WRITING + DAY JOB -- How Do You Balance Writing & Working? 

This was helpful even as a high school student

I used to work a 45 hour/week managerial job, as well as being a single mum. I wrote on my lunch break, whenever I had any downtime (it was quiet midweek) and once the little human was in bed I wrote and wrote and wrote. My social life consisted of MSN (anyone remember that??) and the odd Saturday night. Those were the most productive days of my writing life. Ironically now I have the time to write pretty much whenever I want, I struggle for motivation. Thank heavens for NaNoWriMo or I might never get any words down! ;) great video as always and I'm so excited to get my copy of Brightly Burning. The UK cover is gorgeous!x

I personally don’t think you have to sacrifice your friendships to write. I have a full time job and manage to see my friends 2-3 times a week. I am single with no children, which helps open up time. But my friends are my support system and I need them around.

I go to school full time and I work part time so I often find myself without a lot of time. The biggest thing that has helped me, and I know it won’t help everyone, is to create playlists, Pinterest boards, and passages of my story before I write the draft. This is all a means to help me love my story that much more which will help me choose writing over Netflix or video games, though I do take an afternoon here and there to refuel my creative well.

I always listen to music on my way to work (driving or walking) and frequently imagine scenes from my story playing out to the songs, like a Disney musical. The characters and situation in my head are reacting to the music, guiding the story. So much of my inspiration has come from that practice.

I like what you said about the day job doesn't have to be a dream job. We can have a day-job and 'limited' time/access to pursuing/doing a dream, but still be happy...genuinely happy. If you have a sweetie, he/she probably is the most important person in the world to you--same with kids! But...you don't necc need to spend every waking moment with your sweetie or your child. You may want to, but you don't fall apart if you both have to work and are separate eight hours per day...nine with commute. You can be happy in the moments in-between being with loved ones. Same thing with a dream, like writing. Block out as much time as you can to write, stick to it, and ENJOY it!

PSA, if you watch this during lunch, you'll be inspired to write.

This is exactly what I needed to see today! And you’re right, it doesn’t matter how busy you are, if you are passionate about writing you will find the time.

I wake up at about 4:30am during the week to attempt to write every morning and I've found that usually works for me that way I get my writing done before my job exhausts me for the day. Sometimes I squeeze in ome writing during my lunch break as well.

Utilizing the weekend. Yup, I have to do better with this.

It’s never a good idea to write at work while on the clock. They can actually sue you if you end up getting a book deal for a book you wrote on their dime.

Ooh I'm loving the Brightly Burning inspired eye look! Your videos have been so helpful. Thank you for all that you do!

Yes, I do have a regular paying job. I have an evening commercial cleaning job at my local shopping mall, which pays me every two weeks. Like I wrote in past posts, I just write purely for my personal enjoyment----as a hobby. Writing is something that I really enjoy doing, as a passion. But I WISH that I could be a SUPERSTAR writer, like J.K. Rowling or Stephen King!! They're two of my writing idols!!

Yes I am a full time university student, but all of these tips applied just as well to me!! Eventually I'd love to work in a publishing house as an editorial assistant and then hopefully become an editor, so I can carry over these tips to that when the time comes as well! Thanks so much Alexa, you're amazing!:)

Great video! My day job consists of taking care of a severely disabled boy who suffers with extremely bad epilepsy, so I'm always very drained physically and emotionally after work, and very often, writing is the last thing I want to do! I definitely need to use my weekends more wisely though! Thanks again. All your videos I have seen so far are brilliant.

I have a day job and a part time night job. So it's a great thing I have no social life! Unfortunately my night job is a creative heavy job (musical theater teacher) so I am creatively drained a lot. It sucks. I totally use my car time for brainstorming!

Hi Alexa, once again this was a fantastic and realistic video. I’m completely devouring all your content right now, and greatly enjoying it! Keep it up! :)

It's definitely a difficult task! I have college on the afternoons, a part time job on weekdays and a second job on Saturdays! The real trick for me is using my only free day- Sunday- as my "writing day", trying to get as ahead as I can with every project I own, including writing, and trying to always steal the little free moments in between of my activities to write at least a few words

This made me feel validated as someone trying to do this. Right now I write before work, during lunch and after work. Some days it's slow, but at least I know that eventually I will meet my goal. Thanks for sharing this. It is important to make the most of tiny bits of time rather than feel guilty for not having more of it.

