Making the time to write

I’m currently earning my second Master’s degree (this one is on English Literature and Culture, from Johannes Gutenberg Universität in Mainz). I have quite a lot of reading and writing to do, as expected, plus there are activities that take some time (grocery shopping, going to the gym, hanging out with friends, getting to know the city, being distracted, etc.).

I don’t necessarily have as much free time to write as I did before, but that doesn’t matter because I have to make the time to write—otherwise I’ll lose my mind.

Even if I am writing because of the master’s, it’s all academic and not really related to any of the stories or characters I want to write about in my books. And, as usual, dozens of ideas keep popping up in my mind, relentless as they are to become something concrete or to pave the way for something else.

So, even if I don’t have as much time to write as I did before I came to Germany, I try to have an hour every other day devoted solely to my stories. Sometimes I can achieve it, other times I can’t. But, so far, I’ve been lucky and well-organized enough to have spent at least three hours writing in each week.

You’re probably thinking that it isn’t much, and you’re right—it’s not like I can write one chapter per hour. But it’s a start as I work out my schedule and adapt to the workload I have to prepare for each class, and not being able to write as much as I’d like to often leaves me hungry for more—which means that when I start my writing period, I’m eager to grab a pen and start writing, as opposed to a few previous episodes during which I had plenty of hours to write and I procrastinated quite a bit (or a lot).

Being able to write professionally, without having to work in other jobs to help you make it to the end of the month, is a privilege not many writers have. But as long as you make the effort to schedule writing time—or whatever it is that you love to do—it’s maybe enough to make you happy until you can really make the activity part of your schedule.

What is your passion? Do you make time for it? How?

Moira Daly

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