Once in a while, life gets in the way of my writing. This week was one such case: between work, the classes I’ve begun to take, and some medical checkups, there wasn’t enough free time for me to give this blog any attention.

It did give me an idea for a post, though.

Whenever I talk about my writing project with my family and friends, someone will mention that I’m lucky to have the time to do it. Which invariably makes me slightly snippy, because luck has nothing to do with it.

It’s just a matter of priorities.

It’s entirely possible to write a book while working full time, having a girlfriend, running a (possibly overambitious) D&D campaign and taking classes at the same time. (Although adding more to my plate at the moment would be problematic, I will admit.)

But that means making some sacrifices: my job is not one of those high-powered, 90-hours-a-week grind. The D&D campaign runs on a monthly, not weekly, basis. And I didn’t play whatever videogame you want to talk about.

Some weeks, it means that the book doesn’t move forward as much as I want it to, because I have to be in court and that generally means being prepared.And sometimes, it means going out with the girlfriend instead of staying home.

More prosaically, it also means that I lead a really well-organized life. I edit my book on the bus. I have a daily to-do list, and I check items off it near-compulsively. The time I waste being inefficient is, ultimately, time I could be using to write, and so I try not to waste any.

But the point is – if you want to write, you can do it. There’s probably some free minutes or hours you can reclaim from the daily routine, just by getting organized. And if getting 103% completion in the latest Madden’s Shoot Guy Auto 6  isn’t as satisfying a life goal as it once was, well, that’s just extra scribbling time.