Finding Time To Write

If you're like me, you need a job to pay the bills while you're jump starting your writing career.  And if you have a stressful job like me, all you feel like doing is unwinding when you get home.  I have what I call detox time when I get home.  Sure I could write all wound up and tense, but why?

There are a few evenings I don't bother to write.  You may have guessed that I'm not of the school of forcing myself to write a minimum amount per day.  I definitely do not subscribe to that school of thought.  I will explain my writing habits in another future blog post, but for now I will divulge where I write when I write.

I take time to write at my cubicle at work during my lunch break.  However if a story, poem, or book idea come to mind while at work, I jot it down on a post-it or in a composition notebook I carry around with me.  A title is enough for me to trigger what I intend to write about.  If I don't have a title, then I will write the topic or subject matter.  Usually when I get ideas, the whole story comes flooding into my thoughts.  I know if the idea is suited for a short story, flash fiction, poem, novel, etc.  I can't explain it, it's just hard wired in me and comes as second nature.  I'm curious if any of you are the same.

I have a half hour bus ride one way to work.  So that's a whole hour a day I can dedicate to flushing out the idea in my thoughts.  Sometimes I use this hour to read trade magazines to learn the craft.

From time to time before I go home, I will go to a favorite coffee shop to do some more writing.  I also go to the coffee shop on weekends and on my days off like today.  Sometimes you have to because the laundry, cleaning, dishes, cooking, or other chores are nagging in the back of my head while I attempt to write at home.  No, my place is not disheveled like a hoarder, but at times I want to escape the chores, TV, or even the Internet to keep from procrastinating.  Even this blog can be a procrastination tool.  That's why I think I will not do any blog entries on Sundays.

So I write at work during breaks, at the coffee shop, and also at home at a desk in the corner of my living room when I can block distractions.  It's a matter of discipline, but I don't write everyday.  I feel if you are forcing yourself in that chair, your writing is sub par and suffers for it.