Finding the Time (AND This Week’s Coupon)

Because I talk to SO MANY people who would be writing IF ONLY they had the time, let’s talk about finding it.

Circumstances will come along that interfere in your ability to write. Maybe it’s a death in the family. Maybe your child is sick, or you’re sick. Or you’re selling your house, or your favorite show is on, or the phone rang or an email beeped or a text buzzed. We are all different: in our writing methodology, in what our lives are like, and to attempt to come up with a one size fits all solution to everyone’s “if only I had time to write” syndrome is futile. But I can discuss what mine is like – what stops me, what I do to make time, and, more importantly, to MAKE MYSELF WRITE.

My History as a Writer

When I decided in 2004 that I needed a creative outlet I considered ACTING, but that requires the involvement of others. MUSIC meant I would either need to join a band or build a sound-proof room to keep from driving my family crazy. I settled on WRITING speculative fiction, because I could do on my own, practically anywhere. I used to write stories for fun decades earlier in my teens, revisited writing when I returned to school in my late twenties, and I knew it was something I could do and enjoy.

Having chosen writing, I wanted to “do it right”, so I started reading HOW TO books and blogs. If you’re going to write in a genre, you should also read that genre, so I started working through David Pringle’s list of the 100 Best Science Fiction novels. I joined an online writer’s workshop, participated in forum discussions, critiqued postings of other writer’s first 13 lines, and volunteered to critique entire stories. Of course, doing these things had nothing to do with the most important thing you have to do when you’re a writer:

Heinlein rule #1: YOU MUST WRITE

In 2006, I finally started writing. I resurrected the last story I had ever written (a 1700-word exercise for a college course on mythology), and decided to rewrite it from scratch. Over the next couple of years I completed the story (8000 words) and in 2008 started the process of {send it out, get rejected, rethinking, rewriting, repeat} until “Passed Life” was whittled down to its final version (5800 words) in 2010. This was a clear violation of:

Heinlein rule #3: YOU MUST REFRAIN FROM REWRITING, EXCEPT TO EDITORIAL ORDER

Do not spend your time rewriting the same story over and over again; you will not improve your skill set as well as you will by writing new stories. As a result of spending all this time rewriting, I didn’t finish my second story until 2010.

At the end of 2010, I set writing goals for the first time; I was going to write six stories in 2011. But the time I set aside for writing each day (10pm-11pm) was consistently trampled on – there was almost always a reason that I couldn’t write, so by June I had only finished one story for 2011 and started my second. That’s when I found Dean Wesley Smith’s website and read about the sacred cows and myths of publishing, and Heinlein’s rules. I applied myself, and accomplished my goal of six stories by the end of the year.

(I’m going to stop recounting history at this point – I won’t bore you with another FOUR YEARS of “and then I…”) Now, on to the meat of what you need to know.

YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHAT WORKS FOR YOU

One of the changes I made was to reschedule my writing to 7:30am-8:30am, and that time (for various reasons) worked almost perfectly for over a year. Does your life allow you to function under some sort of consistent schedule? If so, lucky you! Find the  time that you can set aside when no one is likely to interrupt you and commit to write right then.

WHEN YOU MAKE YOUR WRITING COMMITMENT, KNOW WHAT’S IMPORTANT AND BE FLEXIBLE

I said that my morning writing schedule worked for over a year. Mine is one of those lives that almost always have interruptions (a “best laid plans” kind of life.) I reached a point where I had to use that time of day to catch up with work when other things in my life impinged on my job (good old work-life balance.) Now I tend to write a lot in waiting rooms or wherever I am at whatever time possible. Don’t restrict yourself to when and where you do your writing. Also,

DON’T LET YOUR TOOLS DICTATE WHETHER YOU CAN WRITE

Again, we’re all different. I use word documents for my writing – sometimes on my laptop, a lot of times on my NOOK using a fold-up Bluetooth keyboard (I bought an iPhone 6+ a couple of months and the keyboard syncs to it just fine – I may start writing on it.)

The important thing to me is to have my writing implements available whenever, so they don’t dictate when I can write (my cell phone should be a natural – when ISN’T it available?) Maybe you can handle dictating your writing (into a special device or your phone – speech to text technology is leaps and bounds better than it was when I first tried it in the 90’s.) Or you could just kick it old style (pen and paper – carry pocket notebooks like I used to in the 70’s.) Use whatever you can think of to maximize your opportunities.

MICHAEL JORDAN WAS RIGHT: JUST DO IT

I know this seems over-simplified, but it’s what all this really comes down to. Yes – things will happen in your life that will knock you off the writing horse (or bicycle, if you prefer); whatever it is, be flexible enough to get back on ASAP, even if it isn’t the same way you used to do it.

And if you want to write, take a long serious look at what’s preventing it. Let’s face it – even for professional writers, it requires discipline and commitment to force the words onto the paper (or whatever medium) where other people can see it. Find out what’s stopping you and push through it.

Just saying…

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This week’s featured eBook is “A Dish Best Served”; here’s the smashwords.com link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/144238?ref=notimetothink

Use coupon code TS57T to get 50% off the list price at check out. The coupon will be good until Monday February 16^th.  Enjoy!

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William Mangieri’s next release will be "Saturday He Fed the Cat" on Friday, February 13th. 
His writing (including his latest ePublication “Dredging Things Up”) can be found in many places, such as:

• His Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B008O8CBDY
• Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/william-mangieri?store=book&keyword=william+mangieri
• Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/NoTimeToThink
• Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/pub/simplesitesearch.search.do?sitesearch_query=william+mangieri&sitesearch_type=STORE

Connect with him on Facebook at:   http://www.facebook.com/NoTimeToThink

Or on his goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6893616.William_Mangieri