My Typical Writing Day

A typical writing day for me is normally fueled by copious amounts of coffee.

Unfortunately, I still have a day job to contend with, so on the occasion I do have a day off I try to get as much writing in as possible. 

I’ll normally still be up at the crack of dawn to take my children to school and my better half to work.  Traffic depending, I will get home just after 9 am and boil the kettle for the first cup of coffee. But I won’t start to write straight away. I usual take an hour, savoring my coffee, to read. Not only is it important for a writer to write daily, but it is just as important to read daily. As Stephen King once said, “If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the tools or the time to write.” Not only that, but I also find that this a great motivator to write.

I fire up the laptop, turn off the TV and the internet and put my phone on silent. I don’t want anything to distract me and take me out of my own private universe. 

I will set myself a word count – about 2,000 words before lunch. After about 1,000 words I take a short break to refill on coffee. I’ll down one cup then take another with me back to the laptop to sip as I write.

When I get to 2,000 words I’m usually pretty hungry so I save what I’m doing and make lunch. In one of my earlier blogs I mentioned how music is a great motivator and influence on my writing. When I write I envisage the story’s soundtrack, as if it were a movie. So, when making and eating lunch I have a playlist of what could be on the soundtrack playing in the background. This really helps me visualize forthcoming scenes in the story. 

After lunch, I don’t commence writing straight away. I normally spend a little more time reading.  One or two chapters, depending on length. Then it’s back to the laptop. I try to get another 1,000 words in and depending on time try to push for another 1,000 after that, with further cups of coffee.

Then it’s probably time to collect the kids from school, so at this point, I call it a day. Although I will try and get into at least another 500 words in the evening once they have gone to bed.