I don’t have time.
Have you ever uttered those words while doing something that wasn’t exactly the best use of your time? Because, let me tell you, those four words are the death of all things creative (or worthwhile, in my opinion).
Have you ever said them in regard to writing? Because, “I don’t have time,” is the number one excuse I hear from my clients (and most people I talk to who want to write a novel).
About a decade ago (at the time of writing this), I would think those words to myself as I actively scrolled through social media, or on my sixth click down a rabbit trail of click bait articles, or while impulsively (compulsively?) checking my Gmail. Nope, nothing new. Yep, still a bunch of junk. I’m not even sure what I was even waiting for! It’s not like I was expecting any important news in my email back then!
Fast forward to today. I now have six published books (plus my grandma’s memoir – a story for another time). Two novels and three short story collections. I trained myself to harness my time and mindset to get serious about writing. Serious enough to write and publish at least one book every year between 2019 and 2023. I’m also on track right now to get my next novel out in 2025.
So, now I must ask, have you really looked hard at how you spend your time? When you do, you’ll find that lack of time may not be what’s really standing in your way to creating a joyous and fulfilling writing life. It’s not what’s blocking you from finally starting (or finishing!) the novel you’ve always longed to write.
You know, the one that’s been festering in your soul, rotting away in your mind, tearing your heart to shreds… what? I write horror!
Okay, so maybe it’s been burning in your soul or heart or whatever… anyway… it’s been a hobby or passion you want to follow and make a reality.
In this article, we’ll discover what’s actually standing in your way when it comes to writing. I’ll coach you through a few key tactics to help you regain your sense of time and eliminate that as an excuse to avoid starting (or finishing!) your novel. In the process, you’ll develop a writing habit that you’ll actually be excited to show up for.
And hey! Maybe in the next six to twelve months we’ll be celebrating our finished manuscripts together!
Here’s what’s on the horizon when you keep reading.
You’ll learn how:
- To uncover hidden moments throughout your day for steady progress.
- Training yourself to show up for short writing sprints will boost your forward momentum.
- Simple rituals and rewards will keep you showing up and train you to get into writing mode faster.
Seriously? Even just doing the first one will give you what you need to get started writing right away.
Ready? Let’s do this!
Welcome to your novel-writing future
Imagine this <cue lovely harp strum>
You sit down at your desk, beverage of choice in your hand, and open your laptop (or notebook, or stone tablet and chisel – I won’t judge your writing tools of choice!). You’re ready to dive into the latest restart of your novel. You’ve even titled it, “Draft twenty-three” and this time you’re going to finish the sucker!
You swear! Nothing will stop you! This is IT!
No self-doubt, no second-guessing, just you and your words. You start to write. Chiseling away at this fresh start, this new Chapter One, fingers flying over the keyboard, pen scribbling across the page, chisel… chiseling – you get the point!
You reach a stopping point (maybe because your tumbly is rumbly) and sit back, feeling accomplished. You feel excited and confident about those words and – dare I say it – you feel like a Real Writer (yes, capital R, capital W).
The next day, you’re excited to show up. Excited to repeat this energizing feeling of writing! Creating! Pouring forth your soul onto the page! Bleeding your own blood into the words coming straight from your heart and soul!
Does this all sound too good to be true? Does it sound like something only people with gobs of time, no kids, no responsibilities other than sitting at home all day can manage?
Guess what, my friend?
It is possible. Feeling – and acting – like a Real Writer is right around the corner. All you gotta do is shift a key mindset-style habit that’s holding you back. And? It’s a lot easier than you might think.
Current state: Derailed by lofty goals and lack of motivation
Raise your hand if you’ve skipped a writing session because you were too tired, unmotivated, just meh, or unfocused, distracted, that sort of thing. Keep your hand up if you swore you’d make up for it the next day, but the next day comes and something else keeps you from writing, so you say you’ll make it up again, and again, and again.
And suddenly, writing your novel becomes this never-ending cycle of “I’ll do it tomorrow,” or “I’ll make it all up over the weekend!” I’ll do it later.
