A Day in the Life of a Writer

Okay, not that I actually know what a NORMAL day in a writer's life looks like. BUT, for the first time since I can remember in forever, I have a full day off with nothing that I HAVE to do - other than go to my chiropractor appointment. Which I did. I have comp time from my work trip last week because I worked so many hours, and get both Friday (today) and Monday off - no PTO required.

So, I have decided to use both days to experiment in the life of a writer, pretend I am a full-time writer and see if I actually enjoy sitting for hours and working on writing-related things. Two days seem like an entire world to me, and yet, at the same time, not quite enough time. I mean, I not only have 3 books I want to work on, I want to do short stories, writing exercises, writing books, writer's digest, blog posts, find places to submit short stories or flash fiction, work on nonfiction articles for company newsletter, and of course, am wondering if I can stay the course when I have more than half an hour to do whatever I like.

So far, I've made a sort of schedule: write 500 words in book I am currently most enthralled with (my 2017 NaNo novel), read an article in writer's digest, 500 words, writing exercise, 500 words, article, 500 words, etc. We shall see how this works. I've been at it for one hour and 15 minutes and am already going off schedule to do a blog post, but still feeling energized and excited for the hours ahead. The atmosphere of a coffee shop helps too. Other people chatting or writing or studying - and the addition of coffee at my side - it just FEELS like I need to be writing. I love it.

Anyway, now that I have shared my joy with you all, I shall go back and finish up the 300 words still due on the 500 word spurt.

Writing Exercises

I've not written in far too long. It's funny. Whenever I take too long a break from writing, I begin to feel as though life is stretching out in front of me with no breaks, and going super fast simultaneously, and I begin to long for a break and pester Daniel to bring me on a cruise or a vacation. As soon as I begin writing again, though, a sense of contentment settles over me and I once again feel that I am fine, and life is fine, and I don't need a vacation to keep living without going crazy.

I bought myself 642 Things to Write About a few months ago after wanting it for years (yes, years). I had only gotten through one exercise until today. Mostly because when I sat down to write, I was working on one or both of my books and didn't think I should take the time out to work through exercises. Today, though, I just did three exercises in a row, which was an great reminder of how good writing exercises are to get the juices flowing again. Writing is rarely easy, and even less so when you haven't taken time out for it in awhile, but if anything will get you started again, I think it is writing exercises with prompts.

I have the day off today after working over by 18 hours during the last pay period, and intend to use it writing - of course, best intentions always go awry - but if nothing else, at least I did the writing exercises. And I've been longing to have some quiet time, so I think no matter how much (or little) writing I actually get done today, it will be a good day. I don't even mind the rain. It adds to the ambiance of a day to spend writing. And I will finally get to read the Writer's Digest that has been waiting for me for a month.