As you might guess by the title, I’m using google docs to write this post. I’m also manning the phones where I work and eating lunch. I have half an hour. So, why am I adding this to my busy afternoon? Because this is one of those moments I can steal to write and google docs is the best tool for my schedule.

I’ve used Gdocs for writing groups and family shares, but I was never comfortable using it for my writing until I found a way that works for me. I don’t know about anyone else, but with a busy job, a family, and all of our activities, making the time to write can be a challenge. It helps when I can squeeze in time between activities, during a lull at work, or like now, during my lunch break. In the past, I tried bringing my laptop, but by the time I set it up, log in, and start working, it’s often time to log out and unplug.

WARNING: If you’ve heard people say that Gdocs is less than secure, I think they’re right. It’s probably not that hard to hack into. I haven’t had issues myself, but I’m aware of them. But since I don’t only write at work–I’d get fired–and I don’t do the majority of my writing on Gdocs, then I’m able to make hacking pretty useless on my account. I don’t write a complete novel on the thing. In part, because that would be such a pain. I love my Scrivener software. Gdocs doesn’t cut it by comparison, but it gives me portability. For example, lunch break is over, so I’m going to save this, share it with my home account, and finish it later. See ya in a few.

And that’s the beauty of Gdocs. I can download this to my home computer–onto Scrivener or in this case, to the wordpress posting page–delete the written content from Gdocs, and then when I’m done writing at home I put the last sentence or paragraph into the Google document folder and I’m ready to write during downtime at work.

If anyone has any other how-to-work-a-full-time-job-and-make-time-to-write tips, please share. My progress has been slow, but I’m finding ways to manage the job and the career. And I’m loving it.

Colette Black Bio:
Colette Black lives in the far outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona with her family, 2 dogs, a mischievous cat and the occasional unwanted scorpion.  She loves learning new things, vacations, and the color purple. She writes New Adult and Young Adult sci-fi and fantasy novels with kick-butt characters, lots of action, and always a touch of romance. Find her at www.coletteblack.net