Spoiler alert! If you treat your writing and writing time this way, later will never come. (Whoa, that sounds super ominous, doesn’t it? Life is short and all that?)
Meanwhile, that unfinished story calls to you from your hard drive, or from your abandoned notebook, or from your stone tablet you moved out of the way to make room for something else that likely keeps you from writing. #amiright? Your manuscript calls to you, “Come back to me! Finish me! Don’t you love me anymore?” Guilt creeps in.
Furthermore, that seemingly attainable goal of 1,000 words per day you made when fired up with “getting started” energy now looks like scaling Mt. Everest in flip flops.
A lot of writers create goals that are right away far too ambitious. They hear other writers and their daily writing practices and want to adopt them as their own, thinking, “If so and so can do it, so can I!”
And maybe you can. I’m not here to say you can’t. I’m here to say, let’s look at what you can really do or else your fired up getting started energy will fizzle out into good old fashioned dread. Old Musty, aka your unfinished manuscript, will grow cobwebs, maybe some mold, definitely a weird old book smell that’s not entirely unpleasant. Something akin to sprouted mung beans.
This is where your inspiration and motivation go to die (or to at least age ungracefully). Your passion and desire are still there, oh yes they are. But they’re buried under six feet of guilt and defeat.
And then… oh just wait… and then you see a fellow writer, perhaps a friend of yours, announce that she just finished the first draft of her fifth novel. Or you see a different friend, maybe just an acquaintance who only just began his writing journey, getting an agent and their agent sold their book to one of the Big Five Publishers.
You start comparing yourself to these other writers who seem to be straight up crushing it and your mind starts to send you stories.
I’m not cut out for this.
I’m not good at this.
I’m not ready for this.
I’m not creative enough for this.
I’m not passionate enough for this.
I’m not… I’m not… I’m. Not.
Please do not despair! You are cut out for this! I know you are! I believe in you!
Those other writers? They’ve struggled too and they overcame – they just didn’t share that part of their journey. You will overcome, too!
You will write today. That’s not a request.
We – writers – all suffer from this ebb and flow of creative inspiration and motivation.
I only just pulled myself out of one a few days ago. After not writing for ten days. TEN. DAYS. I finally gave myself a mental Cher-style “snap out of it” and sat down and wrote through my block.
Lengthy aforementioned break aside, I typically show up at least five times a week, if not eight (I know right? There’re only seven days in a week!). Writing is my top priority. It’s (usually) non-negotiable. And if I skip a day, I try my hardest to not skip the next.
What if you made writing time non-negotiable? What if showing up for your writing time was easy and exciting? What if you had this keen ability to recognize when you could be writing, even if you only have a few minutes to spare?
Carving out that time, even just a little, can change everything. Every word you add to your manuscript is proof you have what it takes. You already are a Real Writer (with all the inner trappings of what that entails)!
You just have to claim it. Own it. BE it. Only then will you believe it. But first, you have to at least try.
And when you do, you’ll wake up knowing you will write today. You may even know exactly when you’ll write. You’ll gain this incredible sense of freedom. Of liberation!
You’ve shucked the shackles of expectation! You know you don’t have to write all the words today, you just have to show up. Sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, page by page.
All those brilliant ideas, snippets of dialogue, and deeply flawed characters that have been bouncing around in your head are finally getting onto the page.
And that amazing story idea that hit you upside the head while you were elbows deep delivering a breech calf (or, you know, some other more normal activity in which your hands are occupied)? It’s growing day by day into something amazing. Something you are proud of. Something real.
Writing feels like the creative escape you always wanted it to be. You’re excited to get back to your manuscript, motivated to show up and add more words, inspired by snippets of creativity that randomly come to you when you least expect it.
With the words spilling forth from your fingertips onto the page, you feel this internal shift.
You no longer hesitate to call yourself “writer,” you know you are one. And you confidently and proudly declare it! You’re unafraid when someone asks how your novel’s coming along. Writing is a part of your life, a part of your soul, or at the very least, a part of who you are. It’s no longer something you promise to get to when everything else is done, or worse, after the kids are out of the house, or you’re retired, or hell has frozen over!
