I’ve mentioned that I struggle with time management, particularly when it comes to writing blog posts. The bus journey from my village to the nearest town is fifteen minutes. That’s a solid fifteen minutes where I can get a few hundred words down. That’s enough for a blog post.
I go to town twice a week to go swimming. Why not make the most of the time on the bus?
The bus journey out is busy, so I tend to listen to music and daydream about characters and plots. I also do a bit of people watching. Don’t people just sit on the bus? What’s to watch?
Quite a lot, actually, if you look closely.
That person who’s sitting fidgeting may be nervous about the job interview they have later that morning.
The woman who looks like they threw themselves together at the last minute may be a working mum with five kids who’s just trying to get to her job on time. Will she get reprimanded because she is late again? Could she lose her job? How will she cope with five kids to house and feed?
The possible backstories I invent for my fellow commuters are endless. I try not to be obvious about it. I don’t want people to think I’m weird or anything, but people watching is so helpful to developing characters. I’m a novice, but it’s fascinating.
I tend to write on the journey home. The bus is quiet, so I don’t look so strange when I get out my notepad and pen. I listen to music, and just sit and write. I might write about what I saw on the journey out, or use a prompt for some flash fiction.
What’s difficult though, is trying to write while the bus travels along the twisting, country roads. Even more difficult, is trying to decipher my messy penmanship when I type it up.
Do you write in any less than conventional places? Let me know in the comments below.
