How to Balance Writing with Everyday Life

Are you missing the energy of Camp NaNoWriMo and can’t wait for it to start again in July? If you’re trying to find time in your hectic schedule to sit down and write, participant Nicole Maharaj shares some tips to help you balance your writing time with your everyday life so you can finish your writing project:

When Camp NaNoWriMo ends, many participants are left with either a project that is mostly done or one that still feels unfinished. This year, for example, was my first Camp NaNoWriMo, working on a project I haven’t looked at since 2011. Surprisingly (to me at least), I was able to write more than I usually do, ending up just 10,000 words short of my original goal.

Now, just a couple weeks before the next Camp NaNoWriMo session begins, I’m at 52,000 words with no end in sight. Although you can create your own goal in Camp NaNoWriMo, I usually aim for the requisite 1,667 words a day (that is, 50,000 words per month). But for a lot of people—myself included—sometimes getting that amount written down is harder than it should be. A lot of writers have other responsibilities: Children, spouses, work, friends—all have a way of getting in the way of your writing. Personally, I’ve learned that if I change my goal from a daily one to a weekly one, I get more done.

I’ve never been the kind of person to get words easily down on computers. I’m sort of old school in the way that I work best with pen and paper, especially since inspiration can strike anywhere. The first draft of my 2011 project was forty pages, all long hand, done while traveling back and forth from college. So for me, rather than tracking my word count every day, the easiest way to set goals is by planning chapter by chapter. I usually make a goal on Sunday to set where I want to be in my novel by next Sunday. That way, I have a whole week to plan scenes, have characters randomly appear, and villains fall to their doom, instead of trying to rush through 1667 words in a day.

“Every writer needs to find their own way of working through writer’s block—or in my case, writing in infinite circles I can’t get out of.”

The other thing to remember is to take breaks from your writing when you need to. I noticed during Camp that while trying to get words down on paper, there were phases of my writing when I was just writing myself in circles. Now, because I’m not in Camp, I’ve learned to figure out those moments and to take a break when that happens, because all that writing in circle does is ensure I have over 1,000 words that will never make it past the editing floor. 

For example, during the past week I noticed this was happening, so I stopped writing completely and did something else creative I haven’t done in a really long time: I made some art. Really weird art with aliens and monsters, but art that eventually helped me look at how I was writing my scenes in a new light. Now, I have a much better idea of how to write my next chapter.

Of course, what works for me won’t necessarily work for everyone else. Every writer needs to find their own way of working through writer’s block—or in my case, writing in infinite circles I can’t get out of. Especially as summer is approaching, with its distracting days of BBQ’S, family gatherings, beach excursions, and long walks ahead. Even if you can only get a couple of pages every so often while in the pursuit of other interests, you should still try to make time to write.

Nicole Maharaj has been writing since she was thirteen years old. Her first published piece was a poem and short story published in a textbook in her first year of high school and has two e-books currently online via Tablo Publishing; The Prince’s Vow, and Hunter’s Bar which share the same universe, as well as most of the characters. When she’s not in that universe she’s working on her first attempt at Science Fiction: Thorns. Her author penname is Katherine Drake.

Top image licensed under Creative Commons from CollegeDegrees360 on Flickr.