A “typical” week in the life of a novelist

One of the things I love most about my job is that there is really no such thing as a typical week. My work tasks and workload change from week to week, depending on where I am in the deadline process, and I love the variety and the fact that—unless I’m on a tight deadline—I’m able to choose my hours and rearrange my schedule to fit in lunch with a friend, babysitting our grandkids, or an impromptu daytrip with my husband.

Here is a sampling of what an average week might look like when I’m on deadline with a book (but not in the final do-nothing-but-write throes of that deadline).

My calendars all show Sunday as the first day of the week, but I’ll begin with Monday, since it is the beginning of my work week, and I tend to view Saturday and Sunday as the weekend, grouped together as days of rest and time away from the work of being a writer.

Monday-Thursday:

I grew up on a farm, and my days still begin early. I rarely set an alarm, but usually pop awake at 4:45. Morning is my favorite and most productive time of day. I make a cup of coffee and take my laptop to a cozy chair by the fireplace. There I read my morning devotionals, answer e-mail, work on blog posts (like this one!), update my calendar and my website, work on my newsletter, schedule social media posts, balance the checkbook, and a myriad of other little tasks, most of which have to do with the promotional and business facets of being a writer.Around 6:30, Ken and I go for a walk or bike ride, usually driving to a biking trail or park or to the Mississippi riverwalk we love. If we’re driving more than a few blocks, we’ll do our morning prayers together in the car. If not, we pray and read one chapter of the Bible together when we get home around 7:30 or 8. (Over the years, we’ve read through the entire Old and New Testaments together several times.)After we’re showered and dressed, we make breakfast together—usually scrambled eggs, bagels, yogurt and granola, oatmeal, or if Ken can talk me into it, French toast or pancakes. We visit about what’s ahead in each of our days before Ken heads downstairs to his office and I head down the hall to mine.Mornings at my desk are more for the business aspects of work—packaging books to ship, posting promotions on social media, e-mails or phone calls with my agent or editor, proofing files from my audiobook producer or narrator, critiquing chapters for my critique partner (our own Tammy!). This is also when I make research phone calls or do internet searches for the scenes I’m about to write.After lunch at my desk, I’m ready to write in earnest. My usual “rule” is that I write until I have at least 1000 words. Sometimes I’m able to accomplish that in a couple of hours. Other times it takes me until 6 or 7 p.m. I used to write until late into the night, but I’ve learned that I need to take a few hours off in the evening or I’m burned out before the next day even begins!If we don’t have an evening commitment for church or a grandson’s ballgame to watch, we usually head downstairs to the family room to watch a movie or a couple of episodes of a TV series. We both enjoy movies and find inspiration in the visual and storytelling aspects of them. (I always have my laptop with me while we watch. If I’m not looking up details about the movie or actors, I’m scrolling through Facebook or Instagram posts while I watch.)   

Friday:

Friday is our date “night” except our date begins around 7 a.m. when we grab coffee (hot chocolate for Ken) and go garage sale-ing together. We’ve been doing this for ten years now! How it all began is a story for another blog post, but it’s my favorite time of the entire week! Our county in Missouri doesn’t do garage sales or even many estate sales through the winter, so instead we explore thrift shops or antique stores during those months. Sometimes we just go out to breakfast together.Friday afternoons are business as usual, starting with making up for lost time answering email and doing promotional posts for social media.

Saturday:

The Bible says, “Six days shalt you labor and do all your work…” so Saturday isn’t exactly a day off for me, but unless I’m on a tight deadline, I don’t usually write on Saturday. Instead, I might deep clean part of the house, work in the yard, repot and water my many houseplants, rearrange furniture, read something for research, or maybe bake and cook for company or so we’ll have leftovers to eat the following week.  

Sunday:

We attend church and Sunday school every week. Because we attend a rather large church we feel it’s important to be part of a Sunday school class and other small groups to fellowship with and grow in knowledge of God’s Word.We also belong to a Bible Science Fellowship group and a supper club from our church, that meet once a month for teaching and fellowship.We like to either grab takeout after church, go to a restaurant with friends from church, or have our Missouri kids over for pizza.Sunday afternoon always involves literal rest for me. I LOVE my Sunday afternoon nap. During the week, I might “rest my eyes” for fifteen minutes in the afternoon, but on Sundays it’s not unusual for me to sleep hard for an hour or even two.If the weather is nice, we sometimes go for a walk or bike ride after our naps. Then we’ll come home to read, eat leftovers or snack-y food, and maybe watch a movie or Skype with our Texas kids. 

That’s a typical week, but if I wrote down everything I do next week, it would probably look completely different, especially these last few years that we’ve been doing some traveling. I know some people thrive on a more predictable routine, but for me, one of the best things about being a writer is the variety. My days are never boring!

Do you have a typical week, a set routine, in your job or career? Or is there a lot of freedom and variety in your week? Which way do you prefer life and work to be and why? I’d love to hear your answers in the comments below!