Time to Write

Writers must write everyday if they are to call themselves writers. Or at least, they should write every week day in working weeks.

Truth is, though, a lot of writers, write at the weekend and during the holidays, and often on the train or when staying overnight in a hotel. Victims of their own success, and though they earn all their money now from writing and work related to their writing, the time to do it slips through their fingers just as much as it does for these of us with a day job and a family.   

And as we all love to write, why shouldn’t it be something we do in our leisure? However, if we only write in our leisure and when we have time and inspiration we do not train the writing muscles enough.

How much time should we commit? Or how many words?

As little and as few as possible, I say.

Surprised?

The problem is, if you say “I must write for two hours a day”, what will be your attitude when you have a mere ten minutes and you’re exhausted? You won’t even try, will you, and you’ll feel bad later.

But if you committed to five minutes a day and one paragraph or a hundred words, might that not be easier?

I used to have a private student for French. I asked his big sister, who looked after him and marshalled homework time, to see that he did fifteen minutes a day. When I checked the following week how he had done, he had done over an hour almost every day. He’d got into it after five minutes and didn’t want to stop.  

And even if it is only the basic five minutes you manage, that mounts up over a period of time.

But visualise this. You are successful. You have a stream of books published and a couple more commissioned. Very sensibly, you’ve set aside a couple of months without any tours, visits or book signings and you could write all day every day. You probably won’t because there are other things you need to be doing as well-  not least of all getting some exercise. But you will get plenty done, no doubt.

How will your days look?