Making Time to Write Monday: You Only Have 5 Minutes?

Five minutes? What can you possible do in 5 minutes? A lot. Check this out.

This is my collection of what I’ve done in 5 minute spurts in the last week. It’s a big hot mess. However, every single note to myself was written in 5 minutes or less.

The key is being ready. Notice the random pieces of paper, sticky notes, and illegible scrawling? Some people prefer a writer’s notebook that they carry everywhere. My problem is my notebook is never where I need it. It’s in my purse, not by my bed in the middle of the night. It’s on my desk in my office, instead of next to the bathtub (I get a LOT of ideas in the bathtub, but not the shower). So I keep notepads in the bathroom, next to my bed, in my car, in my purse, in the kitchen. When an idea comes to me or a revision thought for one measly line in an already written poem, I can write it down.

The good news is, actually translating some of my thoughts into my WIP generally take only 5-10 minutes.

That line I need to fix?

Five minutes.

That point I need to add in the future blog post?

Five minutes.

That detail I need to add about that character?

Five minutes.

Lest you think I am a crazy scatterbrained writer (I am), I DO need time that is longer than 5, 15, 30 or 60 minutes to write. But those times don’t come every day. If I waited until I had 2+ hours to do any writing, I would not be as far along, and I would probably waste half of that time wondering what I should do. I crave longer writing periods. When I do get them, I feel like I’ve been given the biggest treat ever.

But until I get that opportunity every day, I am sucking the life out of every 5, 15, 30 and 60 minute time frames I can get my hands on.