I used to think if I didn’t have at least two hours of uninterrupted time to put away for writing that it wasn’t even worth taking the time to try for the night.
My, how things have changed. On weekends, it’s not unusual to reserve a two or three hour block and get stuff done, but on a weeknight sometimes fifteen minutes is all I can afford.
There’s not very much you can do in fifteen minutes, obviously, and while trying to squeeze in one or two hundred words in that time might be a noble thing to do, it might not always be the most productive. I know I’m usually unable to just sit down and immediately pick up where I left off. It might take a half hour just to figure out where I left the story and try to remember where I was hoping to go when I quit.
So when there is a night that I want to get something done and I don’t have enough time to adequately write fiction, I’ll work on something else writing related instead.
Here are three good ways to spend fifteen minutes working on writing when you’re not actually writing.
1. Research some potential publishers.
I’ve got plenty of works-in-progress and sometimes it’s a good idea to know where I want to submit a piece once it’s finished. I can easily spend fifteen minutes searching Duotrope and planning out where each WIP can go after they are finished.
2. Read some writing blogs.
Hopefully you have a list of good writing blogs. The more you read about writing, the better writer you’ll become. Pick out a couple of recent posts and read them over and then leave some comments, too. You never know who you might. And it could help bring some traffic to your own blog as well.
3. Twitter & Facebook.
Let me throw out the disclaimer that I’m not advocating you hit Facebook and waste an afternoon. We’re talking about writing here. If you have a Facebook author page or a Twitter profile dedicated to your writing, then go spend fifteen minutes on it interacting with people. If your going to promote your stuff, be careful about it. Don’t spam and don’t become one of those BUY MY BOOK bots. It’s much more important to use the social media to be social. People make friends with people–not advertisements.
Well, I hope these suggestions were at least somewhat useful. It’s not so much what you do, just that you do something related to your writing every day even on days where you don’t have a lot of time.
Stay focused and be creative.
But most importantly, if you’re the type of person who can actually write something worthwhile in a fifteen block, then by all means ignore this post and just work on your fiction.
What else could you work on when you have a limited amount of time to write?
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Forgive me, but this seems like time wasters that are not geared towards helping me use 15 minutes to *write* on my latest story…I got the impression from the title that this would help me focus on using those 15 minutes to write one scene at least? No offense, but reading, researching and interacting is not writing. I just thought this was about helping me utilize the 15 minutes to WRITE.
You know, you make a very good point. I’m not actually talking about writing in this post, but more along the lines of what you can work on that might help your writing career and keep you motivated in between longer sessions.
If you’re able to push out 300 word or more in 15 minute, by all means do so. I wish I was, but my brain just doesn’t work that way.
Thanks for the feedback 🙂
I was also a little dissapointed, because I have often exactly 18 minutes for writing nad I really have to make each of them count. If you have any ideas for this situation I would be grateful, because I need to use any writing opportunity. I have even switched from laptop to tablet to always be able to work.
Marta,
I get it. Sometimes 18 minutes is even stretching it. In this post here, I was focused more on some of the business/marketing writing-related things a person can do if they don’t have a lot of time.
But as far as actual writing, here’s what works for me (sometimes). Set a goal with a deadline. If you know for certain you only have 15 minutes to write, then set a realistic word count goal, say 150, and say to yourself, “I’m going to write X amount of words in the next 15 minutes.”
And think about it. 150 word in 15 minutes is only 10 words a minute, right? Keep that in mind and just get to work. You’ll get that psychological boost and probably reach that goal quicker than you think.
Jason, as a newly published author, this is exactly what I need, the next steps to publicize my book, Red Clay Girl. I’ve even stuck your three suggestions over my computer. A catchy new article title might make everyone happy since Marta and Carrie will be publishing their books soon, I’m sure. Good luck to you all! Emilie Spaulding
Thank you for the kind words. I’m so happy to be able to help.
I wish you the best of luck with your new book and with your writing!