Finding Time to Write (take 2)

(so, it turns out I’ve done another post on this way back when. I hadn’t re-read it before writing this post, and it’s interesting to see the similarities and differences between what I said back in October of 2010 and what I’m saying now, a tiny bit more than a year later)

So, on Friday night during the #2012debut twitter chat (which was lots of fun, so you guys ought to check it out when it happens again next month!), someone asked me how I balanced college and a writing career. 

I replied, only half-jokingly, that I balanced it with a whole lot of caffeine ;)

More seriously, though, there are a lot of people out there who write while carrying on a full-time job, or who have kids, or who have a full-time job and kids, and a hundred-bazillion other things, so I guess I never really thought of writing and getting through university as a big deal compared to that.

In the end, it’s all about finding the time to write, and while I can’t attest to how people with full-time jobs or little kids running about do it, here are some ways I, as a uni student, eek out writing time:

I figure out when I write best and try to free up those times

I write best when it’s dark out. It’s weird, maybe, but true. Something about knowing the rest of the campus is asleep (or, more accurately, partying in frat row, lol) makes it easier to slip into another world. 

I can write at 3pm in the afternoon, yes, and oftentimes I do, but it’s going to be a little harder, so it’s just much more productive for me to do homework or whatever else it is that needs to be done during that time, so once the sun goes down, I’m free to write.

I figure out how I write best and do it that way

I like to write knowing I have three or four uninterrupted hours ahead of me. Just knowing I need to get somewhere in thirty minutes makes me useless, writing-wise, for the next thirty minutes, especially if I’m typing. So if I’ve got half an hour free, I don’t even try to open up my manuscript document—I know I’ll just stare at it blankly and start poking at my email—instead, I get some homework done or something.

I turn off the internet

Mac Freedom? Yes, please. I don’t know what you PC people could use, but Mac Freedom will block my access to the internet for however long I set it to. It’s sad, but it works ;)

I try writing longhand

I know some people hate writing longhand, while others write entire stories that way (HOW?) and then type them up afterward. I mostly type, but sometimes if I get stuck staring at a document, I pull out a notebook and try writing that way. 

Also, the whole “I can’t write in short periods of time” thing doesn’t seem to apply to pen-and-paper. I write when I get to a class ten minutes early, or when I’m waiting for a bus, or if a friend’s late to a lunch date. It’s also cool since I don’t know exactly how much I’ve racked up until the end of the day or the end of the week and I type it up. 

So, those are some ways I try to get my writing done. At the end of the day, though, it’s a fact of life that my writing can be sporadic. Some weeks, I’ll have a big test coming up, and I won’t write as much (read: almost any). Other weeks, I’ll write a couple thousand a day. And I try not to stress about it. Writing is a lot of fun for me (as I’m sure it is for most of you!), and even if it’s a “career” now, and there are certain expectations in place that weren’t before, in the end, it’s what I love to do more than most everything else. :)

How do you try to get your writing done?

PS GUYS. The first Hunger Games Trailer is releasing tomorrow! You know what that means? We get to see whether or not I’m really psychic. ;)