Squeezing In the Revisions

I used to write first thing in the morning.

It was quite a delightful routine, truth be told. I’d wake up at 5, let the dog out, feed the cat, make myself a cup of tea, and then settle in to write for about an hour. Eventually the cat would join me and insist I stop what I’m doing and pet him, then give up and drape himself, dead weight style, over my arm. (Side note, I’ll dedicate the book to him.)

But I have instead decided to sacrifice my mornings to working out instead. I’m training for a marathon and I’ve found that I will actually go to the gym every day if I don’t wake up until I’m half way through the workout. Unfortunately, being half asleep doesn’t make for great fiction.

I thought about writing after work, but I have too many random post-work commitments to make it a real routine. Plus after staring at my computer all day for work I don’t really feel like more computer time after work. I also like spending time with my pets and human after work.

So the result is that I bring my laptop with me everywhere (it’s a small macbook that I can fit into my large purse) and write at lunch.

It can be challenging. I have to interrupt my flow to purposefully stop working, close my office door, get out my laptop, and open scrivener. Then I have to stop after an hour, shut it down, then get back to work.

I will say, though, that I’ve had more progress since I started doing this than I have the last few months. I’m working on it five days a week most weeks, and have pushed past that first chapter syndrome where I just fall into that sneaky “my first chapter is miserable and I hate it” spiral where that’s all I revise until I hate everything.

Who else writes at lunch? Does it work for you?