How do you find time to write? It’s something that I’m always interested in when I talk to people who work full time and have families and personal lives and still manage to publish widely and follow their creative pursuits. The answer will vary, but I’ve found that for people who love to write finding time is all about making time because it’s important to them. They wake up early and write or they give themselves a word count goal to accomplish before going to bed.
Writing is a solo practice, and every writer has their own unique perspective and relationship with their practice. But to get anything done takes discipline, even if that’s not what it feels like at the time.
I used to just write. I always had a notebook with me and I wrote in it daily and whenever I had a thought. I have fond memories of sitting on a concrete slab at the bell tower at Temple University and writing poems like I was being guided by the muses. I think I can still feel like that sometimes, I can still have fun with writing and just do it because I’m in the mood, but it’s less consistent and not as effortless. I often have to coax myself into it. I think about writing while I’m watching TV, and I tell myself I will do it later.
It’s just me, no deadlines. No one is expecting anything from me. If I’m not getting my ideas out there it’s only my own fault. That’s one thing I like about having this Substack blog: I said I would post weekly and so I have a new weekly deadline I’m obligated to. With the publication I run, Be About It Press, I am also under obligation. I enjoy making zines and books and mailing them out to people who want to read them, and because I’m handling the work of other writers and artists it gives me more reason to not slack off.
I work better with a deadline. It’s always been so. When I was in college and was assigned papers to write, I would spend the majority of my time researching and reading about the topic and I would wait until the night before to gather my thoughts and type something out. When I was a kid I would procrastinate on my homework and my mom would have to sit beside me to keep me from getting distracted so that I could get it done.
My habits have improved since then, but not by that much. I still need that pressure sometimes in order to perform. The Wednesday night writing group I host on zoom gives me structure, and it’s fun to write to prompts with friends. The time limits are a deadline, and the group environment means I’m somewhat being held accountable to make something. I’ve been writing short stories during group, and I polish them up afterward. It’s been a very helpful practice.
In Be About It Press news, Richard Loranger’s new book Be A Bough Tit is out and available for purchase. If you’d like to hear a preview, Richard is reading at an event on Saturday, November 21 (today!!!) starting at 2pm via zoom presented by Segue Reading Series and hosted by Venn Daniel and Lonely Christopher. Speaking of which, I’m working with an art on designing a cover for Lonely Christopher’s book Double Rainbow for an early 2021 release. 2021 is going to be a busy year for Be About It Press, with books from Carrie Hunter, M; Margo, and Jesse Prado. On top of all that, we’ve also got a new Be About It zine coming out in December with a fun theme: a song that you listen to in order to remember something. I want to write a piece for it because there are many songs I listen to so that I can daydream back to a distant time in my life, but I need to just pick one song and write about it. Or give myself a deadline, lol.