Writer’s Blocks – Schedule Trap

Throughout the years, I’ve attempted on multiple occasions to take up writing as a hobby. It would quickly fall to the wayside as Life happened. I decided at the top of this year that if I wanted to get this story out of my skull, it was necessary for writing to become a Priority. For me, that was an hour blocked out each evening to write.

A Rigid Schedule May Hinder Writing

This approach didn’t pan out. I spent most of the time looking at a blank screen. I was tired from my pay-the-bills job, and struggled feeling creative. When I didn’t make the scheduled writing time, I felt guilty I’d missed it. The guilt plus the internal dialogue / flogging I’d give myself were counterproductive.

Even though I’m not a morning person, I thought I’d give mornings a try. I got up a couple of hours before the workday, made some coffee, and sat down at my laptop to write. I bribed myself with Nutella. I really don’t like mornings. I was pleasantly surprised by how much writing I accomplished.

Try Different Times / Days

This experimentation led me to discover I didn’t always need huge blocks of time to make progress. In the morning, I was more efficient with less time than I was with two hour blocks in the evening. It made the idea of writing this book I was working on more attainable.

Since the change up in time seemed to work, I played around a bit with what days I would write. On the weekend when I’d usually sleep in, I got up with the cats for their breakfast and sat down at the computer. Those were the days longer blocks of time worked, and I really knocked word count out of the park.

Find Your Writing Rhythm

I’ve been attending writing seminars like crazy of late. During a recent seminar, the idea of writing rhythms was discussed. As a person who has revelled in creativity her whole life, this concept makes sense. I struggle to force creativity, but I can hone in on periods of time and different environments where I have the greatest chance of being creative. I’d unknowingly done the same with my writing.

It took me a month or two to organically discover and settle into my revised writing schedule. In the seminar, it was suggested writers keep a spreadsheet to log their writing sessions. The document would have headings of date, day, time, amount of time spent writing, and word count. If I were to try this, I think I’d make a note of my environment as well. Then the writer can look back and see if there is a pattern between high word count and a specific day/time/period of time.

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