Daily Routine

[David N Alderman]

Hi Anjuelle,

As a fellow writer, I love to hear what other writer's daily routines are. How do you fit writing into your day? Do you like to attend to the muse late at night or struggle through the page during daylight?

[Anjuelle Floyd]

I presently maintain two blogs, Anjuelle Floyd and anjuelle floyd--the writing life
I have a novel due for publication in the next month or so.
I also host a blog talk radio show each Saturday, Book Talk, Creativity and Family Matters.

[Anjuelle Floyd]

I conduct most, if not all of my communication with readers, fellow writers, and regarding promotion and marketing of the above, through e-mail.

When I’m not writing a rough draft to a novel, my day begins with writing for my blogs, responding to comments left regarding previous blogs I have posted and then answering e-mails. This can take 2-3 hours.
If I am writing a rough draft, I write that first, usually 2 hours, or as with now in that I am doing NaNoWriMo, 1600 words. That comes first.
I then attend to my blogs, comments left at each, and answer my e-mails.
Now this may sound simple, but I am also a wife and the mother of three, ages 10 years, 17 years and 22 years. My eldest is in graduate school, and lives nearby. I talk to her nearly every day. She comes home every 3 weeks.
Two days out of the week I take my 10 year old to school in the morning. I pick up both my 17year old and my 10 year old in the afternoon.
My eldest gets out of school at 1pm one afternoon, and 2pm on another. The other days she is out at 3pm, same as with my 10-year-old. The school day ends for my ten-year-old at 2pm on Wednesdays.
My day begins with them after school. I am very involved in helping my children with their homework, doing projects. My youngest plays cello, as do I, so there are lessons and then making sure she practices.
I have learned that it is best to write in the morning.
This comes after many years of writing all day long, and into the night.
When in graduate school I would pull all-nighters quite frequently.
I earned my MFA in Creative Writing 11 years after receiving my MA in Psychology from which I gained licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist. School has been a permanent fixture in my life.
I am also older, 49 years old, and I have learned through experience that the best way to write is Bird-by-Bird as Annie Lamott would say.
Find a schedule that fits your lifestyle and stick to it. Trust it and yourself. If it’s productive and it feels good, go with it.
But you’ve got to take care of your body. Sitting to a computer for 3-6 hours a day is grueling. It will catch up with you.
I need to get back to walking. I live in the Northern California hills and love walking the hills. It not only provides great exercise but also clears the mind.
It’s hard with children to stick to a schedule that includes all these things, but getting enough sleep and eating right can go a long way. Adding the exercise provides an added boost.
I usually walk in the morning when I’m on schedule.

[Anjuelle Floyd]

Here is my reply in one page.

I was having trouble pasting in my response.

Hope this works for you.


Thanks

anjuelle

[David N Alderman]

Wow! You have quite a routine down. That's awesome! Glad to hear that you're able to juggle all of that with your kids and husband as well. Thanks for taking the time to answer my question fully. :D

Anjuelle Floyd said:

I conduct most, if not all of my communication with readers, fellow writers, and regarding promotion and marketing of the above, through e-mail.

When I’m not writing a rough draft to a novel, my day begins with writing for my blogs, responding to comments left regarding previous blogs I have posted and then answering e-mails. This can take 2-3 hours.
If I am writing a rough draft, I write that first, usually 2 hours, or as with now in that I am doing NaNoWriMo, 1600 words. That comes first.
I then attend to my blogs, comments left at each, and answer my e-mails.
Now this may sound simple, but I am also a wife and the mother of three, ages 10 years, 17 years and 22 years. My eldest is in graduate school, and lives nearby. I talk to her nearly every day. She comes home every 3 weeks.
Two days out of the week I take my 10 year old to school in the morning. I pick up both my 17year old and my 10 year old in the afternoon.
My eldest gets out of school at 1pm one afternoon, and 2pm on another. The other days she is out at 3pm, same as with my 10-year-old. The school day ends for my ten-year-old at 2pm on Wednesdays.
My day begins with them after school. I am very involved in helping my children with their homework, doing projects. My youngest plays cello, as do I, so there are lessons and then making sure she practices.
I have learned that it is best to write in the morning.
This comes after many years of writing all day long, and into the night.
When in graduate school I would pull all-nighters quite frequently.
I earned my MFA in Creative Writing 11 years after receiving my MA in Psychology from which I gained licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist. School has been a permanent fixture in my life.
I am also older, 49 years old, and I have learned through experience that the best way to write is Bird-by-Bird as Annie Lamott would say.
Find a schedule that fits your lifestyle and stick to it. Trust it and yourself. If it’s productive and it feels good, go with it.
But you’ve got to take care of your body. Sitting to a computer for 3-6 hours a day is grueling. It will catch up with you.
I need to get back to walking. I live in the Northern California hills and love walking the hills. It not only provides great exercise but also clears the mind.
It’s hard with children to stick to a schedule that includes all these things, but getting enough sleep and eating right can go a long way. Adding the exercise provides an added boost.
I usually walk in the morning when I’m on schedule.

[Mark P. Henderson]

Yes, David, I admire that too. Unfortunately, I can't have any kind of daily routine - a demanding and unpredictable job, a household to run and 90 year old mother requiring round-the-clock care leave me virtually no time for writing most days of the seven! (Well, that's my excuse, anyway).

:-)