For a long time, I was lost and didn't know how to write a novel. Anything short form I wrote when I was inspired, and that was no issue, but the trick is building a habit. It takes 21 days to build a habit, and if you write every morning in a sprint, even just for 30 minutes? That's a habit your brain is used to, and you continue to do it. I've been at that for almost 2 years now, and it's integrated into my morning routine. Not everyone can follow a schedule or be as organized, which is why I've found that when I'm feeling especially inspired, and I don't want to burn out creative energy, I segment my writing time.
In the morning, when I write, I can expect to spend about 2 hours on it. If I feel like I could keep going for another hour, I stop anyway and let my mind catch up with what I've written. As a planner, it helps me to know that 'Alright, I've written from 8 to 10 AM. Next, I will do a 30-minute sprint at 2 PM' and so on. Writing sprints don't have to be exact times, either; I always consider them like goals. If I were starting again, if I could write 30 minutes a day at least, I'd consider that a win, and that was when I was far more pressed for time. Even if you can't allot 30 minutes, you can allot 100 words; one single paragraph. If that doesn't sound like a lot, keep in mind you'd have a passable first draft in 500 days (1 year, 4 months, 15 days). Editing is another thing, of course, and while I was able to do extensive edits and have a beta reader, you can hire an editor to take that extra time to edit for you. All in all, if you want to start writing, nothing's stopping you. You just have to start and make it a habit. That's the trick.
As a decently seasoned writer who keeps to the schedule, sometimes I have to travel (or want to travel), and I can't write every morning like I want to. When this happens, I enjoy my vacation, my time, and I don't necessarily worry about writing every day. However, I do indeed still want to write, especially because traveling rejuvenates creative juices. I've taken my laptop on the airplane, and I've written while commuting by car. It works out well when you travel with 2 other people since they'll sit in the driver and passenger seat, entertaining each other, meanwhile time passes much faster for you since you're deep within your head, your own world. Your commute feels like it ends so fast, even if it's 2 hours long. Then, you go have fun! So, if you've ever wondered if writers still write even on vacation/when they travel, the answer (at least for me) is absolutely!
It's taken a long journey to get to where I am, and that's the entire point of writing. It's not about the destination, it's the journey you take; the minute moments that bring meaning to an otherwise epic journey. As a writer, you'll love your work, hate your work, enjoy creating and hate editing, but all in all, it's the biggest and most ambitious creative project you may ever embark on. Most novels are written by one person and edited by another, and so from that perspective, it's yours. Of the American population, ~2% have a doctorate, and only about .015% have a published novel; quite the discrepancy. I don't think it's harder to become a writer, of course, since anyone can do it, but it might be harder to start on the pathway to becoming an author. Like any artistic path, it's an unstable one, but one that heavily pays off if enough time, effort, strategy, and, of course, luck, are put into this career. It's a matter of not giving up and learning, you'll get anywhere.
I once had a potential publisher ask me if I was alright with public speaking, and to that I said, "I could do that." Then he said, "Cool, do you have any social media?" and I didn't at the time. This was shortly after I completed my first draft. I remember how many steps I was missing, and it took me a year to rectify everything in order to get the manuscript to a level that I could copyright it. Anyway, the whole point of this tangent is to say that, like any career path, there are many unknowns, and that you can't leave stones unturned. Time will pass anyway; you might as well pursue the creative path while you're on the working path.
Thanks for tuning in, everyone. This was more about my thought process and timing this time around, and based on psychological evidence, that's what I lacked years ago, and it all clicked with me one day about the habits. I highly recommend building a writing habit if you like doing it. Creativity is like a muscle; it gets weaker if you don't train it, and if you do train it, it'll be stronger than you could originally imagine. I'm more creative right now than I was at any other point in my life, and I see that as a win in itself. Seriously, try it out, tell me what you think about training your creative muscle, and tell me where it takes you! Let nothing stop you.
Until we meet again,
Dustin