When You Don’t Have Time (or Energy) to Write

Too Busy

Like many, I am often “too busy.” And for the most part, it’s true. At any given time, I have multiple editing and writing projects in process for clients. Additionally, I have my own creative writing work, which, while separate from my client work, is still a high priority because it is part of who I am as a professional; writing is my career. And then there are my hobbies! I like to paint, run/exercise, and travel, among other things. I also have a senior dog, Rosie, who requires a lot of care in her old age.

To an outsider, it might seem that I have it all under control, that I’m balancing all of these various aspects of my life seamlessly. For example, over the last two years, I’ve had over twenty stories published, five in 2022 alone so far; to that outsider, I might seem like a prolific writer.

But that’s certainly not the way it feels.

Most days, I’m struggling to meet deadlines, struggling to find time to rest and take care of myself, struggling to find time for hobbies, struggling to find time to update my website (something I’ve been trying to do for over a year), and…

…struggling to find time to write. Case in point: I’ve been working on this blog post for at least a month, piecemeal. There are constant interruptions (phone calls, dog needing to go out, appointments); and, yes, there is a lack of time, as well as a lack of energy. It’s this last aspect (energy) that I want to most emphatically address. Because, YES, it takes energy to write! And if you’re taking care of others, working, and/or dealing with chronic pain or illness, etc., that energy may be hard to muster up, and it often manifests as a lack of motivation.

To Be a Writer

I’ve heard it said that to be a writer, you must write every day, as though it were your job. But I consider this to be misleading advice. In an ideal world, yes; but the fact is that most writers have other jobs and responsibilities, and finding time (and energy) to write every day may be just plain unrealistic.

To be a writer, it is true that you must write (though not necessarily every day!). But let’s also look at what it means to write. The physical act of putting words on a page is just one aspect of writing. Revision, or rewriting, is a crucial part of the writing process and, I would argue, probably makes up the bulk of what “writing” is. Rewriting involves a different kind of energy than writing does. A writer can’t just write first drafts, and a writer can’t just revise all the time. Some writers find one aspect easier than the other. For many, it depends on their mood, their level of inspiration, and the amount of energy they have.

To be a writer, I believe that it’s important to immerse oneself into a writing “lifestyle,” but this will look different for different people. Writing and writing-related activities are a key part of my work. As such, I regularly attend workshops, classes, and panels that aid me both as a creative writer and as a professional editor. I am immersed in writing-related activities daily, but if you have a career in a different field, immersing yourself in the writing lifestyle may be more of a challenge; writing may feel more like a solitary act.

There is no one right way to go about being a writer, so you will have to find what works best for you, but hopefully this post will give you helpful tips, as well as reassurance that you’re not alone.

Reading as Part of the Writing Process

Reading is an important–essential!–part of the writing process. I know many writer friends who, when they sit down for a writing session, will read for a few minutes first. But whether it’s done separate from writing or in conjunction with it, reading is important for several reasons:

• Inspiration. One of my favorite things is reading a story (or poem or essay) and having an idea for a story pop into my head. This often happens when I’m reading something fresh and exciting, something very different than anything I’ve read before. I will be inspired to write like they write. It’s not that I want to copy their style, but innovation often begets innovation, so I will suddenly think of something new I want to try. Recently I attended a craft talk where it was mentioned that fiction writers can benefit from reading and studying poetry, as the way poets pick words and phrases tends to be very precise and intentional. In addition, prose writers can learn from poetry’s use of rhythm, line, and space.
• Research. Writing often requires some element of research, even if you’re not writing nonfiction. For my current project, a novella-in-flash, I’ve spent time researching and reading about imagination, including theories related to imagination and how the mind works. Contextualizing my story ideas through such articles helps to create a backdrop from which I can write.
• Learning about craft. I love studying craft: the different choices that a writer makes to express their message. Reading widely and across cultures and genres is one of the best ways to study craft and develop your own writing voice as you analyze the different choices authors make in their work. For this reason, it is essential that writers read broadly, analyzing the work they read, as doing so will help them develop further as a writer.

Acknowledgement of Mental Exhaustion

Although I’m getting to it in a rather roundabout way, I’m trying to show that there is more to writing than “just” writing. I’ve heard people say things like, “I didn’t feel like writing, so I just read for an hour.” But by saying “I just read,” you’re shortchanging yourself. Maybe frame it like this: “I did a writing-related activity for an hour.” You don’t just have to be writing to be writing. That said, you also can’t avoid the actual act of writing (putting words on the page) forever! So let’s talk about why you might not be able to write.

If you’re having trouble maintaining momentum in your writing (or if you can’t get started at all), do a quick self-assessment. Ask yourself why. When we say we don’t have time, what we often mean is that we don’t have energy–we don’t feel like doing X, Y, or Z. And in our fast-paced world, this is certainly a valid excuse. Writing is hard, and it takes a substantial amount of mental energy.

For me, time isn’t always the issue. Getting inspired isn’t always the issue. I might have both time and inspiration, but I’ll look for something to watch on TV instead. I’ll check my social media. Over and over. I find ways to procrastinate that are less about time and more about what’s going on in my head. Mental energy versus mental exhaustion.

I’m a perfectionist, which can be an asset in my line of work, but it can also be detrimental. I struggle with anxiety that is sometimes severe, and even debilitating at times. My heart races and I feel like I can’t breathe. If I write while in that state, I generally feel negative about anything I’ve written. I think it’s awful; I’m unhappy with it. Perhaps it’s a form of imposter syndrome.