It’s happening now.
The dream and deep desire to be a Real Writer becomes reality
When Brandy came to me in April 2024, she no longer felt joy about her writing. Even though the desire to write still burned inside her with the fiery passion of the romances she loves to pen, she just could not find the drive to show up.
Seven months later, Brandy typed The End on her novella. She didn’t only finish her novel, she also rekindled her love for writing, silenced the doubts that once held her back, and built a writing practice that she shows up to regularly AND that works with her life and energy.
She became a confident, inspired writer, ready and excited for the next steps and fired up to tackle whatever story comes next.
She feels like a Real Writer.
It all began with three tactics I’ve been teaching, preaching, and following. Even doing just the first one is enough to start the internal shift! Let’s get into it!
Tactic #1: Awareness of Activities
The first step in really taking a good look at how you spend your time is a phenomenon I call Awareness of Activities.
Awareness of Activities is what happens when you track damn near anything. Finances, what you shovel into your mouth, and how you spend your time. We’ll be focusing on the latter here, because you’re likely reading this article because you “don’t have time” to write.
So, in this activity, you’ll learn how to find time to write and fit writing into your daily life without having to rearrange your plans, miss out on important events, or the dreaded “make time.” It also will not leave your house a pig sty (unless that’s how you roll. No judgement here), your children or pets unfed, or your significant other feeling neglected.
Your new writing practice will fit into the nooks and crannies of your day. Side quest reward: you’ll also prove to yourself you don’t actually need hours of free time to write a novel.
Doesn’t that sound glorious?
It’s possible! Trust me.
So, Awareness of Activities… what the heck is this? It’s super simple, and also kind of a drag (I refuse to sugar coat anything). But it’s also the key factor to fitting writing in to your life.
Step 1: Create a time tracking log!
Create a simple log with three columns across the top: Start Time, End Time, Activity.
Alternately, use that special fancy planner you bought, with every intention of grabbing your life and goals by the horns, but never got around to using. (Just me? Okay then).
Step 2: Track your time
Write down every minute of how you spend your time for 2-3 days (really a full week will give you the best picture, but if you focus on two of your busiest week days and one weekend day, you’ll get a good idea).
Though the columns are self explanatory, I’ll explain them anyway, because I’m a “paralyzed if I think I’m doing it wrong” kind of person.
Before you begin, write the date you’re tracking at the top.
Start time: This is the time you start the activity.
End time: This is the time you stop doing the activity.
Activity: The activity (everything. Went to the bathroom? Log it. Walked to the kitchen, forgot what you went there for, walked back, remembered, walked back? log it. Scrolled your social media of choice? Definitely log it. Played a game? Log it.)
Be HONEST and log everything. I MEAN it. If you want a clear picture of where all 1440 minutes of your day go, you gotta track it all. No matter how trivial, track it! (this is why I said it’s a drag).
BUT, when you do this honestly and thoroughly, something amazing will happen…
Step 3: Explore Your Findings and Identify Patterns
By tracking your time on an actual log, two things will happen:
- You’ll become aware of the activities you engage in that may not be your proudest moments (like three hours on YouTube – okay, maybe an exaggeration, but you get what I mean).
- You’ll begin to choose to do something different with that time (pssst… like write maybe?)
This same phenomenon happens to me when I keep a food log (for medical analysis purposes) to see what kind of rubbish I was gettin’ in my gob on a day to day basis (and why I felt like utter garbage as a result), and when I kept a spending log to see what nonsense I was blowing all my hard earned cash on. I didn’t want my doctor to see the junk food I so crave in the afternoon on my food log, so I ate something else instead. I also didn’t want to log every frivolous trip to Amazon on my spending tracker!
I became more aware of what I tossed down my gullet and what I threw my wallet at, which resulted in less junk food (and therefore feeling better), and less spending (and therefore not panicking at the end of every credit card billing cycle).
Once you start tracking your time, you will be surprised how this awareness will stop you from picking up your phone and scrolling through social media, or playing whatever game is popular right now, or tuning in to YouTube, for an embarrassing amount of time.
