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 while working a full-time job. It isn’t easy, but it is absolutely possible. I know because I’ve done it. I have four novels out, and I wrote each one a year at a time while working my 9-to-5 and juggling everything else in between.

The key is having a strategy that works with your limited time instead of against it. In this article, I’m sharing 5 tips that helped me build real writing momentum no matter how busy life gets.

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

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

Most of us do a lot of research about how to write. Research feels productive. And if you’ve been researching the “best” plotting method for months (or years), bookmarking blogs, this tip is for you.

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.

Some common writing approaches include:

• Plotter (Outliner):
  You plan your story before you write. You know the beginning, middle, and end.
• Pantser (Write as You Go):
  You start writing without a plan and discover the story along the way.
• Hybrid (Plan a Little, Discover a Little):
  You plan the big moments but allow yourself freedom in the details.
• Scene-by-Scene Writing:
  You focus on writing one scene at a time instead of the whole book.
• Draft First, Edit Later:
  You write the full draft without stopping to fix mistakes.

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’ve 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. By this, 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

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.

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 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 fee incredibly isolating, especially when you’re squeezing it into the margin 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 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.

Your Path Forward

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.

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 Novel Nook Program awaits for you. It gives a 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!