There Is Always Time To Write

Looked at the clock and saw that I have only thirteen minutes until I leave this job for my second job. No time to write, I thought though I had an idea and wanted to get it down. That happens a to me a lot, this thought that if I only had the time… I’ve been thinking an awful lot about writing lately. I say an awful amount because it is greater when measured on the clock than the time I have actually been writing. That’s due in part to my thinking that there’s no time to write. I run out the clock by thinking that there isn’t enough left on it, that there’s no time to write, but there always is.

Richard Branson writes:

People often ask how I find the time to write so regularly; whether notes, letters, blogs, op-eds, or even books like this. But the reality is I’m always getting my thoughts down on paper…. It doesn’t matter if you use a notebook and pen like me, or a shiny new tablet like [my daughter] Holly—the key is making writing a welcome habit. But keep a little pad in your back pocket just in case—you never have to charge a notebook.

I’ve got my notebook with me almost always (including in bed and when I rise in the morning). About the only place I don’t carry it is to the bathroom or the dinner table and I’m rethinking the dinner table. My computer is never very far away from me and almost always on or ready in a moment. And then there’s my phone which, though I sometimes wish otherwise, is always in my pocket. I have the tools at hand. It’s simply a matter of writing whenever I think of something rather than whenever I have the time. I mean, look at this. I still have nine minutes left on the clock and almost 270 words down on this document.

The point isn’t to have enough time to write something great or even good. It’s all about just writing something, pretty much anything. The act of writing, the habit of it, is good and helps a writer. The habit of having to write fast is also good. I’m cranking away on this document as fast as my hands can type, looking up at the clock and seeing that it’s not moving as fast as the cursor is slipping across this screen.  Looking at the clock beats looking at this monitor which is  absolutely killing my eyes. I need to see an optometrist and soon. Until then, it’s just as well that I’m watching the clock and that I know how to touch type.

But what good is this writing? It’s not like it will be published and make money.

I’m not sure if it will make money or not, but I don’t much care. It’s just that the more I type here, the more I’m thinking that this is exactly what I have been trying to say about writing. It’s one of the ideas I want to put out in the world hoping it helps someone. This piece could be of interest to them and, so far, it’s interesting the hell out of me. I’m having a good time despite still being stuck at my day job, at least for a few more minutes. Having a good time is reason enough.

The best way not to write is to claim there’s no time. I have used that excuse long enough it has worn through as all lies do. I’m not the only writer with a day job. I just have trouble believing that it makes sense to take the time and put these thoughts down, that my writing is worth it.

Three minutes remaining, I’ve written a solid draft.The pressure of going fast absolved me of the pressure to make something good. I just wrote and wrote fast. Those are the keys to creating something. Editing and transforming it comes later. When I have some time.