Your Writing Time Should Be “Non-Negotiable”

Four years ago, my alma mater, the University of Virginia, hired a new football coach. He has a name I would have loved to give to one of my story’s characters: Bronco Mendenhall. In his introductory press conference in Charlottesville, he said something which surprised me:

He takes off 90 minutes each day as personal time.

It surprised me because he is a committed, intense, and results-driven dude.

Yet each day, he goes surfing. Or rides a motorcycle. Hiking. Fly fishing. Something physical and alone to get away from the stress of his work.

This time for “daily renewal” is non-negotiable. He claims it as an essential part of life.

Got me thinking. What if we, busy as we are with all the things we do with our jobs, families, and friends, claimed the right to write? Each day. 60 minutes. 90 minutes. 120 minutes. Whatever.

What if we decided our writing time was non-negotiable?

I get a ton of email, as you may imagine, as well as lots of comments here on the blog and the Zero Draft Thirty Facebook group. I doubt there’s a day that goes by when someone doesn’t ask me how can they manage to write, to be productive given the hectic nature of their lives?

Believe me, I can relate. I teach in two venues: DePaul University School of Cinematic Arts and Screenwriting Master Class.

I blog at Go Into The Story, currently 4,298 consecutive days.

I’m the host of the Zero Draft Thirty Facebook group.

I am writing a book (The Protagonist’s Journey: Character Driven Screenwriting and Storytelling).

I am a mentor, workshop facilitator, panelist, moderator, and presenter at multiple events each year including the London Screenwriters’ Festival, Willamette Writers Conference, Black List Feature Writers Lab, Black List/Women In Film Feature Writers Lab, and this year it looks like I’ll be doing additional events in Mallorca, Montreal, and Vermont.

How to fit writing into all of that?

I take an object lesson from something that happened in 2015. At the time, I was researching a project, but my writing time slipped. Typically, I write late at night somewhere between 10PM and 2AM. Often, I would be so overwhelmed with things on my To Do list, I set aside my writing until the next day. Or the next day.

Suddenly, due to a news event, my screenplay project blew up. Out of a sense of frustration, I decided to spend November 2015 pounding out a comedy I had on my roster of projects. That’s what led to Zero Draft Thirty.

I had this conversation with myself before I pushed the button on the GITS post which would compel me to commit — publicly! — to actually do that. Here is an abridged version of that chat:

VOICES OF NEGATIVITY: Are you effing nuts?
SCOTT: Probably.
VOICES OF NEGATIVITY: You’re already busier than shit.
SCOTT: Yep.
VOICES OF NEGATIVITY: You can’t possibly write a script this year, let alone 30 days. Give up this nonsense!
SCOTT: Nope.

Here’s what I discovered when taking up the Zero Draft Thirty Challenge in November 2015. Despite getting sick. Despite flying to Los Angeles for a Black List screenwriter lab and being the lead mentor for several screenwriters that weekend. Despite overseeing a Pages I: Writing the First Draft, Prep: From Concept to Outline, a pair of one-week classes (Core VII: Theme, Core VIII: Time), mentoring several writers in The Quest program and private script workshops. Despite the time required to host this blog. Despite the whirlwind of activity which transpired here, on Twitter, and at Facebook concerning the ZD30 Challenge…

I got it done.

I claimed a two hour writing scamper every night. Additionally, I grabbed one hour here… thirty minutes there. Somehow my time expanded. I was able to get everything done including a flawed, but FADE IN to FADE OUT zero draft of my comedy script.

I believe that happened because I claimed that writing time.

At the end of the day, I don’t think it’s so much about the time. Rather, it’s about our commitment to our Creative Self.

If writing truly is a priority, then we ought to claim it as such. Again even if 90 minutes, 60 minutes, or just 30 minutes per day. As I’ve blogged about, even at 1 page per day, we can produce 2 feature length spec scripts per year.

So as I head into a particularly hectic time of year here in 2020, I’ve made a personal commitment.

My family time each day: Non-negotiable.
My writing time each day: Non-negotiable.

That’s me getting in touch with my inner Bronco Mendanhall.

What if you approached your writing time as non-negotiable?