The Art of Creating Consistent Writing Time
There are plenty of books and articles out there that will tell you that a successful writer has to write every day as a way of practicing and developing skills as a writer. I’m not here to refute that at all.
Instead, I’d like to share and discuss the challenge of finding the time to be able to write consistently.
Now, first, I need to admit that I do not have children or a full-time job. While I have never had children, I have worked a full-time. Plus, I often think of being married to my husband a bit like having a child. 🤪 So, with that truth revealed, I hope that you will still read on as I feel certain that every reader can still relate.
Writing is often treated as a ‘dream’ job or something that one does on the side rather than it being the main activity of our days. In fact, when I said that I wanted to be a writer at the age of eight, my father told me I should find a career that would make me money — so I became a teacher. 😅 Now, nearly 40 years later, I am answering my call to the world of writing and lamenting at the societal view that writing is not real work with real pay.
Still, while I have the luxury of not needing to work full-time and finding myself with more freedom than most, I struggle with letting myself focus solely on writing regularly. So, I wanted to share the ways that I do manage to write somewhat consistently.
- Journaling
- Weekly Writing Dates
- Mini Writing Retreats
1. Journaling
Since I was eight-years-old, I have written in a diary/journal. My daily writings included a rating system on whether or not my big brother made me cry and cataloging what I did that day. My purpose in writing then was to be able to remember the life I was having since I was aware that my unstable childhood resulted in my inability to have conversations with my peers about things they remembered doing or learning to do.
These days, I still write a record of what I do most days or general thoughts that I have in my diary. I have tried various formats like bullet journaling or travel logs, etc., but the consistent thread is noting the mundane of my life almost every day.
2. Weekly Writing Dates
Upon reading Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, I discovered the joy of setting aside one day a week as a ‘date’ with myself and the creative inside me.
Now, to be certain, this is not an easy thing to do when life happens around me. However, for the past few years, I have managed fairly consistently — even with a full-time job in pre-COVID days — to set aside at least a few hours once a week to sit in a cafe on my own and focus on writing.
In the beginning, I would only allow myself an hour or two because I believed that the world would fall apart of my partner would begrudge the time I took for my own activity. Guess what?!
The world didn’t fall apart and my partner was fine.
So, these days, I manage to take about four hours on one day a week to sit in my favorite cafe and focus on my writing.
Giving myself this space allows me to focus better at home and everyone benefits from it.
3. Mini Writing Retreats
When I decided that this year was going to be the year of writing for me, I told my husband. He suggested that I book a writing retreat somewhere so that I could be in a creative space with others. I balked.
As an introvert, the last thing I wanted to do was to be confined to a space with perfect strangers and feel pressure to write. Looking at the cost of these retreats also gave me great pause. For that kind of money, I could spread it out over a few short mini retreats by myself where I could focus on writing on my own.
So, I sat down and scheduled out a three-night hotel stay away every six to eight weeks for my own mini writing retreats.
After having done my first one a few weeks ago, I came home feeling so content and in touch with my true spirit. Not only did I write and plan out my book enough to feel comfortable moving forward, I also had time to think without being overridden or impacted by others around me. The concept of ‘me-time’ was solidified into a productive direction that resulted in the written word.
I can’t wait for my next mini retreat!
In conclusion, while life can seem busy and having a consistent writing time may seem a luxury or dream, I want to challenge you to give it a try. Trust me, the world will not stop or fall apart around you. Instead, you may just find that the world is a better place for you and those around you when you open 📖 the sunshine ☀️ into your heart ❤️ to tell the stories📚 we all have waiting to be told!
