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I am a professional writer, but not a full time one. Most of my
time is taken up by my more-than-full-time day job as a psychiatrist, so my
writing has to fit in around my other commitments.
This is the case for a lot of writers, particularly those just starting
out. It may be many years before your writing can support you and your family
financially and, even then, there's a large cohort of authors who maintain a
regular day job to pay the bills.
A lot of my friends ask me how I possibly have time to write, where I
fit it all in. I'm going to share with you my tips for maintaining a creative
writing life around day job, family and social commitments.
Maximise your available time
Writers often feel they need a concentrated block of time to write. They
want to dedicate entire evenings and weekends to their work, finding The Zone
and staying in it as long as possible. However, research into concentration and
efficiency has consistently found that human beings cannot sustain attention
for hours at a time.
I am a big fan of the Pomodoro Technique (http://pomodorotechnique.com).
The idea is simple: 25 minutes work, 5 minutes break, lather, rinse, repeat.
Suddenly, that odd hour between the school run and teatime becomes two
Pomodoros
Identify your "dead time"
There are parts of any day that are necessary chores, but these can be
transformed into productive writing time.
The biggest time-sink is commuting. If you take the train/subway,
consider swapping your novel for a notebook or using a writing app on your
smartphone or tablet. Last year, I had a twenty minute train commute - that was
forty minutes per day, which added up to over three hours of writing time every
week!
If you drive, you can use that time to listen to audiobooks - reading is
a vital component of writing - or plan your next scene or chapter. A large part
of writing is thinking about writing; use your time grocery shopping or your
lunch hour to flesh out your concepts and characters in your head.
Use your day job for inspiration
There's a job-hunting buzzphrase that's equally applicable to writing:
transferable skills. How can your day job improve your writing? What talents
and techniques can you use for both?
Many jobs have one essential writing benefit - meeting people. From your
teaching colleagues to shoppers at the checkout, you encounter a variety of
people per day who can serve as templates for personalities, mannerisms and
naturalistic dialogue.
The old writing maxim "write what you know" also applies here.
While you may not want to set your drama in an office, the experience of being
holed up with the same people day-in, day-out may serve you well in writing
your scenes in a post-apocalyptic nuclear bunker.
Anyone can find time to write - whether it's ten minutes per day or
forty hours per week, you can find space in your life for writing. Good luck
maximising your free hours, transforming your dead time, and getting inspired
by the daily grind!
Rosie Claverton grew up in Devon,
daughter to a Sri Lankan father and a Norfolk Cardiff to study Medicine and adopted Wales London
Links
Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/binarywitness
Series website: http://amylanemysteries.com
Blog: http://rosieclaverton.com
Twitter: @rosieclaverton
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