Obstacles in writing

It’s the day after Boxing Day 2019. There is a lull from the chaos. From family, food and drink. Until we celebrate New Years next week of course. 

We have had a two-night sleepover at the in-laws. Christmas Day night and Boxing Day night. Me, the wife and the three boys. Three lunches and two dinners. 

There has been pork shoulder, crackling, apple sauce, Eton mess, Cornish pasties, quiche, chocolate trifle, honey roast ham and bacon sandwiches. 

There have been a couple of times where I couldn’t eat anymore. I was on the edge of being sick. After the meal, I couldn’t move and I needed a nap. 

On Boxing Day we were all allowed out for an hour or so. To go for a walk around the park. The fresh air was so invigorating. 

During all this time together, it was difficult to find time to write. I pledged to myself to write and post one blog article a week for a year. This week especially has been a struggle. 

Schedule  

The main problem when writing is scheduling the time in. Normally I have scheduled writing time. At the beginning of each working day (Monday to Friday), I schedule 1hr between 9am and 10am. At the end of the day, I schedule 1hr between 6pm and 7pm. This is my dedicated time to write. 

Now I am on ‘holiday’, there is no set routine. I have no scheduled time to write. I think I have ‘all day’ to sit, think and write. But life doesn’t work like that. I have been off for a week and written very little. Today is deadline day and crunch time. I am making the time. 6am on a Saturday morning. Lying in bed, trying not to wake the rest of the house. 

For some it might not be writing, it might be going to the gym for a workout. It might be reading. It might be eating clean and healthy food. A holiday comes round and it all goes out the window. We struggle to fit it in. 

Knowing at what time of the day and for how long you are going to write is very much the basis for building a writing habit. For building any habit. If it’s important to you, you need to schedule it in. 

Environment 

Knowing when I am going to write and for how long is one obstacle. But good writers have a space, an environment in which they write. They may be lucky enough to have a study. It would nice to have a study with an old wooden desk under a window with a beautiful view of the countryside.  

My current writing environment is outside in the fields, paths and alleyways. I write when I am out walking. I write on my iPhone. 

It is a tricky business trying not to walk into a lamppost, down a hole or into another person. 

In the Christmas holidays, it is time to all be together. Playing with the games, toys and gifts we have all received. I have spent half of my time unboxing toys and games so that I can set them up or get them working. 

It doesn’t feel right to slope off for an hour to go for a walk to write. But writing is important to me. That’s why I am writing at 6am whilst laying in bed. I woke early and everyone else was still asleep. I am taking the opportunity on offer. 

Solitude 

One of the main points of Christmas and New Years is to spend time with friends and family. You schedule in the time off work to spend time with your partner and your kids. 

With this time off you might also plan to do other things. The problem is, time disappears whilst you are doing Christmassy stuff together. If you want to write, you are going to struggle to write sat in the middle of a crowded room. To write, you need to be by yourself. Again, you are going to struggle to slope off to be by yourself for an hour each day. The wife, kids and family ain’t going to be happy. 

But you could grab 15-30mins early in the morning. Before anyone else gets up. Something is better than nothing. 

Takeaways 

If you want to write, you are going to face obstacles that will stop you in your tracks. You would think the holidays would be great to allow time to write, but life doesn’t work like that. 

Normal life allows you to schedule in writing time. In the holidays, schedules go out the window. It’s more about cooking meals, seeing friends and family, and drinking. Try scheduling in 15 mins of writing a day during the holidays. Something is better than nothing. Early morning might be quiet while everyone else is having a lie-in. 

You might have a certain place you go to for writing. A study, an office, a café, a library. You might not be able to access it during the holidays. Experiment with somewhere else. Let a new place inspire you. 

During the holidays, you can struggle to find time to be by yourself. But people aren’t going to be up early in the morning. Most people take the opportunity to have a lie-in. Even if it is 30mins before everyone else. You can then squeeze those 15mins of writing in we planned. 

The holidays are an opportunity to have fun and spend time with friends and family. They can also derail your writing. Be kind to yourself, don’t beat yourself for not writing thousands of words a day. If you can squeeze 15mins a day in, you can keep the momentum going. 

Happy Holidays.