Have you ever run across / read about an author who says if you don’t write every day you’re not a professional author? It’s pretty intimidating.

I know all about juggling time. I am a wife and mother of a toddler, I have a full time job, I am working on my thesis for my Masters, and I try to save time for friends. It’s hard to find time to write every day, and truthfully I don’t. I sometimes can’t even get a blog up and I only post once a week!

I had a break-through recently about the concept of writing every day. I know lots of authors who write by time and others who write by word-count. They don’t stop until the timer goes off, or the word-count is reached. It sounds great in theory, but sometimes life gets in the way.

I realized if you are struggling with getting new words written every day, there is a way for you to still spend some time on your writing without stressing yourself out about getting it done every single day. The idea is to plan out what your allotted time is supposed to be for, and stick to that plan.

For example, you can say, “Today I am spending 40 minutes editing my last scene” or, “Today I am not getting up from this chair until an outline is made.” The idea is to set a  goal that will further your story, but not pressure you into having new material every time.

Some ideas for your time can be:

• Editing a certain section and/or editing for a set time
• Focusing only on one craft – example: focusing on the use of senses throughout your story
• Mind-mapping for a set time or until it is complete
• Focusing on dialogue only
• Writing prompts that have nothing to do with your project
• Research
• Character sketches / interviews / scenes that have nothing to do with your project
• Read through focusing only on plot

The list goes on, but you get the idea. There are lots of ways to fulfill spending time on your project every day that doesn’t require you to write new content (if you don’t want to). I hope this helps alleviate some of the stress. I’d love to hear your ideas!