The start of school comes with many perks to look forward to: a change in routine, seeing old friends who were away during the summer, making new friends, and so on. However, it is undeniable that it also comes with a plethora of homework, one that ebbs and wanes until the end of the term. How does one find time to write in the chaos of academia?
The Inklette team was asking the same question, and compiled a list of tips to help student writers find time to write during school terms:
- Set a specific time in your weekly schedule to write. Don’t give it up even when the term gets busy. Think of it as a reward for all of your early morning classes, much like a session of binge-watching TV or eating a full bag of chips.
- However, don’t be afraid to write at odd moments. Stuck in the waiting room at the dentist’s? Arrived at class a few minutes early? Woke up a half hour before your alarm was set to go off? Use that time to write!
- Carry around a notebook so, when inspiration strikes, you’re well prepared.
- Don’t be afraid to write a messy first draft. Writing is rewriting.
- Write even when you feel as though you have nothing to say. Inspiration is not as important as commitment.
- You know what you could be doing instead of mindlessly scrolling through Instagram and hate-liking everyone’s study abroad pictures? Windsurfing! Or, you know, writing.
- Write in subway cars, trams, taxis, trains, flights. “I am commuting” is not an excuse for not writing.
- List writing as one of your daily tasks on Google tasks. Obsessively set alarms and calendar alerts and schedule reminders so you write. Treat it like another part of your daily routine, as a morning cup of coffee, as your daily meals, as a shower perhaps.
- Keep a notebook under your pillow. Write a sentence just as you are about to fall asleep. If you wake up in the middle of the night, write a sentence. Write a sentence as soon as you wake up instead of checking your phone or doing something else. This is a great way to record your different states of mind.
To learn more about the Inklette staff, visit our Masthead page here.
Inklette 