I've talked before about my dislike of exercise. I'm not one of those people who enthusiastically embraces her gym sessions because she enjoys the adrenaline buzz. I go because I feel it's a necessary part of a healthy lifestyle. I really don't enjoy it, and I enjoy less the fact that I struggle to climb stairs for three days afterwards.
But because exercise is good for me, I endeavour to make time for it. And the only way it works for me is if I schedule it into my calendar. I have to set recurring appointments, so I get a reminder coming up on my calendar telling me about my commitment. Somehow this makes me more inclined to go. If I delete exercise sessions from my calendar, I feel guilty.
The same can be said about making time to write. This topic is much blogged about, both here and elsewhere. None of us have enough time to do everything we want to do, and when you're trying to fit writing in around the day job, it does feel like you're working two full time jobs. I now schedule my writing time into my calendar the same way I schedule in my exercise classes.
Monday evening is the 'Million Monkeys' initiative, where writers are invited to gather at the Royal Festival Hall on London's South Bank, sit down with their laptops and start writing. It's all very informal and very much a 'drop-in session', but I find that when I do go, I get quite a lot done. Maybe it's the collective creative vibe. Maybe it's the fact that when I am sitting amongst a group of others who are all furiously typing away, progressing on their WIPs, I feel more inclined to get on with mine. So I now schedule this event into my week as often as possible. I also schedule two 'writing mornings'.
Generally Wednesdays and Fridays, I will get up at 5:30am and get the extra early train into London. This gets me to the Starbucks round the corner from work by 7:30am. I sit there with a soya latte and a ginger muffin, in my usual seat, and I will write for an hour before going to the office. My breakfast there rarely changes, and neither does where I sit. But this is all part of the routine. For me, the routine works. If I expect to be doing something at a particular time, on a particular day, I'm more likely to do it. And if someone's in my usual seat at Starbucks and I have to sit somewhere else, I don't get nearly as many words written.
I think for writers, routine works. But it's equally important to find a routine that works for you. Don't like getting up early? Neither do I, but strangely I've found that now I'm the wrong side of 40, getting up early to write is actually preferable to staying up late. You might be the sort of writer that finds you're at your most productive at 2 in the morning. That's fine, but if you've got a day job as well, that might be hard to manage unless you can cope without much sleep, or you can negotiate with your boss to start a bit later some days. Some people write during their lunch hour. I find the whole business of trying to eat my lunch and write at the same time a bit distracting, and I'm not a person that can go without lunch, so I don't that myself. But if it works for you, then great.
Some people maintain that if you want to be a serious writer, you should write every day. Sound advice, if you can manage it, but I was only getting myself very stressed trying to fit in writing every day. My writing mornings are now recurring events in my calendar. In general, I will only delete them if I'm having a day off work and am not going into London, but if that's the case then I will try and schedule another writing session later in the week - or I will endeavour to fit in some writing at home. If I manage to get extra writing time in then that's a bonus, but at least I know that if I follow my usual routine, then I will have at least three writing sessions in a week.
There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to the 'best' times for writing. You must make time, no doubt about that - a lot of people will talk airily about wanting to write a novel, but "never having the time". You can talk about it, or you can do it. There might be a lot of trial and error before you find what works for you. But once you do find something that works, make it part of your routine.
Most writers I know are creatures of habit. So work on developing the habits that make you a better and more productive writer.
But because exercise is good for me, I endeavour to make time for it. And the only way it works for me is if I schedule it into my calendar. I have to set recurring appointments, so I get a reminder coming up on my calendar telling me about my commitment. Somehow this makes me more inclined to go. If I delete exercise sessions from my calendar, I feel guilty.
The same can be said about making time to write. This topic is much blogged about, both here and elsewhere. None of us have enough time to do everything we want to do, and when you're trying to fit writing in around the day job, it does feel like you're working two full time jobs. I now schedule my writing time into my calendar the same way I schedule in my exercise classes.
Monday evening is the 'Million Monkeys' initiative, where writers are invited to gather at the Royal Festival Hall on London's South Bank, sit down with their laptops and start writing. It's all very informal and very much a 'drop-in session', but I find that when I do go, I get quite a lot done. Maybe it's the collective creative vibe. Maybe it's the fact that when I am sitting amongst a group of others who are all furiously typing away, progressing on their WIPs, I feel more inclined to get on with mine. So I now schedule this event into my week as often as possible. I also schedule two 'writing mornings'.
Generally Wednesdays and Fridays, I will get up at 5:30am and get the extra early train into London. This gets me to the Starbucks round the corner from work by 7:30am. I sit there with a soya latte and a ginger muffin, in my usual seat, and I will write for an hour before going to the office. My breakfast there rarely changes, and neither does where I sit. But this is all part of the routine. For me, the routine works. If I expect to be doing something at a particular time, on a particular day, I'm more likely to do it. And if someone's in my usual seat at Starbucks and I have to sit somewhere else, I don't get nearly as many words written.
I think for writers, routine works. But it's equally important to find a routine that works for you. Don't like getting up early? Neither do I, but strangely I've found that now I'm the wrong side of 40, getting up early to write is actually preferable to staying up late. You might be the sort of writer that finds you're at your most productive at 2 in the morning. That's fine, but if you've got a day job as well, that might be hard to manage unless you can cope without much sleep, or you can negotiate with your boss to start a bit later some days. Some people write during their lunch hour. I find the whole business of trying to eat my lunch and write at the same time a bit distracting, and I'm not a person that can go without lunch, so I don't that myself. But if it works for you, then great.
Some people maintain that if you want to be a serious writer, you should write every day. Sound advice, if you can manage it, but I was only getting myself very stressed trying to fit in writing every day. My writing mornings are now recurring events in my calendar. In general, I will only delete them if I'm having a day off work and am not going into London, but if that's the case then I will try and schedule another writing session later in the week - or I will endeavour to fit in some writing at home. If I manage to get extra writing time in then that's a bonus, but at least I know that if I follow my usual routine, then I will have at least three writing sessions in a week.
There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to the 'best' times for writing. You must make time, no doubt about that - a lot of people will talk airily about wanting to write a novel, but "never having the time". You can talk about it, or you can do it. There might be a lot of trial and error before you find what works for you. But once you do find something that works, make it part of your routine.
Most writers I know are creatures of habit. So work on developing the habits that make you a better and more productive writer.
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