I talk to lots of writers who tell me that they just don’t have enough time to write. But here’s the thing: we all have only 24 hours in the day.  And the really cool thing is you can break down your writing into small chunks of time.

You can get some writing done in as little as 10 minutes.

Don’t assume you need hours and hours of free time to write. You might not have the flexibility — or the mental energy — to write for hours. Try using the following times to get some writing done.

• Before you get out of bed in the morning. When you wake up, roll over, turn on your light, grab your notebook and write for a few minutes. You could even try doing “Morning Pages.“ More on this here.

• While you’re waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. Don’t just stand there watching the coffee drip into the pot, put some words on the page!
• While you’re in the car. I’m not saying you should write while you’re driving, but you can record your voice using your phone’s voice recorder app.
• While you’re waiting for an appointment to start. It can be doctor’s appointment, a teeth cleaning or even a meeting. There probably is going to be some downtime before you are needed. Write then!
• Write in the bathroom. I know it sounds funny, but you can make use of that time too! What if you spent your time writing then versus browsing on your phone?
• While eating breakfast. There are times when you can jot down some ideas and stories while eating your eggs. Just try it out.
• On your lunch break. Use that lunch hour as a time to be creative. The really cool thing is you may even get more than 10 minutes of writing time at lunch. If you wrote before work and during your lunch hour, you have some great momentum going for writing after work too.
• While you’re cooking. Unless you’re making a new dish, you’ve probably mastered the art of making dinner. So jot down a few words instead of just watching that food simmer on the stove.
• Before you go to sleep. When you climb into bed, write for 10 minutes. Your subconscious will keep going and even fill in some of the blanks while you’re busy dreaming.
• Instead of watching TV at night. I don’t know about you, but I spend more time than I’d like to admit watching TV at night. Just mix in some writing and you’ll start to see some tremendous progress.

These smaller writing sessions stack up. And your brain is going to keep working on your stories via your subconscious while you’re not writing, so you’re actually getting more done than you realize. These are just a few ideas you can put to use.

Want even more help? My 5-Day Writing Challenge will help you build up your writing habit.

All too often I see so many people playing the short game. Focusing too much energy on blog posts or social media is often a waste of time. These things come and go. What’s relevant one day is not the next day.

Winging it as far as content goes is the common content strategy. Here are a few signs that you’re winging it. You’re sharing quotes. You’re inconsistent with your content.

Instead, we all need to focus more on creating long-term assets. What do I mean?

Creating Long-Term Assets

Writing a book is one of the best long-term assets you can create. And one really cool way to do it is to blog your book. You could compile a bunch of posts or articles together and release them in book form.

When you write a good book, it will open a lot of doors for you. I personally know many authors who have found speaking gigs, consulting work, coaching (one-on-one and group coaching), created courses, and much more.

The book itself can make you money as well, but that’s not the best way to look at it. I view a book as a key that unlocks many doors that were once closed to you. I personally have landed at least 10 freelance jobs from my first book, Ready Aim Fire. Not to mention it helped me get out of debt too and gave me the confidence to go out on my own as a professional writer.

Your Email List

This one is non-negotiable, no matter what you’re doing. So please start building your email list TODAY. I wrote this article breaking down the different email service providers. Even if you don’t think you have an audience, sign up for an email provider. Everyone starts at zero.

There are quite a few fantastic YouTubers with hundreds of thousands of subscribers. I even know some with millions of subscribers. While everything is hunky dory right now, who is to say that YouTube won’t change their terms of service one day? What if Google just decides to sell off YouTube?

Don’t forget that one piece of content — even a single Tweet — could possibly get you banned from a platform.

And that’s even if you make a mistake or word something poorly. Remember, “cancel culture” cancels first and asks questions later. I know this sounds extreme, but it’s the truth.

When something goes haywire, how do you contact those who support you? Email. Email isn’t going away. Anything else can — and often will — go away. No one predicted the demise of MySpace, AOL, Yahoo Messenger, Geocities, or many other online platforms. The only constant is change with technology.

Building A Connection Hub

What on Earth do I mean by that? I mean a place that other people can connect with you and find your work. This likely could be a website. You do need one of those too. But even a minimalist one-page website could be fine. I personally like this option right here because it’s so simple and affordable.

