
Writing A Novel On Your Lunch
HourOkay, so I didn’t really write a whole novel on my lunch
hour. But I did develop a lot
of the characters, locations
and plot by taking a half-
hour out
of each workday to sketch some ideas. You’d be surprised with what you c
an get done in just thirty minutes a day.
First, a little background. I had a job that was driving me crazy. Corporate priorities at the comp
any I worked for ch
anged on a weekly basis. Projects I m
anaged got c
ancelled halfway through development, blew up on the launch pad, or went on indefinitely without
any measurement
of success. My job had become more about shuffling papers
and schedules th
an creating great work. I was frustrated. My thoughts turned to that novel I’d never m
anaged to write.
But how was I going to write it? I never had time. When I got home from work every day, it was late. I was tired
and cr
anky, unable to do much but eat dinner
and go to sleep. Weekends were filled with taking care
of the house, doing laundry, seeing family. I
needed to come up with some kind
of pl
an if I was going to get
anything done. I beg
an by promising myself I’d take a half-
hour break each day at work, pick up a notepad
and pencil
and write down whatever came into my head.