Morning Routines...Maybe

Honestly, I'm not a morning person. I prefer sitting up late night, working on whatever project I'm working on. I don't have to worry about distractions like I do during the day.

Work.

Phone calls.

Cooking.

Laundry.

Family.

The list seems endless, but then that's the way it is when you have a family and a full-time day job.

So, when it comes to writing, my morning routine is really an evening routine.

• I get home from work.
• Fix supper (or pick something up on the way home.)
• Clean up.
• Do laundry if needed.
• Write or work on writing related stuff until I have to go to sleep.

My routine is flexible. It has to be, because I don't always get home at the same time, and then there's life that happens. Even though I do most of my writing in the evenings, I try to squeeze some writing in throughout the day.

In the morning...I drink a cup or two of coffee/tea, and get ready for the day job, but my mind is on my stories and my writing.

A Perfect Writing Space

It happened!

Last night DH kicked out of my office, again.

This happens on a regular basis. I like writing late at night and DH wants to sleep. Yeah, my “office” is in the bedroom or rather, I have a desk in the bedroom. It is not the ideal situation, but most of the time it works. When I am kicked out of the bedroom, I grab my laptop, pens, and notepads and head to the living room or the kitchen table.  I have learned to be flexible.

I dream of one day moving into a home that has the perfect writing space, but what is the perfect writing space? The answer to that depends on the writer and his or her needs and wishes.

My perfect writing space would have:

• ·         Lots of natural light,

• ·         A beautiful view (lots of trees, or a lake, or the ocean),

• ·         A downstairs room,

• ·         Walls painted in bold gem colors (no neutral tones)

• ·         Bookshelves,

• ·         Lots of storage,

• ·         Huge desk,

• ·         Comfortable desk chair,

• ·         Tack boards and white boards,

• ·         An overstuffed chair in the corner, and

• ·         French doors.

The last item, French doors, probably sounds strange, but I have learned over the years DH cannot stand it when I close the door, even though he knows I am writing or working on writing stuff. Even if we are doing our own things, he wants me close by. It’s sweet and endearing, but sometimes tough. No, we are not newlyweds. We have been married for a long time and are best friends too. 

This could be the reason he hasn't helped me with any of the stuff in the spare bedroom that is supposed to be my office. Hmmm!!!

Will I ever get my dream office, I do not know, but it doesn’t hurt to dream.

Juggling Writing Time

Authors set rules about their writing time that they follow because this is how they get their writing done. Let's face it. We have a lot of things going on in our lives besides writing. We have families, jobs, chores, emergencies that pop up, just to name a few. Obviously, I could go on and on with the list and not even put a dent in the surface.

Barbara O'Neal in her article B.I.C. (Bum in Chair) at www.writerunboxed.com talks about this very topic. Her take on it is interesting and the comments from others are just as interesting too. Ms. O'Neal, at the end of her article, poses three questions to the audience: What gets in your way? Where does your discipline falter? What are your best writing times?

What gets in the way of my writing?

• day job
• family
• household chores
• extended family issues
• friends
• Internet
• sleep

Most of these things can't be helped or changed. I just have to deal with them and work my writing time around them, but things like my Internet time can be changed. Flexibility is the key.

Where does my discipline falter?

My goal is to write between 500 and 1000 words daily. Are there days this doesn't happen? Yes. Family comes first. That's just the way it has to be. And then there's the day job, but we need the money for things like food and electricity. Some days are not as crazy as others and I can slip in a couple of hours of writing, but then there are the days I go home and take a nap before I even start supper or anything else. On days like that writing gets pushed down on the to-do list.

What are your best writing times?

• weekends
• night after everyone is in bed
• lunchtime

There are a lot of weekends I get the house to myself for a few hours, and i cram as much writing into that time as I possibly can. Late night, after everyone hass gone to bed is another good time for me to write--as long as I don't fall asleep over my writing. During my lunch, I try writing blogs.

I, like many of you, dream of the day when I don't have to go to the day job because my writing is supporting me. But until that happens, I'll continue the juggling act, and grab writing time when I can.

We all wear many different hats and more often than not we wear them at the same time, forcing us into the juggling routine.

What does your juggling routine look like?