When you have a full time job, long commute and demanding dog who likes multiple walks a night there is little time to write. Many writers advise writing first thing in the morning. I put these people in the same camp as those who awake early to exercise. I am not one of those people. My alarm is set to give me just enough time to brush my teeth, brush my hair, get dressed (usually doing all three simultaneously), pack my lunch and breakfast (breakfast is eaten at my desk at work), walk Robin Hood, and make it to train just as it is pulling into the station.
After work, my evenings are usually packed with walking Robin Hood (he prefers at least two long walks a night), making dinner, preparing my lunch and breakfast, exercising (if I am really lucky), reflecting on the day with David, showering (because I have no time to blow dry my hair in the morning) and going to bed.
So when do I find the time to write? I pack it into any break I can come across. Mostly I write on the train to and from work and during my lunch hour. To my boss who sits in the adjoining office, the mad typing sounds you hear resonating through the walls during the noon hour are not in connection with our work, sorry. If Robin Hood is not too demanding for a third walk or if dinner requires simmering I will write in the evenings, but that is not always easy to manage.
As a teenager and college student I found time to write during my jobs as a receptionist in a convent and working the check-out desk at my school’s library. I was so blessed. I miss those days. My muse was allowed to be with me for hours on end. Now, she is given restricted times to visit me. It has taken a lot of discipline, perseverance and tenacity to be creative on a schedule. But for over a year now I have managed a hectic schedule and demands of life and written several books. Sure, my house isn’t super clean and I may not work out everyday, but I have completed what I have set out to complete.
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