Daily writing becomes a serious challenge, as everyone who writes with a day job knows. The trick, key, whatever you want to call it, is to decide to do it, and then do it regardless of how much time you have in a given day. If all you have is fifteen minutes out of your lunch, then you have to make the commitment.
Fortunately I have a job that, despite having a variable schedule, is set between fixed hours. I know the absolute latest hour I'll be home from work on a given day, even if I work the entire day (a shift and a half.) I also know the absolute earliest that I'll have to come in. Given those parameters, I can decide in advance if I'm going to write in the mornings or the evenings. Any other times are bonus times. I *can* write any time that I'm not at work. I *choose* to write in the evenings after 9pm, and if I get a little in before work, that's awesome too.
Without choosing my time to write and then writing at that time, I'd have a lot more missed days for my daily writing goal. Some people can do it on a day-by-day basis. I can't. I need a schedule, or I'm far more likely to blow it off.
Lately I've been writing, instead of reading in bed. I'm sure it'll change my writing style a bit. I hope it's for the better. But at the very least I'm getting words on the virtual page, and that's a writer's primary job, regardless of what the day job might be.
I can see this working on a much more variable schedule with rolling shift changes, but it would require a calendar and a good combination of high expectations and a gut-level knowledge of what you could realistically do. Thankfully I'm not in that situation. I think I'd end up doing a lot less writing.
What are your writing habits like? Do you need to schedule them?
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