Yesterday, most North Americans set their clocks forward an hour as part of Daylight Saving Time (DST). We, in Arizona, are one of two states that never change our clocks. Thus, half the year, we are on Mountain Time, and the other half, we are on Pacific Time.
Those of you who lost an hour yesterday either went to church an hour early or showed up bleary-eyed for losing that extra hour of sleep.
The history of daylight saving time is quite fascinating. The best book on the topic is Seize the Daylight by David Prerau. Many years ago, I met a lady who lived in a county outside Indianapolis that did not follow DST either. (That has since changed.) Her husband worked in another county 20 minutes away which did follow DST. This meant he would gain and lose an hour each morning and evening during his commute. She had one child in a school in her own county and another in the neighboring one. She wore two watches on her wrist!
Of course, many states are asking why the country must still follow federal law and are trying to pass laws to join the smart people in Arizona (where I live) and Hawaii (where I went to high school) who are just fine with the amount of sun we have all year round. (By the way, it’s a myth that DST was instituted to help farmers.)
This all got me thinking about time and the seeming lack of it.
For most writers, it is hard to find the rhythm in life to free up the concentrated time necessary to write quality work. I know one author who got up at 5 a.m. every morning and wrote until 7 a.m. when the rest of the house woke up for school and the rest of the day. He completed more than a dozen nonfiction books this way.
A novelist I know set aside three Saturday mornings a month for writing time. He started early, like a workday, and wrote until 1 p.m. By then, his teenagers had decided it was time to get up, and he was able to be “dad” the rest of the day. He wrote a half dozen novels this way.
My question for readers is this, if you are willing to share: What do you do to schedule the amount of time needed to pursue your writing? Please comment below with tips and tricks that you use. I ran a version of this post a few years ago, and the comment section generated some delightful responses. Be sure to read them and add your own!
Remember that everyone is at a different stage of life. Some have toddlers who only rest briefly each day. Others have regular jobs that demand all their energy. Others are retired or have an empty nest and have extra time on their hands. No matter the circumstances, the discipline to write must find its way onto the mental calendar.
Meanwhile, enjoy some trivia about Daylight Saving Time:
- It is not plural as in Daylight Saving(s) Time. It is singular, Daylight Saving Time.
- In Arizona the Navajo Reservation observes Daylight Saving Time; the Hopi Reservation does not. However, the Hopi Reservation is completely inside the boundaries of the Navajo Reservation, which stretches across three states (see this map). Thus, if you drive across the northern section of Arizona to New Mexico, your clock will change four times!
- More than 70 countries observe DTS. (NATO Europe does; Russia does not.) Follow this link to a world map that shows in blue all the countries that observe it.
- China may geographically cover five time zones, but it only recognizes one: Beijing Time. Ostensibly, it is to promote national unity. Imagine being in West China where the sun might not officially set until midnight.
- The U.S. first adopted “Fast Time” in Spring 1918 as part of the World War I effort. Seven months later they officially stopped observing DST, but some parts of the country continued to observe it.
- Your pets do not appreciate being fed an hour later; they notice these things. I think Fluffy is in the corner sharpening her claws.
Fun Fridays – March 8, 2024
When my children were still home and I was a homeschooling, stay-at-home mom, I learned to “write first.” Initially, I saved writing until “everything else was done,” but that left writing mostly undone. Once I learned that I can run errands when I’m weary, clean the house when my mind is fried, and make phone calls exhausted, I prioritized writing to be the first thing I did after my time with God, before the household was too active. This provided me a sense of writing accomplishment early in my day and strengthened my resolve to keep writing. I also learned to redeem all the snatches of time in my day. I would break writing projects into 10 minute tasks such as, “describe the setting in the coffee shop,” “write the argument between Tom and his wife,” “research location for scene 3,” “create the hook for magazine article.” I kept this list in a notebook with me at all times so when I was waiting in a doctor’s office, or for a child to finish a chore or sitting in the car at the karate studio, I could keep my head in my writing and redeem those quick moments. This habit serves me now that I work full-time and write full-time now that my children are grown.
More than making more time, my challenge is better utilizing the time I have (24 hours, like everyone else). My best writing days begin before the rest of the world wakes up, around 6. Prayer and Bible reading provide direction and inspiration. My best writing happens at the beginning of the day, so I do that first. I can respond to email, post on social media, and handle other tasks later when my creativity is spent. Or in the 15-minute pauses between writing hours.
