In talking to fellow writers this summer, I’ve been hearing a pattern of reasons why people can’t write that sound similar to why people can’t do other things, like exercise.
- It’s summer.
- I have company.
- It’s too hot.
- I’m stuck.
- I’m too busy.
- It hasn’t been raining.
- Work is crazy.
- I’m taking a break.
- I’ll pick it up again in the fall.
Let’s call these reasons for what they are: excuses.
I had them, too, once, and a wise woman finally said to me, “If you really wanted to write, you would. I don’t think you really want to do it.”
I was insulted. I was angry. How could she say that to me?
She was right. I wasn’t invested in writing. I didn’t want it enough.
We all know as writers that the writing, and the editing, only gets done if we sit in the seat. An excuse I didn’t list above that is very real is Imposter Syndrome. “Why am I carving out this time to write when I don’t have any proof that I am a good writer?”
I was there, too. Trust me, just keep going.
Richard Bach, of Jonathan Livingston Seagull fame, said it best: “A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.”
Don’t quit. Don’t give up. No excuses. We do not find time. We make time. Even when no time seems to be available.
This spring arrived and my Book Three, Lobster Red, wasn’t completely finished. I had a mid-July deadline with my publisher, and in May I was marching toward it, knowing what I needed to do: finish up a few chapters and then rewrite them. I wouldn’t be able to let the manuscript breathe as long as I would have liked before the final rewrite, but if I followed my plan, I could make it work.
My routine has been to write in the morning before my full-time corporate position starts and after I take care of our dogs. Also on my plate are the demands of household duties and hitting the road for book events to promote Books One and Two of my mystery series. Additionally, we have a bounty of summer guests, with the first arriving in June and the bulk coming in July. Keeping on track with my writing was a necessity.
At the end of May, I was humming along toward Lobster Red’s deadline.
Then, on June 1, my husband saw a puppy in need of adoption.
“We should get her,” he said.
If that puppy could just wait until mid-July, I thought.
Of course, that couldn’t be an option. Puppies keep growing. They need to find homes. On June 6, Sally arrived, a young Labrador retriever puppy, to join our twelve-year-old Portuguese Water Dog, Kelton, and two-year-old Lab, Roger, still kind of a puppy himself. Now we had three dogs and another layer on my plate. Not that I had to go it alone with Sally, but all the mothers reading this know the sense of obligation I felt both to the puppy and to ensuring the other two dogs were happy.
Thankfully, I had that looming deadline. I’ll admit, it helps to hear a ticking clock. Perhaps if I hadn’t had a drop-dead date, I would have tabled finishing Lobster Red until Sally was older or the calendar had cleared of visitors.
Instead, I pivoted.
Sally’s first morning with us
I couldn’t write in my normal place because I needed to keep an eye on Sally without killing my concentration. I moved from writing at a table—I keep my desk for my day job—to writing on my laptop while sitting on our bed. All three dogs, after their breakfast and morning walk, sprawled out on the bed next to me for their nap.
Amazingly, it worked.
I had two solid hours of uninterrupted writing time every day.
The answer wasn’t finding more time. It was changing how I used the time I had.
Sally napping while I write
To finish on time and with the quality I wanted, while still meeting all my other obligations, I had to plan every moment of my day through mid-July.
It worked! Lobster Red was submitted, and I took a deep breath. But there was no rest for the weary. Everything else in my life still needed to go on, and I needed to start writing Book Four.
Sally, Roger, & Kelton
Today, I am still writing in the morning while sitting on the bed. Downeast Blue is appearing on the screen. Each day, the dogs follow me around, sleepy and wanting their naps, until I grab my laptop and lead them back to the bedroom.
Even this blog post is being written as the morning sun streams over my shoulder and their snores emanate around me.
I share this story to hopefully inspire you. If I could finish writing a novel while house-training a puppy, vacuuming up mounds of black hair, rotating company, solving problems in my day job, and pitching my novels at book fairs and library talks, maybe you’ll be surprised by what you can accomplish, too.
You may not be able to find more time. You may have to change how you use the time you have. Carve out a routine. Protect it. Adjust it when life gets in the way.
And keep writing.
No excuses.
Thank you, Dolly.
Don’t forget! Leave a comment on any August blog post to be entered into a drawing for free books!
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Allison Keeton writes the Midcoast Maine Mystery series. Lobster Red, Book Three, will launch in February 2027. She can be reached at http://www.akeetonbooks.com.