You won’t want to see all that wasted time on your tracker, right? Because then you can’t use “I don’t have time” as an excuse anymore and you’ll have to face up to what’s really holding you back (more on that later).
A third thing will also happen (I know, I said two, but here’s another bonus side quest prize). You’ll start to spot pockets of time throughout your day that you could use for writing.
So, to recap:
- Create an Awareness of Activities log.
- Track your time for 2-3 days (pick one or two busy weekdays and one weekend day).
- Dive into the patterns, explore your findings, analyze your results. 🤓
If you feel so inclined, you can even reflect on how you feel looking at how you spent your time, especially if you’re into some serious self-awareness stuff (like me)!
One final note on this to drive it home: You MUST be super honest. Really track it. Write EVERYTHING down. Hour by hour, minute by minute, you’ll find some sneaky little pockets where you’re scrolling, zoning out, or procrastinating and upcycle those into writing sessions!
Tactic #2: Magical Minutes
Once upon a time, I was a Facebook junkie. I used to wish I had more time to write while actively scrolling social media. <facepalm>
Back in the Before Times (aka Covid-19 pandemic) when I had to physically drag my carcass into an office every day (I’m 99% remote now), my lunch break was MY WRITING TIME.
Some days I would sit down and crank out a thousand words. Other days, I squandered my entire 60-minute lunch break by scrolling and scrolling. Back in those days, my lunch break was my only writing time. If I didn’t write during that time, I didn’t write at all that day. No added words to the manuscript. No getting closer to THE END.
No forward progress.
Even if I had 20 minutes left, I would proceed to go back to whatever mindless nonsense I was engaged with prior to noting the lack of remaining time.
No wonder it took me 12 years to write and publish my first novel… 😳
Now? 20 minutes is my bread and butter, baby!
Okay, so I know 20 minutes doesn’t seem like enough time to even get into the writing mindset, let alone crank out enough words to make any progress, but trust me on this.
Going into the magical minutes mindset knowing you can and will write for that short amount of time will change your writing game.
I know this for certain, because I use this tactic every day, because it works. Sometimes I only write for 20 minutes, but if I have more time than that, I’ll string together multiple sessions. The 20 minutes becomes my jumping off point into a super productive writing session.
So, why 20 minutes?
Well, first of all, it’s short enough to feel completely doable—even on your busiest days, your most unmotivated days, your most uninspired days, your most brain dead days, you get the point!—and powerful enough to transform your writing practice over time (it won’t happen overnight, but stick with me here!)
Second of all, I call this practice the Toucan20 (and it just rolls off the tongue doesn’t it?). There’s a whole history around the name, involving too many libations, a writing conference, and me whispering to my writerly bestie, “You can, TOUCAN!” during a keynote speech followed by a very poorly drawn toucan on the back of my program. But that’s a story for another day.
Thirdly, a short time frame does several things for your schedule and brain:
- You don’t need to rearrange your schedule or find hours of uninterrupted time—these mini writing sessions fit seamlessly into your day.
- You can string together several sessions using the Pomodoro Technique.
- Knowing you only have 20 minutes activates your brain to transition quickly into “the zone” and dive right in.
- You’ll start to crave those short, focused sessions, and before you know it, you’ve created a habit.
- AND FINALLY, on the days in which you really do not feel it at all and you cannot even, it’s only 20 minutes. Set a timer and get to writing. Sometimes our most unmotivated days end up being our best writing days.
Okay, so remember the Awareness of Activities… activity? Take a look at your log again. Where can you fit in a 20 minute writing session? Hell, where can you fit in a 10-minute writing session?
Every day for the next 30 days, commit to sitting down and writing during one of those pockets of time. Track your word count and you’ll see, as you train your brain and body to sit for these focused 20-minute bouts of creativity, your word count will increase over time and you’ll start to get into the zone quicker.
Okay okay, of course you will still have good days and bad, so don’t beat yourself up over it if you get 500 words one day and 50 another.
50 is more than zero. Plus? You still showed up!
That’s what matters most.
Tactic #3: Rituals & Rewards
Time to draw on my psychology degree and dive into a little bit of classical conditioning!
