While I was having lunch with a bookseller friend of mine, he asked me, “How do you find the time to write?”
Writing is something that I do every day, regardless of how I am feeling. I have written many different types of things, from blog articles, to flash fiction, to, of course, books. I have a few that will never see the light of day, but I had to get them out of my system because it’s part of my writing apprenticeship. Whatever writing I do at work fulfils a different purpose, and I’ve been in many kinds of work that makes use of my language skills.
I do have to find or make time to work on my personal projects, and inspiration can come at any time. It comes when I am at work, when I am on the train, and even when I’m eating. When that happens, I pull out my phone and write the idea down. If it’s a long train ride I fill in as much as I can. If it’s part of a story, I email myself–my inbox is full of incomplete flash fiction and story ideas that I will look at. After work, I jump in and write something–it can be a blog entry a piece of flash fiction, anything.
Sometimes, I am not disciplined and I play games once I get home. But I have an analytical mind so playing any game makes me think about the stories and the universe behind it, and how I can draw inspiration from it.
I guess, even when I’m not writing, I’m still finding ways to look for inspiration and incorporate it into my work. Reading a lot, working, and experiencing whatever there is out there in the world certainly does help.