A Look into my Typical Writing Day

Authors are often asked when they write, what rituals they follow and so on. We all vary in our approach. The following is my general attack on daily writing.

4:45 Get dressed, turn on the computer, get a large cup of hot tea and check my emails.
5:30 Open my current project and start where I left off yesterday.
7:00 Fix a quick breakfast and return to the computer.
11:00 Take a break (file materials, decide what’s for dinner, make phone calls)
11:30 Back to the computer!
12:30 Eat lunch and prepare to work in classrooms, do laundry, work around the house, catch up on saved articles, do research, read for pleasure, maybe take a cat nap.
2:30 Back to work unless I’m away helping in classrooms.
3:30 Check emails, etc. social media and usually turn off the computer until tomorrow.

Many people groan at the early hour I begin. I love the quiet in the house. I also love looking out my sky view window into the darkness to scan the weather, hopefully with breaks to view the pre-dawn stars. It feels like a private wide screen movie above the computer.

My early ending time relates to school hours. When I was a student and later as a teacher, I wrapped up my day by 3:30. My internal clock kept that schedule even now after all these decades. It’s one of the few routines I’ve held onto. I guess it made itself at home in my brain and decided to stay forever.