How I Wrote a Novel, While Working Full Time

It was not easy, but you can do it too

Jay Sizemore
6 min readJan 12, 2023

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cover of my book

This week, I achieved a goal I had almost come to believe an impossibility. I published my first novel.

I did this while working a steady full-time job, of forty hour work weeks. The key to successful completion of the task, was hard work, and consistency. If you’ve been wondering how you too can write a novel when you just don’t seem to have time to focus on something so complex, allow me to give you a couple pointers on just how to go about it.

First, have a good idea. If you don’t have a good idea, think of one. This is completely subjective of course. Most people believe they have a good idea for a book already. You’ll find this out if you ever write one and tell people about it. Within five seconds, they’ll say, “I have a pretty good idea for a book, too. Just never had the time to write it down.” Whelp, here’s the hard truth: No normal person HAS the time to write a book. They MAKE the time. So, make time to write that idea down.

For me, I allowed my idea to ferment in my head for about a year. I stewed on it. I ruminated. I pondered. I visualized certain scenes over and over. I did this until the idea was so large and so vivid in my mind, it was either going to come to life, or it was going to die. Personally, I’ve had…

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Jay Sizemore

Provocative truth teller, author of APNEA & Ignore the Dead. Cat dad. Dog dad. Husband. Currently working from Portland, Oregon. Learn more at: Jaysizemore.com.