A Day in the Life

This post is inspired by a comment from Aerin Bender-Stone over at Facebook where she asked what a typical day is like for me as a writer.

Now, I'll preface this by saying I'm not really a full time writer. I've still got a web design and print business, but I've taken a leave of absence while I work on the sequel to THE TWELVE. Up to about two weeks ago, I had my days mostly free for writing, and one of those days would go like this:

Get up, ablutions, feed self.

Switch on computer, check emails.

Deal with any day job stuff that needs attention.

Check a few blogs etc.

Fire up iTunes, select some music.

Start writing.

Occasionally pause to research on the fly, for example, how to chamber a round on a Glock 17, what engine sizes do Audi A4s come in, check Belfast layout on Google Maps (the new Street View thing is fantastic...)

Also occasionally pause to answer email, or (if I'm procrastinating) check Twitter and Facebook for something desperately important I might have missed.

Also occasionally pause to play some guitar.

All that up to lunch time, at which point I have a healthy meal of salad and whole grain pulses with water - or possibly a big fat sandwich with a bag of crisps and a can of coke. Actually, more often the latter.

After lunch, back to the computer, indulge in some pointless web browsing, then back to some writing - though usually it's not that fruitful, and the best stuff was done before lunch.

And then finish up for the day and watch one of the late repeats of Deal or No Deal.

Exciting, eh?

I've been rather surprised to find my most productive writing time is indeed the morning, because I am most definitely not a morning person. The last novel was written almost entirely at night. I still find the time between 9:00pm and 1:00am good if I'm able to sit down and concentrate, but I'm also finding the three hours between 10:00am and 1:00pm very good for writing. In fact, as often as not, if things are flowing I'll wind up working on and having a late lunch.

Problem is, all of this is rather dependent on being able to maintain a routine. Since I began my sabbatical, I've still been going into the office one day a week to catch up with stuff, so that day's out. And since the publicity machine kicked in at the start of this month, any notion of a routine has evaporated. As I said in an earlier blog, publicity tends to come at you in fits and starts, and is almost always last minute. I'd say over the last two weeks, I've maybe had three or four days clear to write. But that goes with the territory, and I'm just going to have to figure out a way to adapt to that.

Anyway, in keeping with the title of this post, here's the great Jeff Beck performing his version of the Beatles' A Day in the Life. I'll be going to see Mr. Beck in Belfast just a day or two before THE TWELVE is published, meaning I'll fulfil two lifelong dreams in one week. Which is nice.