PocketRead's Pocket Guide - How To Find The Time To Write

By Lizzie Jay

Are you a stay-at-home parent struggling to find the time to write?

From sun-up to sundown you are caring for your children and unlike other jobs, you can't clock off.

The problem is, you know you'd be fantastic at writing a novel but when could you possibly fit it in during the endless round of feeding, nappy-changing, playing, bathing, cooking, housework...I could go on...

This book contains everything you need to know about how to find those elusive pockets of time you need to write and what to do once you have found them.

Learn how to discover the time you didn't think you had, leaving you free to write your novel without adding more stress to your already busy life.

Reprioritise and reschedule so that you can free up time.

A no cost solution to finding more time to write your masterpiece while making sure your family life doesn't suffer.

Don't feel guilty by pursuing your dreams, feel good about yourself - a happy parent makes for a happy family.

Stop wishing to magically find that extra time to write and make it happen for yourself now.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lizzie Jay
• Release date: Nov 9, 2016
• ISBN: 9781540111463

Book preview

Introduction

Do you have a burning desire to write a book but don’t think you can find the time? Is there a story fizzing around inside your head while you are changing nappies but you don’t seem to have a moment to get it down on paper?

We all have busy lives these days and even more so it seems when you add children. Do you find it is increasingly difficult to find the time for yourself?

Fear not, if you know how to rig the system, it can be possible to carve out those precious moments for yourself without impacting on everything else. It all depends on you and how much you want that free time.

When I started writing I had two small children - to put your mind at rest, I still have the children but they aren’t so small any more. Any time that was solely for me was at a premium but having given up a full-time job to look after them, I also wanted to be doing something grown-up as well.

Was I sure I could write anything compelling?

No!

Did I think I had the time?

No!

Was I at all creative?

Oh-oh, that would be a no again!

But did I want to?

That was, and is, most definitely a resounding YES!

I knew I had the desire to write but I invented a heap of excuses and they always held me back.

I used to think how embarrassing it would be if I wrote something and it turned out to be rubbish. If I didn’t write anything then I could always dream about being an author if the situation had been different.

But then I came across this quote by Richard Yates,

If you don’t try at anything, you can’t fail... it takes back bone to lead the life you want 

And that made me think. If I didn’t write anything then I wouldn’t embarrass myself but equally I would never have the chance of succeeding either.

And he is right. Not trying is like failing. I was already failing so I had to stop being frightened and put pen to paper in order to succeed. I knew the life I wanted and if I needed back bone so that I could achieve it, then I had better get started.

And so must you. If you don’t bother, you will always wonder. Could you actually write anything people would want to read? Maybe you can but until you try, nobody will ever know.

It was almost impossible to find the time to write once I had made my decision but I finally took the plunge.

Over the years I’ve hit on a way to claw back those precious spare minutes during a very busy day but it was definitely trial and error to start with and disastrous at times.

I wanted to write this book