Hey everyone, I hope you’ve all had the most lovely Christmas 2025. Life has been so very busy for me the last couple of months, and I am sure it has been for many of you too. My writing and blogging has gone out the window somewhat 😕. My poor novel is still very much in my head and waiting for those next chapters to be written. I wish this wasn’t the case and am aware it highlights just how inconsistent I am, not just with my writing, but actually, in all areas of my life.

How are you getting on? Have you been managing to set aside regular time to sit and work on your novel? What barriers are you encountering?

For me, the obstacles are many…so much to do, and so little time (sorry for the cliché). I am juggling a job, home and family commitments, and I’m trying to fit in regular exercise (with some success🙃). My writing has to find it’s place within all of this and I know it is possible, but I haven’t got it quite right yet! I know some of you will be feeling similar pressures.

I am sometimes stood watching my son play football on a Saturday morning, which I thoroughly enjoy, but yes, there are times when I’d love to be tucked away in a quiet corner of a cosy coffee shop, eating cake, drinking hot chocolate, laptop in front of me, and most importantly, the next chapter of my book unravelling. Instead, I make a plan to set my laptop up on the kitchen table later on, unlikely to happen much before 9pm, when my child is tucked up in bed, sleeping soundly, no distractions. It seems like a great plan at 10am that morning 😆. But then 9pm comes around and guess what?! I can barely keep my eyes open! I fall asleep on the sofa watching the 1% Club 😹.

Next morning, I get a whole 2 hours to myself first thing, and I dash off to the gym before the day gets started. No time to write again…maybe I’ll try again at 9pm that night, but of course, you guessed it, that doesn’t happen either 💤.

It is very easy for me to illustrate these struggles here, and find reasons to justify why a huge chunk of my novel is still waiting to be written, but…and it is a very big BUT…if I really want to finish my book, I have to make the Saturday night writing happen, and of course, sometimes it will be accompanied by a cocktail or two 😉🍹🍸. And it can’t just be on Saturday night, it has to be almost every night. I am certain that if I make time to write for one hour every evening, this story will fly onto the pages. And my goodness – how happy would this make me! The thought of being at the editing stage of the process is so very exciting.

I find using a timer very effective, so I’ll set it for 25 minutes, all distractions put away (primarily the 📱), ignore my partner 😂. That 25 minutes goes by fast and I get a surprising amount of writing down! The timer soon rings, I take a quick break, and then back on the timer for another 25 minutes…and there it is, almost an hour of work ✅. I don’t know how long it takes you to write a chapter, I suppose it depends on many factors, but for me, it takes an awfully long time. An hour is better than nothing though, right!

Wish me luck and please let me know how you are getting on, how are you making time to write, and how do you overcome your own obstacles?

I’m already looking ahead to my next blog in a week’s time, when I am determined to have at least one more chapter finished 📖.

Sending each and every one of you you all the motivation and writing magic for 2026🪄.

Happy New Year! Tabitha 💟