MY IDEAL WRITING DAY REVISITED
Last week I talked to you about writing routines and how mine has changed, (found here) and I've also talked in the past about my ideal writing day (found here) and so I thought that I would continue along that vein and give you some idea of what I would consider an ideal writing day now that I've switched things around writing routine wise.
Little background for those who don't know, I'm 39, disabled with several chronic conditions that inhibit my life, and ability to work a conventional job. I don't have any outside issues that impact my day beyond health stuff but that seems neither here nor there when discussing an ideal day because on that, I wouldn't be having bad pain and the like.
THE START: 5AM
I know that this sounds like way too early for a lot of people, and it used to be the case for me as well. I was solidly an afternoon writer, and from time to time, a middle of the night writer. About two years ago, I started having problems sleeping through the night and would wake up at odd times of the day no matter how much, or how little, I'd slept. It's now gotten to the point where I know it's not going to get better and I've adjusted.
So my ideal day would start at 5am, so that I can spend a little time watching youtube and going about my morning stuff before I jump into work. Since this is about a writing day, I'll focus on the writing and not the background stuff that happens alongside, like edits, revisions and the like.
WRITING TIME: 6AM-8AM
It doesn't take me long to get my chapter written, but I like to be somewhat flexible in where I spend that time. Sometimes the whole block is spent writing, sometimes it's spent looking things up, or editing the previous chapter and the like. I don't want to be spending hours and hours doing it, because while on an ideal day I wouldn't be in too much pain, my chronic illnesses can't be wished away and so they will always play a part.
I say chapter because usually, that's what I'm aiming for when writing. I want to write a whole chapter before I call myself done for the day and I don't generally have problems doing that. I have, in the past, done two chapters but I find that by the end of that writing session I'm a little worse for wear and I don't want to be pushing myself into a flare, so I limit myself to one, and on the odd rare occasion I will push for two.
ADMIN TIME 8AM-11AM
This is usually when I take care of things like the Instagram photo or the like, I'll tweet things, I'll post blog posts or what have you and generally spend the time making sure everything is ticking over as it should. This can take me anywhere for a few minutes to a few hours and it's just that end of day stuff that I like to do to make sure I stay caught up and on track with everything.
END OF DAY 11AM-4PM
I know what you're thinking, that I only work for a few hours in the day, and the truth is, even on an ideal writing day, that's all I'm capable of doing. Once I've done all of the above, I am ready for a world class nap, and/or reading in bed while chatting with a friend. I go to bed early because of my whacked up sleep schedule and while I can try to, sometimes, push myself past that, my body will still wake me around 4am to say it's done with this sleep thing!
So there we have it, a more up to date version of my ideal writing day. What do you see as an ideal day for writing? Lemme know in the comments below!
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