How to Create the Most Productive Environment to Write Creatively

If you’re like me - or most people, for that matter - you may have dreamed of writing that article, that winning blog, or even a book, but you keep asking the same question: “Where do I find the time to write all of this?” I am often asked where I found the time to write a novel. For me, the answer is simple: I wrote it whenever I could.

Writing is one of those special trades where you aren’t required to have a musical instrument, a football, or even a laptop to improve your craft. All you need is your brain and some mode of writing words on a piece of paper. Stephen King has often claimed to write many of his best-selling thick-thick books by hand. His 2001 thriller, Dreamcatcher, was written entirely in freehand while King recovered in the hospital from his near-death injury.

If you’re preparing to take on a serious writing project, here are some basic tips that will help you create the perfect time and environment for you to write your story, memoir, blog, or someone’s eulogy. Just don’t try to write your own eulogy. It’s a very humbling experience. 

#1: Know Your Topic 

This may sound like a no-brainer, but it seriously helps your writing project when you know what you’re going to write about. This doesn’t require an outline (in fact, I rarely ever use an outline). It simply requires that you have a topic in mind. Something you can toss around and play with. 

#2: Keep a Small Notebook With You At All Times

Whether you write music, stand-up comedy material, poetry, or ways to catch squirrels that you learn on your cousin Jed’s farm, this tip is one that will never let you down. Get into the habit of keeping a small pad of notebook or scratch paper on you at all times. A pen, too. Just make sure it’s not a leaky pen. When I was writing stand-up material, I got in the habit of keeping this notepad next to my bed. When I would awake in the morning, I would try to spend the first few moments of consciousness writing down anything that popped into my head. Sometimes it was writing about the dreams I had dreamt up the night before. Sometimes it was about what I would be eating for lunch that day. It didn’t matter what it was, I wrote it down. I would keep these semi-conscious ramblings collected and at the end of the week, I would sort them out and see if there were thoughts that stood out or made me laugh. Those that did made the cut for potential material.

You may ask if you can go high-tech here and write everything on your smartphone. While I am a huge proponent of technology and wouldn’t be caught dead without my iPhone, I think it is a good idea to go stone-age on this one. No matter how good a texter you may be, there is nothing like writing those semi-conscious ramblings as fast as you can to get your brain kicking new thoughts around.

#3: Write Down All the Creative Ramblings in Your Head

Most of us don’t get paid seven-figure incomes to write stories and blogs. The moment you figure out how to do that, please let me know. So for most of us, the question becomes about time. When do you write down the ideas? And the answer is simple: write them whenever you can. 

You may have to keep your desk job and you’d best keep your performance up there, but you have your topic in mind, you have your notepad, you have your brain. When an idea flows through you - and if you’re a writer, ideas had better flow through you - write them down. If you’re in the middle of helping a customer, don’t ask him to wait while you write your brilliant idea down for your next big thriller. But at your first convenient moment, write the idea down. Do this enough and your story will begin to write itself.

#4: Find the Right Time to Write It All Down

FInding the perfect time to write is all dependent upon what you do, what you have the freedom to do, and how supportive your family is. While my family is supportive of my writing, I also have small kids, and I don’t want to be the dad who spends all of his time at work and then finding more work to do. For me, I made the decision to be with my family until they go to bed. From their bedtime on, I write and work on my creativity.

I had one problem: In my early twenties, late nights were my best creative times. I thought creatively in the wee small hours of the morning. But now that I have kids, I don’t stay up as late as I used to. But, since this is my only writing time, I decided to write. But I’m not as creative. The solution? I am creative during the day. I kept my notepad on me, I wrote down my thoughts over a period of two years, and at night, I wrote them all down. The Dreaming Highway was born out of this hectic schedule. 

Hopefully this blog has helped you find your creative times. And if yours is different from mine, please leave a comment and weigh in. What are your best creative times?