November is usually a busy month. Aside from NaNoWriMo, there are family events, the holidays, and other happenings going on. For some reason, though, this year November has been the busiest.
My weekends have been booked with family events. My nephew was Baptized, my sister is hosting a party at my house, I have two events going on at my church that I have to be a part of and help prepare for, and there’s Thanksgiving at the end of the month. There’s also work, babysitting, and trying to find time to hang out with friends and relaxing.
I’m expected to write 50,000 words on top of that? Well, then.
How do you find the time to get your writing done each and every day?
For me, I know that I work best in the morning. I leave for work at 7:40, though. If I have to get ready for work, eat breakfast, and try to do some other things, I can’t wake up at 6:45 and expect myself to be ready to go in an hour like some people do.
I get up at 5:30 in the morning. I get dressed, get my coffee, and then I sit at my computer and write from 5:45 to 6:45/7:00. Then I get everything else done I need to get done in the half hour before I need to go to work.
I can write about 2,000 words in an hour, if I focus hard enough. So, most mornings I’m able to reach my daily word count before going to work. As long as I can reach 1,667 words, I’m good for the rest of the day.
It makes me feel good because I know I don’t have to worry about writing for the rest of the day. There are days when I do write when I get home in the evening, but I don’t have to if I don’t feel like it.
What makes this November different from all the other NaNo sessions is that I’ve really been sticking to this. I always write in the morning before work, but there have been a couple of mornings where I’ve thought to just do it later. Maybe it was because I was too tired or I just wasn’t feeling any of the prompts I set up for myself.
When that happens, I make myself write anyway.
It may take me a little longer to reach my word count, I may end up making a ton of typos, the story may not come out as well as it could have been, but I get the writing done.
I don’t wait for the inspiration, I just do it.
The weekends are harder. You would think they’d be easier since I don’t have work, but I’m out of my routine. So it’s harder.
Saturdays aren’t too bad because Kris and I go to our local bookstore to write. So I have about three to four hours to get my daily word count in and I usually end up with more words than usual.
Sundays are difficult because I have church in the morning. I go early because I teach Sunday school and when I get home I end up relaxing and not doing much of anything.
This past Sunday, when my nephew was Baptized, I wrote before going to church. I forced myself to get it done because I knew I wasn’t going to have any time to do it later.
A lot people give advice to not wait for inspiration and just write something, anything, on your paper. Judging by the way this month has been going so far, I can tell you that advice is sound and very true.
How do you find the time to get your writing done? Let me know in the comments!
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