I find that taking the dog for a walk always helps clear the fog and all kinds of new ideas appear.

This video was so helpful and practical. Thank you. I feel like few people understand the herculean effort of writing and working full time.

Many thanks, I've been looking for "jobs that involve writing stories" for a while now, and I think this has helped. You ever tried - Jeyeyton Riyria Process - (do a google search ) ? Ive heard some amazing things about it and my m8 got amazing success with it.

I love and appreciate how real and raw and unfiltered you are with these videos

Great video and great tips. You mentioned hotel work and it's totally true! I work the 3-11pm shift at a hotel. Some things I find I can do at work. First draft, brainstorming, character bios, and working on editing with a printed manuscript. But revising I need more concentration for and need to sit down at a cafe with headphones on. I've learned what pockets of time work best for different aspects of the writing process. It's taken a long time to figure that out.

It is definitely a struggle - full time job and I have a young child and renovating/building a house. My biggest challenge is developing discipline and not relying on 'feeling like it' or 'inspiration' only.

I work 50 hours a week as a fast food manager, with a schedule that changes every week. I almost never have two off days together, and whenever I do have an off day my family wants me to run all over the country to help them do stuff, or my wife wants to go out to spend time together. I've been sitting with about 8400 words for several months. Mentally and physically exhausted, and every time I sit down to write I just can't put words on the screen.

Great tips! How do balance writing, working a day job, and getting in the "nourishment" of reading fiction?

All of your videos are super helpful. They've opened my eyes to a lot about the writing/book industry and they keep me motivated with my personal writing goals.Thank you for all the information you share! Looking forward to reading your book!

Tip carry a small note book for ideas that way you don't forget stuff.

My tablet is full of grease on the keyboard because I'm eating at the same time. Haha. Thanks for this vid.

Not socializing is a problem writers face. That depends on what you write on your own time and how much of a career you want. For ambiverted minds such as me and others, I have to find a balance of being out and about (road trip or fun ocation), time to socialize (I want to get married eventually, Lord willing), and time to ourselves. I want one or two books, plays, short stories, and screenplays that make me money while my game writing career is just that, my eventual career. Could want to publish more. I dont know. I do know that while publishing fifteen novels in a twenty year period sounds amazing, its removes you from enjoying other parts of life.

Hotel housekeeper 8:00 am to 4:30, sometimes I get off earlier. Not mentally taxing, and I can think of ideas or listen to craft advice videos, like the ones on this channel, all day at work.

It’s too difficult for me to do NaNoWriMo because the last two months of the year are crazy busy since I work in healthcare.

I have a night job. Still trying to balance everything out.

These are awesome tips! The commute bit is SO true. I'm an elementary school teacher (talk about creative, emotionally draining, and difficult to leave work at work!). Since January I've completed 2 drafts of one novel and outlined another one. It was actually easier to write during the school year than it has been during the summer! Before I started writing seriously it was really hard to leave work at work. I often found that if I was struggling with a difficult situation at school, I'd come home and write. That would clear my head, allowing my ideas to gel. I had more emotional energy for my students then. Conversely, I often found that after a day of intense teaching, a plot point had worked itself out in the back of my head like "magic"! I should mention that I'm single and have no social life, so that probably helps :)

Thanks for this video! Im 16, I'm a junior in high school and I take classes at a local community college, I plan and attend writer group meetings every week, AND I work a part-time job around 17 hours. Since my life is so non-stop, my main goal is to write SOMETHING every day, and I think you're right in saying you gotta push through when you're tired. Thank you for your video! By the way, we play a lot of your stuff at our writer group meetings and everyone loves you :)

This video has been helpful. I'm a new Mom and my job doesn't really lend to writing. When I get home even after LO is sleeping I am so drained I don't even think of writing. I need to start writing on my commute to and from work.

What you said about an emotionally draining job really hit home Your videos are so helpful, to be honest

One point - there’s only so many hours in the day and you forgot to mention the hours that go into a healthy lifestyle (working out, cooking meals at home, etc) so when you add those in there’s even less time and as someone who has chosen to prioritise my health and relationships above all else the only thing that can give is the usual time wasters of tv, social media, RU-vid...oh wait lol maybe I find more time there.

9-6 and I'm call afterwards. T_T

A lot of long weeknights and weekends. When I fly for work that’s a great several hour block. I outlined my first book on a fight to Las Vegas. It took a few months to write almost 70,000 words but I feel good about it (currently in beta, taking a break before revision). Pandemic has been a great excuse to be more of a hermit...

