Skip to main content

Guest Post: Finding Your Write Time

What time of day do you write best or are most productive? Here are some tips to help you determine when your best time to write:

What's your writing power?
How long can you write without draining yourself? Are you able to write more when you write for two hours each day without taking a break or do you find that you're able to churn out a good article or finish a chapter in your novel if you write for say, four one-hour periods with three fifteen-minute breaks?

What's your alert level?
This is simply determining what time of day your mind is most creative, imaginative and alert. Is it in the morning? mid-morning? afternoon? mid-afternoon? middle of the night?

What are your distractions?
If you're a mom with kids to take care of, when's the best time that you can write? When they're at school? When the kids are napping or watching TV? If you're still single, when can you write without being distracted by family obligations or work?

Pick your write time!
Using the responses you have come up with in questions 1, 2 and 3, compare which times they jive. These are your ideal times to write. Try this out and see if it works. Use these times for writing, and only writing. Happy writing!

Wait! Here are some writing sparks to try:
When "blocked", prompts can help you get started. Odd combination of phrases, like "needle shaving hysterically", "greasy fighting bottle" or "digging hilariously", can stimulate the brain for possibilities.

Newspapers, especially tabloids, are great sources of story ideas. Skim the headlines and give them your own spin. Use those outrageous tabloid headlines to create your stories: "Californians Banned from Heaven", "Accountant Has Used the Same Pencil Everyday for 31 Years", or "Teen's Hair Changes Color...With Her Mood!"

Those good ole proverbs make great prompts. However, mixing them up can even get your creative brain working: "His belly is paved with best intentions", "One good turn injures the neighbors", or "Every cook breeds contempt."

Use metaphors as springboards to an endless possibility of stories: "a mile of polish", "a pot of dexterity", or "a clump of pity."


Copyright © Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ

Download an excerpt of The Authentic Self: Journaling Your Joys, Griefs and Everything in Between below:
authenticself-sampler.zip OR authenticself-sampler.pdf

If you want 3 writing *sparks* delivered to you every day for 31 days, check out WriteSparks!™ Daily HERE for info on how to get started -- it's free :o)
Thank you for reading. Keep writing!
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

OWNING: Only One of You

Martha Graham, a famous dancer and choreographer in the early 20th century, wrote in a letter to one of her students: "There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open." Graham's words ring true. There is only one of you in the world: The way you think, the way you see things, the way you respond, the way you nurture yourself and other people, the way you go about doing mundane things. The way you love, the way you express, the way you tell a story, the way you write. The world will know of and witness only one you . The totality of you -- talents, nuances, thought proc...
Read more

Unmasking Narcissism: Lessons on Healing, Boundaries, and the Human Condition

  When I first sat down with Dominick to interview Stuart Wood, neuroscientist and author of Escaping the Void: How to Support Victims Out of Emotionally Abusive Relationships , I thought I knew what to expect. I’ve been a victim advocate for years. I’ve sat with survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, and I’ve seen the way emotional abuse erodes someone from the inside out. But there was something about this conversation—something about tying narcissism not just to relationships, but to culture at large—that resonated with me on a personal and professional level. Stuart came to the topic of narcissism the way so many of us do—not through clinical theory at first, but through experience. He supported a friend through four years of leaving and healing after an abusive narcissistic marriage. And from there, he wrote a book that demystifies the confusing behaviors and manipulations so often minimized or dismissed, even by victims themselves. Why Narcissism Hits Home I come ...
Read more

The Comeback of 2D Animation: Why We’re Craving Realness Again

There’s something happening in animation right now that’s worth paying attention to—not because it’s simply nostalgic, but because it’s deeply human. As someone who works in the mental health and creative storytelling space, I can’t help but see these conversations about art, AI, and hand-drawn storytelling as part of a bigger theme: our collective hunger for authenticity. We live in a time where AI-generated content is everywhere—convenient, efficient, and often soulless. It’s not surprising that artists and audiences alike are looking back toward something that feels more tactile, more imperfect, more human. That brings us to 2D animation, an art form that has shaped generations and now, it seems, might just be making a comeback. Here’s what Language of the Soul podcast host, Dominick Domingo, had to say on this trend: There’s been a lot of industry talk lately speculating about 2D/traditional ANIMATION making a comeback. Recent articles confirm that although Disney has not greenlit...
Read more