The Right Time to Write
100-Word Writing Challenge, Day 13
I used to believe that I needed a very specific set of conditions to be fulfilled so that I could get any writing done.
The house had to be quiet. I could not be stressed out, hungry, or tired. I needed long chunks of uninterrupted time otherwise there was no point in even starting.
Everything had to be perfect.
Given how few perfect days the average man experiences in a lifetime, it’s not surprising that I barely wrote in the past two years.
In an effort to make up for the lost time, I have been experimenting with writing at different times of the day in the past few weeks.
My most surprising discovery was that the schedule hardly mattered.
I wrote in the early morning before taking my son to school, while everyone was sleeping, but I also managed to sneak in a few minutes of writing on a break between two work meetings.
I found out I could write before and after lunch; before and after dinner. I discovered that, if needed, I could force myself to write a few hundred words in the evening before going to bed.
Granted, some of those options were less comfortable than others. But the discomfort would disappear a few minutes into the writing session. And, when I finished, I always felt better than when I started.
I could be stressed out, hungry, or tired, but I was glad that I didn’t let a day go by without writing.
I wish I hadn’t fallen for my own excuses in the past two years.
There is no right time to write. There is only the right intention.
