My Favorite Tip for Writing with Limited Time

Earlier this year, my schedule made it so difficult to fit in writing time. Teaching 7 classes, some over their enrollment limit, and being the main transportation source for my kids to their sports and other activities made life overwhelming at times. It’s a good kind of overwhelming, because I enjoy my job, and I love being a mom to my three energetic and amazing kiddos, but, as always, writing was left on the wayside. It seems it’s always the first thing to go when life gets busy. This has been a problem of mine for a while. 😅

When I had the chance to participate in a local writers retreat in April, I jumped at it. Never mind that there were probably 5 other things potentially happening that same weekend; we made it work, and I was able to be there for the 12-hour retreat. 12 hours of dedicated writing time and chatting with other local writers was exactly what I needed in the midst of the spring semester. I had a chance to meet the fabulous Toya Wolfe and receive advice from her about my writing.

Basically, one issue that I’ve been running into is that I tend to run from issues. 😉 When I described my writing process to Toya, even as the words left my mouth, I identified the problem: I wasn’t working through the hard stuff in my writing. I would jump headfirst into one writing project, typing away and loving life until I hit a roadblock; maybe that roadblock was an issue with the plot, or maybe that was the busy stressors of life that pushed away my writing time. I would abandon that project, do other things, and then start a new project. This is NOT a good strategy, probably for obvious reasons, but Toya helped me to clarify this issue and make a better plan for writing success.

Essentially, right now, I have two finished books in my self-published series, the Northwoods Barista Mysteries. The first book, Decaf & Drones, was initially SO CLOSE to being traditionally published by a small publisher until they tragically went out of business weeks before my release date. (Read more about this misadventure here.) I’ve finished a third and had it edited but need to take the time to complete the self-publication steps; that’s a big to do for me this summer.

I’ve also finished two other novels that I queried for a while with no success. They’re sitting in limbo. And then I have three other works in progress that are in various states of disarray: none finished. Finally, I have my finished memoir, that actually led to positive feedback from some agents and editors; however, they noted that most traditionally published memoirs right now are written by celebrities (or ghost-written by others with the celebrity’s face plastered on the cover). It seems most literary agents don’t want to work with people on memoirs, even on an important and little-known topics, unless those people are already famous. So, that one is also in limbo. Until I’m famous. 😅 (Kidding.)

Did I run away from the books I placed “in limbo” because I ran into issues with publication? Maybe. Did I run away from various WIPs because a new idea popped up that I wanted to pursue, just as I ran into a tough plot point? Maybe… I need to stop doing both of those things, and the retreat, and speaking with Toya, helped me to see that I needed some tool to focus myself and push through the “hard stuff”.

That tool turned out to be a timer. It may seem like a simple, even silly piece of advice, and I doubted its potential to truly help me at first, but trust me when I saw that it’s honestly invaluable! If you’re someone who needs more time in your life, or if you have a tendency to run from your problems, or if, like me, you do both, a simple timer can be a life-saver.

As an example, I set a 45-minute timer to write my newest WIP yesterday, and I spewed out 1,200 words in that time. I later met with an online writing group that I connected with through the retreat I mentioned above; we set an hour timer every meeting to write or do writerly things after chatting for a bit. This time around, I told myself I would revise the first four chapters of that WIP during that time, and I did.

Timers don’t just work for writing; they work for everything. I set timers for my kids to let them know when their time is up for some set activity or when it’s time for us to get ready to leave the house or go to bed. I set timers for my students when we have designated writing time for a prompt or to add a competitive edge to some class activities and games. I’ve set timers for myself to let me know when to stop working on one project at home and switch to the next one. I’ll set a timer to focus my time on self-publication work and nit-picky tasks, too.

Probably the best part about this tool is that it’s free. I set a timer on our microwave or my phone, or I pull one up on my computer. It’s also flexible. You can set it for whatever time you want, and set whatever goals you want. I recommend setting a goal a bit more challenging than you may want. For instance, if I think I can easily get 1,000 words down in an hour, I might push myself to reach the goal of 1,500 in that hour timeframe. This can help you to best push yourself and make the most of the tool.

What are your favorite writing tools and tips when life’s challenges get in the way?