You wrote your first book, and it’s on Kindle, Smashwords, Nook and wherever else ebooks are sold. You’re proud of it, your family members pretend that they’re proud of you, and your wife wishes that you would stop chasing unattainable dreams. Whatever the case, you have joined the ranks of becoming a novelist by agonizing over your work for however long it took you to write your book. Good job—now write the next one!
Easier said than done when you have children, work, and other obligations that eat away at your writing time. Some of you log on twitter and commiserate with all your writer friends about not having time to write your next work of art because of the aforementioned obligations in your life. Others say “I can’t wait to be able to make enough income to be a full-time writer, then I could quit my job because I would love nothing more than to have all day to type stories on my computer and submit those best-sellers. James Patterson has nothing on me. Hocking? Locke? JK Rowling, eat your heart out!”
Guess what? You’ll never have enough time to write. Watch yourself there, don’t choke on your jelly bean!
Go back and reread the bold print.
Make peace with the face that you will never have enough time to write, then you won’t have this excuse to use as a crutch anymore. There will never be enough of a time balance for you to write your masterpieces, due to the fast paced society that we live in. Kids, homework, job, wife, soccer practice and mistress are all demanding an unfair chunk of your time, that’s life. With that said, you have to make time to write if being a novelist is something that you want to do. No one cares about an author who only has one book published. Think about your favorite authors –they have several books published—because they made time to write while encumbered with the same obstacles you face, if not more. Now its your turn to make time to write.
The key to making time to write is to squeeze it into the small pockets of idle time that you have available. Do you have a 30 minute lunch break? Eat a snack for the first 15 minutes and work on your story for the next 15 minutes. Do you have downtime at your job? Some of us work in occupations where we face long periods of boredom, sandwiched in between intense work projects. If you have down periods, or slow periods then work on your story for that period. Just be mindful that your employer pays your mortgage and that you do need to show your managers respect. When you’re at your job, your first priority is fulfilling the expectations of your management team first and foremost.
Do you have a favorite television show? Skip it. Granted, some of you like Survivor and believe that it provides great entertainment value. Who cares? Besides, when was the last time your favorite television show provided you with a tangible benefit that was instrumental in improving your life? What about in improving your writing? Television is for people who are trying to balance writing with working.
Another thing that tickles me is the notion that you must block out writing time and create this perfect environment where you get to sit in a quiet room and write without distractions and interruptions in order for you to create your best work. While this might be ideal, it’s unrealistic. You have children, you live in an apartment, you live with your mama, and you share the same room with your wife.
There are a number of uncontrollable distractions that occur throughout the day. You must learn how to tune them out in order to pursue your dream. In reality, you won’t be able to control what goes on in your environment. Your son will not stop being acting like a child just because you’re writing. So you raise your child and write your book. If something happens that requires your attention, stop writing and resolve the issue at hand. If your mistress calls you every day, return her calls every three days. Writing should be your main priority that comes second only to your family and your job.
Pursue small pockets of time throughout the day and make the best of them whether they’re your lunch breaks, your downtime, your weekends or that half hour before you go to bed.
Glenn Gamble is the author of A Thousand Chances, Bon Appetit, Escape, On the Run, and James. All of his books are available on Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook and Smashwords.
He also encourages you to go to his website http://www.GlennGamble.com.