Finding Time to Write

For the first twenty years after I decided I wanted to be an author, I could never find time to write. At least, that’s what I told myself over and over again. Life got in the way. My husband, the children, the pets, church responsibilities, blah, blah, blah.

The sad fact is, I wasted those precious years of writing time because I didn’t realize I had to carve out moments to fit my busy schedule. I could have written early in the morning, or late at night. I could have written during my kids naptime or while I waited for the laundry to dry. It certainly didn’t mean the task was easier, just doable. I could have hacked out a book or two or three over the years and be in a better place than I am now—farther along in my quest to become a published author.

While I’m talking about wasting time, it does me no good to complain about those lost years. My message to you is to find the time in every free moment you have right now, whatever may have occurred before. I’m no less busy today than I was twenty years ago. If I had to guess, I’d say I am even more busy. But I’m also a lot smarter. Over the last two and half years, I’ve completed my second novel one hour a day, at 4:30 in the morning, during lunch breaks, or during the television programs I choose not to turn on. I have just about prepared my manuscript for submittal. The process has taken a lot longer than I had hoped, but chewing off one piece at a time has allowed me to finally accomplish my goal.

So start today. Stop complaining. Just write…whenever you can. Eventually, you’ll find the rewards waiting at the end of that sludge of life you are plowing through at the moment. And when you look back, you’ll see you are a lot farther along than if you hadn’t put your fingers to the keyboard at all.