Ask me for anything but time!!!

The hardest part for me as I get into writing has not been finding ideas but finding time.

Napoleon’s famous quote often sums up how I feel when I am trying to fit in a new activity especially one as time consuming as writing. I can generally, once I know what I’m planning to write, put about 2000 to 2500 words down in two to three hours. Sadly writing is not something you can do in five minute increments. I’m sure it can be done if you must, fitting your writing in sentence by sentence as time allows but it is a lot easier if you have a block of time dedicated to your writing.

 

But where can you find two or three hours free time in your day? Most of us are already doing something with most of the time in our day so how can we find even more time to write? The only alternative is to insert our writing throughout the day when you have some spare time. I’ve come up with a few ways to make the most of this.

 

Fitting the task to the time

 

My first technique is fitting the tasks I need to do to the free time I have. I have a list of things I need to get done for my novel. Some of them can only be done once the full first draft is finished, so I leave those on the side at the moment. The rest are different things, from inserting a sentence to fixing a fact to rewriting a scene. I try to take care of the tasks that I know can be accomplished in the amount of time available to me.

 

For example, let’s say I have a thirty minute break at work. Instead of trying to start writing a scene which usually needs a few hours to get write, I will instead do one of the smaller things, like making sure certain information appears in an earlier chapter or fixing some dialogue that I feel is not exactly how I want it to be.

 

In this way, once I do get a larger block of time I can go straight to working on the larger tasks, having already dealt with the smaller things. Since most of the items on my list of things to do are actually slated to be done once I finish the first draft, this allows me to get ahead.

 

Writing efficiently when I have the time

 

Writing can be a slow process so I try to do everything possible to use my writing time efficiently. The main way I do this is to plan ahead. What slows you down the most when you write is when you have to stop to think about what you want to say. The longest part of writing a novel is coming up with all the details. If you want to write efficiently, try coming up with all the details before you write.

 

Let me show you what I mean. Let’s say you are writing a novel. You’ve made your scene list so you know what scene you are going to write next. It’s a scene where your protagonist is going to have a conversation with someone that will reveal some unpleasant news for your hero. In order to write efficiently, you can plan out all the details in your head before you sit down to write:

 

–        What is the end result of the scene?

–        Who is in the scene?

–        Where is the scene taking place?

–        How are you going to describe the setting?

–        Are there any advanced technological items or culture you will have to come up with a name for?

–        Does any research need to be done for this scene?

–        What needs to be said in the scene?

–        How are you going to lead up to it?

–        How exactly are you going to word the reveal?

–        What will your protagonist’s reaction be to the news?

–        How will the scene end?

 

All of these things are what will take up your time when you are writing. You’ll be pausing and thinking a lot more than you are actually putting words down on paper. What I try to do is figure out the answers to all these questions beforehand. That way when I sit down to write, the scene just flows on to the paper and I can write without pause in my writing time.

 

The great part about this is that you can do the planning at any time: commuting, cooking, washing dishes, listening to your wife (just kidding, you should always pay attention) or any other activity that doesn’t require too much thinking. I have an app on my phone where I will jot down ideas or bits of dialogue I want to use later which I will then refer too when I sit down and actually write out the scene.

 

Let me know any other ideas or ways you’ve come up with to save time when writing.