5 Ways To Find Time To Write

I don’t have time to write!

Sure you do, Binkie. A book a year may have worked for a booze-addled Hemingway, but times have changed. There’s the interwebs! Plus, you’re no Hemingway. And alcoholism turned out to be a bad thing.

But we all have the same 24 hours each day. That’s plenty of time to write your Great American Novel if you follow these tips.

1. Wake up an hour earlier.

What! Blasphemy. When do I sleep off that hangover? Hey, do you wanna write a book or not? One hour a day is 30 hours a month. That’s a lot of writing time. DON’T look at email or anything else during that hour. It’s Christmas morning. Go open the present that is your book.

2. Work through lunch.

Do your planned social media from your phone, using delayed posts for most of it. (See? Planned.) Check Facebook, your blog, etc. – quickly. That maintains your presence; supplement that with your amazingly insightful posts at lunch each day, or maybe even write at lunch. There are very few social media crises that need your immediate attention 24/7. Hit it, then forget it. No more Facebook until lunch tomorrow. It’ll be okay. Nobody’s going to miss you. Besides, you’re not addicted to social media; you can quit any time you want, right? And, no, I don’t tell my followers that’s what I’m doing. They don’t seem to notice. Then Twitter from your phone spontaneously.

3. DVR everything

A 60 minute TV show becomes 42 minutes if you jump over commercials. (Why are you watching TV anyway? You should be writing!)

4. Don’t go to movies

Most suck anyway. Between the drive, parking, waiting through previews – which I like – leaving and coming home, it’s four hours, not two. For a few months while you’re working on your GAN, skip movies.

5. Write while driving

What? Let me explain. When those ideas come popping into your head like rabid squirrels during your commute, use your phone to send yourself an email. Talk-to-text is great for that. Pull over if you need to, no big deal. It’s two minutes, and like your “experimental” phase in college, it’s only weird the first few times. You saved the hero? We might need that gem. Email it to yourself.

Okay, now you have 40+ hours a month plus whatever you had before. With that, you could keep your day job and write Lord Of The Rings. And have it not suck. Yeah, I said it.

I’m not saying write to the exclusion of everything else in your life – like eating. Or seeing those other people in your house who want to talk occasionally. You can still play a round of golf – although my buddy who golfs can’t find time to write. I write, and can’t find time to golf. (I don’t like golf, that’s why.)

What I am saying is, you can have a thorough social media presence and still find time to write your book.

What are your time saving tips?