How to Write Prolifically & Productively Anywhere

As a mom who has homeschooled five children, the number one question I’ve been asked is: “How do you find time to write?” A second close question is: “In such a busy household, where do you write most productively?”

I’ve touched on the first question before, but I can’t remember talking much about the second. So today, I thought I’d tackle that question.

Where is the best place for authors to write most productively? Should they have a set place and routine? What about all of the distractions and interruptions (especially for moms with kids at home)?

Let me start by saying that in my entire writing career, I’ve only had an office twice. The first time didn’t last long before the room was taken over for other purposes. After ten plus years of going without, I gained an office again last fall. I’ve had it for five months, but I gave it up when my college daughter was home for close to two months between semesters.

I love my new office (it has an enormous beautiful book shelf on the wall not showing!). But I don’t rely upon a separate, quiet space for my writing time. I never have. I’ve always had the philosophy that all I really need is a chair and a flat surface for my laptop. That means over the years I’ve worked at a wobbly card table in the basement, a battered desk shoved in a corner of my bedroom, the tiny kitchen-counter desk, and the busy dining room table.

In every single place I’ve worked, I’ve always been surrounded by my family coming and going and making lots of noise. None of my work spaces has ever been truly private, where I can sit uninterrupted for hours on end. Even now, my new office has a futon which seems to invite everyone to come sit and talk to me.

Yet, in spite of the chaos, I’m able to write multiple books a year. How is that possible? How can any author write productively and prolifically anywhere?

The KEY is self-discipline.

No matter where I write, no matter the circumstances around me, no matter the number of interruptions, and no matter the chaos, I park my butt in the chair, and I don’t allow myself to quit my work day until I reach my self-imposed daily goal (usually a word count to write or number of chapters to edit).

Of course, I’ve learned a few tricks over the years to help me focus better and drown out the chaos. Most of the time I wear headphones and listen to piano music. I almost always give myself writing sprints where I challenge myself to accomplish a certain number of words in thirty minutes. I went through a phase where I worked on an old laptop that doesn’t have internet (to avoid the additional distraction). And there have been days where I’ve had to tell my family to try not to interrupt so often.

For those writers who think they have to wait until the house is quiet and empty before they can work, I’m living proof that no writer absolutely has to have perfect conditions to write. If I’d waited until I had no distractions or interruptions, I never would have started and certainly never would have sustained a writing career.

Instead, we have to stop making excuses for not writing and start to make the most of the situations and environments we find ourselves in. Even if we write 500 words a day, it’s still something. Over a year’s time that will amount to a completed book.

I’ve learned that life is messy, but it’s often in that messy places that some of the best stories are born.

How about YOU? If you’re a writer, where do you write? And if you’re a reader, how do you handle the messes of life?