You could have your portfolio on this page, but I really like to think of this more as a snapshot of all of your work as well as some helpful info about you. If you really want to do this well, be sure to include case studies as well.

Don’t forget — while this is your content, and you’ll be sharing some about yourself, it’s not all about you. It’s actually all about the end user. So, make it inviting. Don’t be me-focused. Rather, be end user-focused, and tell them a story. Bonus points if you use video! No one does this.

Improve Your Storytelling Skills

The most valuable skill today is storytelling. I could argue that self-awareness is up there too, but let’s be honest — that can even fall under storytelling too. Self-awareness depends on the ability to understand the story you are telling yourself.

No matter what you do, you are telling other people stories. Getting more sales is storytelling. Getting more referrals is storytelling. Even accounting is storytelling in a sense. When you work on your storytelling skills, you can serve others better and connect with people on a deeper level. Keep improving these skills and you will see growth.

The Takeaway

Opportunities come your way when you have long-term assets.

If you were to ask me, I personally think the best choice is to write a book. I know it changed my life. As an author, you have key that opens many, many doors. I’ve helped clients all over the world write books that are now long-term assets. And I’ve also worked with many authors who have developed courses out of their books too.

If you’ve ever considered writing a book, I’d love to chat with you. I have some fantastic resources to share with you. Right now is the perfect time to write a book, even if you don’t have much time to spare. You can write a book in as little as 15 minutes a day.

You start writing your book with the best of intentions. And then momentum fades. You decide to take a break. Then your book sits there on your computer’s hard drive gathering dust.

You know you should finish it, but in your gut, you’re just wondering if you should start another book.

Sound familiar?

There is good news — you can absolutely finish your book. This short guide will help you move past procrastination and give you the momentum you need to finish your book.

When writing a book, it is helpful to remind yourself this fact: creativity is a very messy process.

“The creative act is primitive. Babies are born in blood and chaos. The most cultured mother gives birth sweating and dislocated and swearing like a sailor.” Steven Pressfield

The messiness is unavoidable — yet, somehow, we often go to great lengths to try to avoid this fact. It’s time to finally embrace the messiness of writing and accept it’s there.

The problem is that instead of sorting through the mess and spending time actually writing, it’s easy to do other things instead like…

1. Downloading a new app you don’t really need.

2. Spending hours unintentionally browsing online and then label it as “research.”

3. Talking about writing on social media.

4. Spending hours “working” in your email inbox.

5. Watching movies on Netflix for hours on end.

6. Listening to writing podcasts or watch interviews with our favorite author.

7. Jumping from one writing project to another (often to avoid doing the difficult work and to avoid finishing).

Completion of any of these tasks may even make you feel good. Some are even writing-related.

But, in many — if not most — cases, they are really procrastination.

If you want to be a cook, you can’t spend all of your time talking about recipes and finding inspiration on Pinterest. Eventually, you have to go into the kitchen and start cooking, right?

Step 1: Get all of your ingredients together and combine them together.

Step 2: Finish preparing the meal, and then cook it. Now, you have a meal.

Writing is no different.

There will be times when you screw up the recipe and make something that is not edible. That’s okay.

It happens to all of us from time to time. At least you finished the meal, right? Just keep making more messes. Keep creating.

A Simple Test For You

Scroll up to that list of seven items again. See one that stands out to you? Maybe even a couple? Or maybe you thought of something else.

That’s your dragon. You must confront your dragon because he is going to continue to stand in your way.

You must be brave, even if you don’t feel brave at this moment.

When you face that dragon, you’ll need a sword. And when you write, you’ll find that sword. Instead of running from a challenge, you can face it. You can even defeat it.

The Number One Problem

For every writer — at every level — making and defending writing time is a lifelong battle. It’s not just that hard during the season of life you are in — it is always that hard.

“One must be pitiless about this matter of “mood.” I’ve forced myself to begin writing when I’ve been utterly exhausted, when I’ve felt my will as thin as a playing card, when nothing has seemed worth enduring for another five minutes… and somehow the activity of writing changes everything.”

Joyce Carol Oates

Once you decide to set aside time for writing, you’ve got to be intentional about it.

When are you going to write? Put it on your calendar.

Block off the time and don’t let anything else get in the way. Get stubborn and get committed to showing up.