In her book, You’ve Got a Book in You, (one of my all time favorite inspirational books on writing), Elizabeth Sims talks about getting into “garret mode,” in which you design a ritual that will train your brain to almost immediately recognize it’s time to get to work on the thing you want to do most. In this case? Write your book!~
Creating a pre-writing ritual will help you get into that coveted flow state zone quicker, you’ll write more words, you’ll get a boost of dopamine which’ll make you happy, which will encourage you to keep showing up, day after day, time after time <cue Cyndi Lauper>
Now, I’m not talking about rituals as in, let’s go sacrifice a goat under the full moon or anything that drastic. Nay nay, it’s so much simpler.
You’re going to use the tools your body has been equipped with since birth (if you are a human or humanoid creature): Your senses!
In my experience, the strongest sense you can use to create a ritual is the sense of smell.
This is because the brain’s amygdala-hippocampal complex is also the primary olfactory complex, which means the same part of the brain that processes emotions and memories also processes smells.
In fact, to this day, whenever I smell Degree antiperspirant, I’m tragically transported back to the pubescent horrors of eighth grade (which was back in the 1990s, friend).
As a better, more apropos example, the scent of the Home Sweet Home wax melt from Scentsy takes me back to when I wrote what became the final draft of my first novel, The Blood of Seven.
That’s because, at the beginning of every writing session, I would sniff a piece of the wax melt that I carried with me in my laptop bag in a plastic baggie. That aroma would trigger the “time to write” feeling any time, anywhere.
The same is true for my favorite cinnamon tea, Good Earth Original Sweet and Spicy. I drank that highly aromatic tea during every writing session when I wrote my second novel, The Gorging of Souls. Now when I drink it? I feel like I should be writing (and let’s face it… I probably should be).
So, pick a specific scent—scented candle, wax melt like I did, use a room spray, rub on some scent lotion, burp into a paper bag (whatever floats your boat, ya weirdo) that you will only smell during your writing time, and give it a sniff at the start of, and throughout, your writing session. In only a few sessions, that scent will become the activator for your writing session, and any time you smell it, you’ll want to hit the keyboard (or notebook, or stone tablet)!
The second most powerful activator for your writing ritual is sound. The second most powerful activator for your writing ritual is sound. Choosing a song or other track to listen to at the start of every writing session.
I use this “single song soundtrack” technique in a few different ways because it is so freakin’ powerful!
- Transitioning out of Corporate America day job professional Claire mode to creative book coach mode with the song “Unwritten” by Natasha Beddingfield.
- Getting amped up before a coaching call, creative conversation, or speaking engagement by listening to “Extraordinary” by Liz Phair.
- Activating my writing time for my current (at the time of this writing) work in progress by listening to “Cradles” by Sub Urban.
- Staying focused and in the writing zone with a couple different white noise tracks (to drown out Outer Banks or whatever other soap opera-esque action show my husband is watching). I use My Noise Generator, Better Sleep, and Kelly Howell’s Brain Sync: Clear Wave Creativity.
This technique is so powerful, whenever “Cradles” comes on the radio when I’m with my husband, I change the station because I only want to listen to it if I’m in a position to either write, or think about, my novel.
So, choose a song or soundscape or something to listen to at the start of your writing session and in a matter of days the first notes (or creepy atmospheric chanting) will act as Pavlov’s bell and your brain will be salivating with creative juices!
Let’s switch gears a bit into some operant conditioning (psychology 101 here we come!)
Fast forward to the end of your successful writing session. By successful, I mean:
- Did you show up?
- Did you focus only on your novel (instead of clicking away and doing something else) for the whole 20 minutes?
- Did you add at least one sentence?
If you answered yes to all of these, YAY! You did it! You’ve completed a successful writing session.
You get a gold star. Or a cookie. Or a quick stroll around the block. Or a quick scroll on social media*
In other words, you, my friend, get a REWARD!
