Posts Tagged ‘iced chai’
One iced chai with soy, one page written
One of the struggles I’ve had as a writer is finding time to write. During the work week, I leave the house about 7:30, commute an hour and 15 minutes, put in a full day of work and commute back. On a good day, this commute/work/commute routine takes about 12 hours. Then I feed the dogs and myself and … I’m exhausted.
I’m sure that many writers face similar challenges. Add in a couple kids and I can’t even imagine how difficult it would be.
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, the author of “Pen on Fire,” offers some great advice to writers who think they are too busy to write. First, she suggests looking at what time you do have and how you use your time, For example, how much time am I spending surfing the Net? or watching TV?
Then she suggests considering using one of these identified chunks of time to … write.
In addition, DeMarco-Barrett cautions against holding out for some great uninterrupted space of WRITING TIME. Instead, she says, look for 15 minute bits of time. She actually had us do a rapid writing exercise that was wonderful — and it took about seven minutes.
I used this strategy yesterday when I was getting my car serviced. I walked from the mechanics down to the local Starbucks and ordered an iced chai with soy. Then I plugged in my old Mac laptop and plunged into a scene. An hour later, when I got the call about my car being ready, I didn’t want to leave. I finished the scene and felt great.
So now I’m looking for more 15-minute, 30-minute and 45-minute bits of treasured writing time.
Give it a try and let me know if it works for you!
