A new job is a big adventure!
But, I've thought a lot about it, and there's just not much to report about my new job as a novelist that would be thrilling and hold people's attention. But, never fear! Just because I'm guaranteed to be boring, that won't stop me.
Here are the details of what I do now that my job is to be writing a novel:
First, I get up really early, but not as early as before. Now that I don't have to go to school, the wake up is more like 5:30 or 5:45 instead of 4:45. Last week, my first order of business was beta reading. Beta reading is when you peruse and comment on someone's early draft. I have a few writing partners and critique groups, and I like to beta read for these people because it's fun and inspiring, and also because then my pals will feel compelled to beta read for me.
When in my family has left the building, I set my timer and make myself write or revise for a certain interval (30 or 35 minutes, usually), and then I take a short break. I might get some tea or a snack or fold a quick load of laundry. Then, I do that--the interval of work followed by the short break--again and again and again until I can stand it no longer.
Then, I go for a run and do other writing-related tasks like Instagram and Twitter and drafting my newsletter and answering and sending work-related emails.
And after that, I might go to Target and get a couple of ingredients for dinner. Finally, I drive carpool and cook and consult on homework and walk the dog.
That's it. That's the whole of the new job. Is it as glamorous and adventurous as you imagined?
Showing posts with label routines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label routines. Show all posts
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
How Artists Work
It's the second day, and I'm trying to figure out how to work things. Yesterday and today, we've got lots of repair and life-enhancement professionals visiting our house to take care of a bazillion things we've put off forever. I mentioned the furnace and the roof. There's also the refrigerator, the gas range, the internet and and the complicated a/v remote controls that we can't program ourselves. I try to be self-sufficient, but there's a limit to my skill set.
Yesterday, one of the furnace replacers told me there were a couple of dead mice in my gas turn-off valve closet. Awesome, I said. I planned to remove the mice immediately, but then I didn't know exactly where the gas turn-off valve closet was located, and looking for mice in the crannies of the 100 year-old basement was giving me the willies.
Before the replacer's arrival this morning, I set out paper towels and plastic bag to scoop and discard the carcasses. "I've got my mouse removal supplies ready," I told the guy. "Can you just show me where the dead mice are?"
"Oh yeah," he said, smiling. "Actually, I can just get 'em for you." I followed him down the stairs, handed him the paper towels and plastic bag, and he had them enclosed in plastic in about five seconds.
"You're so brave," I said.
"Yeah," he said, laughing.
And now I have the itchy feeling of sitting here waiting for the other handy guys to arrive. While waiting, I read about W.H. Auden's work habits in the book pictured above. He took a stimulant each morning and a sedative each night. Also, he consumed alcohol heavily, smoked tobacco, and drank pots of coffee. I've considered these rituals carefully, weighed their pros and cons, and decided that the only one I can adopt is coffee. Coffee, and also punctuality, which was also a compulsion of Auden's.
Funk and Fusion: Bragging About Productivity
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