Next, you’ve got to attach some form of consequence to the act. If you could finish your book on your own, you’d already have done it by now, right? By consequence I mean show up and do the work you say you’re going to do or face some result. For some people, deadlines work well. I recommend having a coach or another writer check in with you via text. Why text? So you’ll actually read it and see it. Text messages have a way of cutting through the mix that emails do not.

You could also meet in person with another writer for coffee on a regular basis to hold each other accountable. There are many ways to get the support and encouragement you need to finish.

The Next Step

As you dive back into your book, you must answer an important question: where are you really at with your book right now?

It’s time to be 100% honest. Reread what you have written so far. It’s okay if you’re not happy with it or you think it is terrible. The good news is you can always edit it.

You can’t write and edit at the same time. If you do, you’ll only spin your wheels and stay stuck. Remember, no matter what you are writing you have to have a compelling beginning (act 1), an interesting middle (act 2) and a satisfying conclusion (act 3).

Spend some time with your book. Think about your book. You may only have one act. You may have all three acts, but act two might be boring and not hold the reader’s interest. Wherever you are, after you spend some time with your book you’ll have a better idea of where you need to focus your time.

Stay On Track With Your Book

Remember all books have a beginning, middle, and end. The confusion often lies when your mind jumps around. Your mind might move from the beginning to the end and then land back on the middle.

To map things out, jot down your ideas and put them into order.

This is the hardest part; if there isn’t a clear-cut beginning, middle and end, the book will likely need more work. Talk it over with a friend, and get feedback if possible. A second perspective can make a world of difference.

If you are working on the beginning of your book and know what you want to write about in that part, focusing on the final steps for the book launch will not help you. Multitasking is a myth and does not make you move any faster.

Resist the urge to skip ahead. Focus on the task at hand — today’s writing.

Keep in mind that it is common to fall off track while you write your book; make a plan to have others help keep you accountable and help you stay disciplined.

Set A Schedule

When you set a schedule, you give yourself a roadmap. Try your best to stick with it for the length of your book. You can tweak and change things next time. Right now, do whatever you can to stay disciplined and focus on finishing. Do remember that your self-control is finite.

Give yourself breaks, and establish boundaries to help you keep moving forward. As you establish good habits, they will become an essential part of developing your writing routine.

Measure Your Progress

Not all writing sessions will go as well as others; all you can do is put in the time and give your best effort.

Sometimes you will write a couple of thousand words. Other times you will write 200 words. This is absolutely normal. Accept this and know it is part of the journey in writing your book.

Some writers are just faster than others. Don’t worry about that as there is no real right or wrong way to do your work — the most important thing is that you do the work.

Say hello to your new best friend: data. I know data isn’t normally very exciting, but data will help you move past emotion. You’re going to have a few rough spots in finishing your book, and data will provide you with the powerful information you need to move forward and type ‘The End.’

Many writers use word counts as a primary way of tracking your progress. However, there is an inherent danger in this; there will be times where you push yourself to meet a high word count for the day, and the writing is garbage.

There will be some days you write less but your writing will be fantastic. To have a more balanced approach, consider tracking your progress in hours and in words per day. Then you at least have two tools to measure progress.

Keep It Simple

Writing a book is hard enough, so leave yourself clear notes that you can follow. In my experience, post it note tabs on a manuscript can fall off — so if you decide to use those, it would be wise to reinforce them with tape. If you decide to leave yourself comments on the Word document, that’s fine too. The good thing about that approach is you can always save the document in several places.

Work on one chapter (or scene) at a time.

If you like to mark up pages with a pen instead of editing on a computer, you could print out one chapter at a time. This will also help you have more momentum as you edit and rewrite, because it is not as overwhelming holding a stack of 5 pages in your hand as it is looking at a 150-page manuscript. In addition, it is a lot easier to focus on one scene or chapter for writing.

Having a plan for both your writing process and editing process is essential.

In many cases, writers have a rough rough rough draft that is not finished. Here are a few tips that you can use to help you plan your writing process and also the editing process.

Commit to keeping writing and editing separate. For example, if you’re writing the book in Scrivener, edit in Word. When you keep each task separate, you’ll have more clarity. Remember, writing and editing are two very different tasks. Don’t let them blur together.

Writing is moving the sand into the sandbox.

Editing is using different tools to move the sand and making sand castles.

