It’s back to school week for most
kids in the UK, my daughter included, and I have gone from a busy, often noisy
house, to one that is eerily quiet. It was a busy six weeks and although we
didn’t have a family holiday (it’s the busiest time of year on the farm which
means we never get away in the summer), we had day trips and met up with
friends. 
I love spending time with my
daughter. She’s interesting and fun. The hardest part about the holidays, however, was
finding time to write. Life seems to be getting busier. So I faced the
realisation I would have to find a way. I heard it said once that writing time
isn’t found it’s made. 
1. Staying up later. I quite liked
the idea of this one. I imagined myself tapping away at the keyboard under the
light of my work lamp while the house around me was utterly silent. It didn’t
work. I was just too tired.
2. Ignoring the housework (for a
while). Instead of getting the housework done first thing to get it out of the
way, I did it in the evening, when there was no real need to think too hard.
3. Writing in shorter bursts. This
was a hard one. I prefer a solid amount of time to sit down and write. I get
stuck into my work in progress and get the words written. Not so easy in the
school holidays. Some days, there would be barely 5 minutes to spare, other
days, I might squeeze in 2 hours if I added up all the short bursts. But with
practice, I got into writing mode quickly.
4. Getting up earlier to write.
This one was hard but effective and I didn’t touch emails and social media
during that dedicated time.
5. Writing long hand. I would get
my notebook out and jot down some thoughts, snippets of dialogue or character
traits. In many ways, this is linked to writing in shorter bursts. Sometimes it
worked, sometimes it didn’t, but at least I was thinking about the story and
it’s so much easier to get into writing mode if I remember what my characters
have been up to.
6. Play dates. They entertain each
other when they’re together and when my daughter’s away with her friends, hey presto, writing
time.
The sad reality however is the
knowledge that every year is different and what worked one year doesn’t
necessarily work for the next as she grows up but one thing doesn’t change – I’m
definitely a happier person once I’ve had some writing time.
Do you have a way of carving
writing time out of the day?
