It’s only 14 days since I started working on my first novel, but I’ve already confirmed the value of one piece of online advice I acquired. That advice was to make a daily time commitment to writing. I’ve done that, and it’s moderately painful. Instead of the 5:30am wake-up call that I’d recently grown accustomed to, it is now a 4:00am wake-up so that I can write for 90 minutes before jumping in the shower and readying for the day.
Without that time commitment, the odds that this endeavor would slip away from me are much greater. Also, even if I stuck with writing sans time commitment, the work would only happen by taking up valuable time normally dedicated to my family during the evenings. That wouldn’t last, at least not as a married man. My most creative time of day is in the morning, so if I can get used to less sleep while writing, I’ll eventually get it done.
(That said, after the first week on that routine, I think I’m going to take advantage of Monday and Wednesday evenings being free to have two days of normal rest.)
Time commitments. Worth it, so far.