Where’s The Time?

 

 

I didn’t do a Monday Grammar Minute this week because, well… it was Labor Day! 🇺🇸 So I decided to wait until next Monday. And trust me, next Monday’s Grammar Minute is going to be a good one. It’s about something I admittedly struggle with myself. 

But today, let’s talk about something writers struggle with: actually writing.

I’ve struggled with what we commonly call “writer’s block,” and I recently started looking into it a little more because I’ve been getting back into my own writing.

Interestingly, what we call writer’s block can have several causes, including procrastination, perfectionism, anxiety, or simply not having a regular writing routine.

And honestly? That made sense to me.

I’m not someone who believes you should force yourself to write every single time you sit down. Sometimes you really do need a break. Step away from the story, take a walk, read a book, or do something completely unrelated. Creativity doesn’t always show up on command.

But there’s another side to this.

Sometimes the problem isn’t that we can’t write.

We simply aren’t making time to write.

Someone recently told me they don’t have time to write.

I asked, “Not even fifteen minutes?”

Do you get a lunch break? Close your office door and write for fifteen minutes.

Do you sit on the couch after dinner watching television? Get up and write for fifteen or thirty minutes.

Have fifteen minutes in the morning before everyone else is awake? Grab your coffee and write.

You don’t need an entire afternoon. You don’t need a perfectly quiet house or a fancy writing space.

You just need time.

Even fifteen minutes counts.

You might write a paragraph. Maybe a page. Maybe you’ll spend ten minutes staring at the screen before an idea finally comes to you. That’s okay.

Because writing is a process.

You don’t have to produce something brilliant every time you sit down. You just have to show up.

One paragraph becomes a page. A page becomes a chapter. A chapter becomes a book.

I know this because I’ve been guilty of it myself. I have books I want to write, ideas sitting in notebooks, and characters wandering around in my head. Sometimes I don’t write—not because I don’t have ideas, but because I haven’t made the time.

So lately, I’ve been getting back into my own writing and reminding myself of something I tell other writers all the time:

Stop waiting for the perfect time to write.

There probably isn’t one.

Write when you have fifteen minutes. Write badly. Write a scene out of order. Write something you might delete tomorrow.

Just write.

You can edit terrible writing. You can rewrite a bad chapter. You can fix awkward dialogue.

What you can’t edit is a blank page.

So if you’ve been saying, “Someday I’m going to write that book,” maybe today is the day you stop waiting for someday.

Give yourself fifteen minutes.

You might be surprised at what happens when you finally give yourself the time to put the words down.

And remember:

You don’t have to finish the book today. You just have to write the next sentence.

Happy writing! ✍️📚