How to Balance Writing and College

By Allison Grace

College is hard enough on its own. But add in writing, and you’ve leveled up the difficulty. 

Whether you’re on campus or online this year, college is going to take up a significant portion of your life. Sometimes, that means you can’t write as much as you would like.

We have essays to write, textbooks to study, and group projects to prepare. Our schedules are already crowded with classes, sports, and jobs. Our friends want us to hang out. Our family wants us to visit. 

And somewhere among everything, we need time to write.

Now, before you non-college students think, “Ah, this article is not for me,” let me ask you to pause. Yes, the focus of this piece is on balancing writing and college, but almost all of these tips will help you balance writing with any major commitment in your life! 

We’ll look at our priorities, how writing for school can actually be helpful, quick projects you can write over the weekend, and an unconventional idea that just might be the breath of fresh air you need. 

While it may seem as if our schedules are packed full, there are still plenty of ways to make our writing happen. We just need to be creative about it.

Ready? Let’s go. 

Know Your Priorities

Life is made up of seasons, just like each year is. Sometimes, we have seasons where we can write constantly. Then a few weeks later, we get slammed with responsibilities and finding five minutes to breathe, let alone write, is difficult. 

In these crazy busy situations, our first step must be to evaluate our priorities. We might need to cut something less important out to make room for writing. Or perhaps writing needs to be put aside for the time being (more on that later).

As Christians, our first priority absolutely must be God. It should go without saying, but I think we all forget this sometimes. So it bears repeating. 

Your first priority must be God.

If you find yourself skimping on your devotional or prayer time to write: Stop! 

In the long run, your spiritual well-being is much, much more important than your writing. 

And listen up, don’t give God the remnants of your time. Give Him the best and save the harried moments of your time for lesser activities. 

Some other priorities we need put above writing are: 

• How to research: You learn where to find the best information and how to find it fast. The in-depth research some assignments require might be more beneficial to non-fiction writers, but us novelists can also benefit from the experience. 

• How to write tight: Almost all college writing assignments have strict word counts. If you don’t meet or exceed them, you’ll lose points. This forces you to either beef up your writing or cut out the excess details. 

• How to edit: This flows along with the previous point. Practicing good editing can help you get a good grade and get your words published!

• How to be persistent: When you’re required to write about something super boring, such as how Shakespeare’s Othello is an Aristotelian tragedy, you learn how to push on and get through it. This is super helpful when you get to those necessary, but slightly dull, scenes. Or if you have to write about something you aren’t familiar with. 

As you learn to write good college essays, you can transfer those skills into your work-in-progress. This can help smooth your learning curve and help you write better stories. 

Embrace the Short-Form

Sometimes it’s just not practical to try and write a novel. Sometimes, we just need to write something short. 

Now, before you groan that you hate writing poetry, let me remind you, there are so many different things you can write!

Like I said earlier, all forms of writing help improve your craft.

You can even use these shorter pieces to deepen your longer WIP. For example, you could write a short story about a side-character. Or you could write the national anthem for your kingdom. And hey, you could even write an article on the biblical response to grief and use that to help you understand your grieving main character.

I love to have a “just-for-fun” project. Something I can just sit down with and enjoy writing. It’s for my eyes only (or at least, not intended to be published) so I can do anything I want with it. I can work on it when I’m brain-dead after a long day of school and not have to worry about the quality of my work. It helps keep me consistently writing, even if it’s just a sentence or two. 

Just Don’t

If you can’t figure out a balance of writing and college, then just don’t. 

The last thing you want to do is burn yourself out. No one wants to be around a grumpy, tired, frustrated writer/college student. 

Some seasons of life require you to step away from writing. It’s okay! Don’t feel like you have to write constantly. Take a break if you need to. 

It’s hard to step away. Pray about it and ask God to give you peace. 

Let me say it again: It’s okay if you don’t have time to write right now. Be gracious with yourself. 

But here’s a word of caution: Writing is like a muscle. If you don’t exercise it, it gets weak. 

If this is a season where you need to step away from writing, don’t neglect it completely. If you get an idea and you have the time, write it down. Brainstorm it. Plot it. But if it gets in your way, set it aside. 

It can be so hard to start writing again if you cease completely. 

For example, if I were to pull out my flute right now, I wouldn’t be able to play it very well. I haven’t practiced it in a long time, but if I took a few minutes every other week, I could maintain my skills. 

There is a time for everything. It’s up to you to recognize if this is a writing time or a resting time. 

I hope these tips help you navigate the balancing act of writing and life!

So I'm curious? How do you make time to write as a college student? Do you have a just-for-fun project?