Derek Pietras

I’ve found that I work best on a schedule. If I tell myself to write at some point during the day, but without a set time, I find it hard to get things done. But if I tell myself to devote an hour and a half every morning to writing, specifically while I’m on the train going to work, then I am more productive and less likely to slack. Because of this, the train has become my writing spot.

As I talk about here, I have a strict schedule. My writing time is from 7 to 8:30 every morning. I may be working on different things during that time (for example, role-play posts or blogs), but I always spend the hour and a half doing some kind of writing. This has been great for me.

But it makes it hard to write in other locations.

For example, I don’t write on weekends. Normally, I have plans with friends, I sleep late, and mostly just want my brain to refresh for the coming week. Those are excuses, but they are the ones I’m going to go with. But on the occasion that I feel guilty for not writing on the weekend and make an attempt, I find that my work is both subpar and less than it would have been had I been on the train. My brain just doesn’t feel like it’s in the mood to write, if that makes sense. My thoughts don’t connect together, the words don’t work the way I want, and the writing feels like a waste.

I think it’s because I’ve trained my brain to see weekday morning as the time to write, and no other times. The problems I describe above simply don’t apply during the week. I’m not distracted by the internet, I don’t think of what else I could be doing, I just write.

And, for better or worse, it works for me.

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Do you have a writing spot?