Hey, I hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday afternoon. Daylight savings time started so now I’m feeling a little groggy after losing an extra hour of sleep. I just had my coffee and decided to start writing the blog. I have a hard time staying focused sometimes when it comes to working on the novel. The internet alone can easily make you lose a few hours. I always get caught up reading articles on Flipboard or the newsletters and blogs about writing that I subscribe to. Don’t even get me started on Twitter and YouTube. If you feel like you are addicted to the internet, try shutting off the computer and the phone and write the old-fashioned way, with a pen and a piece of paper. I still write this way in places where I can’t take my computer and it works. Sometimes I have written until my hand cramped up and continued doing it if I was in “The Zone.”

Finding time to write is difficult. I always try to write at the same time and at the same place every day. Sometimes if you have a break in your daily schedule you can squeeze in a few pages. Even if you’re at work and there’s nothing going on you can jot down a few paragraphs during breaks and lunch time. I’ve even written stuff in the bathroom LOL. Hey I know it sounds crazy but it’s necessary because writers get inspiration and ideas during the most unusual moments. I’m sure there’s been some who have even gotten ideas while in the shower or while driving.

Don’t get discouraged if your time runs out because you got caught up doing other things. There’s always tomorrow. Putting yourself on a writing schedule can help you to become more disciplined and if you need to you can also set a specific page or word count that you want to reach each day. Do whatever brings you closer to your goal of finishing your novel because it will make you feel like your accomplishing something even when you are busy. If writing is your thing, you owe it to yourself to make the time to write. My eyes are going bad but I still force myself to write. Why? Because I love it more than anything else in the world. Only two things come before it, my family and God.