5 Tips for Managing Writing in College

Audio version linked at the bottom of the post.

 As you all may know, I graduated from high school this May. I've been in my first semester of college for almost a month now, and it's been a ride! This summer has been filled with a lot this year. I've completed my first job, traveled across several states alone for a wedding, and moved out for the first time from home. 

It's been a ride, and quite possibly the greatest year of my life. I find myself nostalgic for my high school years as I balance my classes, job, and social life in college. I'm not fully immersed in the "adult life" as I do have very generous parents who support me when they can, but I'm slowly realizing my teen hood is all but over and I am now grown. 

Along with all the business of college, I had to place my writing on the backburner for a while. This past month I have not written a lot as moving into my dorm, meeting new friends, starting my new job, and starting my classes meant I was completely out of routine. 

But now thankfully, as I near the halfway mark of September, the rollercoaster has smoothed out. I am now able to work on my writing projects more and am getting back into reading. I recently found a subreddit with the goal of 52 books a year (one a week), and I am aiming to start this challenge soon. 

This summer I began tackling the editing process of my series called Surrender and was aiming to send it out to beta readers by the new year. In the start of August, I took a break from it, but I plan to restart the editing of draft 4 soon. 

I have also been dabbling and writing in my Give me the Sun series, which I am actually posting on AO3. 

But that is enough about my own personal update. I also wanted to give five major tips I find helpful when managing writing in college with a job as well. 

1. Be Consistent. 

It can be hard. But I think anyone who writes, no matter how young or how much free time they have, knows that you need to stay consistent with writing or it becomes easy to get out of the habit. Maybe this is setting aside time every day for writing, or maybe once a week. Either way, having an allotted time only for writing is a great way to get through writer's block in college.

2. Find your Writing Corner. 

Sometimes you can't do writing or studying in your dorm room. If you have a roommate, they may distract you or you may feel uneasy writing around other people. Search on campus for your own space for writing. Maybe you need silence. Try the library! Maybe there is somewhere outside you can sit and type out your next chapter (bonus for getting some Vitamin D too 😉). 

3. Make a Goal. 

Maybe you can't always keep a consistent time for writing every day or even every week! Life gets crazy if you have other responsibilities! Maybe try to set a weekly (or monthly or biweekly... whatever works for you!) goal for your writing. Whether it's one chapter or one page, that is a bit of writing that wasn't there before! 

4. Try looking for Writing Buddies. 

Maybe your college has a writing club you can join, or you find friends who also like writing. You can become accountability partners. Or, sometimes just talking about my writing and realizing the lack of it just motivates me to actually hammer out the words. 

5. Be Kind to Yourself!

At the end of the day, remember college can be tough. Whether you're in college for engineering, Spanish, or education, college is a pivotal part of your life and should be one of your first priorities. Although writing can be important to you as well, be kind to yourself if you miss that weekly goal. Be aware if you cannot pull off NaNoWriMo and grind through Calculus this semester. Allowing yourself room to breathe but also having a bit of accountability can help balance your writing progress while not hurting your mental health. 

That's all the tips I have for today, but I hope you all are having an amazing semester (or October if you're not in school). 

I also have an audio version of this if you'd like to listen to this post!