Do you ever wonder how you’ll find time to write when you grow up, move out, and have to do life “for real”?
Or maybe you’re already an adult and struggling to maintain your writing habits while also working, getting a degree, or even raising kids.
Published authors are lucky. They don’t have to worry about day jobs and families.
Or do they?
In this post, fourteen successful authors share the schedule of their typical work days. These include authors like Tricia Goyer, Chuck Black, and Solomon Schmidt.
And while it’s true that some of them are able to write full-time, many of them must balance writing with other big responsibilities. They homeschool their kids, hold day jobs, and one or two are still in school.
The schedules of these authors vary greatly depending on their commitments and seasons of life. But they still find time to write.
Writing When You Have a Day Job
How do you write when you already have a job? How do you find the time, the energy, the rhythm of it?
Your job (or classes and homework) might squeeze writing into the corners, but it doesn’t have to squeeze it out of existence.
Below, four authors, including Kara Swanson and Shelby Abbott, describe how they find the time to write while balancing another job as well.
If your full-time “job” at the moment is going to school, keep reading, because the last of those five, J. C. Smith, is a student too and talks about how he manages a scholarly writing life.
How Chuck Black Writes With a Day Job
I’m the general manager for a chemical injection automation company in the oil and gas industry, and I do that eight to ten hours per weekday. Then I come home, eat and take care of some home tasks for a couple of hours.
When I’m in the middle of a project, I will write anywhere from about 9 pm until about midnight, sometimes even until 1 or 2 in the morning. When I’m trying to accomplish a book, my goal is a thousand words per day. I do that approximately three to four times a week. I will be content with 500 if they are a difficult 500.
On weekends, when I don’t have the other job that I’m working at, I can sometimes get 2,500 words a day.
Because I’m self-publishing now, a lot of my energy goes into the other aspects of publishing a book. This includes graphic design, research, editing, formatting, and producing the audiobooks, which we produce ourselves.
My standard year goes like this: write for five to six months, then work on graphic design and book publishing, then edit and produce the audiobook. That will fill out a twelve-month year.
Chuck Black, a former F-16 fighter pilot, is the author of twenty-one novels, including The Kingdom Series, The Knights of Arrethtrae, the Wars of the Realm, The Starlore Legacy, and Call to Arms. Chuck’s passion is to inspire youth to follow Christ while equipping parents, pastors, and youth leaders to do the same.
How Kara Swanson Writes With a Day Job
I wake up at 7:00 am. For me, 9 to 6 pm is reserved for doing things for the Author Conservatory: calls with students, calls with staff, critique calls, office hours and then content, all that kind of stuff. I try to get my workday done so that I feel like I’ve kind of caught up on the things that I’m responsible for in the sense of the Conservatory, which helps me feel free to write later in the day.
My husband and I have dinner together when I finish. And then we usually watch the new episode of The Mandalorian or relax.
I write about three times a week. Before I start, I will either take a nap or go for a walk, to reset my brain.
I will have been mulling over my chapter all day, and I’ll have a pretty solid idea of it by the time I start writing. Around 8 pm, depending on how late the workday ended, I’ll sit down and put on my headphones. I usually pick a song that reminds me of the character. Often, it feels kind of sad so I’m immediately in empathetic sadness mode because it helps me get into the zone.
And then I’ll just start writing. I’ll just usually write for anywhere from an hour to three hours at the end of the day. I’ll sometimes sprint against myself so I’ll set myself a 20-minute timer and try to beat my best writing score if I’m having a hard time getting into it. I usually finish writing at about 11 pm or midnight.
Kara Swanson writes stories about fairytales and fiery souls. She spent her childhood a little like a Lost Girl, running barefoot through lush green jungles which inspired her award-winning Peter Pan retellings, Dust and Shadow.
How Shelby Abbot Writes With a Day Job
It varies from day to day depending on my schedule, but I try to carve out at least 30 minutes per day for writing. Usually, my most creative time is in the afternoon, so just after lunch is when I typically find that 30 minutes, but not always.
