How to Write While Holding Down a Job

Some practical advice to engender productivity even while working full-time.

One of the questions I’m most frequently asked is this: How can I find the time to write while working a full-time job? The question takes on special import to me because after a lengthy stint as a Hollywood screenwriters, now I am a professor at the DePaul University School of Cinematic Arts. Thus, I find myself in a similar situation as the people asking the question: How to write while keeping up a full-time job?

I’ll answer in three parts: (1) How I wrote K-9. (2) How I worked full-time as a screenwriter. (3) How to balance writing with work and family commitments.

How I wrote K-9

In the fall of 1986, I was performing as a stand-up comic, traveling up and down the state of California. When I started working on the spec script K-9, I booked gigs to allow me to maximize my time on my writing. So I’d work for 3 weeks, 7 nights a week, then take off a week, then back on for 2, back off for 1, and so on.

When I was traveling between gigs, I would carry a pocket tape recorder with me. So for example as I was driving up Interstate 5 from southern to northern California, I would work out the plot on tape. Then when I would wind my way back home to Berkeley where I was living at the time, I would transcribe all those notes into my wife’s Apple IIc computer (complete with the 5 1/4 inch floppy discs).

Then back down to L.A. to meet with my writing partner. Once we cracked the plot, I’d head off on the road again for more gigs, but then I focused on working out each scene, again using the tape recorder, and again transcribing those notes.

When it came to actual page-writing, I scheduled a week off and wrote as many hours a day as I could stay awake. I managed to write a first draft in five days and revised it in another two.

After receiving feedback on that draft, I did a marathon rewrite session, basically staying up for 36 straight hours, slept for half a day, then did one final polish. Sent it off and it sold in January, 1987.

So if you have a flexible schedule like I did, here are a few points to take away:

• You can work on your story any time using some sort of voice memo device.
• When you are ready to pound out pages, schedule a good chunk of time (1 week is optimum), then commit yourself to your writing — nothing else.
• Make sure to take off a week or so between drafts to clear your head.

How I worked full-time as a screenwriter

I did that for 15 years in L.A. working on 30 paid gigs for studios and networks. On projects I worked on with a partner, we wrote in the afternoons, generally from 1–5. If we were writing pages, the goal was to produce 5–7 pages per day.

[Note: I always took care of personal business including exercise, emails, and all the rest in the morning, making sure to get all that ‘stuff’ done by noon].

If I was working on my own projects, I would do that at night (I’m a night owl). Also I would go away to Lake Arrowhead for 48 hour writing weekends. This was especially valuable for pounding out first drafts as I would typically knock out anywhere from 50–75 pages.

But as I described in this Business of Screenwriting Post — The Art of Stacking Projects — whatever paid gigs we had lined up, I always had a couple of things I was working on privately, one spec project I was researching, another I was either breaking the story or writing the pages.

So if you can work at screenwriting full time, a few tips:

• Write every day.
• Set a goal for the number of pages you need to hit each day.
• Stack projects: Researching one, breaking the story of another, writing one, polishing another, etc.

Balancing writing with work and family commitments

Today, my life probably resembles yours: I have my day work — teaching, mentoring, blogging — and my writing (currently working on a book). I’ve found I’ve had to completely alter my approach.

Nowadays, the first thing I do in the morning is put in 50 minutes writing. It has to be before I do anything else because as soon as I check my emails or my calendar, I am down the rabbit hole, and lost for hours. I have so many things going on between my job as an assistant professor at the DePaul University School of Cinematic Arts, Screenwriting Master Class, and Go Into The Story, if I don’t get my writing done in the morning, I never get to it.

That morning time is for actual page-writing. For research, brainstorming, and prep, I do that at the other end of my day, late at night when I don’t have any distractions.

So if you’ve got a day job and you’re trying to write, read scripts, watch movies, and all the rest, here are a few tips:

• Create a master calendar with goals. Fix those to specific dates. Hit those deadlines.
• Write every day (some things never change).
• Stake out a consistent time during the day to write and stick to it.

Here’s the biggest tip of all: Download this app. It’s called Focus Buster. It sits on your computer’s desktop and gives you a 25-minute work block, then dings to give you 5 minutes to do whatever you want (e.g., check e-mail, stock market, soccer scores). Then start another 25 minute work session.

Given the sheer volume of stuff I have to do each day, this has been a godsend. It just makes you work more efficiently and keeps you focused.

Takeaway: Approach your writing as a professional. Take it seriously. Push yourself to be productive by writing every day.