Pacing Your Writing Process

Keep creative momentum when you have little time to write.

- POLLY CAMPBELL

The poet William Carlos Williams wrote lines, ideas, and poems on prescription pads between ministering to patients in his office or on scraps of paper in the car between visits.

Alice Munro used to write while her oldest daughter was at school and her youngest napped, according to Mason Currey's Daily Rituals: How Artists Work.

Jane Austen lamented a writing life interrupted by social obligations and family responsibilities, according to her letters. Last week, I was complaining that picking up the dry cleaning and a brunch were cutting into my work time.

Though the distractions have changed, modern-day writers have plenty in common with their historical counterparts—it's hard to find uninterrupted time to write.

Day jobs, caregiving, late-night chores, platform building, and social media posts fill today's to-do lists. By the time we reach the keyboard, we must make every minute count, pace ourselves, use our writing time more effectively.

The Myth of More Time

I've been a full-time writer for years, and even so, distraction-free hours to write are hard to come by. I'm working on a novel between the marketing, bill paying, and other freelance assignments that pay the monthly bills.

I don't know a single full-time writer who has unlimited time to write and develop their own passion projects. Still, I fell for the myth of If I Only Had More Time, I'd Write the Book. But that, I realized, was just another excuse to avoid the work.

Early in the pandemic, I lost a corporate client whose assignments had consumed most of my workdays—and paid most of my bills. When that relationship ended, I thought, Now I'll get that novel written.

Yeah, right.