Writing, like any other artistic or creative undertaking, is far from an exact science. We ain’t masters of the game. We don’t have a special rulebook. But we do know a thing or two about writing that’s helped us out from time to time. And here’s where we share our secret voodoo methods with you!


There are only 24 hours in a day. Most of that time is taken by either working or sleeping. That is probably the quickest lesson we learn after joining the workforce. The ability to take the time to relax shrinks dramatically, and we all learn to deal with it. Then comes family, the obligations of living on your own, significant others, the list goes on, but each one of these things eats into that finite amount of time that already seems too short. We learn to balance everything, prioritize those things that are necessary, letting the rest fall through the cracks. “We’ll pick them up later”, we always say. “When I have a little more time I can get to that, just not right this minute.” That list on the floor gets bigger, until we finally forget about it, too low a priority on a list too long to complete.

Unless you are getting paid to be creative, writing and any other form of expression usually falls into that category. Structure helps. But is anyone out there able to pencil in “Be Creative” from 9 to 10pm on their calendar. I can barely get the junk that has been rolling around in my head all day sorted out by that time. I think you just have to get comfortable and fit it into a routine, and then your brain will follow along eventually.

Here’s what I have started to do, and I think so far it is working out pretty well. A few hours before I am ready to go to bed, I will turn on the TV and either watch whatever happens to be on or peruse the internet checking out a few sites, and use the TV as background noise. This helps me to wind down and to clear my head of any cobwebs hidden in the corners. Once I feel relaxed and a little tired, I curl up in bed with my laptop, turn the TV on low, as background noise, and jump into my work. I have noticed that it is taking me less and less time to wind down before I climb into bed. Plus, I feel satisfied that I accomplished something before turning out the lights.

In order to plan all of that out I had to make it a priority. We can always find something else to do. While time is pretty finite, our list of things that seem to be more important grow larger and larger every day.