My Daily Schedule

I’ve been asked, recently, by a couple of different people to talk about how long it takes me to write and edit each chapter and about my writing process in general.  And the easiest way to do that is probably through the lens of my actual daily schedule.  And yes, I said daily.  It amazes me, how many people say they want to write for a living but refuse to actually treat writing like something you, well, do for a living.  If you want this to be your job, great.  But you actually have to treat it like a job.  Which means going to it every day if it’s your full time job and going to it for at least a couple of days out of the week if it’s your part time job.  Thinking about writing a book, however hard, does not produce a book.

I’ve completed two full books since November, and it’s because I’m extremely boring.  

I wake up every morning at 4.30.  Am I a “natural” morning person?  Is there such a thing?  I have a family and a life and all the obligations that come with both and if I slept in I’d never get anything done.  By five, I’m at my computer and actually writing.  I really enjoy this time, because everyone else in the house is still asleep.  I can drink my coffee and work in peace.

At 7:30, I get my son up for school.  School, for him, starts at 8:30 so after I drop him off I do whatever errands need to be done and then go home.  If I’ve had a really good writing day already, I might have 1,000 words under my belt.  Other mornings, I have more like 100.  In either case, I try to add to that.  My daily word goal is 2,000.  Sometimes it’s a struggle to meet that and other times I write twice that amount.  It all depends on where I am in the manuscript and where I am, of course, mentally.  Some days are just plain harder than others.

My son comes home at 2:00.  We talk about his day, and try to do something fun–weather permitting–like play soccer in the backyard or drive to the park.  We have some incredible parks around here.  Not all of which feature tanks!  If I get any more work done, it’s usually while he’s having quiet time before dinner and my husband is cooking (this is usually when I finish up editing that day’s chapter, or chapters, if I haven’t already, and when I answer emails).  Because really, you’d rather eat his cooking than mine.  After that, it’s family time.  I try to put everything aside and just relax and be present.

I do try, also, to work on the weekends.  On the days I’m not writing, it’s because I’m doing something more important.  As in, spending time with my family.  I never skip a day of work because I “don’t feel like it.”  I actually asked my husband to bring me my laptop in the hospital, although that proved a little overambitious!  I never wrote a word.

Before writing was my full time job, it was my part time job.  That’s actually how I got into the habit of starting my day so early.  I couldn’t rely on being creative when I finally dragged myself home, at the end of the day; “creative” was remembering how to unlock my front door.

So I adopted the ass crack of dawn program, so as to ensure that I was writing when I still had–in theory, anyway–the most intellectual and creative power at my disposal.  These days, I guess I could sleep in but I don’t really want to.  Even when I wake up dead tired, I’m just too excited to get downstairs and start writing.  Moreover, knowing that I have people waiting for the next chapter–and the next, and the next–on Wattpad is very motivating.

What’s your writing schedule?