Finding Time & Space in Your Life to Write

Reshaping your routine and changing your mindset to prioritize writing

Gratuitous nature porn. Photo: Miranda Miller, 2023.

One of the biggest challenges for writers is finding the time and space in an already jam-packed life to write. Even before you have clients, it’s crucial to develop your pitch, build a portfolio, and establish a solid writing practice. All of this takes unpaid time you probably feel like you don’t have.

And yet a regular writing practice ensures that you're making steady progress toward your goals, whether it's completing a novel, publishing articles, or launching a blog. Regular writing stimulates creativity and expands your imagination, too. Engaging in the practice of writing regularly helps train your brain to think creatively and come up with new ideas when you need them.

If you’re anything like me and a lot of other writers, your writing career is going to come with a healthy helping of procrastination and self-doubt. Developing a regular writing practice helps combat that as you build discipline and accountability, enabling you to get the job done even when you don't feel inspired. In this post, we’ll look at some practical ways to make more time and space in your life for writing so you can succeed in whatever it is you’re working on.

Let’s talk about developing a regular writing practice.

Give yourself the best possible start by writing every day, even if only for a short period. This daily habit will help improve your skills and make writing a natural part of your routine.

Start working on a portfolio by creating samples of the work you want to be hired for. This could include blog posts, short stories, articles and essays, or even short ebooks. A strong portfolio showcases your abilities and gives potential clients a taste of what you can do, and it’s important to have one even as you start pitching for your first jobs.

Experiment with writing at different times of the day to discover when you’re most focused and creative. Everyone has a different peak productivity time. Some writers thrive in the early morning, while others find their groove late at night.

Once you find your optimal writing time, build your schedule around it to protect it from the inevitable creep of other tasks competing for your attention. Be ruthless. Anything you’re really committed to comes at the expense of something else. If writing is it, you must be willing to say no to other things.

Dedicate space in your home for writing.

The lack of a dedicated workspace is a significant obstacle many writers face when trying to find time and space to write. Without a specific area designated for writing, productivity can suffer, and distractions become inevitable.