There is a time.

Ecclesiastes 3:
3 To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
2 A time to be born, And a time to die;
A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;
3 A time to kill, And a time to heal;
   A time to break down, And a time to build up;  . . .
8 A time to love, And a time to hate;
   A time of war, And a time of peace.

I don’t see a time to write.

Have you ever forgotten the names of your characters. I have. Amazing you say. What is wrong with you, you say. Well let me explain to you what has happened.

There I was writing my novel. I have all of 35 pages written. Now that is double spaced so really it isn’t a full 35 pages long. These 35 pages took me more than a year to write. Yup, more than a year.

Why so long .. must have been something tragic happened and I couldn’t write, right?

Ummm No. Life got in my way. Life seems to have a way of doing that, just kind of getting in the way.

Every Sunday evening I make out my “To-Do List”. I know all will 
not go as planned, but it gives me someplace to start.

• Doctor appointments
• Lunch Dates
• Meet with friends
• And of course the everyday – laundry, cleaning, cooking

I even plan a basic menu, even though I normally don’t stick real close to it.

I was so excited Monday evening when I realized that I was ahead of schedule for my list of things to do. I had even done a few things that I had scheduled for later in the week.

Then comes Tuesday morning. I get up and go to an appointment I had. I drive 40 miles one way and sit there thinking “Where is everybody”? I was a day early!!!

What – how can that be? I pick up the papers I had read them over and go yep, yep, right place, right time, right day – What – I take out my phone and look at the date. No it can’t be. Oh, yes it is. Talk about messing up my schedule for the week. I could have just come home, gone back to bed and pull the covers over my head.

I get home to find my repair man telling me I bought the wrong kind of fan to be installed on the deck. Really? What next?

Then I get a phone call reminding me that I have the devotion for Saturday. What?

So you can see how easily I get distracted.

How can I forget my characters name and what they are doing? Because I am not focused.

The point to this story is, we have to make the time to write. Prioritize the time to write. It may be once a week or every day, whatever works for your schedule. But we need a schedule.

Writing should be close to the top of my list. Right up there with brushing my teeth and my prayer time if I want to be successful. It should stay on my list and all other appointments should be made around my writing time.

So I ask you, are you making the time you should be making for your writing?