Shelby Abbot is an author, radio/podcast host (Real Life Loading…), campus minister, and conference speaker on staff with FamilyLife, a ministry of Cru. He has one dog, a sizable sneaker collection, and a rather impressive vinyl LP record compilation. He and his family live just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
How J. C. Smith Writes With a Day Job While In School
Since I’m sort of a high school/college student, it’s hard to write during the day sometimes because I’ve got homework and work too. On a good day, I wake up and try to pray and read my Bible for a little bit. And then I will usually exercise. After that, I’ll eat breakfast, drink coffee, and do school until I’m done with it, which ends around 2 pm.
If I don’t have anything going on, which is rare, I’ll sit down and write for an hour or two, something like that. In the evening, I usually go hang out with friends or have some event to do, and then have dinner. If there’s nothing else in the evening, I’ll write for a few hours into the night.
Finding time to actually write is probably the most important thing. If you have 15 minutes to write, it’s better than not writing. People will say the best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago, but the second best time is right now. So if you have 15 minutes to write, don’t think, oh, I wish I had two hours to write, just do it for 15 minutes and get in 300 words instead of 1000.
When we’re in the thick of writing a Jack Zulu book, my dad (S. D. Smith) and I typically do our separate thing in the morning. A lot of time, he’ll be writing a manuscript and I’ll be writing a story outline. For the most part, he does the actual pen-to-paper writing work, while a lot of the story plot stuff is from my end. Then, usually, he’ll send what he’s written that day. I’ll read it and then we’ll go take a walk and talk about it.
J.C. Smith is a seventeen-year-old student, author, musician, and visual artist. When he’s not creating or collaborating on stories, Josiah enjoys soccer, music, Sun Chips, and the study and practice of filmmaking. He lives in Grandview, West Virginia, with his parents and three siblings.
3 Strategies for Writing When You Have a Day Job
1. Write before or after. Sometimes, you just need some time and space away from work to get the words out, or sometimes work doesn’t allow for any time to do the writing that needs to get done.
2. Write a few days a week. Reserve some days for writing and other days for rest. If you’re the kind of writer who takes a little while to get in the zone, but then can last for a while once you’re in it, this might be the strategy for you.
3. Write in the cracks. Type during your lunch break, or dictate while doing something mindless. Brainstorm during the commute and pound out those words when you have the chance.
It can be a battle to write when you already have another vocation, so you need a strategy. Plan ahead of time how you’ll keep pursuing your dream and then do it. But don’t forget to rest. Reserve one day a week to take a break, or consciously decide to relax during a certain time every day.
You might not be able to write as quickly as others who have more time, and that’s okay. Set yourself a sustainable pace and maintain it.
Writing When You’re a Homeschooling Parent
When I was in third grade, my mom began to homeschool me. She taught me apologetics, math, and writing, and then had me complete other subjects on my own.
On top of that, my baby sister was born that year, my dad was working and serving at church, and my brother and I played soccer. And we all preferred to eat three meals a day (not counting snacks).
If alongside your dream of being an author, you dream of being a parent and educating your children yourself, this section is for you. Many parents have a lot on their plate, but many of them have a writing career as well.
These are authors like Sarah Mackenzie and Heather Creekmore, who have published multiple books while homeschooling their kids. Scroll down to find out how.
How Sarah Mackenzie Writes As a Homeschool Parent
I’m always homeschooling in the mornings during the school year. So we get up and we have breakfast together, and usually, we start school by 8 am.
My husband works from home at Read-Aloud Revival with me. In the mornings, he does work stuff, and then when I’m done with homeschooling around 10:30, then he takes over and does the rest of the school day with them.
I will then go to my office, and I always spend at least the first hour writing. Because if I don’t do it then it will not happen. I’m always glad I did it, but I never want to do it ahead of time. And then the bulk of the rest of the day is working on Read-Aloud Revival and Waxwing Publishing and the business side of things.
