  • type on a laptop or phone if you’re on a train/bus/ferry/etc

  • dictate via your phone if you’re driving — or simply just brainstorm/think about your story

If you need motivation and/or inspiration:

• Give yourself a deadline

• Bribe yourself with treats (a cookie after this chapter, buy something you’ve been eyeing when you reach 50k words, etc)

• Track your word count (with stickers, in a notebook, in Excel, etc); the goal is to see the progress mounting up and be inspired to maintain momentum

• Make your writing space special; a retreat, a place you want to escape to

• Create a mood board on Pinterest and refer back to it often

• Write a love list for your novel and refer back to it often

• Look for the magical cookie moments as you draft

• Curate a playlist for your ms and listen to it while writing

• Light a special candle every time you sit down to work; the scent may help get you into the right headspace

If you need accountability:

• Join a writers’ group

• Find a friend to buddy write with

• Try writing in a public space (library, coffee shop, etc)

If you need help focusing:

• Work in 15-20min writing sprints

• Try productivity apps like Freedom or Forest

• Utilize the Pomodoro technique

• Turn off the wifi and/or keep your phone in a separate room

• Take a social media hiatus

If you just feel stuck:

• Go back a few pages/chapters and see if your characters made a wrong turn

• Jump forward to the next moment you’re excited to write

• Work in analog (puzzle things out in a notebook)

• Go for a walk but then (you guessed it) get back to the writing!

Ultimately, none of these suggestions will work on their own. They have to be paired with the writing. There’s no shortcut, no way around the work. You have to write the book, one word after the next, until you reach the end.

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“Just write” is the common denominator among writers. It’s the one thing we all have to do—one way or another, in whatever manner works best for us—to reach the end.

Nike has their “Just do it” slogan. The writing community has “Just write.” It simply has to get done, and only you can figure out the when/where/how.

Lastly, I want to mention that it is okay to take time away from your writing. For a few weeks, a season, even longer! You can’t reach the end of a novel while away from the words, but that’s okay. Sometimes time away is what we need most. I’ve spoken about this before, and my good friend Amie Kaufman also stresses it in this podcast episode about Writing When You Have No Time. She goes on to offer some excellent advice on how to get words down when you’re busy. I encourage everyone to give it a listen.

Until next time,

Erin Bowman is the critically acclaimed author of numerous books for children and teens, including the Taken Trilogy, Vengeance Road, Retribution Rails, the Edgar Award-nominated Contagion duology, The Girl and the Witch’s Garden, and Dustborn. A web designer turned author, Erin has always been invested in telling stories—both visually and with words. Erin lives in New Hampshire with her husband and children.