I"ve written 2 books while still working a day job. I would write on weekends or my days off. Mainly I went to the libraries and shoved myself in a study room for at least 4 hours. The hardest part for me was finding more time. During the week, it was hard because I was exhausted from teaching and I wanted to spend time with my husband and cat. Then Covid happened. I got furloughed from my job for 3 months and had to go on unemployment. But that thankfully gave me the time I've been wanting to have and used it to write my 2nd book which was a sequel to the first one. Still querying for my first book, but I"m so proud to have 2 books under my belt!

Just wanted to say thank you for making all these awesome videos! Been on a binge lately and all of these are super helpful and have made me think more about Traditional Publishing as well!

I write at work. Thank goodness.

Hi Alexa, nice makeup and blouse! Thanks for the advice.

Maybe I'm weird, but 5000 words a week seems really slow. I write very infrequently, but i sat down the other day and in about 2 hours i wrote like 3000 words. It's not like i fully edited it, but 5000 words a week from several hours a day seems like a snails pace. I have trouble working at a consistent pace, but when i sit down and actually write 1000 words per hour is normal.

Thanks for all your tips. I have a full time job and want to start writing again. But I end up with 1 hr of free time a day. I'm trying to use any time I can get.

I am a full time journalist

This is all my life! I write on my lunch hours, after work and on weekends and, yes, there is very little time left for a social life.

Great tips! I love listening to writing podcasts on my long commute. For awhile I was going to work a half hour early every day to work on my book and eat breakfast. It was easier to make myself do it at the office than at home because at home I would have just hit snooze haha. You made me realize my industry does have peaks and lulls and I should plan to use the lulls to really attack my writing. Also, thank you for not downplaying how hard it can be. I feel like tv/movies do make it seem so glamours and effortless, but it's hard work. I'm excited to see your "after the book deal" video! -Mel

Loved this video! It’s time to kill the myth that writing doesn’t pay!

Thank you for this video! It’s so reassuring and helpful. My day job is very flexible regarding when and where I do it (as long as progresses are made and deadlines are met), which is admittedly good in many respects. But then, work kind of spills over onto times for other things, and I’m really trying to compartmentalize more. I think I can even apply some of your advice on writing time on managing my day job as well, so that’s great!

I wish I'd found you years ago. Maybe you could have helped convince my friend that it wasn't a good idea to quit his job just to be a writer. He's finding it out now but, he shouldn't have had to learn the hard way. Also, he has never finished a story let alone a book. *--_--*

I work nights as a nurse and even tho the shift is 10h long, there's really only maybe 3 hours of real work. Which means that I can bang in on up to 7h of writing per night shift while still getting paid! Up until now I've only been watching shows and chatting with the other night workers, but I plan on turning this in to a nice writing scheme.

Thank you for this. Sometimes, I feel like something is wrong with me because I could go months without socializing with anyone other than my husband and my immediate family, and feel fine. But, if I don't feel I am where I should be, ambition-wise, I feel a void. The only person I know in real life who understands is my husband, who does music on the side. It'd be nice if we could find more people in real life with the same struggle, instead of people thinking something is socially wrong with us. I don't know how else to put it. haha

How can you write with a job that leaves you drained every single day? Yeah, I am going to take 3 weeks of time off fron my book... then when you find yourself it's 4 weeks, 5 weeks, 3 months, and it's always busy. Your tips, I have tried all, but nothing works... To sum up... please give us tips for How to carry on with your writing and find motivation/inspiration when you day job leaves you dead at the end of each day? Change a job? My job pays well. Drink a coffee in the evening to find strenght? It will give me insomnia? Write in the morning? Knowing my shift will start in an hour makes me so nervous I can't concentrate. Writing in the weekends only? I do, when my brain allows me, but if I keep writing only on the weekends I will have it done in 2030. Take holidays to write? I need to use all my limited days off to be with my family as I live in a different country from then. Becoming partime? Can't afford that. So, I either quit or become a homeless

Beautiful background, mi encanta your eye shade ! Thank you for the tips!

I'm a restaurant host and have a very irregular schedule. Do you have any ideas to help me find time to write? It seems like when I'm off work I am brain dead and can't think of anything to write.

Alexa - So glad I found your channel. Thanks for taking the time to make this vids. All the best to you.