*Remember how you upcycled your scroll time on social media or rabbit hole trail into YouTube into an awesome writing session? You can totally use a timed scroll on social media (or game playing) as a reward for getting your writing time logged. If you’re going to put a time limit on your writing session, you should also put a time limit on your favorite “time wasting” reward. Write first, scroll (or play or what have you) guilt free. Win-Win! It could be a great motivator to get your writing session done FIRST.
Whatever reward you want to give yourself for a job well done! Maybe a quick break to read, or write, or draw, or doodle? What about a mini-spa moment with a quick facial mask?
One of my students found great success in using a sticker chart with sparkly stickers! Each day she completed her 20-minute writing session, she added a sticker to the chart. Before she knew it, she’d reached The End on her novel, which was the last book in a major Big Name Author’s series!
Visually tracking your progress like this will give you an extra boost to show up day after day. It also releases happy chemicals in your brain, which further creates motivation to keep going!
So, come up with some great rewards, something you’re really looking forward to, and something you don’t get all the time.
Your writing time will become a mere stepping stone to something you genuinely love (and possibly crave!)
Combining these two powerful strategies from psychology with your newfound pockets of time with transform your 20-minute magical minus into focused, motivated, and inspired experiences, and your writing time will ultimately feel like the gift it truly is.
It may even become a reward in and of itself.
What’s actually stopping you?
I’m sure by now you’ve already started thinking about where you could fit a 20-minute writing session or two into your day, so the question now is, if time isn’t the issue, what’s really stopping you?
What if, “I don’t have time,” is a habitual excuse thinly veiling some underlying feeling you might have about your writing?
We listen way too hard to the voices in our heads telling us we aren’t creative enough, ready enough, or good enough. Instead of recognizing and reversing the saboteurs for what they are, we fall into the habit of blaming lack of time, or a long to-do list, or a busy schedule.
Here’s the thing, my friend. First, you aren’t alone and it’s not your fault. And second, the minute you recognize and acknowledge these thoughts as the excuses they are? Just like with the Awareness of Activities activity, you can learn to disregard them and write anyway.
By actively reshaping your mindset in this way you’ll learn these habitual excuses barriers are simply your brain trying to keep you safe from something that’s not even a threat! It’s not like we’re being attacked by a saber tooth tiger, are we? No! We’re writing the Next Great Novel!
Confidence, excitement, motivation, inspiration are all built through showing up and doing the work. So stop waiting for your mindset to magically improve, and force it to improve by jumping in and writing anyway.
You are a writer.
You can fit writing into your life, even if you feel to busy, overwhelmed, unmotivate, brain dead, and any other number of excuses.
Track your time, find those pockets of magical minutes, ritualize your writing sessions, and reward yourself for a job well done (even if it’s only a few words!).
And if you find time for a daily (or almost daily) 20-minute session and still have trouble showing up, take a really good look at what’s holding you back. Recognize the stories you tell yourself when it comes to your writing for what they are and write anyway to break down those walls between you and your full creative potential.
Every time you show up, whether it’s for 20 minutes or two hours, you’ll prove to yourself that you’re worthy to have what all those so called Real Writers have.
You do have time. You do know how. You are creative enough and ready enough.
You are a writer.
Tether yourself to your passion and show up anyway.
Remember. It’s only 20 minutes.
You’ve got this!
Ready to Rewrite your Mindset?
When you’re ready to keep on track to finish your book with a book coach in your back pocket cheering you on, giving you mindset adjustments, and checking in on the regular, my Brains & Glory Accountability & Mindset Mentorship may be exactly what you need.
This mentorship is for you if:
- You’re ready to believe in yourself and you ability to write a novel.
- You crave a safe space to share ideas with an expert who’s been where you are and knows how it feels.
- You’re ready for guidance through self-doubt, perfectionism, and impostor syndrome so you can finally make progress toward The End.
Does that sound like fun? Let’s talk about how I can support you on your writing journey in a free 30-minute work together call. We’ll explore your biggest writing challenges, discuss your goals, and most importantly, see if we’re a good fit.
I’ll share next steps on how we can partner together to transform your mindset and keep you excited about writing day after day. No pressure and no obligation! Just an honest conversation to help you decide if I’m the coach you’ve been looking for.