I’m always home for dinner with my family around 6 pm, then we do evening board games and family activities in the evening before bed. So that’s a pretty consistent schedule for me: I start with homeschooling and then move into writing and then working and then back to family time.
That is, except for Wednesdays, which are my homeschool co-op day. I don’t write or work at all on homeschool co-op day. And on the weekends I will get more writing in on my middle-grade novella about an old mouse whose life is turned upside down by a lost little mouse pup. I try not to work on weekends, so I can slide in a little more writing time.
Sarah Mackenzie is the author of nonfiction books for adults and picture books for families to read aloud. She’s also the host of the Read-Aloud Revival podcast, which has been downloaded over 12 million times in more than 160 countries. She makes her home in the Northwest with her husband and their 6 kids. Get Sarah’s favorite read-aloud book recommendations here.
How Tricia Goyer Writes As a Homeschool Parent
I usually get up around 4 am. And then I spend time in my Bible and writing in my journal. This year I started a podcast called The Daily Bible Podcast, in which my friend and I are reading through the Bible chronologically, and then talking about it every day. And so not only do I read my Bible, but I also write notes of what I want to say about it. That usually takes an hour and then if I have time to write something, I’ll do it during that time before the kids get up, or sometimes I’ll answer important emails that I didn’t get through before.
Then it’s time to shower and get ready for the day. My husband gets up and we usually like to have coffee together and talk while the kids start waking up. So during that time, I might be recording my podcast with my friend, doing laundry or starting dinner in the Crock Pot.
We usually homeschool from 9:30 till about 12:30 or 1 pm, sometimes longer. My youngest is twelve years old, so sometimes they do things independently that don’t require my constant presence.
And then in the afternoons, I’m either being interviewed on the radio or I’m writing some more, or I’m answering emails. My mom and grandma both live with us during this time. I often do stuff with them or take them to the store.
And then around 5 pm, I finish up getting dinner ready and we eat as a family. After dinner, we do devotions. My husband does devotions around the table and then sometimes we’ll play a game or something. Sometimes we’ll go on a family walk. Sometimes I sit down and answer more emails.
There’s a lot of emailing or video calls. Sometimes during my day, there might be marketing meetings with my publishers. So instead of always having lots of writing time, there’s all this writing-related stuff that goes along with it. And then we’ll usually watch a show in the evening and go to bed around 9:30 or 10 pm.
Tricia Goyer writes out of her passion for God and her love for family and others. The author of more than 80 books, she writes both historical fiction and nonfiction related to family and parenting.
How Heather Creekmore Writes As a Homeschool Parent
From 8 am to 11 am, I am homeschooling and organizing my day.
From 11 am to 1 pm, I respond to emails, work on marketing and social media accounts, and podcast.
1 pm to 3 pm is devoted to writing.
My situation is that I’m trying to homeschool my children and have a writing career. My writing career is much more than just writing. Platform building is a big part of the responsibility of a published author. I have a podcast that produces two episodes a week and, arguably, this takes more time than writing for me each week.
Writing manuscripts is something I’m not able to do every single day, but my work in marketing and publishing podcasts requires me to keep my writing skills sharp daily.
Heather Creekmore writes and speaks hope to thousands of women each week through her books, coaching, and podcast titled, “Compared to Who?” Heather’s heart is to encourage women who struggle with body image and comparison issues and help them find the freedom to stop comparing and start living. Connect with Heather here.
How Kate Albus Writes As a Homeschool Parent
For the most part, I think of myself as a pretty organized person. I love lists and schedules and knowing exactly what to expect and when to expect it. But when it comes to writing, none of the above applies. I don’t have a writing schedule.
For a while, I felt guilty about it. I’d read the biographies of beloved writers and feel like a fraud when I learned that they rose daily at five and went straight to their writing sheds (they have writing sheds!) for a couple of hours, then breakfasted and answered correspondence for a while before heading back to the shed for an afternoon of continued productivity. I was envious. That model sounded right to me. The way a proper writer ought to do it.