Finding (carving out) time to write on a consistent basis is a terribly difficult thing to accomplish. As you noted, I work full-time at a rather mentally demanding job (I write software). By the time I get home, I am often mentally spent, but my wife and granddaughter want time and attention.
Nonetheless, I do try to devote about 90 to 120 minutes of focused time after dinner (we eat early), and then at least two Saturdays a month, I devote about six hours to writing.
One key, however, is that I always – and I mean ALWAYS – ask my wife if it is okay to go work in the office for a bit. She has absolute veto power.
The malignancies that rule my life
rule my writing, too.
more compelling than dogs or wife;
my writing hours are few.
In the times I’m forced to rest
or attend to other things
my mind is on a vision-quest
to give my words their wings.
I have to write about the pain,
but prefer to write of joy
that rebels against cancer’s reign
and works in my employ
to spread the word of God’s bright grace
outshining the dark of this cold fell place.
I am a homeschooling mom with a five-year-old and a three-year-old. It’s tough at times.
Even though they no longer nap, we still have quiet time in the afternoons. That’s when I write. They are still young so sometimes that time is interrupted.
I also write in the evenings once they’re in bed. My brain is always wired at night so that’s when I do my best writing. I’m not a morning person.
This year, I’ve made my writing a priority. Not over my kids, but just made it important. I guard that writing time as much as possible. Sometimes my kids are sick, and then writing takes a back-burner. My husband is very supportive, and often we switch when he gets home so I can still get some writing time in.
I’m in the stay-at-home-mom, homeschooling, 4 young kids stage. We have a small house and my desk is in the living room because there’s nowhere else for it to go. I’ve learned to write in the midst of chaos because there really is no “quiet time.” Some day, when the kids are grown, I’ll probably struggle to write in the silence!
My time is highly limited with two young boys. One is almost 2 and the other is 6. My best window is after they go to bed. Early morning would be great, but our youngest is a light sleeper. I work it in somewhere between 9-11pm est. If I am in the zone, I’ll squeeze in more time. On weekends, I’ll set my laptop on the kitchen counter, and work a little throughout the morning. Through the workday, I spend some of my lunch and breaks devising a plan of attack on the current or coming scene. It helps with motivation as well because as soon as I start, I’m ready to go.
Here in Flagstaff I go every Tuesday morning to Jitters Lunchbox, a local sandwich/coffee shop. I’ve gone so long they all know my name and what I want to order. I get too distracted at home, and Jitters isn’t too busy until noon so all morning it’s quiet. They have music, but it’s not too loud and provides just the ambiance I need.
It’s taken years to find a good writing schedule that works for my rebellious creative brain. My first four novels were written most consistently from 10PM to midnight, when my newborn daughter would actually sleep.
Now that she’s four years old and in Pre-K, I write every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9AM-2PM. Mondays are for client work and marketing my existing books, and Thursdays are for around-the-house work.
I have to get out of the house to ensure that I won’t goof off during writing time, so I visit local parks and coffee shops. On Fridays I’m lucky enough to write alongside a group of other authors in our own little weekly ‘writing retreat.’ Our highest-ranking veteran author has an assistant who’ll crack the whip if she catches us chatting instead of writing!
Greetings to all the other SAH and home schooling moms!
I am an incurable pantser. Even at the best of times, my writing method is disorganized and intuitive. My mind is the kitchen sink.
This is a real advantage when writing fiction in these circumstances. Once an intense scene is coming up, my mind will go after it like a dog with a bone … While I’m washing dishes, vacuuming, whatever. It will give me no rest … And work out the bones & key lines of a scene. The as soon as I get a chance, I write it down, usually during lunch break or after bedtime. And usually in the process of writing it down, I uncover a few more springs that start welling up while I’m doing some mindless task.
Not a method that would work for everyone, but it’s the only one I know.
I once lived in that Indiana county that did not observe DST, and people who worked in Illinois had some interesting schedules.
As to my time to write, like to wrote about changing periods of life, that’s been true for me. When on staff for a magazine, I wrote mostly on the job. Now that I’m retired and living in a three-generation home, our daughter prepares most of our meals. So it’s her gift that I have time to write. Mornings are spent reading; afternoons spent editing and writing. Because my husband (with AD) wants me by his side in the evenings, we generally watch TV. I color or sew, keeping my commitment to be creative. My theory is that one creative act helps refine others.
