5 Tips on Pursuing Your Writing While Holding Down a 9-to-5 Job

You want to write a novel. You've wanted it for years—maybe decades. But between your full-time job, your commute, your relationships, and everything else that demands your energy, writing always seems to get pushed to "someday."

Maybe you've tried to write after work, but by the time you get home, make dinner, and handle everything else life throws at you, the last thing you have energy for is staring at a blank page. Or maybe you've had bursts of momentum on weekends, only to lose all that progress when Monday hits, and the cycle starts again.

Here's what I want you to know: you can write a novel with a full-time job. It's not easy, but it's absolutely possible—and I've seen hundreds of writers do it.

The key is having a strategy that works with your limited time instead of against it. In this post, I'm sharing five tips that will help you build real writing momentum no matter how busy life gets. Then I'll introduce you to two writers who put these ideas into practice and not only finished their novels, but also signed with literary agents this year.

Let's start with the foundation—because without this first piece in place, the other tips won't matter.

Tip #1: Commit to One Process and Follow It Through

If you've been collecting craft books, bookmarking blog posts, and researching the "best" plotting method for months (or years), this tip is for you.

Here's the thing: I get why you're doing it. Research feels productive. It feels like forward motion. And honestly? It feels safer than actually writing—because as long as you're still figuring out the "right" approach, you don't have to risk discovering that your story doesn't work or that you're not as good as you hoped.

But here's what I've noticed after working with hundreds of writers: hopping from method to method is one of the sneakiest forms of procrastination. It keeps you busy without moving you forward.

The truth is, most reputable methods will get you to a finished draft if you stick with them. The magic isn't in finding the perfect method. It's in committing to one and following through.

So pick the approach that resonates with you, and give yourself permission to stop looking for something better. You can always try a different method on your next book. But for this one? Commit.

Once you've made that commitment, the next step is knowing exactly what you're working on each time you sit down.

Tip #2: Know Exactly What You're Writing Before You Sit Down

Here's what happens to a lot of busy writers: they carve out twenty precious minutes, sit down at their desk, and then... freeze.

Should I work on chapter three? Skip ahead to that scene I'm excited about? Figure out my subplot first? Re-read what I wrote last week?

Before they know it, half their writing time is gone—consumed by indecision.

When you have limited time, you can't afford to spend it figuring out what to work on. You need to know before you sit down.

The best way to do this is to have some kind of roadmap for your story. Now, I know some of you are pantsers who break out in hives at the word "outline"—and I'm not saying you need a fifty-page document with every detail mapped out. Your roadmap can be as simple as knowing you're going to write the next scene in sequence, or that you're going to flesh out the conversation you started yesterday.

But I do recommend having at least a loose sense of your key scenes, your major plot points, and roughly what happens in each part of your story. I've seen too many writers spend months (or years) wandering without any direction, only to realize they've written themselves into a corner. A roadmap doesn't limit your creativity—it gives it direction. And when you're working with limited time, that direction is everything.

With a roadmap in place, you can start setting goals that actually fit your life.

Tip #3: Set Realistic Goals Aligned with Your Lifestyle

I know, I know—you've heard this advice before. Set realistic goals. Don't overcommit. Be kind to yourself.

But here's my question: are you actually doing it?

Because one of the fastest ways to burn out is setting goals that don't match your actual life. If you're working full-time, caring for family, managing a household, and trying to maintain some semblance of a social life, a goal of "write 2,000 words every day" is probably going to backfire. You'll miss a few days, feel like a failure, and abandon the whole thing.

Here's where your roadmap changes everything. When you can see how many scenes you have left to write, you can work backwards to create a timeline that fits your actual schedule. Not some fantasy version of your life where you have three free hours every evening—your real life, with all its constraints.

Ask yourself: How many scenes do I have left? How much time can I realistically give to writing each week? What deadline feels ambitious but achievable? Then do the math. The answer might be slower than you'd like—but a realistic goal you actually hit will get you to "The End" faster than an ambitious one you abandon.

Of course, setting a goal is one thing. Finding the time to pursue it is another.

Tip #4: Find and Protect Pockets of Writing Time

You don't need hours of uninterrupted time to make progress on your novel. Some of the most consistent progress happens in short, focused bursts.

You might feel like fifteen minutes isn't "real" writing time. It is. Those small sessions add up faster than you think—but only if you treat them as sacred creative space, not leftover time you'll get to "if you can."

So, where do you find these pockets?

