“I wish I had more time for writing.”

“One of these days, after graduation/swim season/the holidays I’ll have time to really write.”

“With all my commitments, there just isn’t enough space in my schedule to write like I want to.”

“Even when I do get to write, by the time I remember where I was in the story, I’ve run out of time for the day.”

I don’t know you, but I’m guessing that you’ve thought or said one of these sentences (or something similar) at some point in your writing life. I don’t know any writers who feel 100% amazing about their writing time. This includes professionals. (I would maybe even say especially professionals.) Even if we’re lucky enough to have writing time, we often want more writing time. Or we want to feel like we’re more productive with the writing time that we have.

In addition to writing and stories, another passion of mine is time management. I’m an absolute nerd about it, and that’s why I wrote the ebook Making Space For Writing. You can get it for free when you subscribe to Go Teen Writers Notes, our weekly email that goes out with an update from the blog as well as a resource or two we think you’ll find useful.

If you feel like your writing time would benefit from more focus and intentionality, I hope that ebook is a helpful resource for you! Today, I want to share 3 common obstacles writers often cite when struggling to find time to write and ideas for overcoming them.

Obstacle 1: “I have no time to write!”

I’ve caught myself saying this sometimes. My personal favorite scenario is when I have a very full schedule and no convenient time to write, so I get on Google Chat and start whining to Roseanna, my best friend and fellow writer, that I have NO time to write. I might sit there and spend fifteen minutes typing out all the details of what my day looks like, and all the commitments I have that will keep me from writing. I offer all of this as proof that life is unfair and I have “no time to write!”

Well, I mean other than right now when I’m choosing to spend my time writing about how I don’t have time to write…

Cringe.

So is the truth that I have no time to write? Not usually. Typically, it’d be more accurate for me to say, “I don’t have much time to write,” or, “I don’t have any ideal time to write,” or, “I don’t have as much time as I want to write.”

I think the first step to overcoming the obstacle of “no time to write” isn’t actually finding time to write, but rather being honest with yourself about the situation. Why does this matter? Because if I say that I don’t have “any” writing time—which tends to be a gross exaggeration anyway—it leads me to poorly manage the time I do have. I’m discounting the value of that time, saying “it’s not real writing time” (whatever that means) so I’m not thinking about how to best invest the time I have.

When I instead view my writing time through the lens of, “I have some writing time, just not as much as I’d like,” then I’m much more likely to protect the time I have, to use it specifically for writing, and to make sure that I steward the time well.

Possible solutions to this obstacle:

Ask yourself when am I going to write today?: In my early years as a writer, I approached my writing time with the question, “Am I going to write today?” A question like this tends to have me thinking do I feel like it? Are there any hour-long chunks of time that I can devote to writing? When I got my first contract and had to make time for writing, I learned to instead ask “When am I going to write today?” This assumes writing is going to happen, it’s just a matter of me figuring out where to plug it into my day.

Find a partner: Some of us do best when another person is counting on us. That’s why some writers work best with deadlines or in one of those critique groups where you turn in a chapter every week. Even having a deal with a friend that you’re going to text them at the end of the day and tell them how many words you wrote or why you didn’t write can make a huge difference in you actually getting some writing done. They don’t have to be a fellow writer, just someone who supports you.

Set yourself small, achievable goals: Writing longform fiction is a big undertaking, and feeling overwhelmed is natural. When you know you’re writing an 80,000 word book and you only have 15 minutes today to write, it’s easy to slip into the mentality of “what’s the point?”

But if you do some quick math, those 15 minutes start to feel more substantial. I did a word sprint last week in our Patreon group that lasted 15 minutes. I wrote 260 words. That means, if I write just 15 minutes a day for 7 days, I’ll add 1,820 words to my manuscript. If I write 30 minutes for 7 days, I’ll add 3,640 words in just one week!

As much as I love having multiple hours a day for my writing session, I’ve learned to not snub 15 minutes if I can get them!

On really busy days or during busy seasons, do something instead of nothing: There are some seasons that you really are not able to write. When my son had epilepsy, a lot of my time went toward doctor visits, hospital stays, and generally caring for him. While I wasn’t literally doing that 24/7, that’s where my headspace was basically all the time. Sitting down to write sounded like really hard work, even on the days that I had time for it. Instead, I opted to do “something writing-related” every day. I might listen to a writing podcast while making dinner, read a research book, or just sit and daydream about my story idea.

Obstacle 2: “Even when I have time to write, I don’t know what to work on.”

Have you ever longed for writing time, and then when you finally had the chance to sit down and write, you found yourself immobilized by all your options? Should you spend your time revising the manuscript you finished a few weeks ago? Or working on the draft of your historical fantasy? Or writing a short story for your website? You only have an hour and you don’t want to choose wrong!

There’s nothing wrong with being the type of writer or creative who likes to work on multiple projects at a time. (If that’s you, don’t miss Jill’s post on being an “in development” writer) but at some point you do have to choose what you’re going to focus on right now. Like, during this writing session because revising a manuscript, drafting a new one, and writing a short story is a lot to ask of one hour!

