One of the biggest hurdle facing fans of those who engage in creative writing is finding the time to write. Often times we let our busy schedules dictate our lives, leaving little room for much else in the form of entertainment or personal growth. Between work schedules, family life, friends, and other such activities, we find that writing takes a back seat and fills our hard drive with half-written ideas that rot faster than manicotti from last month’s trip to Olive Garden.
If you are wanting to get serious about writing, you have to realize that you won’t spend much time writing if you don’t make a conscious effort to set time aside. I have found in my experience that scheduling a period of time–be it one hour a day or just 30 minutes here and there–is the best way to ensure you actually sit down and write.
Make writing a habit. Make a goal to hold to your writing schedule every day for a month. After a month if you are still writing regularly, you will find it easier and easier to continue. And don’t forget that the more you write, the better your skills will become. It’s much like physical exercise; the more you put in (in healthy doses, of course) the more of a return you will see.
Minimize distractions while you write. It often helps to write with music blaring in the background, but make sure it is not overpowering your thought processes, and make sure there are no other distractions. If you write with a word processor on a computer, maximize the window and do not let yourself open any other programs or web sites. Keep focused to the task at hand. Write away from other distractions such as family members, animals, or others that could potentially interrupt your thought process. Once your thoughts are interrupted it is hard to get back to them.
Change your scenery every once and a while. Writing in your office or computer room can get boring, and you won’t be motivated to continue writing if you are constantly bored. Try writing with a laptop at a coffee shop, or on your back porch, or even in a city park. Keep it fresh and interesting and you won’t be so tempted to find something else to do.
If you stop writing because the story you are working on hits a dead spot or gets boring, immediately switch to something else. You may come back to your previous work at a later time, or not. But if you are bored by what you write, think of how your audience will feel. They’d likely kill themselves from choking on the boredom.
Talk to others about writing and get ideas. Be it online (like The Scribul Group!) or with friends and family, talking to others about the craft will help you feel better about what you are doing and might even provide some much needed motivation or even inspiration. If you get into a slump, discuss it with someone and maybe you’ll find that there are nuggets of wisdom (or chickeny goodness) to be had.
Lastly, just do it. Seriously. If you keep saying, “I have this great idea for a story” but it never gets written down, then all you have is an idea. Not a story. So get off your butt and prove that you are not just all talk. Keep writing!