When my children were younger and at school all day, I did have a bit more of a routine… great swaths of uninterrupted time when I could get lost in an imaginary world, letting the laundry and dishes and grocery shopping wait. But then the pandemic turned everybody’s schedules on their heads, and suddenly–blessedly–my kids were back at home all day. So I had to learn to write differently… to slip away when the moment allowed, trying to find my way into those imaginary worlds without the luxury of uninterrupted time to do so.
What it taught me, that time of learning to “write in the cracks,” was that writing–for me at least–involves not only sitting down and putting words on the page but also not writing. Taking time to fill the creative well in whatever way that well needs and wants to be filled. Sometimes it’s spending time with family. Sometimes it’s reading. Sometimes it’s travel. And sometimes, as unromantic as it sounds, it’s mindlessly listening to the radio while washing dishes.
So while I still experience moments of self-doubt at the utterly haphazard nature of my writing ‘schedule,’ and envy at the routines of some of my literary idols, I’m trying to let that go and recognize that ‘writing in the cracks’ works just fine for me.
Though I wouldn’t say no to a writing shed if somebody were to build one for me.
Kate Albus writes historical fiction for young people. Her first novel, A Place to Hang the Moon, was a New York Public Library Best Book for Kids, an SCBWI Crystal Kite Award recipient, and an ALSC Notable Book. Her second novel, Nothing Else but Miracles, was released in September 2023. Kate grew up in New York and now lives with her family in rural Maryland.
3 Strategies for Prepping to Be a Parent-Writer
1. Talk to your parents. Ask them how they find a balance between raising kids and doing work and hobbies. If they homeschool you, ask for their favorite hacks and strats.
2. Hang out with kids. Get a feel for the needs and capacities of different age ranges. Practice teaching them, playing with them, and caring for them. Learn what kinds of things they can do by themselves, and where you might be able to squeeze in some writing time.
3. Practice organization now. If you go to school, play a sport, or work a job, you already have responsibilities to juggle. Implement blocking and scheduling now so you’ll have it down by the time you’re homeschooling.
Writing Full-Time
Sometimes, when you have all day to do something, it still doesn’t get done until the last minute.
As a student, I see this phenomenon when I have only a few items in the homework section of my planner for the day. I’ll let myself message friends or scroll through photos or do something random since I have all day to do schoolwork. Then it really does take all day before I complete my assignments.
What about full-time authors? They have to work on writing and business, but unlike the authors in the sections above, they don’t have to stay up late or block strict times to find time to sit down at the computer.
Many of these authors, like S. D. Smith, Amanda Barratt, and K. M. Weiland, realize the blessing of their abundant time and take advantage of that, working on multiple projects simultaneously or whipping out more words per day.
But there’s still a strategy involved. After all, when you’re tackling more responsibilities, you can’t just do them all at the last minute.
How S. D. Smith Writes Full-Time
I get up, see some sunlight, maybe take a quick little walk and then go straight to writing for a couple of hours and get my words in for the day. I think of a thousand words like the minimum. I’ll get to a thousand and I’ll be like, “Oh, that’s good. But I would much rather do two thousand.”
So that’s in that first session, but then it’s a bit of a break. You’ve got to walk because writing is sedentary; it’s terrible for you to just sit there all the time. So I get up and move and then eat some lunch. Then maybe take another walk.
If there’s some kind of pressing business thing, I’ll attend to that. I’m not just a writer, I’m an entrepreneur too. I’ve got to think through things and meet with my partners. There are different things going on in the afternoon, but in my ideal day, I’m back again for a second session of writing–trying to reach 4,000 words, or 6,000 words on a really good day.
If I’m in the flow towards the end of the book, I’m writing a lot more. I try to move things forward in a natural way. So as I get towards the end of the book, I’m writing a lot more and more and more. I’m really loving it; I want to land the plane and I’m working really hard on it.
I do this five days a week when I’m in a good rhythm. But life happens. I’m a dad–I’ve got four kids, a wife, and a house. I’m working from home, so if something goes wrong with the lawnmower, I’m there. Real life imposes itself.
