I get this question a lot. I have three kids, a husband, a full-time job, and I am involved in several ministries at my church. So when I do I have time to write?
It isn’t really an easy answer like, “I get up at 4:00 in the morning.” Or “I spend every Saturday hunched over my computer.” Or “the fiction fairies drop it in my hard drive while I sleep.”
It also isn’t an easy answer because I’m not the most organized person on the planet (people who know me just laughed out loud at that). Some writers have scheduled time every day or every week where they write. They never miss, no matter what. Me…not so much. I AM a stickler about getting it done on time. But I am flexible about the “when” and the “where” my writing takes place.
So when do I write? It depends on what time of year it is. For example, I wrote most of First Date, half of Right Where I Belong, and most of Anomaly (coming out in July) during the summertime. When I write in the summers, I take 3-5 mornings a week and usually head to the library and/or Panera and hammer out several thousand words each day.
During the school year, it’s different. When I wrote Starring Me and Right Where I Belong, I wrote on holidays and during my free periods at school. I try to avoid spending too many Saturdays writing because those are family days, and I don’t ever want my family to think I love writing more than I love them. I finally got smart with my last book (second in the Anomaly trilogy), and I took days off work to write. That was incredibly helpful.
Mornings are most productive for me; although, when I am really on a roll, I can write in the afternoon. I have to be up against a pretty hard deadline to ever write at night. I always start with prayer and I try to always remember what Francine Rivers says about the writing process: “Let writing become another way to worship the Lord. Give all of yourself to God as a thank offering.” Writing isn’t about me. It isn’t about selling a million copies or getting rave reviews. It’s about doing what God has called me to do in the way He has designed me to do it.
