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MAKING TIME FOR WRITING
by
ALLISON STARKWEATHER
I first started seriously writing in the middle of eighth grade, when I
was thirteen. I read a novel that really impressed me, and told myself,
“I’m going to write a book like that.” And I set out to do it.
Since that day, my life has been a struggle to juggle my
responsibilities with my writing. I was a minor, and still am for at
least a few more months, so much as I may hate it, family time is a
requirement. My mom gets grouchy if she feels she’s being neglected for
the keyboard. I also have chores that I have to do, and a mother who
doesn’t understand the merit of assigning chores without an “it better
be done in five minutes” deadline along to go along with them.
Not to mention school. Any writers still attending school will
understand me when I say that school is the worst time-sucking job in
existence. School starts at 8:00 in the morning if you’re lucky,
earlier if you’re not, runs until 3:00 or later, and then you have
homework.
I was insane enough to sign up for Advanced Placement English in my
senior year. This involved reading full-length literary novels at the
rate of one a week or more, and we had to understand them, comprehend
them, and analyze them. I also took a pre-calculus math class at the
same time. And as if this isn’t all enough, in January of my senior
year, I fell in love with my best friend online.
In spite of all of this--family, friends, school, and long distance
relationship--I’ve also been able to keep up a relatively steady
writing pace. I write to the goal of a thousand words a day, and have
been rather successful at keeping to my goals, even in the midst of all
of this.
You don’t have to let one area of your life go to seed in order to
focus on another. I’ve still got a working relationship with my family.
I earned a 3.0 Grade Point Average the last semester of my senior year,
which included the English AP and pre-calc courses I mentioned above. I
achieved a cumulative GPA for my entire high school career of
approximately 3.6. I did well enough academically to be offered a
$7,000/year scholarship from University of California, Irvine. I’ll be
celebrating my seven month anniversary with my boyfriend in August. I’m
proof--it’s not impossible to successfully incorporate writing into the
rest of your life. It’s challenging, yes, but also possible.
The key to pulling this off successfully is compromise. Understand
what’s important to you, what has priority. And understand that these
are going to shift and change depending on the day, and even the hour.
There have been days, and sometimes weeks, where I haven’t gotten
anything written, because I had important schoolwork to finish and
didn’t have time to spare for writing. There have also been days where
I’ve had enough time to write or to do homework, but not both, and have
chosen to write. The trick is to balance this. Don’t choose writing
over homework for a class that your grade is suffering in, or if your
family is making noises about hogtying you in front of the TV, because
at least you’d be away from the computer and spending time with them.
As I said before, I got a 3.6 GPA, and often made my word counts every
day. I didn’t get a 4.0, and I didn’t make my word counts religiously.
Perfection is not the goal here--balance is. You can still get into a
good college with a less-than-pristine GPA, and you can still finish a
novel if you skip a day of writing here and there. You won’t be able to
do either if you strive for both, and turn yourself into a nervous
wreck in the process.
If you’ve tried compromise and you still don’t feel you’re getting
enough writing done, try consolidation. If you can take a creative
writing class in school, then your writing becomes your homework, and
you’re killing two birds with one stone. If you can get your classwork
done ahead of time, you can use your spare time in class to write
longhand. I’ve written during my lunch breaks, and even while walking
the two miles to school--not an easy feat, but possible, provided
you’re skilled at translating chicken scratch.
Even if you’re not a student, you can figure out ways to consolidate
writing with other daily tasks. Jot down ideas during your coffee and
lunch breaks. Write longhand while standing in line at the grocery
store. And, the one thing that has helped me more than anything
else--always carry a notebook and pen or pencil with you. I don’t leave
home without mine, to the point where it’s become a running joke with
my friends and family. If Alli’s without her notebook, the world is
coming to and end and we’d better all find a fallout shelter.
My notebook may make me the butt of jokes more often than I’d like to
admit, but it’s saved my hide more times than I can count. If I get
stuck in line somewhere, or in bumper-to-bumper traffic, I will always
have that notebook and pen that I can grab and start writing in.
And my last bit of advice--speed. An increase in speed can make up for
a lack of time. I used to write very slowly. Then, in my sophomore
year, I took a typing class, and finished all of the lessons early. I
was given that hour each morning to do whatever I liked, as long as it
involved typing, so I wrote. And because my time was limited, I forced
myself to type without the backspace key. I wrote what came to mind and
I didn’t let myself edit it or slow down or stop to think. I just
wrote. My progress wasn’t fast, but by the time this semester class was
over, I could easily write a thousand words in an hour. In the years
since, I’ve increased that speed to over two thousand words an hour if
I’m really flying. But since my daily goal has remained a thousand
words a day, I know that no matter how hectic life gets, if I can just
clear myself half an hour, I can likely get those words. If I can clear
myself an hour, I’m almost assured of it.
And that’s how I’ve managed to survive family, high school, and
everything else that Life entails, without letting my writing or my
sanity suffer. These tips worked for me--your mileage may vary. But
even if what I suggested here doesn’t help, at least remember to keep
your eyes open and your mind flexible. The ways are out there. They’re
just waiting for you to find them.
Copyright © 2003, Allison
Starkweather. All rights reserved.
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