Debra Pawlak
asked
Diane Ackerman:
As a writer myself, I am always curious about other authors' writing schedules? How does your typical 'writing' day shape up?
Diane Ackerman
While I was working on The Zookeeper’s Wife I didn’t typically have a writing day because I began writing the book right after my late husband had a stroke, and I was his caregiver. I’m sure this had something to do with why I was drawn to the story of a caregiver like Antonina. Of course, I was only looking after one person, but she had the responsibility of looking after so many lives. She was my heroine. It also meant that I had to work in attention gulps and in fragments of time. However, if I had children that I was looking after the same thing would be true. So, I would have to find moments during the day when I wasn’t needed in looking after him where I could then announce, “I’m going to Poland,” and I would go down to my study room. In fact, working on the book became my sanctuary during that time and I did that regularly everyday. I would say during each day I worked on the book for around three or four hours, but not consecutively. Whereas, when I’m normally writing I begin when I get up first thing in the morning and work for five or six hours at a time.
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