Like it’s always going to be a battle to write. So make good strategies now. Make good habits now so that you can be equipped for that fight. Fight for the future with habits.
S.D. Smith is the author of The Green Ember Series, a million-selling adventure saga featuring heroic #RabbitsWithSwords. His newest novel, co-authored with his sixteen-year-old son, is a thrilling fantasy called Jack Zulu and the Waylander’s Key. Smith’s stories are captivating readers across the globe who are hungry for “new stories with an old soul.”
How C. J. Milacci Writes Full-Time
I start my day with my Bible and a cup of coffee before I try to tackle anything else. I’ve set up this morning routine for myself because I’ve found that it’s so easy to get distracted by things that aren’t as important.
My dad always would say, “The important things are rarely pressing, and the pressing things are rarely important.” I’ve prioritized time with Jesus as the first thing I do because I know I will never be able to write the stories God has called me to write if I don’t seek Him, grow in my walk with Him, and invite Him into the creative process with me.
Then I go right into writing or editing (depending on which part of the process I’m in) and then move into marketing tasks and other author-related work. If I check my emails or go on social media, I’ll get distracted, think of a thousand little tasks that I “need” to do, and never actually write. At the end of those days, when I did a ton of little things, I always felt overwhelmed, stressed, and like I didn’t get anything done.
But when I focus and do the big things that I know are important (like writing), and then dive into the other tasks, I come to the end of the day with a sense of accomplishment, because I’ve chipped away at the work I needed to do.
C.J. Milacci writes stories for teens and young adults with heart-pounding action and hope. As a referee, she’s always relearning the hard lesson that it’s impossible to make everyone happy, and she’s discovered that stories can be found anywhere, even on a lacrosse field. She’s passionate about crafting stories of good overcoming evil, finding hope in the midst of seemingly hopeless circumstances, and true acceptance.
How DiAnn Mills Writes Full-Time
First is my quiet time, workout (I also do social media while on the treadmill, elliptical, or stationary bicycle), after a shower and breakfast, I write until lunch. After lunch, I finish my word count, mentor, study the craft/daily updates in the publishing world, respond to emails, edit my own work or others’, and teach online.
DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She is a storyteller. Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests.
How Amanda Barratt Writes Full-Time
The author-life can vary day by day and is usually lived in seasons. For example, in the weeks leading up to a novel’s publication, I devote as much time as possible to marketing and publicity. This looks like planning social media posts, writing articles, doing podcast and radio interviews, sending out newsletters, and other tasks related to the book launch. On the other hand, while on the final stretch before turning in a novel to my publisher, writing takes priority above other tasks and I often take a social media break for a couple of weeks to focus all my time and efforts on meeting the deadline.
Sometimes I’m juggling multiple projects, so my workday includes both writing and marketing tasks. When my last novel was released, developmental edits on another novel arrived in my inbox that same week. Thankfully I had prepared as much as I could in advance, but for nearly a month, I was balancing editing one novel while launching another.
My preference is to schedule days devoted to writing interspersed with days focused on other tasks like social media posts, taking photos for Instagram, answering emails, and doing interviews. I find I work best when I know I’ve set aside a large block of time for writing without other distractions. This allows me to fully immerse myself in the story.
In the brainstorming stages of a novel, I often spend weeks reading books for research and outlining. For authors of historical fiction, investing time in research is imperative. Rushing through the research process usually leads to more extensive rewrites later on, so I am intentional about setting aside time for research and outlining.
For me, an ideal day while working on a first draft would be to write from around 9-5—with a break for lunch, of course! During this time, I’m not solely churning out words. If necessary, I take a bit of time to research a detail crucial to the scene I’m working on. I’m a slow writer, so I average around 1,000-1,500 words on a good day, but I’ve learned to embrace quality over quantity.
