So, last week was the first post in my “Worldbuilding” category. This week, it’s the Writing Process. By which I mean (for the most part, anyway) my writing process. I don’t plan to dip into the realm of “how to write” on this blog. (Kinda thinking about doing that on the Miranda Crowe website, though, once it’s set back up. Drop a comment below to let me know what you think of that idea?)
Writers Gotta Write
If you do seek how-to-write type information online, you’ll find a LOT of “you have to write every single day or you’re not a writer” type advice out there. To that I say: bullshit. This article is not that.
But writers do have to write. It doesn’t have to be every day—what job requires you to work EVERY day, after all? But it does have to happen on a regular basis, and it has to be reasonably productive. Nobody can read it if you don’t write it, after all!
I used to struggle hard with this. I’ve known lots of writers who do. Writing is hard. Finding time to write when it isn’t the thing paying you is even harder. And finding the energy to write when you finally do have the time, after you’ve exhausted yourself physically and/or mentally with the job that does pay you can sometimes feel downright impossible. And if you have a busy family life on top of everything else? Ugh.
Finding Time
I used to try to block out time, working around my work schedule and my family obligations. For a while, I took a vacation day from work once a month, specifically for writing. I also had an arrangement that covered my caregiver responsibilities a few evenings a month, so I could stay out and write after work.
None of it worked very well. Those monthly PTO days were a total bust, because I’d waste the time. Feeling like I had all day meant I took too long to get moving in the morning, then tried to fit in too many other things, like running errands. It didn’t help that Starbucks doesn’t have decent food, so I had to go elsewhere for lunch.
Eventually, I discovered if I did two half days off work instead, I got a lot more done. It required me to get up at my usual time, and then being at work for that half day got my brain into “work mode” but didn’t wear me out like a whole day would. That was good—but writing two days a month does not get the books done!
I also had those evenings after work, of course. But my day job was (and still is) a soul-sucking nightmare. By the time I’d worked all day, I was mentally and emotionally drained. Of those three days, I tended to use one of them for dinner plans with a friend. The other two, I managed to get to Starbucks and put my ass in the seat more often than not, but not much writing got done. And when it did, it wasn’t very good.
Finding the Right Time
I don’t know his name, and we never even spoke, but there’s a guy who was a regular at my local Starbucks whom I credit with fixing everything. Why? Because every morning back then, I’d pop into Starbucks for a latte on my way to the office. I had an hour-long commute, so I started pretty early, right when they opened at 6:00.
And every morning, there was this guy, sitting at a table, typing away. He was wearing professional clothes, so it was clear he had a job-job to head to when he was finished. But he was there, every morning, before work, getting it done. I saw him writing every day for several weeks, then a stack of printed pages appeared and I saw him going through them, referencing his edits and typing his second draft.
That guy inspired me, and I decided to give it a try. I was lucky enough to have a very flexible schedule at work, so I switched from doing the earliest allowable start time to the latest one. Then, rather than stopping by to grab a coffee and go, I sat myself down at a table and spent two hours writing before getting back in my car and heading for work.
Not Just More Time
And that was the change I needed. Immediately, I was writing more in a week than I’d been getting done in a month. Maybe even more every day. And the work was much, much better, because I wasn’t drained or exhausted or stressed out.
And there’s so much more to the psychology of it, too. We send ourselves subconscious messages, all day, every day. The subconscious mind is a lot like a small child, watching what we do, the example we set, and learning from it. If the subconscious sees us giving everything priority over the thing we really want to be doing, it hears the message loud and clear: what you want is the least important thing in your life.
But switching to writing in the morning, before anything else, I was showing myself that that was what was important. Sure, it wasn’t the thing paying the bills, but I wanted it to be. I don’t define who and what I am by what I do at that awful day job—but I absolutely do define myself as a writer, no matter how much it does or doesn’t pay me. And it’ll never pay me if I don’t think of it as a viable job I can actually earn a living from.
And the bonus? I was actually a bit less stressed at work, too! Because no matter how unpleasant my day was, I knew I’d already done something for myself. I’d already had a productive writing day, and a bad day at work couldn’t take that away.
The Perfect Solution
For me, switching to writing in the mornings was exactly what I needed. I’m sure it wouldn’t be the perfect solution for everyone—we’re all different after all—but there is a perfect solution for each person. And not just for writing. Whatever it is you really want to do, but don’t ever seem to be able to find the time for, ask yourself: are you giving it enough importance? Or are you pushing the thing you really want to the bottom of the list, teaching your subconscious mind (which is what controls everything, by the way) that you don’t deserve the things you really want?
I still struggle with book marketing and all those things that actually sell books and make money—but I don’t lack books to sell anymore. What is it you want to do that you don’t ever seem to have the time or energy for? Is it something you can re-prioritize like I did? Drop a line in the comments and let me know!
Thanks for stopping by!
