A Day In My Writerly Life
My Day in My Head
After some light exercise and a healthy and enjoyable breakfast, I head upstairs to ready myself for the busy day ahead. I shower and dress in an outfit suitable for work at home. Yet should someone come to the door I am quite presentable. It is nine o’clock and the work day begins.
I open the door to my home office, a room just off of my bedroom. It is at the furthest end of the house and offers me the privacy I need to concentrate on the work at hand. A small window, centred on the back wall allows for enough natural daylight. There is no need for me to turn on the overhead light, at least not yet. It’s not a large office but it’s comfortable, complete with a coffee maker.
I brew myself a coffee and sit at my desk, centred just below the window. My laptop sits quietly, waiting to be brought to life. I close my eyes and inhale deeply, focusing my mind. I open my eyes as I open the laptop, and I begin.
I spend the first fifteen minutes checking my social media sites and e-mail. It’s all the time I give; the internet has a way of sucking you in for hours at a time and I know that all too well. By the time noon rolls around I have written twenty-five hundred words. It’s a good start to the day and I am on a roll.
After an hour lunch break, I return to my office. Once again I check my social media sites and e-mail, answering questions and relaying information. I would love to be able to answer it all but if I did that, nothing else would get done. When I’m finished twenty minutes later, I briefly check my editorial calendar. It was completed on the first day of the month, with all my social media posts already planned. Even the subjects of my blogs for the next month have been written down. My laptop quietly waits for me to begin tapping on its keys. It is blog day and this afternoon I will spend some time preparing my blog for the following day’s posting.
By 4 o’clock my blog has been written and I have managed to edit two more chapters on a book I’d completed three weeks earlier. Only a few more chapters left and I will be sending it off to the publisher with fingers crossed.
I spend the last hour checking, once again, my social media sites and e-mail, planning a book signing, and looking into upcoming writer’s festivals and conferences. When five o’clock comes around, I put my laptop to sleep and close the office door on my writerly world. I smile and close my eyes, my hand still resting on the doorknob. I inhale deeply, focusing my mind. It is time to start my day at home.
My Day in Reality
It is winter and since my job is primarily seasonal, I don’t have to go to work today. However, I have slept in and it is now 8:30. I jump from bed and grab my robe, neither the dog nor the cat has been fed and I am sure they are as hungry as I am.
By 9:15 we have all eaten. I plunk myself down on the couch in the family room, careful not to spill my coffee. The woodstove is roaring away in the corner and the room is nice and warm. The remote control waits for me on the armrest of the couch. I reach over and grab it, turning the TV on while I finish my coffee.
It is now 9:30, time to start my writerly day. I turn off the TV, retrieve my laptop and tray and return to the couch. I just bought myself the tray and I am eager to use it. It is much better than the pillow and the large cutting board I used to use under my laptop. I inhale deeply. Today I will spend only fifteen minutes checking my social media sites and e-mail. I open my laptop and bring it to life.
Wow! My fifteen minutes turned into an hour and a half spent on the internet. I close all my accounts and open up my WIP. Just as it opens, the dog bugs me to go out. Luckily, she can be let out without me having to be with her. There are plenty of windows around the house to keep an eye on her and she’ll be ready to come back in in about fifteen minutes.
I sit back down on the couch and place my laptop on my lap. I begin reading where I left off writing a couple of days ago. I had intended to write two thousand words a day, but that didn’t happen. It isn’t long before I hear the dog barking to come in, and once again my laptop is pushed to the side.
Back inside, back on the couch, and back to work. I type diligently, allowing my ideas to flow from my head and out my fingertips. I am on a roll. By the time noon comes around I have written 879 words. I close my laptop and head into the kitchen for a very quick lunch. I need to shower and dress. It wouldn’t be the first time I spend the majority of the day in my pyjamas and robe, but I have to go out and get some groceries.
3 O’clock and I have returned home, heavily laden with bags of food. However, I have not returned to an empty house. Family members have slowly begun to return. With the family room now being occupied and the TV turned on, I sit at the kitchen table where I can concentrate. I open up my laptop and suddenly remember I have a blog to post for tomorrow. I close my WIP and open a new document with no idea of what I’m going to write, though it will be something about my writerly life. I know that because of my editorial calendar. I have half of the month planned with my future postings. I look at the time. I have a little over an hour and then it will be time to make dinner.
By 7 pm I am ready to get back to work. I check my social media and e-mail and once again, I get sucked into the internet for an hour. I close my accounts before any more time is wasted and work on my WIP. I am determined to reach my two thousand words-a-day goal.
My eyelids are heavy as I battle sleep, but I am so close to my goal. I type with my eyes closed for a moment, resting them. When I open them again it is just in time to see my husband heading off to bed. I will be along shortly, I tell him.
Another half hour passes, the house is quiet, but I have finally reached my goal. I close my eyes and breathe in deeply, satisfied with the way the chapter has ended. A smile spreads across my face but it is short lived as a yawn interrupts. I close my laptop and put it and myself to rest. I have to go to work in the morning. I can only imagine what it’s going to be like when I’m back to working five days a week.
I think I’ll clean up that storage room off of my bedroom and turn it into my office.