Maybe it's fifteen minutes before the rest of your house wakes up. Maybe it's your lunch break with headphones in. Maybe it's twenty minutes before bed instead of scrolling on your phone. Your weekends count too—even one focused hour on a Saturday morning, before the day gets away from you, can keep your story alive in your mind.

And don't overlook your commute. If you're spending time in a car or on a train, that's found time. Use a voice memo app to brainstorm scenes, dictate dialogue, or talk through a plot problem out loud.

The key is identifying these pockets in advance and protecting them. When you've followed Tips 1 and 2—when you have a process and know what you're writing—those short sessions become surprisingly productive. You're not wasting precious minutes figuring out what to do. You're writing.

But even with protected time and a clear plan, there will be hard weeks. That's where the final tip comes in.

Tip #5: Build a Support System

Writing can feel incredibly isolating, especially when you're squeezing it into the margins of an already full life. And when work is exhausting, when life gets chaotic, when the last thing you want to do is open your manuscript—that's when most writers quietly give up.

Having people in your corner makes all the difference. Not because they'll write the book for you, but because they'll help you keep going when motivation disappears, and discipline feels impossible.

So what does this actually look like in practice?

It could mean finding a writing buddy—someone else working on a novel who gets what you're going through. You don't need to be writing the same genre or be at the same stage. You just need someone who'll check in, celebrate your wins, and remind you to keep going when you want to quit.

It could mean joining a writing community, whether that's a local writers' group, an online community like the ones on Facebook or Discord, or a paid program (like my Notes to Novel course!) where you're surrounded by people on the same journey. There's something powerful about being in a room (even a virtual one) full of people who are all working toward the same goal. Their momentum becomes your momentum.

It could even be as simple as telling a friend or family member about your goal. Making it real by saying it out loud. Giving someone permission to ask, "How's the book coming?" so you have a reason to keep showing up.

The writers who finish aren't the ones who never struggle. They're the ones who have someone in their corner when they do.

What This Actually Looks Like: Two Writers Who Made It Work

These tips aren't just theory. Let me tell you about two writers in my Notes to Novel program who put them into practice—and both signed with literary agents this year.

Madi is a mom of four kids, all under the age of six—which, if you've ever parented young children, you know is its own kind of full-time job. Her writing time is extremely limited. But instead of waiting for "more time" to magically appear, she committed to one process and created a roadmap for her story. That roadmap meant she knew exactly what scene to work on every time she sat down—no wasted time wondering what to do next. She set realistic goals that fit her actual life, not some fantasy version of it. She protected small pockets of time and leaned on her community for support when things got hard. She even took a full year off during her pregnancy and newborn phase—and when she came back, she picked up right where she left off because her outline was waiting for her. She finished her first draft in under six months of actual writing time.

Poornika works full-time in corporate finance. She's a self-described perfectionist who kept putting off her novel because she was afraid of getting stuck on small details. Once she committed to one process and learned to keep moving forward—using her roadmap to guide each writing session—she stopped getting hung up on the little stuff. She set a realistic goal of writing for just a couple of hours most evenings, protected that time fiercely, and built accountability by connecting with other writers who were on the same journey. She finished her first draft in just 90 days.

Two very different lives. Two very different schedules. Same approach: commit to a process, know what you're writing, set realistic goals, protect your time, and get support.

Your Path Forward

Madi and Poornika prove what I see again and again: finishing a novel isn't about having more time. It's about using the time you have strategically.

You don't need to implement all five tips at once. Start with the first two—commit to a process and create a roadmap—and the others will follow more naturally. And through all of it, be kind to yourself. Celebrate every scene finished, every problem solved, every small step forward. If you're writing a novel while working full-time, you're doing something hard. The writers who finish aren't the ones who never struggle—they're the ones who keep coming back.

Your busy life isn't a barrier to finishing your novel. It just means you need a clear path forward—one that works with your schedule instead of against it.

If you're ready to stop piecing together advice and start making real progress, my Notes to Novel course gives you the step-by-step process to brainstorm, outline, and draft your novel—even with limited time. You'll know exactly what to work on in every writing session, so those precious pockets of time actually move you toward "The End." Enrollment opens soon. Click here to join the waitlist!

👉 Want more help right now? Check out these free resources:

• Listen to the Fiction Writing Made Easy Podcast for weekly writing guidance
• Take the Author Success Blueprint Quiz to get personalized next steps for your writing, editing, and publishing journey
• Grab my free guide to see how real writers (like you!) pushed past these roadblocks to finish their novels: 5 Writing Roadblocks Keeping You Stuck & How to Break Through