Five Ways of Making the Most of Your Writing Time

The first draft of any novel is difficult.  No matter how much you may have outlined beforehand, there are still hurdles you hit along the way.  When writing isn't your full-time job, it can be discouraging when the word count doesn't grow very quickly.  I've discovered a few tricks of making the most of my writing time.

1. Assign a Writing Time.  Years ago, I decided that I would write during my lunch hour every day.  I write at other times, too, but I know that at the very least I have one hour of writing done every day.  Now when I pull out my laptop at noon I can jump right into writing.  It's as though I've hot wired my brain to be creative in the middle of the day.  It might be difficult to carve out a specific time, but there are a great deal of advantages to it.
2. Don't Allow any Distractions.  Even if it's brief, this is your time to write.  If you're writing at home, make sure that everyone knows not to interrupt you.  Since we live in the real world, that's usually not enough.  Put on earphones, lock yourself away in another room, or find some other way to ensure that you won't be bothered.  If the Internet tempts you, then turn off your wireless connectivity.  Close your email so you don't get any signs of new messages, and turn off the ringer on your phone.  If home is too distracting try writing in your local library or coffee house.  Personally, I love writing in diners.
3. Write Every Day.  We've all experienced situations where we've taken a few days or more from our manuscript and then sat down to start on it again and felt a bit lost.  It takes the first five minutes to figure out where we left off, and what needs to come next.  If you have an hour or less a day to write then that five or ten minutes is a real waste.  By writing every day, the manuscript remains fresh in your mind.  When you open up your file or notebook you recall exactly where you left off and can begin writing immediately. 
4. Stop Writing before You're Done.  This is a trick I learned from a talk given by author Alexandria LaFaye.  If you stop before the end of a scene, then you can easily jump into writing again on your next session.  If you only have fifteen minutes to write, then this is an excellent way of making those minutes count.
5. Day Dream before Your Next Writing Session.  When you're in your car or in your shower, think about the last scene you wrote and expand on it.  Think about what they might do next.  Quite a few times I'll find myself writing a scene in my head and wishing for a piece of paper.  It's best, though, to stick to the day dream and allow your mind the freedom to explore different possibilities.  Then when you sit down to write you'll feel ready to go with new ideas for the next scene.

In the end, you have to figure out what works for you.  We all are busy, but if writing is truly important to us then we find a way to fit in.  Regardless of how few the minutes are that you can give to your manuscript, if you keep at it, eventually you'll finish it.