Every writer has an ideal world; some would have others do the writing for them while others would wish for more hours to write in. The reality is that writers tend to grab an hour here and there to write, missing out on sleep, exercise, a social life and more just to get a few more words down on paper. But there comes a time when you have to stop. The laundry has overtaken the house, your gym membership is costing you money that you get no benefit from and your writing still isn’t paying the bills. Until you can magically extend your day, how do you get around this problem?

The real key lies in making the most of what writing time you do have. If you have one hour to spare, you really don’t need to spend half of it staring at the screen because you haven’t quite worked out where your plot is going. You need to make the entire hour count and I’m going to tell you how.

Every single day, you have several opportunities in which to brainstorm and think about your book. When, I hear you ask? It’s quite simple – times when you are physically occupied but don’t need to think about what you are doing. Ever had an idea when you are showering? Cleaning the bathroom or the kitchen? Exactly. Your mind is free to wander towards your work so that when you do get that hour to write, you can spend it all on writing. Here are five opportunities:

Driving

When you drive every day, you need little in the way of your muscle memory. Instead of wasting the rest, use it. If you can't figure out the motivation for one of your characters, turn off the radio and talk out loud. Hearing yourself talk through it may just be the kicker that you need.

Daily Chores

We all have daily chores to do but we don’t necessarily need our brains to do them. While you vacuum the lounge, mop the kitchen floor, rake up leaves, start working through your character profiles, your plot, or whatever else has you flummoxed about your book.

Sleeping

We’ve all heard the expression, “sleep on it” and it has long been shown that decent sleep is vital to solving problems and enhancing creativity. Sadly, sleep is the first thing that gets pushed aside when we are under pressure.  When you start to fall asleep, think about your book. Try to picture scenes in your mind and have a pen and piece of paper to hand – you might wake in the night with a piece of stunning inspiration!

Cooking

Water takes ages to boil when you watch it and waiting for the oven to preheat can seem interminable. Chopping vegetables, preparing salads and peeling spuds are not taxing jobs so why not use the time to put some backbone into your story, flesh out the backstory for a character, or work out a neat twist for your story?

Waiting

We all wait, every day. In line at the bank, the traffic lights, in the grocery store. At the doctor’s, you will probably be waiting for your appointment, it's bound to be running late. Rather than staring into space, start thing about your book and making mental notes.

We all have plenty of time to think during the day, it just comes down to how we use that time.