Being an author has plenty of moments of overwhelm and struggles to juggle deadlines and marketing along with “normal life stuff,” but it’s truly a gift to not only write stories but to have the humbling opportunity of sharing them with others and I thank God for His goodness in allowing me to do so.
Amanda Barratt is the bestselling author of numerous historical novels and novellas, including The White Rose Resists (a 2021 Christy Award winner) and Within These Walls of Sorrow. She is passionate about illuminating oft-forgotten facets of history through a fictional narrative. Amanda lives in Michigan. Learn more here.
How Solomon Schmidt Writes Full-Time
I get up pretty early, about 5 am and I do some studying for a tour that I’m planning this summer in the UK. And then I do some Bible. I exercise and I play some tennis, and then I get started with my day. I’m working on a big book project right now, which will be about 130,000 words at the end. I work on that, whether it’s research or writing, from 8 am to 5 pm.
And then I come home and do some more research for my tour or my YouTube channel based on my book series at nighttime. I do a lot of interviews and videos, so it requires a ton of research. And then I’ll spend some time with my family.
I get to bed around 9 or 9:30 pm and try to finish up my night with reading.
I usually have my day planned out. It’s sort of like a checklist of seven or eight things I have to get done. And hopefully, by the end of the day, they’re all done, or I don’t feel like the day was successful.
When he was twelve, Solomon Schmidt was inspired to write a book about U.S. history for children that would get them interested in the people and events that shaped America. This book became U.S. History Bites, which now has seven other books in the series. When he is not researching and writing, Solomon enjoys spending time with his family and friends, playing tennis, and participating in Civil Air Patrol.
How K. M. Weiland Writes Full-Time
I’m always tweaking and fine-tuning my schedule, trying to make my day as high-quality as possible. Right now, I focus on self-care (yoga, working out, walking) in the early mornings.
By 11 am, I want to be at my desk, working on my fiction project for an hour before lunch. I used to be very rigid about writing time, but I’ve grown much more flexible over the years.
If I only get in half an hour, or if I’m only able to show up at the desk four or five days a week, I give myself grace for that. I want fiction writing to feel like something I get to do, rather than something I have to do.
After lunch, I focus on tasks having to do with my website Helping Writers Become Authors or business in general. This might include scheduling social media posts, writing or editing the week’s post/podcast, or performing updates on the site.
I’ll take a break mid-afternoon, then come back to run through email and other sites I check daily.
K.M. Weiland is the award-winning and internationally published author of acclaimed writing guides such as Structuring Your Novel, Creating Character Arcs, and Writing Archetypal Character Arcs. She writes historical and speculative fiction and mentors authors on her award-winning website, Helping Writers Become Authors.
3 Strategies for Imitating Full-Time Writers Even if You’re Not There Yet
1. Develop a rhythm. As you have seen, many of these successful authors have a general schedule that they follow each day. Pinpoint your major daily life and writing tasks and put together a schedule for yourself to ensure everything gets done in a timely manner.
2. Block your day. Do things in sections. Tackle one task at a time instead of trying to write, brainstorm, and respond to emails all at once. This helps your brain focus on what’s on hand and will increase your efficiency in the long run.
3. Work out. Writing is a very sedentary job, and sitting down all day typing isn’t great for your body. Take a break from work and go on a walk, visit the gym, or practice your favorite sport. Then come back to your work with new mental energy.
These strategies are helpful even if you aren’t writing full-time right now. Make them into habits so they’ll flow right out into your work day when you do become a full-time author.
Your Next Steps
When it comes to writing, there’s no “one-size fits all.” Some authors hold day jobs, some homeschool their kids, some write full-time, and others have responsibilities we haven’t even covered here.
Whatever your writing life looks like, planning always helps. You’ve seen the schedules and tactics of fourteen authors in this post and learned that there are many different rhythms according to the authors’ different responsibilities.
Now it’s time to create your own strategy. We’ve created a questionnaire to help you identify the ways you can take advantage of your current schedule and develop a great plan for your own typical workday. You can click the button below to access it.
This is such an awesome article and amazing resource! Thank you so much!