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

World of Ink Interview with author Judy Snider and Illustrator Cady B. Driver

Judy Snider , Joan’s sister lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia with her husband, Gil, and two silly cats. She is the author of the CWA award-winning children’s picture book, Goldy’s Baby Socks , and on a team of authors of The Scared Purse . The Writing Mama Interview with author Judy Snider     VS: What do you do to help balance your writing life with your family life? Judy: It is easier now that my kids are in their 20’s and out of the home. I get up very early, and some of the best writing I do is in a sunny place with a glass of water or coffee and my silly cats nearby. When my oldest was a baby, I took a write-away-course, and would write when he took his naps. Some of my best writing was at a table while I waited in those days for them at parties, video arcades, etc.  I work out of my home on projects, so working with my sister on our latest book, and the phone usually did Cady Driver, our illustrator. VS: How long have you been writing? Judy: I wrote my...
Read more

What is Your Writing Priority?

Every New Year, people sit down and write out their resolutions on the things they want to happen over the next year. The lists can be long or short, it doesn’t matter. We all have done it, but how often do you complete the goals listed? Rarely in my case; so I spent all of January doing more than just writing my New Year Resolutions, I spent time thinking about what I really wanted to see happen in 2015 and then took it a step further by listing ways to make those things happen. I also looked long and hard at the things I have been working on and doing. I evaluated each of them and the ones that weren’t taking me where I wanted to be I dropped off my list of things to work on in the New Year.  Once I was happy with the list I had, I began looking at my time and seeing if there was enough time in my week and daily to work on each item. In some cases…I didn’t. I was right back to reworking my list and making sure I was putting goals in the right priority. A few things at ...
Read more

Article Wed: Breaking Through The Barriers Of Writer's Block

Writer's block occurs when we lose our train of thought or have seemingly run out of ideas. When this occurs it is only natural to increase your determination to get the writing process back on track. Actually this can make the situation worse since it introduces more pressure which further constricts your ability to develop new writing ideas. What to do? Here are 3 tips to use for idea generation or to recapture your train of thought when the writing process for you comes to a grinding halt. Review What You Wrote This often can help to get your thinking back on track. When you lose your focus the best thing to do is 'retract' your previous steps to pick back up on your trail of thought. By reviewing your most recently documented content you can determine what your point is and the direction you were taking it. This can be a very effective way of snapping out of the writers block that has stalled your efforts. Leave Your Work Station Changing environments often ...
Read more