How do you find time to write?

How do full time writers find time for passion projects?

As a full-time writer, the hardest thing to do is find time to write.

That sounds backwards, I know, but read me out.

For the last seven years, I’ve been a full-time business writer, owning and working for my own company, Write Like That. Proposal writing is intensely deadline driven, usually on a short suspense of 30 days or less, and requires a lot of planning, scheduling, and coordination in the creation of the document, which can sometimes run upward of 200 pages in multiple volumes. There are meetings and review cycles and graphics and information gathering. It challenges both the left and right side of the brain, to think logically and logistically to develop methodology to meet the contract requirements yet still be creative in the presentation and explanation.

In short, it is like turning out a publishable quality manuscript every 30 days. A win feels like how I imagine it feels to have your book on a bestseller list. But the work to get there? A slug fest.

On top of that, I have a company to run. I am responsible for payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, maintaining software licenses and hardware, insurance, marketing, budgeting, projections, and taxes. None of which happens unless I sit down to do it.

Outside of full-time writer and business owner, I am a wife and a mother of four. While my oldest two children are adults living outside the home, our remaining two birds in the nest are a senior in high school and fifth grader. Both are extremely active, playing soccer, basketball, tennis, and softball as well as artistic pursuits like competitive show choir and acting. I co-teach Sunday School, volunteer as a youth soccer and basketball coach, and serve on three different community boards.

My color-coded schedule looks like someone threw handfuls of paint at it from 8 am to 7 pm every day.

And I imagine, for most of us, regardless of the job that pays the bills, the schedule looks the same.

So where does one find time to write creative fiction, which is the end game I’m striving for? Amanda has touched on this subject here on her blog and social media over and over again, because time is a writer’s most relatable struggle.

I have tried over and over again to use some to tips and tricks I’ve seen on her page and others and have struggled mightily. Get up earlier? Stay up later? Sprints? An hour a day? Batch write for four hours every weekend? Nope, nope, nope, nope, and nope.

Then I listened to The Creative Penn, a podcast by Joanna Penn about writing and self-publishing. She interviewed Jessie L. Kwak on the podcast about building a productivity system for artists and writers, and it was life-changing. She is also a full-time writer with business clients and her own creative writing.

Kwak’s book “From Chaos to Creativity” helped me develop a system to incorporate creative writing into my regular schedule. Some of her suggestions mirror the list of things I tried that didn’t work but approaching them differently in a new framework has made them more successful.

Brainstorm all the things you want to do.
Sort them in “corrals”, digital or physical folders for large categories (Book, Personal, Client Work, etc).
Make a “Goals List” and a “No List”.
Go through the tasks to see which list its on.
Keep the tasks associated with goals.
Prioritize the tasks.
Schedule the tasks in your work day/work week.

She goes further into making sure that she schedules her creative work when she has the most energy, that she only takes client meetings during certain hours on certain days and ensuring that rest/fun time is part of the plan. She also “batches” doing similar work at the same time each day to stay in the project’s creative or productive flow.

These steps are ones I had read about or tried to implement in the past, but what made this different for me, and now maybe for you, is perspective. I have always approached my creative writing as “extra”, that thing I get to do once all my responsibilities have been met. Which almost never happens. Instead, I relied on finding space to write in my “off” time, which is already full of family activities. It has rarely worked for long and left me disappointed in myself for not being disciplined enough to get up early, stay up late, or miss out on the family game of catch in the backyard.

Instead, reading about her system made me realize that there are other things I can put on my “no list” to free up time for the priorities on the “Goal List”. And because creative writing is meant to be part of my formal business, I allocate time just as I would for meeting a potential new client. There is no guarantee such a meeting will result in paid work in the future, just as a new book may not generate revenue. But that doesn’t stop me from prioritizing it in my schedule.

It may be that your main job doesn’t give the flexibility of adding creative writing to the work day. I believe the same steps still apply, especially knowing what tasks serve your goals and what tasks should be on the “No List”. Knowing what to focus on in the time you do have is critical. You may not be able to write every day. Maybe the best you can do right now is two hours on a Saturday morning. Focusing on those items during that time will move you forward every week, slowly but surely.

Using my version of these steps, I have made more progress on my works in progress in thirty days than I have in the last three years. Give them a try, tweak so they fit your life and schedule, and see where it takes you.

~ Marci Martin

Guest Post Author Bio

Marci Martin has been fascinated with the written word her whole life. An author, business owner, mom and wife in Western Wisconsin, her days are full of computer screens, constructive criticism and kid cuddles, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She’s been hard to work on her next project, “Whiskey Seven” for far too long. For book updates, positive vibes and funny videos (but not cats), follow her @whi5k3ygirl on Instagram and Twitter, or on Facebook, Marci Martin - Author Page | Facebook.

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