I have none.
“Make time for your writing,” the experts declare. While it’s true you can’t write if you don’t put in the time, how can you “make” time? You cannot create more of something that already has a finite amount.
“Find the time to write,” other experts say. Yet you cannot find something which is not lost. I assure you, I can account for every second of the day.
The harsh truth, obviously, is that you must give up something to fit in time for writing.
Ok, I’m ready. Let’s see what I can give up. My day job? I am long past the poverty-stricken Bohemian lifestyle of a starving artist in an attic. I like having a paycheque. Time with my kids? Perhaps a minute here or there, but since my kids are my priority, that won’t fly. Time with my husband? Yes, that often gets sacrificed because he’s so understanding, but I kind of like him, so I’d kind of like to see him every once in a while. Outside activities? Long since abandoned, in that very attempt to “find” time to write. Chores? I so wish… Exercise? I’ve tried to give it up. I hate it, so that was an easy choice, yet those damn health experts seem to be right. I feel better when I exercise, so I try to fit that in (to be honest, that’s the first to go, though).
In other words, I have yet to find the right answer. I struggle with it constantly.
LESSON LEARNED: I try to book in time to write like I would an outside activity. You may even consider leaving your house, like you have to be somewhere, or at least shutting yourself off from the rest of the chaos in your house.
Here’s what I strive for: Through the support of my husband and kids, I now have Tuesday nights as my writing night (I don’t even have to cook dinner or help clean up!) and I get Saturday mornings. The earlier I get up, the more I have time to write.
I also try to add an hour each day from Mon-Fri, either before the kids wake up in the morning or after they go to bed at night.
Here’s the reality: Fit in an extra hour or five when I’m already tired from work, when I have to help the kids with homework, get dinner, take kids to activities, do my own school work (marking essays: the sad life of an English teacher), and fit in anything extra that comes up? And get up early on Saturday morning when my bed is so comfortable and no one is going to rat me out for not showing to “work” on time? Are you kidding?
LESSON LEARNED: In the end, I don’t “make” time for my writing; I don’t “find” time for my writing.
I steal time.