#440 Start Fresh: 3 Ways to Make Time for Writing in a Busy Season

Welcome to Kingdom Writers, where we help equip and empower Christian writers of all genres to share your unique gifts with the world. We're your hosts, C.J. and Shelli Hitz.

This podcast is filled with spiritual encouragement as well as prayers to help you overcome the resistance you face as a writer. Your story matter.

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Hey Kingdom Writers, It's Shelly Hitz here and I am so excited to share with you this episode to help you get started with your writing in a great way in 2025. Can you believe it is already 2025? So this episode is all about starting fresh, three ways to make time for writing in a busy season and what I wanted to make sure to announce right before we get into this episode is that we're hosting our popular Writing Week challenge again this month. On January 20th. We will kick it off, so if you haven't gotten your free ticket yet, make sure to go to writingweek.com sign up and share with all your writing friends. We've been doing this challenge since 2015 and people love it. Get so much writing a day. What we encourage you to do is write for 15 minutes a day. There will be accountability in the member area, lots of free downloads and resources, and even if you've done it before, it's always a great way to to get a jump start on the year. So let's dive into this episode how to Start Fresh three Ways to Make Time for Writing in a Busy Season so if you feel like your days are packed and writing gets pushed aside, I have good news for you. You don't need hours of free time to make progress on your book. And today I'm gonna share three practical ways to make time for your writing, even in your busiest seasons, so you can start fresh and finish what God has called you to write. And I know what it feels like to be overwhelmed with a to do list that feels like it will never get done. I am a creative entrepreneur and I always have ideas. I always have new book ideas, I always have new project ideas, new things to share with you, or the million other things that I've done over the years. But I also know that small, consistent steps can lead to big results. We've often talked about the book the Compound Effect, and it's so true. You know, if you just do something small every day consistently for a year, you're going to see a big change. Whether it's your writing, learning to play an instrument, learning to cook, whatever it is. Whereas if you just do something every once in a while, you're not Going to see as much momentum and as many results. So we're going to share some, I'm going to share some practical, simple strategies to create consistent writing time. None of these are like, like new, mind blowing things, but it's encouragement to start fresh this year, no matter how busy your life feels. So let's dive into the first way to find time for writing. Carve it out of your schedule, even if that feels impossible today. So the first thing is to shift your mindset about writing time. Many writers think that they need to have long, uninterrupted hours to write at this desk or at this place. You know, you, you need to go to a retreat or the library or whatever. But the truth is, progress happens in the small, faithful moments. And I know a lot of you struggle with perfectionism, self doubt, and, you know, it's like waiting for the perfect time, waiting until you feel inspired. What I often find is that inspiration comes when you take action. So my friend has often said that God doesn't direct a parked car, you know, and so many times we just need to get started, we need to get going, we to get started. And so I want you to think about micro writing sessions of 15 minutes a day. We have talked about this for many years and this is the foundation of our writing week challenge that's coming up on January 20th. So definitely check it out@writingweek.com but there are so many times that writers will tell us, you know, I got Thousands, you know, 3000 words written or 1500 words written in five days just by spending, spending 15 minutes a day. And so don't discount the small moments. God can multiply your efforts when you take one obedient step at a time. And I find using the timer, setting a timer, it gives my brain a deadline and it just helps to start the momentum. You might also want to create a little writing routine where you light a candle, you play some music, you do something, you have a cup of coffee or a cup of tea, and it just gets you in that flow. It's like your brain remembers, oh yeah, this is what we do before we start writing. I also like taking three deep breaths. It decreases the cortisol, the stress hormone in your brain, and just helps you get started. But invite God into your writing time, even when it feels short, his presence can turn those small moments into something powerful. And so now that you know it doesn't take hours to make progress, let's talk about how to block out those moments to in your schedule. So number two is to block time and treat it like an appointment. If you don't plan your writing time, it's easy to let the day slip away without putting a single word on paper. So I know we have busy schedules, there's distractions, competing priorities. But if you just look ahead and I know not all of you have the same schedule every day, and that's fine, you could do this even day by day. But look ahead and see when can I block off some small chunks of time for writing? So maybe for you it would work well to get up early in the morning. Maybe it would be better in the evening or your lunch break. We've had many people inside Christian Book Academy finish their books on their lunch breaks. It's a consistent time. When you work a 9 to 5 job, you know you're going to be having that time and you just get in a rhythm and a routine. You can even write your book in the school pickup line by dictating into your phone. You know, get creative. Maybe you go to the gym and you're waiting for someone else, you know, to pick you up or I don't know, there's just different times when I like to actually dictate into my phone when I'm walking. Maybe there are other moments of time that you can capture that you just haven't thought about yet. But treat your writing time like a non negotiable, non negotiable appointment. And you know, when you do protect those blocks of times, you will get books done. So my husband cj, he's done a lot of devotional books over the years and writing, we, we've written books for writers. And he will even take some of our content that we've created in videos before or other things. And he'll rewrite it, you know, work it, rework it into a book. And it's been amazing because then we are able to create these resources for you all. And I've been really busy with updating Christian Book Academy, creating new programs like doing things. And so he will do this and it's, it's great. But he has these consistent blocks of time. It's usually in the afternoons for him. And for him it works best to go to a coffee shop to get out his computer to be somewhere and like to, he's like, when I buy that coffee, I'm like, I don't want this, this investment in this coffee to go to waste. So for him, he blocks those times off. And it's gotten a lot of books written by doing that. So guard your writing time as an act of obedience. You know, God honors those small, faithful efforts. Even with time blocks. Staying focused can be a challenge. And I understand that, especially in our world of smartphones and all the things. So let's move on to our third strategy. And number three is to create accountability for your writing. When you're writing alone, it's easier to give up or push back writing to the back burner. And you know, writing is often a task of isolation. We're isolated in our office and our writing at our writing desk. And so all of the stinking thinking, the inner critic, the self doubt and procrastination can crop up. And so that's where comes in the power of accountability. You know, writing in community can really change everything for you. It's encouraging to know like, I'm not alone and I have others to cheer me on, to keep me motivated. So inside Christian Book Academy, which is our membership for kingdom writers like yourself, we have monthly virtual writing retreats. CJ and I kick it off with encouragement and prayer. Then we have our virtual writing retreat host. Currently it's Deb Butterfield. And it's, we use the Pomodoro technique. So it's 50 minutes, 55o, 50 minutes of writing, 10 minutes of break. So for five minutes, you know, check in for accountability and then for five minutes just get up, stretch, take a break. And these writing retreats are some of the favorite things that people love in the academy because you actually get something done. The other thing we do is we have five days where we do a 15 minute writing challenge every month. And again, people love this because they come in, they check in in the comments. You don't have to attend any videos or any zoom calls or anything like that. But it's just a great time to get things done. And so we're, you're also going to experience that in the writing week challenge, which is free, so definitely go and check that out@writingweek.com But God didn't design us to pursue our callings alone. I encourage you to partner with him and connect with others who share your purpose. It really makes a difference. Inside Christian Book Academy, we also have something that we launched last year called progress pods. These are peer led accountability groups and again, our members love these and they become really close friends and it's just a really neat way to support each other and to know you're not alone. And so let's wrap this up with a quick recap and some encouragement to get started to start fresh this year. So number one, shift your mindset about your writing time. Set a timer for just 15 minutes and see what happens.

