Finding time to write
People who fail to write novels don’t do it by sitting in front of a blank page for days without writing anything. They do it by feeding the cat, going out to buy something they need for their apartment, meeting a friend for coffee, checking email. “I don’t have time to work,” they say. And they don’t; they’ve made sure of that.
How many writers do you know who regularly blame menial tasks for their lack of progress on their manuscripts? Do you ever feel sympathy because you share the same problems with time and energy?
Have you ever thought that the problem might not be that you have too much to do? It might instead be that you’re procrastinating.
Do you have a favorite television show? How often have you put off watching that program so that you could wash the dishes or catch up the laundry? I’d chance to say that it isn’t all that often.
As long as you treat your writing as a hobby–as something less important than the menial household chores you’re happy to put off when it suits you–you’ll never successfully complete a manuscript–whether it’s your first or your third.
