Write Here, Write Now
Turning something into a daily practice, be it writing or exercising or even flossing, can be a daunting process. In the case of writing, having a schedule is important. It’s also a good way to keep the writer sane.
What do I mean by that? Well, a writer who is not working is a dangerous creature. Although some writers can take days or weeks off from their work and not feel the effect at all, many cannot. To those writers, a day without writing feels off and unsettled and incomplete.
I’m one of those writers. I’ve learned I’m a much happier and calmer person if I work at and reach my writing goals each day. For many scribblers, the daily goal is a word count. For me, it’s a scene or a chapter. As long as I complete what I planned to write that day, I’m good. If I write more, I’m even better, and I deserve chocolate. Lots of chocolate.
How does this work? I’m referring to the writing part, not the chocolate part. The chocolate part is easy. The writing part is a bit more difficult.
To be honest, every writer is different, and not every method will work for each individual. I’m lucky because I’m able to write full time. If that’s not the case for you, I’ll note the most important elements below.
My daily schedule:
6 a.m.
Wake up, make the coffee, feed the doggo. My dog is a black Lab named Capone, and food is the most important thing in his life. Coffee is the most important thing in mine.
6:30 a.m.
Write the daily post for my dog’s Facebook page. Yes, Capone has a Facebook page. Please don’t judge me. It happened by accident.
7 a.m.
Take my Facebook addicted pooch out for a long walk in a quiet meadow. Watch the sun come up together while he chases rabbits. I ponder what I’ll write that day and work out each scene in my head. He poops, and then chases more rabbits. What can I say? It’s a process.
8 a.m.
Return to the house. Hose off the dog. Clean up the writer. The time needed for this step varies, and it’s dependent on how muddy the meadow was that morning. Capone is incredibly good at splattering mud on innocent bystanders (aka me) and shaking the mud off at the worst possible times (aka when he’s in the car sitting right next to me).
9 a.m.
Sit down and write, which means le butt goes into le chair and le internet is off. The time has come to work. Working does not mean shopping on Amazon. I must repeat this mantra several times a day. That whole “buy now with one click” thing is not my friend.
12 p.m.
Lunch break, which normally includes watching an episode of “House Hunters International” as I eat. If the episode takes place in Paris or London, I know it’s going to be a good day.
12:30 p.m.
Back to work. If the scene I planned to write that morning is finished, I move onto things like email, marketing, and searching for memes that make me laugh until I snort.
2 p.m.
Coffee. Lots and lots of coffee. This is also the time for snacking, even though I swear every morning I will not snack between meals. I forget that resolution as soon as I fall into my afternoon sleepy slump time.
3 p.m.
Finish up and emerge from my writing cave to face the world once again.
9 p.m.
Indulge in some reading for pleasure.
This schedule varies if I’m editing or if I have a deadline looming. Those days require more snacking, more chocolate, and way more coffee, and I’ll often keep at it until my brain simply stops working — usually about 8 p.m. But there are certain elements I try to maintain no matter what.
Walking: It’s key. Writers have to sit in order to work but sitting all day can be deadly. Also, some of the best ideas pop into your head during a long, silent walk. It’s a kind of meditation. Another reason why walking is important? The dog. If I don’t take Capone on a daily walk, he’s a total douche canoe.
Writing daily: Because writing is my passion, doing it daily is not a chore — it’s a pleasure. Like any habit, however, it has to be maintained. I try to write every single day. Weekends. Holidays. It doesn’t matter, and I advise you to do the same. I’m not saying you should ignore your family and friends, but allow writing to be a priority as well. Carve out time for it and make that time something sacred.
Reading for fun: The best writers are also great readers. The more you read, the more you learn. I read in my genre (women’s fiction and rom-com), and out of my genre (basically anything I can get my greedy little hands on). Even reading something poorly written is a good idea because it’s a lesson on what not to do. Make time for reading. I can’t stress this enough.
Waiting for the muse: If you hold off on writing until all conditions are perfect, it’ll never happen. Instead, force yourself to do something. Anything. You might not be exceptionally creative one day, so focus on something more mechanical, like trying to eliminate the word “very” from your writing instead. Or taking out the word “really.” Or the words “really very.” Giving yourself a small, achievable task to start with might be all you need to get the ball rolling. Or to get the writer writing, which is really very important. Oops.
No matter how well this works for me, not every method works for every writer. It’s a matter of trial and error, but when you finally find a system that works, embrace it and stick with it. Make your writing a priority. What do you have to lose?
Only you can write your story. Remember that. And remember to floss, too. That’s important as well.
Award-winning author Abigail Drake has spent her life traveling the world and collecting stories wherever she visited. She is a book hoarder, a coffee drinker, a linguistics geek, and an eternal optimist. She writes women’s fiction and young adult fiction, and she also enjoys blogging about the adventures of her mischievous Labrador retriever, Capone. Her eleventh book, “Love, Chocolate, and a Dog Named Al Capone” is coming out October 15, 2019. For more about Abigail, check out her website, www.abigaildrake.com. Or take a look at Capone’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/caponethewonderdog.
When chemist Grace O’Leary finds a book of magic spells hidden in her Aunt Lucy’s run-down magic shop, the scientist in her itches to try them out. She mixes up a batch of love potions as a joke, and has to face the consequences when they actually seem to work.Her dream of becoming a professor is in peril, and time is running out to finish research for her dissertation. She can’t handle any more distractions, but the magic shop is on the verge of closing, her aunt has become forgetful and confused, and a handsome reporter named Dario Fontana keeps sniffing around for a story.
The last thing she needs is for him to find out about the love potions and expose her as fraud, but she begins to trust him, and the sizzling chemistry between them is soon too powerful to deny. With her personal and professional life in chaos, and her budding relationship with Dario in jeopardy, Grace is faced with a difficult choice. Fixing what is broken means going against every logical bone in her body. Can Grace learn to silence her scientific brain long enough to accept the truth about magic…and also about herself?
Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips
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