Steve, I keep two watches, one works just fine for six months and then, when the time changes, the other one is on my wrist. That way, I save time by not having to spring ahead or fall back, as far as my wrist jewelry is concerned. I also bought clocks that automatically change the time themselves…..so, if we ever give us the time changes, I will need to buy new clocks and trash or change one of my watches….food for thought.
Great post, and fun.
I waiver. I like Fall DST but Spring, not so much.
My daily writing workout: First and foremost is the Word with coffee and prayer. I don’t care who calls, what needs to be done, without that scheduled I won’t do it or I will rush through prayer, reading and later, chastise myself for missing my mornings dedicated to the Lord. If ever I am hooked to machines in some ICU the plan is to have my hubby or son read to me. Probably sounds hokey.
The second: I rush through email and other social media. I get up and walk, sometimes the acreage, sometimes not as much. I have stopped checking it twice a day. Just the one and since that’s my share-ability with the Word and others, that is my go-to after a bagel or banana.
Last, I start writing/reading at 4 pm. Seems late… but I am an insomniac and will remain awake until 2 a.m. no matter where–laying my head down or continuing to write/read.
Being retired does have its perks.
When my kids were at home, I wrote from 4:00am until they woke up. Now that they are all in school, I write during the day, but do pull out the 4:00am trick when I know that I will have other responsibilities during the day.
I’m also a home schooling mom. Now that my kids are older, we do our “work” together. They do school work, and I sit next to them and write.
Thanks for informing us about the saving-verses-savings time. There used to be a joke going around about a farmer who complained that the extra hour of daylight was burning up his crops!
I remember reading about the Roman ten-day work week several years ago, as a college student. The book claimed that the horses broke down under the ten-day system. God really did know best, eh?
Schedule for writing? I work part-time and usually don’t know until just before getting called in, when I’m going to work. So my schedule shifts around quite a bit. The best time, however, is early in the morning, after Bible reading and prayer. Oh, and in the middle of the night if I wake and can’t go back to sleep, it’s a perfect time to ruminate and write.
I have a full-time job and a two-year old toddler, and am very involved with taking care of her. When I come home from work, I help take care of her until she goes to bed around 7:30. Then I write until I’m tired (though I definitely don’t write every-day, it’s just not practical, or many times even healthy). I wake up the next morning at either 5:00 – 6:00am and read the Bible and pray until I need to go to work. Rinse and repeat. Weekends are a productive time for me, but it’s in-between helping take care of my daughter and being with my wife. I prioritize being with my family over writing, yet in the past year, I put together a multi-author novella series (which I contributed to and published), wrote a full-length novel (now in my editor’s hands), narrated four audiobooks (three of those were the novellas), and wrote and edited a screenplay for a production company.
One thing that’s been helpful for me since having my daughter is just refusing to be dramatic about writing. When I sit down to write, my finger’s had better be hitting the keys. I have to bury my fear of writing something stupid and instead find a way to be excited to write something stupid, because that’s the process of how I get to write something great.
Steve, one trick I have learned that really helps push things along in terms of productivity involves recapturing the lost time in the day. My big three wins:
* Reclaiming travel time – when I have meetings in the city, instead of driving in, having my blood pressure percolate in traffic and then pay a fortune for a car park, I now catch the train, giving me 45 minutes on my laptop where I can write. Return trips now give me back 1:30 per day in writing time. This is a big one for me.
* Dictating rather than writing – when I do drive, I dictate sections of my WIP or brainstorm rather than listen to the radio with my brain in neutral. I just leave my iPhone to record everything and transcribe it later, giving me the chance to evaluate what I came up. It’s a first-and-a-half draft rather than simply a first, and if it’s bad, I now know how NOT to write that section. And I delete what I recorded.
* Breaking my book marketing down into chunks of single activity. If I need to take a break from other things, I’ll get one thing done – schedule a social media post, add 1 page to my web site, come up with three marketing ideas and then get back to what I was doing.
Possibly not ideas for everyone, but I’ve found significant benefit in these.
Steve,
Rather than trying to write a novel, my emphasis for now is simply to write something, to satisfy my creative desire.