Block time out and treat it like an appointment and just look ahead on your schedule and think, when can I fit in at least 15 minutes of writing? And then number three, create accountability for your writing journey. There are many ways to do that. You can just reach out to a writing friend, but if you want to join a community of Kingdom writers, we have many ways to do that inside ChristianBookAcademy.com so remember, you don't need hours of free time or a perfect plan. Just start where you are, take one step and trust God to guide you. Small steps lead to big stories and your words matter. So if you're ready to really get your writing going this year, you're ready for some accountability. Accountability and support. I'd love to see you in our free Writing Week challenge. You will make real progress on your book and it's just one small step of 15 minutes a day. It is. It's incredible. I love reading the comments every day because it's incredible what you get done. We will also be meeting live three times throughout the week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So if you like those live interactions with me, you'll get those during this live challenge. So definitely go sign up writingweek.com we kick off January 20th and let your writing friends know. But your book has a purpose and the world needs your story. So let's take the first step together. So excited to hear what God does in your life. Thank you for listening to today's episode. Until next time, keep writing for his glory. One word at a time. I'll talk to you soon. Bye Bye.

Would you like more? If you are enjoying this podcast but want more, I have something exciting to share with you. We have released what's called a private podcast. So a private podcast you will not find by searching in Apple, you have to know specifically how to subscribe to it. It's more private and exclusive and it just can be more relaxed behind the scenes. And my new private podcast is called Hits Blitz and it's wisdom for writers that you're going to learn from my 18 plus years of experience in publishing and online marketing so that you can move forward in God's call to write. I am best known for injecting energy and enthusiasm into everything I do and inspiring those around me to take action. So I encourage you to listen in to this exclusive private podcast. It is free. 100% free. You don't have to pay for it and be prepared to be inspired by my next Hits Blitz So you can sign up@trainingauthors.com hits blitz and if you have any other writing friends that you think could benefit from it, definitely share it with them. They can go to the same link trainingauthors.com hits blitz to get access. Again, this is a private podcast so you cannot get access to it any other way. It's completely free. All you have to do is sign up and then you'll get all the information on how to add it to your podcast player of choice. So I can't wait for you to join me over there. I share a lot of things behind the scenes and more content just in a real time basis. So it's more like chatting with a friend or following someone on stories on social media. Except you don't have to get caught up in any of the algorithms. You'll just have this in your podcast player and be able to listen in wherever you're at, whatever you're doing. Some of the listeners told me this week that they were listening while waiting in the Target parking lot while brushing their teeth. You can fit this into the pockets of time that you have, so I hope you'll join me. Come over to trainingauthors.com hitsblitz if you're ready to take a step of faith and finally finish your book, we have a few ways we can help you. First of all, you can join our free Writing Week challenge to create a writing habit in just 15 minutes a day. Thousands of writers have taken this over the years and it is incredible the progress that you'll see. So join us@writingweek.com and again, this is completely free. Inside our Book Writing Lab workshop, you can choose your book topic, write an outline, and create a writing plan in just 90 minutes so you'll finally feel confident that you'll actually finish your book. Get started@bookwritinglab.com and finally you can get more support and personalized feedback from myself and our team by joining Christian Book Academy because the honest truth is most writers stay stuck and never finish their first draft. But inside Christian Book Academy we help you partner with God to write your book so you can become a published author. So finally ditch your self doubt and take a step of faith so you can finish your book. Join Christian book academy@christianbookacademy.com and get 50% off your first month by using the coupon code Podcast at checkout there's a special coupon code for our podcast listeners. We love you. So come over to ChristianBookAcademy.com, use the coupon Code Podcast and we look forward to working closely with you.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Kingdom Writers. We believe that you, as a Christian writer, have a specific role to play in the Kingdom of Heaven to impact lives for eternity.

And because of this, we choose to put Pour Out Our Lives into encouraging writers like you to not only tell your stories, but to take the courageous step of self publishing your stories in books that will outlive you and leave behind a powerful legacy. This podcast is sponsored by Christian Book Academy where we help you give birth to your books. We invite you to join our community of Kingdom Writers.