How To Create Space And Time For Writing

Stephanie Morrill is the creator of GoTeenWriters.com and the author of several young adult novels, including the historical mystery, The Lost Girl of Astor Street (Blink/HarperCollins). Despite loving cloche hats and drop-waist dresses, Stephanie would have been a terrible flapper because she can’t do the Charleston and looks awful with bobbed hair. She and her near-constant ponytail live in Kansas City with her husband and three kids. You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and sign up for free books on her author website.

How do I make time to write? 

This was one of the most common write-in responses on the Go Teen Writers survey, and none of us were surprised. For nearly all of us, this is the first real test we'll face as a writer.

Sure, you also need an idea and all that jazz, but the story idea will remain just a piece of your imagination unless you somehow find room in your life to write it.

Even though I started writing stories in first grade, I was never very consistent about writing until my junior year of high school when I took a creative writing class. Then writing become homework and carving out the space and time to do it became mandatory.

I think that's what the majority of us want, whether we admit it or not. We want to have to write. But there will be very few times—even when you become a published author—that you have to write. No one will check to make sure you are, and no one will prioritize it for you. That has to start with you.

You have to value your writing first.

In Rising Strong, Brené Brown says, "I've learned...if you don't put value on your work, no one is going to do that for you."

As uncomfortable as it can feel at times, WE have to take the first steps in respecting our writing time. So often we want that respect and value to come from the outside, the way it did when our parents taught us to respect volleyball practice, to do homework, or to value attending church. But if you want to be a writer, and if you want people to respect the time you need to create and what you're creating, you will have to lead.

Stop waiting for ideal.

You want to write. You want to take responsibility. But you're so busy.

I know you are. I don't even know what your current season is, but I'm guessing that whether you're in middle school or college or a new parent, you feel too busy for writing consistently. Too busy for creative thinking.

And yes, there are some seasons where I think it's just not wise to push yourself to write. I have a friend who wants to write, but she works full time and has three children who don't like to let her sleep very much. I'm certainly not going to wag my finger at her and tell her, "If only you tried a little harder..." 

But there are other times (and you probably know instinctively if this is you) that the struggle is actually that the time available to you doesn't feel ideal.

My ideal writing happens first thing in the morning with a cup of coffee, a silent office, foggy weather, and empty hours stretching ahead of me. You know how many times I've experienced my ideal in the last 10 years? ZERO.

You have to look for time that's "good enough." Those fifteen minutes before school? Good enough. The twenty minutes in the doctor's waiting room? Good enough. The hour you have during your brother's math club competition? Bring your laptop or notebook, and that's good enough.

We have this perception that real writers get hours to write because it's their job. That's a myth. What I described up above is reality for most real writers.

Jill writes on her phone. She's a real writer.

Shan writes while she waits for her kids in the pick-up line at school. She's a real writer.

I write when my toddler naps. I'm a real writer.

That's what a real writer does. They don't wait for ideal, they just work the writing in around the rest of life.

Start with spacers, not pulling out teeth

I was at the orthodontist with my ten-year-old daughter last week. She has to have a pallet expander, and the first step of that is inserting spacers between her back two teeth. Look how tiny they are!

They're the round things. Four of them can fit on one finger. (And my office lamp needs to be dusted...)

Yet over a few days, having those tiny spacers between her teeth will create just enough space for something bigger. That's what you're looking for—just enough space in your schedule for writing that it can start to bloom into something bigger.

If you're like me, you suffer from wanting to do All The Things right now. I'm especially prone to this in January. But if you're not accustomed to writing regularly, then trying to make yourself write for hours everyday is only going to stress you out and set you up for failure. If you try to do that, writing is likely to feel like pulling teeth.

If you're not accustomed to writing for long periods every day, let yourself off the hook and try to find a "spacer" of space. Ten minutes before school? 100 words a day? Look for a small place to start, something to help you get momentum going.

Chunk Time and Crack Time

Writer Emily P. Freeman talks about chunk time versus crack time sometimes on the podcast HopeWriters. The majority of writers need "chunks" of time, like several uninterrupted hours, to make really good progress. We can get used to working without them, but it's better when we have chunks of time.

But there are also pieces of the writing life, especially as you move into publication, that you can take care of in the "cracks" of your time. I can respond to social media comments in the five minutes I'm waiting for my kids to be released from school. I can plan blog posts while I make dinner. I can design graphics while I watch a baseball game with my husband.

And sometimes I use crack time to prepare for chunk time. To write a blog post takes a chunk of time, but I use cracks of time to think about the post before I even start writing. Then I'm more efficient with my chunk of time.

But sometimes I've guilty of using my chunk time for activities that I can do during crack time. (And then whining later that I didn't get as much writing done as I wanted to...)

Is there anything keeping you from writing today? Are you waiting for permission? For ideal time? Something else? Or do you have the time, but you're choosing something else instead? 

What's something you can do to create a bit more space for writing?

(I'm in Orlando soaking up the Wizarding World of Harry Potter with McKenna, so it may be a few days before I'm able to respond to your comments!)

One last note from community members Naomi Downing and Taylor Bennett:

Are you the only writer in your family? Maybe you’d go so far as to say you’re the only writer in your group of friends.

But… what if there was a place you could go to bounce ideas off of other writers? Somewhere online, so you didn’t have to travel anywhere to participate…

That’s what Inkling Chats are all about! They’re an opportunity for writers, new and experienced, young and old, to come and chat about questions writers all face at some point during their journey.

Inkling Chats will be happening on Twitter at 4PM EST every last Sunday of the month, and they’re hosted by Taylor Bennett, author of Porch Swing Girl, and me—Naomi Downing. You can follow us, @writer_taylor and @Naomihdowning and use #InklingChats to keep up with the conversation. We’d love to have you join us as we offer advice on how to stay inspired, share what draws into a book, and more!