I think this video could easily be titled - how to make time for your passion. Love your videos Alexa!!

I may be in a bit of a different situation because I am a hobbyist writer, but here are my two cents. I do have a dream job that sucks the life out of my creativity and energy, but I try to look at a good way to make that work for me. I do have the flexibility to create my own day-to-day schedule, so I schedule a boring task day. Zero creative used. It makes a good thinking day in which I can write in the evenings. I do have flex time as well, so I am able to take longer breaks if necessary. As far as fitting it all in, I have several hobby's, working on passive income and still am social (plus I am married and have a zoo at my house). It really comes down to making a schedule and sticking to it. For me, each day has a focus on one thing - hobby/life task/socializing. Sometimes things come up and you need to be flexible, but generally sticking to a schedule and planning my month goals and then breaking them down by the week to get those goals done really does help me out. It also helps me to project when a goal will be achieved and just generally have life balance, which elevates the stress.

Thank you for this! I work full-time and I feel so exhausted. It's hard to find the motivation to write, and it's even harder to avoid the temptation to just melt into the couch and get lost down a RU-vid rabbit hole. This video makes me feel very inspired!

This video was very helpful! As usual! ☺️

The truth in this video grabbed me by the neck and threw me across the room. Thank you Alexa, I needed to hear this 😭

Medical assistant that works 8-4, give or take depending on the day/week. If I have missed part of a shit for any reason, I tend to stay late to make what I’ve missed.

I found this when I needed it! Your practical advice has helped me immensely, thank you!

Balancing family, work and writing is hard. I'm writing late at night when my family is asleep.

You're wonderful and all of your videos are so encouraging!

I'm a high school student. School starts from 7 to 3, then I still have to attend my lessons until 8. Now that we're studying online, I have way more time to write than I used to. I couldn't go to my lessons anymore but I made up the time by studying by myself from 4 to 6. Dinner and other school stuff until 8, then writing from 8 to 10.

I work 3pm to 12am and that schedule makes me feel crazyyyy😅

I started writting a lot full time student in senior year with a part-time job but im trying to stay diligent

Great video and really good tips, suggestions! Thank you! Have a blessed day!

I feel seen

New sub! Thank you for the video 🪷

Thank you. Your videos are very helpful. I just graduated law school and am a mom, but I also really want to write.

Great video! What about marketing or book promotion or creating videos/blog posts? When do you do those?

Great discussion. I find paying attention to my natural energy flow is really important. I only have about 4 hours of actual attention I can give to my day job before I'm too tired and unfocused to go on, but I get a rush of creative energy between like 4pm and 8pm so I try to find ways to write during those hours. Working from home, there are definitely days where I just say - okay, today I'm doing the bare minimum and focusing on writing. Sometimes you gotta jump on the times when inspiration strikes, you know?!

‘Preciate the corroboration👍🏼

I have a transcribe app on my phone and while I'm driving to and from work I just say aloud everything I'm brainstorming and my thought process as it comes to me. I find this really good so that I can listen back and know exactly what I was going for and the vibe I wanted it to have, and it just pushes me to brainstorm much more rather than thinking about other things.

I'm binge watching your videos and I love them! They're super informative and helpful but also you're animated so it's entertaining too! Please do more :D

❤️❤️❤️

thank you so much for this video it really helped me, because I struggle with that having time to write because I get home some later after work and I feel like I am failing at writing my book if I am just too worn out to write. I really love your videos and you are an awesome person thank you so much for all your videos I am a new writer and they have helped me tremendously.

I get early, because if I try to write after my job, I'll not have any ideias at all, my job consume a lot of my brain that sometimes I only want to take a shower and sleep. It's good to know that other's authors and writters have almost the same issues as me;

Do a video if writers block was a real thing. Please please pleassssssse

I write a lot on the weekends and then on weekdays night, after school, I do editing and brainstorms

Working a full time job as a high school student and writing in my downtime has shown me there is always time. (You just might sacrifice some sleep or "breaks.") Ha! What's a weekend again?

Really good, practical and balanced advice.

This is so true! Im a college student and this helped a lot

Fantastic video. thanks!

What do you for your dayjob? I am looking to move into something basic like you said but I have no idea. Working in IT is toxically exhausting. On top of that 4 hours of commute. I can't even sit for reading.

Omg I love you! Thank you for the realness that still encouraged me somehow 🥲🥹 you’re amazing! 🙏