How I Get My Writing Done
It’s summer! Yay! My favorite time of year. Then fall and spring. Winter is my least favorite because I hate the cold.
I know you don’t care about my seasonal preference so on to more important topics.
I get asked a lot about what my typical writing day looks like. I wish it were more glamorous, but it’s not. It’s also hard to define because there isn’t a typical day. I wish my days had more of a routine to them, but they don’t. Especially when the kids are out of school.
I don’t have a consistent routine, but one thing I do feel is important for any writers career is writing every day. Writing every day is my goal but life happens, and there are some days when I don’t write. However, I can’t skip more than one, or it throws me off. I get out of the creative groove, and it takes me an entire day to get back on track.
I’m most creative in the morning before the craziness of the day starts my mind going in fifty million directions. I love nothing more than sitting on my deck (or couch in the winter) with my coffee enjoying distraction-free writing time.
That time does, however, compete with my workout time. I’ve learned if I don’t work out in the morning I won’t do it. I’ve had a hard time these last few years finding a way to juggle both. I’m sure you can guess which I give up – haha.
At a minimum, I try and get in 2 hours of writing done on whatever book I’m working on each day. Ideally, I’d like 4 hours, but marketing takes up a lot of time, and so do these darn kids. Plus I have other things I do to earn income that need my time and attention.
When scheduling my day, I plug in my writing time first. This is work I need to do in longer stretches without a ton of interruptions for me to be productive. I can work on marketing in 20-30 minutes stretches sitting in my car if need be. I try and fit most of my marketing activities in those shorter time spans while waiting at cheer practice or in between the uber shifts for my kids.
There are times where I don’t want to write, and that’s not unusual for any writer. People often think that because I love writing I’m motivated to do it every day.
Well, I’m not.
There are days where I’d rather do anything else because I’m not “feeling it.” But you can’t make a living, or progress at anything you’re attempting if you only do it when you feel it. I’ve found that on those days when I’m not in the mood to right after I force myself and get going I get in the groove and it’s fine.
If only I could force myself to exercise the same way.
When I’m in the home stretch of a book, like I am now with Diamonds & Disguises, I find myself pushing everything else to the side to focus on making sure the book is perfect before releasing it. Plus, my mind is so consumed with the upcoming release I can’t concentrate on anything else.
The life of an author is a constant cycle or write, publish, repeat. It can sometimes be tiring, but the rewards are worth it.
I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Happy reading!
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