Finding Time

Treva had a good post at the start of March (which I've only just read - I know, but I've over-RSS'd myself) about the mythical 'I'll write when I have time...'

She made some good points. No-one is going to magically hand out a portion of time for you/ me/ us to write in. Even when (if) we retire, our days won't necessarily be empty of other things to do. Real life, as always, intrudes.

In the past I have, I will admit, been guilty of the 'when I have time' or 'I didn't have time' whine. And, in my case, it was a whine because I would have had time if I had: not watched tv/ not read a book etc.
This year I've sought to improve that, and I've managed to achieve some regularity of writing. Most especially, at work during my lunchbreaks. Having a deadline of 45 mins to an hour - even one that's self-imposed - meant I got my head down and was astonishngly productive. But I had to make the effort. I had to want it enough to not read during my lunchbreak, or check my RSS reader, or any of the other task avoidance things I'm prone to.

In doing this I've finished the first draft of a 26k novella - something I hadn't done before. I've had ideas for other stories (novellas/ novels/ shorts) and they've come a little more easily than in the past.

On a personal level then, getting out of the 'I don't have time' rut and refusing to allow myself that 'out', I've managed to improve my productivity, and hopefully, by writing on a regular basis, I've improved the quality of my work as well.
Sometimes, life will intervene. That's true. But for me, a lot (most) of the time when I said 'I don't have time' it was an excuse, not a valid reason. It was just me, wasting the time I did have.

May your time be productively spent this weekend and may real life avoid tossing a caber at you.