Precious little time

“How do you find the time to write?” is a question I’m often asked. There is no pat answer. I would be lying if I said I carve out allocated sections in my day to create. Most days I have a pretty full business to business content creation work schedule, so trying to ‘steal’ some time to write a book is just not feasible.

So when do I write? Generally, writing happens after my working day finishes and everyone is fed. I have to add here that although I do the cooking most nights, I’m fortunate to have a husband who is a very accomplished cook and he happily steps in when there are just not enough minutes left for me to finish all my tasks for the day.

I mentioned in my first blog that I was able to whack out over 50 000 words during NaNoWriMo (in November 2018), but that was a thoroughly exhausting exercise and I have not been able to achieve the same type of momentum since. The ideal, of course, would be for me to become a full-time author...

What I have found is that when I type notes into my mobile phone during random creative spark moments and then transfer them over to my laptop, I am able to expand on the notes quite easily. This usually happens on a Saturday, when the workday distractions are absent.

Another thing, which I learned the hard way, was that if I have an idea while I am dozing off to sleep or even if it forms part of a dream, I need to write it down as soon as physically possible (like when my eyes open). If I don’t, it disappears faster than butter melting on hot toast. A small notepad and an assortment of pens are lined up on my bedside table for just such moments of wild inspiration.

Coming next....Part 4: Building a book