A Drift of Quills for July 2016

This month, we Quills discuss how we find time to write. Thank you for joining us!
​First up, is Robin Lythgoe, author of As the Crow Flies. Here are her comments:

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​Time—we all need more, right? Can I have a secret extra day in the week? Or how about a clone?
 
I’m one of those blessed souls who theoretically has time. Awesome, right? Mmmmaybe…! Anyone who looked at my life would assume there are great gobs of the stuff lying around, waiting…

​Read more on Robin's site here.

I have some thoughts to share, as well. Here they are:

Time in a bottle.
Time will tell.
A time to love, and a time to hate . . .
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . .
A time for every purpose under heaven . . .
Time flies.
The time is right . . .
​Time and tide wait for no man.

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Hey! Have you got the time?
 
Most would agree, I think, that there never seems to be enough time to go around. So how, in a life filled with family, friends, day jobs, and more, do we find time to write?
 
I recall as a child, my mother saying that it annoyed her when people asked her how she found the time to do things. With eight—yes, count them, eight—children, she was a busy woman. She always said: “I don’t have time, I make time.” I guess the same is true for me when it comes to my writing. I could fill my hours with many things, but I squeeze in my writing whenever I can. Why? Because the only way I’ll know the end of any of my stories, is if I write them. That is great incentive to keep at it.

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I practice law by day. I’ve had the good fortune of working a little less than a full time schedule over the past years. Thus, I’m usually able to say:  “Wherever I am, is exactly where I belong.” What I mean by that is that when I’m working, I’m generally not distracted with details about home, and when I’m home, I do my best not to be distracted with office details. I seek not to lose time with either, focusing on the other. Rather, I want to focus on whatever is before me at the time. 

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The best writing times for me are when everyone else is away—although in truth, that rarely happens. When it does, I covet the hours. With them, I sit at my desk uninterrupted, with my music of choice in the background, pecking away at the keyboard to my heart’s delight. I usually get the better part of a day a week to do that—and sometimes more! I turn on “Robbie,” my robot vacuum cleaner, and get started. Then time does, indeed, fly!
 
What about you? How do you find—or make—time to write?

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