How to Find Time When You Don't Have Anyby Bette LaGow I've discovered that sometimes there really are more than 24 hours in a day, if you want there to be. Ironically, the busier I get, the more compelled I am to work on my "pro bono" work, i.e. my novel. About six months ago (about the same time my second son was born) I started getting offered a lot of freelance copyediting work. I soon found myself sitting in front of my computer, son nursing on my lap. And getting a surprising amount of work done. (How's that for multi-tasking? He's sitting on my lap as I write this trying to remove my glasses...) And as is wont to happen, when you do some work, you often get thrown more. Before long I was editing several text books and a cache of monthly newsletters and finally making a financial contribution to our family coffers once again. And really missing working on my novel... At first I justified my stasis in that area by saying I had to do the paying work first. But money or no, it is not as rewarding fixing someone else's writing as doing a bit of your own. So little by little, I started finding the time to get back into my book -- one line at a time. And lo and behold, soon I'd finished Chapter One. I'm well into Chapter Two now. Here are my pointers for finding stolen minutes in a busy day to work on what you really love: 1. Keep your novel open on your computer's desktop. Then, when inspiration hits, or you're put on hold for five minutes, or your baby stays asleep just a little bit longer than you expected, you can easily access and work on your book. 2. Give up that bubble bath, or sitcom, or magazine, or whatever to buy yourself a little more time for your book. 3. Seize the moment, then clean it up later. If you've got a brainstorm and the only thing available is a matchbook, write small and think big. (John Lennon and Paul McCartney were asked at 11 p.m. to write the title song A Hard Day's Night. By early the next morning they arrived at the studio, matchbook and hit song in hand.) 4. Become beholden to someone -- a critique group, a fellow RWA'er, your cat -- anyone who you'll be ashamed to look in the eye without something new since the last time you looked them in the eye. My group is great, even if all I've got are two new pages to their two new chapters, they are encouraging and still take me and my efforts seriously. 5. Don't beat yourself up if all you write is a line, or only manage to work for ten minutes. It's better than sitting there feeling guilty about not writing at all. Bette LaGow is the mother of two boys, copyedits at home and tries to get down a line or two of her mainstream paranormal, the first chapter of which recently took First Honorable Mention in the Windy City Chapter's Four Seasons Contest. She is a member of the Hudson Valley RWA. This article originally appeared in the April 1997 issue of A Word About Romance. GDRWA thanks the Hudson Valley chapter for allowing us to reprint it.
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