Making Space for Creativity - You Have to Do It

You can’t do it without doing it.

Have you ever experienced one of those moments when you say something that you didn’t even realize was inside of you, but that you really needed to hear?

That was me, a couple weeks ago, while teaching a class about navigating writer’s block.

One of my lovely students asked a very valid question, one that I think about a lot:

What if you really don’t have time to write?

Our modern lives are endlessly busy. We all know this. We all have very real responsibilities that require our time and attention on a daily basis, from work to laundry, doing the dishes, maintaining friendships, volunteering, caring for loved ones and pets, paying bills, maintaining a healthy romantic partnership, trying to stay civically aware and engaged in a time of 24-hour news cycles… the list goes on. I’m sure you can add to it!

In spite of the busyness of our lives, many of us hold onto the illusion that the only way we’ll be able to sustain a writing practice is when we consistently have an hour (or more!) of uninterrupted free time a day to sit down and write.

I know I’ve clung to this illusion. Here’s what it looks like for me:

I wake up late to sun spilling through the slats in my bedroom window. I yawn, stretch, journal, cuddle my cat and dog, then pad to the kitchen and put on some tea. After reading the paper over a leisurely breakfast, I settle myself into my sunny office, which is lined with exposed beams and looks out on a farm where my happy chickens and goats and sheep and arugula are displayed before me in a beautiful utopia. I stretch, smile, and settle in for a few blissful hours of uninterrupted writing time.

Notice how my vision never addresses who’s going to feed the dog and cat, repair the chicken coop, shear the sheep, let the goats out to pasture, or weed around the arugula!

I don’t even live on that imaginary farm yet, and my brain tells me that I can’t “really write” until I do. But I’m willing to bet that once I’m running a small organic farm with lots of rescued goats and sheep, my brain will come up with new reasons for why I can’t write then, either. (Reason number one: I’ll need to repair the chicken coop!)

The reality is this:

You have the time for writing that you have right now.

And if you want to write, you have to use the time that you have.

If someday you find yourself with hours of free time to write in a sunny office, then more power to you! But until then, you have to use the time that you have.

Maybe that looks like:

• Brainstorming plot points for your novel while you sit on the toilet (No shame—I’ve done it!)
• Sketching out a story idea while you’re waiting in the carpool lane to pick up your kids after school
• Skipping the dishes for one night and using those 20 minutes to start drafting a short story instead

If the only free time you have comes in small pockets, and you want to be a writer, then use those small pockets to write.

Because...

You can’t write without writing.

Really, when we ask the experts how we can possibly write when we’re so busy, what we’re actually asking is:

Can I do it without... doing it? (No judgement—I’ve asked this too!)

No. You can’t, I can’t, nobody can write without writing.

You can’t do it without doing it.

So take the time that you have, and do it. Even if it’s three minutes at a time. If you write for three minutes every day for one month, you’ll have drafted a heck of a lot more writing than you would if you dismiss those three minutes as being “not enough”.

Now, it’s important to note that nobody should feel pressed to be productive during every waking moment. Sometimes, the 3 or 10 or 50 minutes that you have free need to be spent relaxing, decompressing, and breathing deeply.

But if you want to write, then here’s a general rule to follow: Take whatever time you have, and write into it. You do it by doing it.