What if I Don't Have Time to Write?

Photo credit: John Schnobrich

 Years ago, I came across an article addressed to high school-aged writers. I don't remember the name of the author or the article, but I do remember that it answered the following question: How do I find time for writing in my busy schedule as a high schooler? What sticks out in my mind is that the answer was somewhat contemptuous. It was along the lines of "If you don't have enough time to write, you don't really care about writing and you need to seriously consider what your priorities are." The author acknowledged that his answer may be offensive to some. I'll be honest, I wasn't offended by it at the time. I was either in middle school or early high school and I assumed that he was probably right since he was an adult and I was a kid.

Looking back on that article as a junior in college, I am offended. In many ways, high school isn't great preparation for "life," but one thing it gets right is that it's busy. One thing I remember clearly that the author said is that sports often get in the way of writing time for high school students. I think that's fine. A lot of kids I've known have gotten great scholarships because they dedicated their high school careers to sports, or theater, or music. They've been able to reduce their college debt or not have any to begin with, which gives them a wonderful head start on life. Many will then graduate and get their own apartments, then spend a little while struggling to find the right job and pay the bills. Last semester I worked full-time at Goodwill so I could save enough money to pay cash for the university I started attending in January. I didn't write anything beside a couple poems during that period of my life, nor did I do much of anything just for fun. I try not to stereotype, but one stereotype I believe in is that writers don't often make much money. Really, it's true of any artist, but writing for a comfortable living somehow seems more attainable than winning American Idol or having your featured in the Met. Ensuring your and/or your family's survival will always be the most important goal, and sometimes writing needs to take a backseat to the actions necessary to attain that goal. All in all, busy high school becomes busy college becomes busy life. Sure, you do need to seriously consider what your priorities are, but if those priorities put writing a few steps below everything else, so be it.

I'm a huge fan of Millie Florence. She's big in the self-publishing world, and she released her first book, Honey Butter, at the age of thirteen. Ever since I'd first heard of Florence, I wanted to be her. She's about a couple of years older than me, and ever since Honey Butter I've felt that I should be "further along" in my writing career. After all, she did it at thirteen, why have I still not done it at nineteen?

The answer is, it's because we're different. There are some things we have in common, but she has a completely separate life from mine. We were both homeschooled, but homeschooling varies greatly among different families. From what Florence reveals about her personal life, it seems like her schooling was a little less intensive than mine. I was involved in co-ops from age seven to age fifteen, and in my junior year of high school, I started taking classes at a community college. I'm not insinuating that Florence wasn't busy while she was in school; contrary to some opinions, homeschooling isn't easy. But I believe the difference between my schooling and hers was a major factor in her ability to devote time to her writing at such a young age. Another difference between her and me is that her parents are extremely knowledgeable about self-publishing and marketing; I'm coming into this with little knowledge of to do. I'm starting from the ground up in educating myself about how to build a platform and start publishing books. There's little comparison between the two of us overall, and I've stopped feeling "behind" just because I haven't done the exact things she'd done on the exact same schedule.

If you have free time and you're passionate about writing, I would pass along a piece of advice to you that I heard recently: make an appointment with yourself. Look at your schedule, see where you have a free space (even if it's only a half hour or less!), make an appointment to use that time to write, and keep that appointment. One thing I personally like to do is set a minimum word count for the day. Sometimes that's only a hundred words, but it's something. But don't start feeling down if you go days, weeks, months, or even years without making any progress. Anyone can be a writer. J.K. Rowling was a single mother when she started writing Harry Potter. I know a woman who took ten years to publish her first book because she prioritized raising her children over writing. We are writers, but writing is not the be-all and end-all of our existence or identities. This is the first semester that I've been in college without having a job, and it makes it a lot easier to find time to write. But I certainly don't have all the time in the world, and there are many in far busier situations than me. If you're having trouble finding the time, trust me, it doesn't automatically mean you don't care.

So, to answer the question "How do I find the time for writing in my busy schedule:" sometimes, you don't. And that's okay. If you're really passionate about it, do it. But don't shame yourself if there are things in life that are more important to you. If you have to put aside your project. If you have to wait ten years to finish. Live your life. Tell your story every single day whether or not it ever gets written down.

You're a person, so be one. And don't feel guilty about it.

"I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in my life. And I am horribly limited."

~ Sylvia Plath