How do you find time to write while working full time?
Goodness was this a huge hurdle at first! I won’t even pretend it wasn’t. We all have our reasons, excuses, and blocks. For the longest time I rarely set aside real time to write, and usually, that was only in November for NaNoWriMo.
What it comes down to is, do you really want to be a writer? If the answer is yet, set time aside. It doesn’t have to be daily, but it should be several days a week. For me, during the work week I usually write from about 7pm-9pm or at least 8pm-9pm. Some days I go later. The weekends I tend to average more writing time, but it’s the same idea. Set time aside. Pick an easy goal and build upon it. Crush your goals and write, write, write.
What is an easy goal? That’s going to be different for everyone. I personally say start at 500 words, 4+ days a week. Once you’ve crushed that goal for about two months, move it up. Go for 1k words or go for more days a week. Do I write daily? Nope. Do I write almost daily? Yes! Sometimes I get on a long streak of days (currently I have 134 day streak going) but I’ll likely end up taking a break here soon where I just read for a week or two.
Breaks are so important to avoid burnout. I started feeling that burnout recently so I’ve dialed back. I wrote 38 words one night. Just over 300 another. It’s fine. You need to take care of yourself. I tend to take my longest breaks in October, December, and January. There is also no right or wrong way to do any of this. Some people are happier writing fifteen minutes a day every day. Some people get 5k words down and take three days off. The important thing is finding time to do it and not let excuses get in the way. There are always excuses. It is fine to take breaks. Knowing when enough is enough and to get back to it is a challenge. You won’t find the muse if you don’t start writing.