Writing is really messy by nature.

Editing is cleaning up the mess.

Finishing Requires Momentum

As you keep writing, you’ll find momentum in many different ways. So once something works for you, keep doing it. Don’t change things up. Remind yourself of the success that you have already had.

Don’t believe the lie that once you have created the first draft, your work is finished. That is a lie. The creative process is messy. Your brain rarely works in order. The middle blurs together with the end. What you originally thought was the beginning could really be the middle.

Be willing to embrace the mess. Let your fear of creating something that is not perfect go. Sounds a little scary, right?

It is.

But you’ve finished your work before. When you think about it, you even have an approach that you’ve used in the past that you know works.

It’s a fact. You know how to do this. You’ve done difficult things before.

A Final Word

No matter where you are today, please know you can finish your book. If you’d like some encouragement or help, just ask for it. You’re surrounded by more people that are cheering you on than you realize. Ask for some support, follow this plan, and you’ll soon be holding your finish book in your hands.

You just started creating a story. Things are going well, and then… you start to second guess yourself. You don’t know what comes next, so you find yourself distracted, and you give into it.

Within a matter of seconds you are consuming the many stories around you: movies, social media, and a million other forms of content. Then your own story gets pushed aside for the others that are finished and available right in front of you.

A tap or click here, a swipe there, and you have more stories than you can consume in a lifetime. If this feels familiar, please know you’re not alone.

We’re All In A State Of Story Overload

Everywhere you look, you are surrounded by stories. It’s absolutely unavoidable. Online and offline. Digital and analog. Stories are all around you; each one is battling for your attention.

So what can we do about it? How do we create and tell our own stories?

Here are some specific steps you can take.

Go Ahead And Get Distracted

Instead of trying to avoid all distraction, just embrace the distraction. Go for a story dive. Dive as deep as you want down the rabbit hole. But you should do it intentionally, with a timer.

One hour is fine. A half an hour is even better.

Figure out what you love and what you hate.

• What inspires you?
• What excites you?
• What bores you?
• What makes you move on to another story?

All of this matters a lot more than you realize. This will also help you figure out a way to tell your story.

Next, Start Planting Story Seeds.

A story seed is an idea that interests you. It will often start with two powerful words: What If…

Set aside your story seed and see if it grows.

And the story seed may or may not grow. That’s okay.

Some Story Seeds Take More Time To Grow

It might develop into a short story, a blog post, a video or a podcast. Maybe it will even become a novel or a screenplay.

You can’t control the story seed. All you can do is feed it and nuture it.

So how do you do that?

Go back to those two words: What if… Allow your mind to wonder. Then answer the question. There are no right or wrong answers.

And it’s totally fine if no answers come.

If it doesn’t come bursting out of you
in spite of everything, don’t do it.

If you have to wait for it to roar out of
you, then wait patiently. — Charles Bukowski

 

Keep showing up. I know it sounds like work, but stories require effort.

Good stories rarely — if ever — write themselves.

But you know in your gut there is something there. A story is waiting somewhere. Don’t give up. Every time you show up, you keep giving story seeds the water and sunlight they need.

One day, you’ll start to see some serious growth.

A Simple Story Structure You Can Use

Here’s a simple way to write better stories that screenwriters have known for years: stories have a three-part structure to them.

All stories have a beginning, middle and end.

Too much of any one part and the audience gets bored. Once you figure out what part of the story you’re working on, the easier the writing gets.

You suddenly have some perspective. Now you can start putting the pieces together.

Suddenly you will start to see where things start to come together. But it can’t that easy, can it? Let’s dig a little deeper into the parts of a story.

Your Takeaway

Focus on one story to tell at a time. I know this is a challenge because simplicity is not easy to achieve when you are distracted. You might have to unplug altogether and start from scratch. Spend some time alone and use paper if the computer or phone are distracting you.

Tell the one story in the easiest way possible. Don’t make it complicated. If it seems confusing, keep digging and take the story to the most simple level. The more you keep digging — and simplifying — the more clarity you’ll have.

Try the 3-act structure. Everything fits into a beginning, middle and end. It just might not be in that order at first. So keep playing with it. Keep working on it. Don’t give up. Stories take time.

Want some support? I offer professional coaching to make sure you craft the best story possible.