I work part-time, the days and hours vary weekly, and the schedule can change quickly.
Until I find a job which offers a regular schedule, I satisfy myself by writing whenever I can, however I can. I take a notebook wherever I go. I’ve written notes for blog posts on breaks at work, as well as ideas for differences in characters for a possible story/novel. One day at a restaurant while waiting for a friend I wrote about a picture on the restaurant’s wall. While waiting for my mother to finish her grocery shopping Friday afternoon, I started writing about my reaction to something at the store. By the time she finished shopping, I finished writing. I realized it could be a blog piece. I transferred it to the computer and scheduled it to post today. That was a triple win for me: expressed some emotions, made use of time and thereby avoided impatience, and got a blog piece out of it!
There’s time to deal with fam’ly stuff,
and time to drink away the night,
but somehow there is not enough
time to just sit down and write.
My characters cry out to me;
in my efforts lies their trust,
but are they blind? Can they not see
that I must re-arrange the dust?
And then at last the moment comes,
and all intrusions fade away.
I open file to roll of drums
and re’lise I forgot to play
Candy Crush this afternoon,
so, dear book, I’ll be back soon.
Andrew, you nailed it! There’s always SOMETHING more “entertaining” or essential to do rather than writing some days.
Steve, I really enjoyed reading the comments as you suggested, so much wisdom!
My contribution: since retirement, I’ve discovered I function best under a fairly rigorous schedule, so each day of the week has its assigned writing-related tasks. Some days are writing, some editing, some social media marketing efforts, etc. I have an old-fashioned chalkboard in my upstairs writing room, on I scribble monthly tasks with little check boxes. Yes, I’m that antiquated!
Every morning, I go upstairs to my retirement work (writing groovy Christian romance novels) but that’s *after* morning devotionals, getting ready for the day, (including hair and makeup) and breakfast. I treat my writing as I did my full-time career—seriously, professionally, creatively. This has allowed me to craft more than one novel, several novellas, regular blog posts, some Bible studies, and study the art of flash fiction (latest joy ride). I am so grateful to God for my retirement, it has finally given me the job of my dreams!!
Enjoyed all the thoughts, especially the comment about being able to do housework when the nrain is fried, but not write. Well said.
About no DST in
Arizona– in Tucson, I once got a sales call at 7:00 in the morning. I said to the young- sounding man on the phone, “Do you know what time it is here?” He said, “No.” He does, now.
As a lifelong Hoosier, I grew up in a county that has always been split by the time issue.
Many households worked on fast-time, and their kids went to school on slow-time. Still do to this day, actually.
When placing notice of an event in the county paper or sending an invitation, it is always recommended to indicate fast or slow time. If you don’t know or it wasn’t indicated, you assume fast-time, so you won’t be late. And yes, you are sometimes an hour early to an event.
But in private conversation, we often say “my-time” or “your-time.” And if you know the people you are talking to, you automatically make the adjustment in your head.
But my favorite time designation is from my grandfather, who was an old country farmer. He plowed with a team of horses, and didn’t even own a clock. He lived by what he called “sun-time.”
As for writing, I often write when the urge strikes me, which can be any time of day or night. Since I am retired, I am blessed to be able to do that. My husband is often waiting on me, as I “make just one more note.” I guess in that sense, I live a bit like my grandfather.
My favorite sleeping schedule is 8pm-4am. I love to write from 4am-6am. Writing early gives me two hours before walking the dogs with my husband and prepping for my full time job.
Fun facts about DST with a good reminder about our fur friends and their food!
My brain is sharpest at 5am. The house is quiet. The others are sleeping. I can grab 2 hours every morning. Of course, my devotions take a hit so I need to work on that!
How many clocks have been broken by forcing their hands forward and then back! If not for them and their frustrated owners, we need to abandon DST for Fluffy’s sake!
DST has been proven bad for our bodies. It really needs to stop. A Johns Hopkins article explained it more clearly than other articles I’ve read. Simply put, it messes with our circadian rhythm. Causes more heart attacks and strokes, too. It’s crazy.
What works best for my writing is Tuesday nights. I host a small group on Tuesday nights via Zoom since we live scattered around the country. We get together for 3 hours (7-10pm EST), and anyone can leave anytime they want. We share what we’re working on, then we mute and write. We leave our screens on (minimized) so we can see each other as we work. And if anyone has a question or wants to run something past us, or even brainstorm a bit, we can do that, too. I get more done in those 3 hours once a week than I do throughout all the other days of the week. The others have said the same.
