So my list of blog post ideas that I go to when I am short of an exciting and inspiring post, includes the example ‘share your morning routine’.
[note:this is definitely not me]
Now I am assuming it doesn’t mean to write about how I get ready for my day job and perhaps is more intended for me to share my routine for when I get going on writing activities.
I would love to be able to write about how I rise early, break my fast with some delicious pastries, dress, head out for a bracing country walk and then return to me cosy and well-appointed writer’s office, nestled in the foliage of the back garden of our bungalow. This would be a very writerly way to start the day.
Or, perhaps, I should start the day by taking care of all of the animals on my small holding, then settle at my country kitchen table to write, making my own illustrations as I go and talking to them as though they are sentient beings.
Another routine might be to explain how I take a moody walk along windswept sea cliffs before retiring to my remote tower to write in silence while strange noises pass through the heavy wooden door from the rest of my large gothic abode.
The truth is (of course) far less exciting. On days I write (usually weekends, occasionally weekdays in school holidays – being a teacher who writes is a screen heavy lifestyle), I don’t get up that early. Weekends are important for getting rest and recuperation from my career (especially in the last few years).
Mr W and I usually have some kind of cooked breakfast at the weekend, not a huge one, one does try to moderate treat foods. We have tried to begin our weekends with a dash of fresh air or exercise, but walking isn’t really an option right now, and swimming takes too much out of me to be able to write – the mental
effort of getting ready, doing it and coming back uses too many spoons.
As we eat and drink the first of several coffees, we might watch the breakfast news, or a
morning cookery programme – although I have found I need to relocate before Saturday kitchen starts or I will be stuck until the end.
When the coffee kicks in, I will remove to the ‘office’ A folding dining table at the end of our living room, in the ‘book nook’ I refer to as a library at times. Technically it is Mr W’s office for when he has to work from home (when I was recovering from my surgeries and needed all day care), but I have co-opted it for my weekend writing until we have managed to sort out a more permanent solution.
I start my process by checking in on my current projects: short stories for competitions; preparing future submissions; chasing up on historical submissions; keeping up to date with the writer’s workshopping group I participate in.
Of late, most of what I have been doing is editing previous works, although I did manage to write a whole new story in early October– for a competition due on the 23rd.
Once I have checked through the projects, I then check my blog – firstly, making sure I have posts written up (I like to keep at least a few days ahead and if possible, have 2 – 3 weeks of posts scheduled. This post was written on the 14th, as Mr W and I are away this week; it is half term, so we are touring in our camper Penny Van (Pen Y Fan for those familiar with Welsh mountains).
After checking the blog schedule and keeping my spreadsheet up to date (I love a list), I might fit in some time to check my website analytics. I know I don’t have an enormous readership, but I get a little kick every time I see repeat visitor numbers (people come back! Yay!) and it’s fascinating to see where in the world some of my work has been read – who do I know in Athens?
If I haven’t yet used up my spoons, I might then brave opening Scrivener and peeking at my big WIP, taking a little look over the brow of the false peak (see last week’s post for more info on that). At the date of writing, I did manage to add some content to part one of the book and extract a section from part 2 to send off to the writers’ group.
It is now 4pm on Saturday and I have been here since around 10.15am, with a brief break for lunch. I am still in pyjamas and a dressing gown (don’t judge me, it’s Saturday!), and I am almost ready to stop for the day.
I don’t always write so long – during the summer, I often stop writing earlier in the day so that Mr W and I could get out and about, but the urge to leave our cosy bungalow isn’t strong today (I had a late night last night). It is also helpful to have something to occupy me while Mr W potters with things in our van, my eyes can only take so much cross stitch.