Thanks for reading and commenting on my Monday post about anomie! If you didn’t read it, check it out here.
I got an e-mail recently from a former student who is also a writer. They wanted advice on how to find the time and motivation to build writing into their day.
That is the question, isn’t it? I thought I’d share the basics of my answer with everyone—how do you find time to be creative when you have a day job?1
- Be honest with yourself.
A lot of people would like to have written. Fewer people want to actually write. This is perfectly understandable. Having written is so much more pleasant than actual writing. Everyone wants to hold a finished book in their hand. Doing what it takes to get to that point is not always fun. It is perhaps not even fun most of the time. The only thing more painful than writing a book is living with someone who’s writing a book (sorry, Jeff).
You will give up hours and days and weeks and months of your life in the writing of a book. You will be mostly alone in this journey. I wish there were an easier way to do it. If there is, please let me know. I have not discovered it yet.
Do you want to give up those hours and days and weeks and months of your life? Really? Do you really? Are you sure? It’s okay to say no. You’ll probably end up much happier. The answer doesn’t even have to be permanent. Maybe this is not something you want to do right now. I have “quit” writing lots of times. But if you don’t really want to write, face that truth and move on.
- Find the slack time.
I have writer friends (very successful ones) who do a lot of their writing while waiting to pick their kids up at carpool. Other people write on their lunch break or the subway. Hell, you can pick up your phone and make voice recordings when you’re stuck in traffic. You can fit creativity into so many small, random moments of your day if you’re motivated.
Don’t believe me? Look at the screen time on your phone. If I’m being very vigilant and disciplined, I can get my screen time down to an hour and forty minutes a day. This is still appalling to me. I asked my students once and their numbers were closer to seven or eight hours a day. You can write about 500 words in twenty minutes, so that’s 2,500 words I could produce every day when I’m looking at cat videos on IG. If you want to write, you will have to put down your phone.
Is it easy to squeeze creativity into these tiny moments? Hell, no. When I come home from teaching, writing is the last thing I want to do. I am exhausted. The discontinuity of writing this way can also be hard, especially if you’re someone like me who has to fuck around for a good 15-20 minutes before I can actually settle down into writing mode. But needs must, right?
The good news is that a lot of writing doesn’t involve a computer or pen and paper. I’m writing when I walk around town or when I’m waiting in line at the grocery or driving or sitting in the window of the coffee shop staring into the void. You do have to write the words and ideas down eventually, but writing things out in your head is an important first step.
- Stack your habits.
If you have at least one solid habit you’ve developed in your life, use it. Do you make coffee every morning? What do you do while you’re waiting for it to brew? Or for your tea kettle to boil, if you’re a tea drinker like me? Is the answer looking at your phone? Pick up a pen instead.
What other morning habits do you have? Add a short writing block to them. Or your afternoon habits or evening habits. Habit stacking is using the routines you already have to create new ones. We’re more likely to stick to new habits when they’re connected to existing ones. Brush your teeth, then write a paragraph. Take the dog for a walk and then do some editing.
- Treat yourself.
Here is the chicken and egg question of my own writing life: which came first, my love of being alone or my love of writing? Do I love writing because it allows me to be alone, up in my thoughts, drinking a cup of tea and staring out the window? Is writing really just the only excuse I can come up with for telling people to leave me the hell alone? I don’t know.
Writing it also an excuse to sit in coffee shops on rainy days, another way I treat myself
The point is, being able to get quiet and still in a space all by myself is something I like to do. It’s a reward that comes along with writing. Yes, sometimes I hate it. But other times, there’s nothing better than sitting in my chair, kept company the scratching of a pen or the clicking of the keys.
It’s easier to make ourselves do something that’s associated with pleasure. So use the pen you love when you write. Listen to your favorite music. Buy your favorite snacks. Wear your comfiest clothes. Treat yourself when you write. Then treat yourself after you write. Treat yourself in all the ways, because you deserve it. You’re making people and worlds and thoughts and emotions out of nothing but lines on a page. You deserve everything for participating in that miracle.
What are some tricks you use to find time for your creative life?
Thanks for reading! Have I mentioned lately that the paperback version of She/He/They/Me will be coming out in late June? No? Well, it will and you can pre-order it here or here or here. Or you can walk into your local indie bookstore and pre-order it there, which tells them maybe this is a book they want to stock on their shelves because it’s hot, hot, hot! There’s lots of new material and new paths and here’s the cool new cover! Check it out!
This question was the focus of my winter writing workshop on writing habits, a class I’m more than happy to take on the road. If you’re part of an organization or business that would like help thinking about how to form creative habits, hit me up. I’d love to come replicate that course for you.
Ah, yes, that solitary time when creativity creeps out of us. My best time is at night. Late at night. Which is wonderful, because not many folks are around to bother me late at night. BUT when it is time to go to work in the morning . . . .ugh!
You are fucking awesome! There! I wrote!
YOU are awesome! Or we’re all awesome. ❤️
Ah, yes, that solitary time when creativity creeps out of us. My best time is at night. Late at night. Which is wonderful, because not many folks are around to bother me late at night. BUT when it is time to go to work in the morning . . . .ugh!
I used to be a late-night person, but now I'm all about the mornings. I wonder if this changes over the course of people's lives.
Yeah, mornings are great. I used to enjoy the early part of the day. Maybe I will again.