My family is a big believer in routines, as most humans are.
My mom used to start every morning on the couch drinking a cup of hot tea and watching The Weather Channel. This was complimentary to my morning routine, which involved rolling out of bed at the last possible moment, so I regularly shouted, “MOM! WHAT’S THE WEATHER” and she’d yell back the temperature. My dad was usually up at 4am and had some complicated process that involved coffee, lemonade, and bananas, but every Sunday morning he was at at the kitchen table with his newspaper that he drove up to a convenience store to get, not have delivered for some reason.
Awhile back I read an article on medium.com about writer’s routines. Stephen King tries to get in six pages a day. Of course he doesn’t have to squeeze that in around another, non-writing related full time job, so it’s probably easier for him. Susan Sontag set aside mornings as her “do not disturb” writing time, as did Hemingway. Dickens made sure a long walk was part of his day. Read more by clicking here.
I have little routines in my life, as well, despite the full time, non-writing job. One of them involves schlepping my laptop over creation and writing on my lunch break.
Some days I get in more than a thousand words, some days I am lucky to get in 500. But I write! Every single day! Which, I’m told, is the most important thing. Well… one of them.
What’s your writer’s routine?
The Merry Manuscript 