When Is the BEST Time to Write?

Do you love hearing writers talk about their process? I’m a total sucker for any article that promises a look inside the daily writing habits of any successful author.

I secretly hope to uncover some tip or trick that will help me get my butt in the chair and help me finish my current work-in-progress.

But, of course, I already know the answer to the age old question, “when is the best time to write?”

It’s not in the morning or after the kids go to bed.

It’s NOW.

We all know it’s true. If you haven’t put in your word count today or hit your chapter revision goals yet, the time to do it is NOW. You’re not going to magically feel more inspired later today or next week. You’ve got to write anyway, even when inspiration is nowhere in sight.

If you’re stuck because you wrote your way into a big old mess, the time to figure out how to get unstuck is NOW.

Here are three reasons I’m right about this.

1. Resistance, that ephemeral force of self-sabotage described by Steven Pressfield in The War of Art, LOVES procrastination. You’re not telling yourself you’ll never write the book, you’re simply telling yourself you’ll do it later -- after the pandemic is over, or when you retire. But tomorrow may never come. Or when it does, you’ll just have another excuse to delay. Only now can save you.

2. All the guidance you need is at your fingertips. You gotta love the internet for taking away our excuse of not knowing what to do. True, for some it causes the opposite problem—of being overwhelmed with too much information. But really, if you pick your sources carefully, you can always find the guidance you need. And somehow the universe will show you what you need at just the right time, if only you’re alert to it.

3. Your community is ready to cheer you on for getting your butt in the chair. Almost all writers are underdogs, unless you’re Stephen King or JK Rowling. And everybody loves an underdog. Again, thanks to the internet, you can quickly find a community of writers and editors who’ll be happy to cheer you on and pick you up when you fall down.

Lists are kind of fun, so here’s more.

Things you’re missing out on every day that you put off writing…

1. Self respect. You know what writers who sit down everyday and pump out hundreds of terrible words have? Dignity. They are showing up. Crappy drafts lead to good drafts which lead to good books.

2. The chance at a flow state. You know that feeling of being in “the zone” when you’re really cranking out the words and you can feel they’re good and you’re just enjoying the hell out of it? The best way to get that feeling is to sit down and dive into your manuscript and feel the challenge of fixing it. You want it to be hard, but not too hard. (Sometimes you need some guidance so you can achieve the “not too hard” part.)

3. The chance to change lives. Call me dramatic (my parents always did), but you know it’s true. Writers can change the world, even if it’s only a little piece of it. Even if it’s only one life. I can easily rattle off more than a dozen books that changed by life and I bet you can too. YOU could do that for someone else. YOU have something to say that someone out there needs to hear.

Doubling down on your commitment to your craft is ALWAYS the right approach. I mean, really, have you ever heard a famous writer say, “I’m SO glad I put off working on that novel for five years! It was so easy when I picked it up again and didn’t have anything resembling a disciplined writing habit—it just wrote itself!”

There’s never been a better time to start (or continue, or finish).