Write Early and More Easily

Writing early in the day — first thing if possible — helps most people write more regularly and feel less blocked. That’s especially true if you work another job, have another career, or are managing other significant responsibilities.

Why does writing early help? I cover a few reasons below.

If you’re at a place in life, though, where you simply can’t get up any earlier, or you don’t have a regular schedule, there are still ways to find time to write.

Try the spare change method or the other ideas in Tips For Writing Novels While Working More Than Full Time.

Writing Requires Decisions

You’re probably heard of decision fatigue. It’s the idea that the more decisions you make in a day, the harder it is to decide what to do (or buy or eat).

Basically, you get worn out.

And, as Amanda Brown, the Homepreneur, pointed out recently in an interview on The Creative Penn, writing is all about deciding. What characters to write about. Who they are. What happens next.

All of us make decisions all day long. So if you wait until the end of the day to write, you probably won’t feel much like making a lot more decisions about your fictional world.

It’s Easier To Write Early

Also, because you haven’t been making decisions all day, you’ll have more focus and energy to decide to write first thing in the morning.

In contrast, at the end of the day it’ll be a lot harder to decide to sit at your keyboard rather than simply going with the flow of whatever’s happening at the moment.

Early Helps You Stick To The Plan

We all know the old saying about the best laid plans of mice and men.

If you aim to write later in the day, there are so many more opportunities for other things to arise that seem — or truly are — more urgent and important.

For many of us, the only time we can be fairly certain we’ll have 15 or 30 minutes free is if we get up earlier. That way we can write before anyone else is awake or anyone expects us to do anything.

That’s also why so many people exercise first thing in the morning.

And, as with exercising, if you can write every morning before you do anything else, it’ll become habit. Which means you won’t need to decide at all. You’ll just do it.

That’s all for today.

L.M. Lilly