Finding Time for Writing Your First Novel

Writing your first novel takes time - and plenty of it. (Of course, writing any novel takes time, but the second or third time around you'll know what's coming.) Whether it's novel writing or even short story writing, the creative process just can't be rushed. And time, as we all know, is a mighty scarce resource.

Don't be fooled by those crazy adverts you see on the Net claiming to be able to teach you to write a novel in a month. You could probably manage that if you were a seasoned novelist and all of your books followed the same basic blueprint. But if you are writing your first novel? Two or three years would be a more realistic target.

I'm not saying that you can't write 75,000 words in a month, because two or three thousand words a day is clearly achievable. It's just that without plenty of time for thinking and planning before you write all those words, and time for revising them afterwards, over and over and over, your novel isn't likely to be very good.

Sorry, but there it is.

Like I said, the creative process can't be rushed, especially if you are new to it. But whether you are ambitious and allow yourself mere months for writing your first novel, or more realistic and allow yourself years, you will still be faced with the problem of trying to find regular slots to work on your novel in what is probably an already busy life.

I have always believed that we can find the time to do anything if we want to do it badly enough, no matter how hectic our schedules.

And for me - and hopefully for you, too - the time to write is definitely one of my priorities. Despite having to earn a living, I always manage to set aside an hour a day for writing - okay, most days - and you must aim to do something similar.

So how do you find the time for writing fiction? And what are the best ways to make use of this time? Here are a few suggestions...

Tips for Writing your First Novel

First up, I believe it is much better to write in short, regular stints than long and irregular ones. So if you have only three or four hours a week in which to work on your novel, try to do it every single day for 30 minutes, rather than doing the whole lot on Sunday. Here is why...