I am also still carrying the heavy weight of grief from my mom’s death over a year ago. Grief, as many of you might know, is time-consuming. It takes an inordinate amount of space and time to process a loved one’s death. I spent the last year so focused on work–meeting deadlines, being “productive”–that I have not yet been able to find the time and space to process my mom’s death or my grief. As a result, I’ve ended up running on fumes. With the help of a therapist, though, I am working on making space for my grief as well as the associated depression and anxiety.

This is all to say that there are legitimate reasons for not being able to write, for not having time or energy, for not being “productive.” But it’s important to acknowledge what those reasons are because that can help you figure out how to proceed. Because if you want to be a writer–if you are a writer–it is important to write on a regular basis, to immerse yourself in a writing-related activity. You may have heard the metaphor that writing is like a muscle. You must exercise that muscle, you must keep it toned. Otherwise, it will atrophy and you might end up starting from scratch again.

Finding Ways to Write When You Just Can’t

So, what can you do when your energy/motivation is low? How can you write when you don’t feel like writing?

• Read (see earlier section above).
• Interact with other writers (conferences, workshops, virtual groups). This can be twofold. Interaction with other writers can serve as motivation (though it can occasionally have the opposite effect if one starts playing the dreadful “comparison game”), and it is also a chance to learn (strategies, skills, book recommendations, etc.) from others. A serious writer always has her eye on learning more about her craft (and there’s always something to learn!). I told someone recently that what I learned about writing in my MFA program barely scratched the surface of what there is to learn; what I really learned in my program was how to keep on learning about writing).
• Keep it short. Although I’ve wanted to write fiction since I was about six, I spent many years writing poetry almost exclusively. Poetry allowed me to express myself in a way that I couldn’t quite figure out how to do in fiction. In hindsight, I realize that it was because I knew very little about craft and had difficulty approaching fiction for that reason. Once I re-devoted myself to fiction, a number of my earlier poems actually turned into stories. You don’t have to sit down and write a whole story, whole chapter, whole essay. For me, poetry was a release from expectation. I wasn’t worried about characterization or plot, etc. I was generally just focused on the emotion of a particular moment.
• Make notes. Sometimes my anxiety keeps me from writing. I will look at my journal and think about what I want to write, but I just freeze. I can’t do it. So what I started doing was jotting down ideas/lines/thoughts on Post-It Notes. Like with writing poetry, using Post-It Notes seems to free me from some sort of (perceived) expectation. It’s just a note, nothing more. I also write notes to myself on my phone. This usually happens when I’m in bed and suddenly get an idea for a story. Usually there’s just one line or two I want to write down, but quite often, I end up actually writing a first draft of a story completely on my phone in an email to myself as I lay in bed. Generally speaking, releasing myself from a perceived expectation allows me to get through that initial wall, and I feel glad to have written something, no matter how messy it is. And it is messy.
• Allow it (the process, the work, yourself) to be messy. Last week I had an idea for a piece of creative nonfiction, which is not a genre I typically write in. I went to jot a quick note on the back of an envelope (the first thing available to write on) and ended up filling up the whole space. I then grabbed some scrap paper and continued writing. A couple days later, I lay in bed and thought of additional ideas for the piece, and wrote more notes. All of these scribbled notes probably only took me about ten minutes tops to write. They’re disorganized. They’re incredibly messy. But they’re a start. At some point, I’ll type the notes into a neater draft, but it will still be messy. Because writing is messy. Thoughts are messy. Life is messy.

All of these things–reading, writing notes, making a mess–are part of writing. I even consider running to be a part of writing because I often do my best thinking while running. And thinking is a huge part of writing. But you can’t just do one thing–you can’t just think, you can’t just read, you can’t just put words on a page, you can’t just revise. You have to do all of these things to be a writer, but they don’t all have to be done every day. And there’s no particular amount of time you need to spend on each one. If you’re jotting ideas/lines on Post-It Notes throughout the week, writing for a total of ten minutes, you’re still writing.

When You Don’t Have Time to Write

This post started out as a post about what to do when you don’t have time to write. But as I wrote this post, the idea evolved and I discovered that it wasn’t really about finding the time to write. Or at least, not just about finding the time.

It’s too simple of an excuse to say one doesn’t have time. That’s not to say it’s not a valid excuse, but in my own experience, it’s more about finding quality time. Having the stars align in such a way that you have equal parts mental energy, motivation, inspiration, and space/time. And for many people, even when writing is a priority, it can be hard. We have jobs, families, illnesses, and myriad other obstacles and responsibilities that pull us away. We have grief, depression, and anxiety. We have laundry to do and messes to clean up, over and over again.

In an effort to practice better self-care (because my therapist is making me keep track of my self-care activities, forcing me, as it were, to prioritize self-care), I’ve started taking extended daily breaks at my favorite coffee house, where I sit and read for at least an hour. It’s a time I look forward to–a time to step away from all of my responsibilities, all of my grief, all of everything that weighs me down. I read to learn, and I read for pleasure. And although I’m reading, it’s also doubling as writing time.

I have at least one focused session of “actual” writing (putting words on the page or revising) each week, too, but if I don’t get a chance for another one (separate from the writing/editing I do for clients), I take comfort in knowing that I’ve still engaged in a writing-related activity separate (though related) to my work.

We are not always in the right frame of mind or mental state to write, so we need to be gentle with ourselves. Writing is hard work, and it is often emotional work as well. To be writers, we must write, but we must also show compassion to ourselves.