On Writing : Make the Time by Kat Spencer

I totally agree. If you want to achieve something exceptional, take the time to do it. A great Frenchman (G. Brassens) said, "Without work, talent is nothing but a nasty habit."

My life being always "too full" (8 kids), my way of doing things is just to... sleep less.

Time isn't always an issue for me, energy is. I basically just make use of whatever I have, like if an idea is absolutely electric or I brainstormed enough that I create the energy where I'm desperate to write it. But time, I can usually always find some.

I wake up earlier sometimes so I can get some writing done, Kat Spencer.

I consider it my job, so when it comes to writing, everything else takes a back seat. it doesn’t matter what it is. I maintain my focus and the work I need to do on my script. I don’t have the luxury of writing when I have time. I make this my daily job, and I think of it as if I’m working on a show and the show runner is clamming for episodes.

Do you do LifeCoaching? "In search of..." ... For a "friend" of course

I write where I can, when I can. notes on my phone to transcribe later are huge. If I'm waiting somewhere, I'm working. Passenger princess? Working. On the potty? Working.

Even if it's just banking seeds, lines, dialogue snippets... I note it and what story it's for.

Life always gets in the way of creativity and work. Seven hour shifts are never enough, so now I go out less. No negative effects, just makes me prioritise who I see, where & when. Like @Maurice, I’d get up earlier but watching dawn crows dig worms, could lead to writer’s burn out by midnight. Also I “utilise” time doing long distance countryside walks up to ten miles. Obviously no laptop, don’t think of work. When the mind is relaxed, ideas flow free & I use i phone to record them. One way to find time, is not by desperately trying to plan routine but switch off instead. The puzzle can yield for more complicated plot points, if the solutions are not forced.

First, you need to get rid of social media and streaming platforms. They take up too much time, but it's easy to live without them. I've been living without YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TV shows for a year. Second, get rid of your smartphone. You only need a phone for making calls; it's not suitable for anything else. A smartphone is the most useless thing in the world. This way, you'll have more than 3 hours a day for creative pursuits.

I took a radical approach and I recognize the practicality of this approach is not for everyone but my wife and I decided Jan 2024 that we would sell our possessions, put our careers on hold and travel the world. We are at an age (56) where we have the physical and mental energy to tackle this and we decided that if Dixie Dynamite was going to get a true chance it was probably only going to happen with more time and energy I would have to give it if we stayed in our regular routine. So here we are almost exactly a year from when we left the states, in our 13th county and 40th city and I have completed the Dixie pilot (as well as 3 others) and have been marketing it for 60 days or so. My career did not leave much extra time that I could mentally gear up for creatively so we decided to change the status quo and jump into this opportunity feet first.

Well, I don't agree with sleeping less. I believe sleep is the foundation for a healthy life, Cyril Pineau haha, but I do understand you! 8 kids, my goodness!

I do Amber Santiago :)

Agreed! Arthur Charpentier! Disconnecting from my phone (and social media) was the best thing I've ever done.

That is awesome Darrell Pennington!!

Well for me it's a bit weird be because I do so many things in filmmaking, that I have to find time to write, but at the same time it's great because when I have some down time, I can write.

For example this year I've been occupied with preproduction and now production of my first feature film and it took up a lot of my time. But I still had some time in between some commercial projects and the feature to work on a couple of screenplay.

But it's funny because then in August my partner and I went on vacation and while I was reading something I started thinking about a project that I wanted to develop a little further. So I started playing with that and thinking, well by the next day I had developed the basic storyline, a synopsis, the character etc. I even had some ideas for some scenes, so I just decided to write some stuff down. Right there by the beach and by the end of the vacation I actually had a 1st draft. It wasn't a great 1st draft, but something I can work on whenever I have time in between other projects.

However starting with something for me usually means that I do it early in the morning before everything starts, but once I'm in and working to finish something, then nothing gets me out of the zone.

Weird but it works for me.

Twitter used to eat up 3-4 hours of my day. I stopped using it. And I ration my Youtube time, and focus on content I can learn from to help me write in general or for a particular story. For example, I watched a breakdown of factions in Warhammer 40k to get a detailed look at a sci-fi dystopia.

Thank you for this. Make the time

Well put, felt a sting!

Kat Spencer I’ve found that when I intentionally schedule time for writing, like any other meeting or commitment, it completely changes my mindset. Even if it’s just a short block of time, showing up consistently builds momentum and keeps the creative spark alive.

I'll carry hardcopy pages in my purse to edit when I have a few minutes. If I need to write because of a deadline, I'll often schedule Zoom writing with a friend or friends. I have a regularly scheduled Zoom Tuesday night writing time with three other friends.

I'll always remember someone telling me "One page a day means 3 scripts a year!" Even on days when I'm not into it, I usually get into a groove pretty quickly. It's like dreading a yoga class, then within 5 minutes I'm happy I'm doing it.

This is something I really struggle with (I'm well aware that self doubt and procrastination that comes from it are the root cause). Since quitting my day job to focus on writing I'm still as yet to have a writing schedule. I've read articles recommending consistent shorter sessions daily which is a lot more feasible than large chunks of time. I find the balance stressful as I need to first educate myself about each stage in the process, read screenplays, watch films, take advantage of Stage 32 webinars etc and write.

Marie Hatten The fact that you left the job is a tremendous step that most never take. Respect. You got this!

Thank you Vidal Ramirez but that was at the end of 2022 . It was actually a very toxic environment and I'm afraid I developed TMD from it.