Sometimes writers get frozen by not wanting to choose “wrong.” If they have multiple stories they want to write, how do they know what’s best? You won’t know until you actually start making progress on one. Pick one, whatever you’re most excited about, and work on that. If next week you decide that was the wrong choice, change your mind. That’s okay!

Possible solutions to this obstacle:

Consider your goals for writing. Identify which project matters most to you based on what aligns with your goals: These don’t have to be goals like, “I want to be a bestselling author” or, “I want to be published before I graduate,” though they can be! Even smaller goals like, “I want to finish a full manuscript” or, “I want to write a story about my grandparents,” or, “I want to have fun when I write,” can be really helpful guides when it comes to choosing how you spend writing time.

If your goal is to finish a full manuscript, then pick the project that’s the closest to done and work on that. If you want to write for fun, pick what feels most exciting. If you want to be a bestseller, take a look at the NYT list and see which one of your ideas seems the most likely to fit there.

Have a (loose) schedule for what you work on when so you don’t have to decide in the moment: Sometimes it works best if you pre-determine what you will work on and when. Like, “in the morning, I’ll work on my epic fantasy and in the afternoons I’ll write poetry.” Or, “During the week I’ll work on my short story and on the weekends I’ll work on editing my novel.” This isn’t about setting up a rigid schedule but rather making it so that you don’t have to spend writing time making a choice about what to write.

At the end of your current writing session, decide what you’ll work on at your next writing session: This is another less-structured way to do the same thing. At the end of your writing session, identify when you’ll write next and what you’re going to work on.

Obstacle 3: “I want to write, but when I do have writing time I end up insert-procrastination-method-here instead.”

This might be the trickiest one of all. Yes, there are the time sucks that we all know about–social media, your phone, Netflix. But what about that sneaky procrastination, where it kinda looks like writing . . . but it’s not.

One example of sneaky procrastination is using what could be writing time for learning more about writing. This could be with a website like Go Teen Writers, an excellent podcast like Helping Writers Become Authors, an amazing book like Save The Cat! Writes A Novel, or any other number of wonderful ways we have to learn about writing. Learning about writing is good. But spending so much time studying writing that you don’t actually have time to write? That isn’t so good. That’s when you’ve tipped toward sneaky procrastination, because on the surface it looks like you’re doing a good thing for your writing, when really you’re hiding from writing.

One of the sneakiest ways that we can procrastinate is by researching or creating something for our story but doing it to excess. I’m talking about fantasy writers who spend months creating their storyworld, like Jill Williamson shared in this post. Or historical authors who invest loads of money and time on research that doesn’t really matter to their story. Or writers who keep rewriting chapter one because it isn’t “perfect” yet.

Possible solutions to this obstacle:

Identify all forms of your procrastination, sneaky and not sneaky: One of my not sneaky ways of procrastinating is my phone (texts, scrolling social media) and some of my sneaky forms of procrastination are organizing and email. Once you know how you procrastinate, you can identify a way to not do that. I keep my phone out of my office when I’m writing and only check it once every hour. I give myself a 15-minute time limit to reply to emails before I start writing, and that gets me out of my inbox.

Develop a rewards system. “If I write, then I…” : Rewards can be hugely helpful! For example, let’s say you want to write 500 words today, but you’re really struggling. Instead of trying to use discipline to get yourself through, try using something fun. If I write my 500 words, then I can read. If I write my 500 words, then I can get on Instagram.

Small rewards I’ve used are:

• Getting a snack.
• Refilling my coffee.
• Taking a walk on a lovely day.
• Being done for the day

These little rewards boost my happiness and enjoyment as I write, and guess what? My brain likes to do things that make me feel happy and joyful, which means that I’m more likely to choose to write during writing time because my brain remembers, “last time I did that, it felt really good.”

Set a time limit for yourself: Often times it’s helpful for me to decide, “I only have to write for 25 minutes and then I can be done for the day.” You might find that you’re more motivated to write when you don’t have in your head that you have to write for hours at a time.

Be excited about what you’re working on: There’s nothing more motivating than enthusiasm. If you love what you’re working on, you’ll be far less tempted to procrastinate! I’m going to do a post about this in the near future.

Is there an obstacle on this list that you identify with more than the others? Is there another one you’d like to talk about?

Stephanie Morrill writes books about girls who are on an adventure to discover their unique place in the world. She is the author of several contemporary young adult series, as well as two historical young adult novels, The Lost Girl of Astor Street and Within These Lines. Within These Lines was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection, as well as a YALSA 2020 Best Fiction for Young Adults pick. Since 2010, Stephanie has been encouraging the next generation of writers at her website, GoTeenWriters.com, which has been on the Writer’s Digest Best Websites for Writers list since 2017. She lives in the Kansas City area, where she loves plotting big and small adventures to enjoy with her husband and three children. You can connect with Stephanie and learn more about her books at StephanieMorrill.com, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.