It’s a dedicated, sacred time for us.
I’ve often been tempted to simply ignore the time changes. But, of course, that will not work. LOL
What works for me in writing is to set a schedule for everything that needs to be done each day, even though I am retired from the 9 to 5 world. Having been on schedules and deadlines all my working career, it came easy. I schedule everything during a day, right down to my prayer time, meals, cleaning, (etc.), and writing.
It works for me. Maybe it’ll work for some of you too.
Thanks for asking, Steve.
Time. My word-for-the-year has always been “persevere,” but this year it’s “finish.” After I went through a profound, lengthy time of adversity that changed my life forever, I couldn’t wait to share it with the world. I told God, “I’m all in,” and I thought I’d have the book knocked out in no time—but I was wrong. With a full-time job, friends and family visits (I live several hundred miles from my nearest relative), and a large piece of property to maintain, I wasn’t making much progress on my memoir, or the screenplay to follow. So I learned to say “no.” It meant no more activities. No more Bible studies, fund raisers, trips to see family every few months—no to everything that’s time consuming and unnecessary for the mission God gave me. (I still make occasional trips to see family for special events, but more often they come to see me.)
I also quit my job (in 2017). That’s not something I recommend, especially for those who have other mouths to feed. But I had an overwhelming task before me, a drive to get it done, and some savings to use. Every day, when I went into work, I thought, “I need to be writing my book.” So I took the leap of faith, and God has sustained me.
I had about 10,000 documents to scan, related to my story. I finished scanning them a few days ago. They won’t all fit into the book, or the screenplay, but I needed to have everything at the ready. I had already written some chapters, and was 40 pages into the screenplay, but I kept remembering events and trying to place when they happened. Now, with a keyword search, I have them.
Everything is according to God’s timing. I believe I will finish my book and screenplay this year, but if God stops or stalls the process, I’ll continue to persevere. Maybe there’s room for two words per year. Now, to finish revising my scenes list. (By the way, I’m a night owl. I typically work from noon to midnight or later.)
Making time to write is one of the hardest parts of the process for me, so I deeply appreciate these tips. We took care of my mother-in-law in our home for several years, and it was hard to schedule anything because of not knowing when the bath aide, hospice nurse, etc. would come. Then my husband’s company had him start working from home. Since his mom was staying in his office, he had to work at the kitchen table—about six feet from my computer desk. I had to grab quiet time when it came.
Now my nest is empty and my husband is retired, and I thought I’d have all kinds of time for writing. I think the problem is what the first commenter, Lori, said: I feel like I have to get everything else done first. I need to stake out some time ask my husband for some solitude at those times.
Also, I always felt like I needed a big block of time to get any serious writing done. I can write the first draft in snatches of time. But I am at the revising stage and have to make multiple decisions about what to keep, add, or change and how to arrange it all. That takes a different kind of brain work. But I’ve found I can only do that for an hour or two before decision fatigue sets in. So I don’t need a whole afternoon after all. I like Lori’s other tip about keeping a list of shorter sections to work on when we only have a few minutes.
I am also wrestling with whether to cut back on blogging. I love it and have a good amount of engagement. But it does take up a lot of time, and I am wondering if I should cut back on it a bit.
Thanks for this post!
Really beautiful post, Steve. Thank you.
I love the phrase, ‘ mental calendar’ and the advice that whatever one’s circumstance, the discipline to write should be created.
My second son keeps a clock for UK time and another for Dubai time. That helps him to keep in touch with us in UK who are 6 hours behind!
I await the time by God’s grace and mercy when I fully retire and I would have no excuse about finding time to write, attend book events, etc etc.
God bless you.
Blessings.
I am retired and my days are still filled to where I have to carve out time to write. A recent post on this site that asked what we will do differently in 2024 has changed my priorities. Instead of first opening email, watching a education video, and all the other stuff related to writing, I open my current document/project first. Hence the reason I am responding to this post two weeks late. Hmm, could it be working?
It is. I’ve submitted three devotions and finishing two essays for the BRMCWC 2024 Foundations contest. I’ve settled on a novel idea and am doing character sketches with their GMCs mapped out and working on research for the setting and time frame. Making progress.