How many hours a day for writing?
And some podcast recommendations
If you’re the type of writer who can set a schedule and stick to it, blessings to you. Rising before the sun like Vonnegut. Le Guinn, Murakami, working without distractions, exercising and even eating at the same time every day, maintaining this schedule until your project is completed. My admiration? Take it. All of it.
I tried. So many times. I knew I had the discipline to write a novel, but a strict schedule just made me feel closed off from my body and my mind. And afterwards, invariably, I would kick myself for not being able to produce anything in the allotted time. Frustration heaped on shame, starting all over the next day. Do not recommend.
I needed more breathing room, but that seemed incompatible with actually finishing a novel. Can you be so loosey-goosey with such a massive undertaking?
You can, apparently. I found my workarounds, and it all started with better management of my non-writing hours.
When I was a 9-to-5 girly, I could not stay creative and motivated throughout an imposed 8-hour period. Breathing canned office air, pacing the same 100 square feet and having to churn out decks no matter what was not the ideal environment for me.
As we all know, most of the writing gets done when you’re not actively writing. By the time you sit down to do the thing, you’re just downloading the ideas from your head and finding the right words to shape your characters and events realistically. The ideas themselves often form while you’re doing the dishes, taking a long walk or as you fall asleep at night. This is why I love savasana so much.
As Silas House so delightfully put it, “I write every waking minute.”
While writing the first draft of YWBB in 2022, I often wandered around my neighbourhood all day, looking at trees, having random conversations in coffee shops and gawking at architecture in order to produce a few pages between 9-10PM. On other days, I would start noodling on the keyboard while still in bed, my first cup of coffee nested between two pillows.
My best story is having resolved a narrative knot while waiting for the Pantheon to open. I pulled out my phone and bashed out 400 words, keeping our place in line while my travel buddy photographed Roman architecture for the ‘gram.
Turns out, my process doesn’t follow a reliable, governable pattern. So, instead, I give myself permission to ease into the stillness of non-writing hours and let the words come when ready. And when they do come, I commit to dropping everything (as much as possible) and writing everything down immediately.
The words always come.
These are three things that helped me structure the unstructurable:
Starting my day quietly. I spend the first 30-60mins of my day with espresso and a podcast—no social media. This little me-moment better prepares me for the eventual onslaught (i.e. self-care, world news, friend check-ins, freelance, family, etc.) If I am overwhelmed by 8AM, it’s going to be a rough day. Also, avoiding mental clutter at the beginning of my day clears space for ideas/words later in the day.
Exercise and social interaction, every day, no matter what. My mental health and stress response cycle rely on regular exercise for proper functioning. If I don’t get my stroll to the post office or Wednesday barre class, my anxiety levels skyrocket and forget about writing. Coffee shop chats also save my sanity, especially if they concern food, design and gossip.
iPhone Notes. I use it every day, all day. Whodda thunk? I have used this app to write in airports, on the beach and while walking, in restaurant bathrooms and at family dinners. Sometimes I just record insights for specific characters or snippets of dialogue, but I have also drafted entire chapters that I later transcribed to Scrivener.
I am so privileged to have this freedom, I know. And I am grateful. If you want to write, you have to make sacrifices to get that writing done. I have made sacrifices aplenty, but I don’t remember ever feeling as happy as I do today.
What have you sacrificed to write? How did your schedule change to make room for writing? Or if you’re still pondering, what will have to change for you to start writing?