No Time to Type? Still Write Your Book. Here's How.

The hacks I use to stay inspired & on-top of deadlines without 8 hours a day to work

Photo by Boxed Water Is Better on Unsplash

I’m drowning thriving in the dog days of summer over here (though my agent kindly reminded me today it’s not technically summer until June 21. Thanks Catherine!).

Either way, I’m on deadline for a book due to her by the first of September (I’ll include a pitch to my new project in the postscript of this post), and my children are home with me–every day. All. Day.

We shuffle between swim lessons, reading tutoring for my oldest, karate three nights a week, play dates, trips to the library, and the zoo, and the park.

You get it.

My time to sit at the computer is almost zero right now,, and when I do get time to sit, I have to lock in and pound out my words. I don’t have an hour to get back into the swing of where I left off or settle into the right emotional state to write something heart-wrenching or funny or swoon-worthy. I gotta hit the ground running. Or the keyboard typing.

Here’s somethings I find help me stay in that motivated, creative mindset even when I can’t sit at the computer as often as I like:

1. Curated playlists

Every book of mine has a theme or a mood or a vibe. One of the first things I do in the brainstorm stage is make a playlist with songs that fit that vibe–and I listen to it on repeat, especially in these busy seasons.
Every time I’m in the car shuffling to an activity, or doing chores at the house, I turn it on and get back in that brainstorming mindset to make ideas start churning.

**I should add a caveat here that I am a plotter. I know, to some varying degree what’s happening next in my books. Even if it’s not extensively plotted, I know something as generic as “they need to go on their first date next” and I can noodle on what that looks like while I complete other tasks

2. Make notes! Jot it down

I have both a physical notebook and a folder in my notes app on my phone that I jot stuff down constantly. Like I said, I can’t always rush to the computer when I figure out a plot hole or come up with a genius twist, but we all know when the inspiration is in that flow state, it’s so hard to replicate later (especially when later is 9pm after the kids go to sleep and I’m spent).

Instead, I’ve learned to grab that notebook or my notes app and jot it down in a manner I can replicate later–whether its a great descriptive phrase, or some back and forth witty banter.

Write it down. Transfer it later.

I’ve also sent minute long voice notes to friends to listen back to later if I’m driving.

3. Read books/passages that inspire me

If I know I’ve got to write a big pivotal scene, like their break-up fight, or a first meeting, or even a love scene, I love to reference my favorite stories that I admired those passages in. If I have to write emotional moments, or interiority, or descriptions, I pick up a Carley Fortune book. If I need to write relationship moments (fights or make-ups), I have tons of Emily Henry moments flagged. Ali Hazelwood and Christina Lauren are queens of a great kiss moment.

4. Leave yourself in a good place

Have you ever sat down to start writing again, and realize you stopped on the end of a chapter and don’t remember what you were supposed to do next, or how to start again?

Yeah, me either.
I’ve learned now on my like…fourth? book to stop in the MIDDLE of a chapter. Or, if I run out of time and I have to stop at the end of a chapter, I need to at least write the opening of the next chapter or write some notes about what’s supposed to happen next.

Be kind to your future self. Give them a map to follow for when you return next time.

5. Break out the craft books and podcasts

Sometimes, like when everyone is screaming at the pool in the middle of swim lessons, I just don’t have the creative juice. It’s zapped.

This is that moment to break out the craft book you’ve been meaning to look at and make some highlights in it. Listen to that podcast and figure out some new line level edits you should incorporate. Find an interview to read from an editor or agent you admire.

Almost all of these tips boil down to maximizing the time in your day. No, I can’t sit at my computer and work on my book, but even five minutes of brainstorming while I listen to a soundtrack adds up. Kind of that whole “we all have the same twenty-four hours” concept, which for the record, I think is a crock of crap. We don’t all have the same time, but the ones who want it bad enough find a way to maximize the time available to them.

It’s also worth mentioning this system works because I know what time of day I work best in. I’m most creative in the mornings but my life right now doesn’t let me sit down to work until night time. If I wait until nine at night to start brainstorming story points, I blank, come up with nothing, get frustrated, and end up writing next to zilch.

This system helps because I come up with the ideas in the morning and early afternoon, and write down the skeletons to fill in by the evening. The heavy lifting, creative part is done by the time I sit to flesh it out. And, typically, by the time I sit, I’m anxious to spit out the words I’ve been thinking about, writing down, and contemplating all day.

I hope some of them help you!

-K

PS: Here’s the pitch deck I sent my agent for my next book, STEAL IT WITH A KISS–a romcom in which a Dolly Parton wannabe robs a bank to pay her grandmother’s debts, and kidnaps her straight-laced ex along her escape to Mexico to keep her identity a secret